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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GENEALOGY
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V. 2
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2016
https://archive.org/details/memorialhistoryo02john
MEMORIAI
HISTORY of LOUISVILLE
FROM ITS
FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR 1896
EDITED BY
J. STODDARD JOHNSTON.
VOLUME II.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ON STEEL.
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:
AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING CO.
H, C, COOPER. ,TR., & CO., Proprietors,
H. C. COOPER, Jr., & CO.
415058
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE— 1.
BY REUBEN T. DURRETT, A. M., LL. D.
O
A
£
Poetry of Bench and Bar — The Courts of Virginia — Supe-
rior Courts — Magistrates’ Courts — The Courts of Ken-
tucky— District Courts — Circuit Courts — Justices of
the Peace — The First Court House — Curious De-
cisions of Justices and County Courts — A Real Bench
Established — Last Appointed and First Elected Judge
—Judge Ormsby — Judge Cosby — Judge Bibb— Judge
Pirtle as Lawyer, Jurist and Author — Judge John J.
Marshall — Judge Bullock — The Old-Time Bar — -
Dearth of Law Books — Forms of Pleadings — A
Unique Case — List of Lawyers Who Practiced in
Louisville Between 1781 and 1800 — Lawyers in Pub-
,0 lie Life — Lawyers in Louisville in 1825 — Those Most
Famous at That Time — The Bar in 1850 — Surviving
Members of the Bar of 1850 — The Most Famous Law-
yers Then in Practice.
CHAPTER II.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE
COURTS— 11.
BY CHARLES B. SEYMOUR, ESQ.
Growth and Development of the Judicial Power in the
State — Relative Powers of State and Federal Courts
• — Origin of Kentucky Laws — From England Through
Virginia — Equity and Common Law — Special Courts
in Louisville — Louisville Chancery Court — Jefferson
Circuit Court — Court of Common Pleas — Law and
Equity Court — Jefferson County Court — City Court
of Louisville — Courts Under the Constitution of 1891
— Jefferson Circuit Court: Chancery Division, Com-
mon Pleas Division, Law and Equity Division — The
Division of Cases — Modifications in Practice — Con-
stitutional Law — Difference Between the British and
American Systems — The New Constitution of Ken-
tucky— Important Changes Effected By It — Review of
Previous Laws Affecting Courts and Litigation -
Growth of the Influence of Courts and Judges — Power
to Punish For Contempt — Writ of Habeas Corpus —
Swearing Off of Judges — Special Judges — Power of
the Court of Appeals — Mandatory Injunctions — Its
Revisory Jurisdiction — The Judicial Power of the
United States as Limiting the Power of the State
Courts — Distribution of Powers — Power of Appoint-
ment by Courts Strictly Executive — Commissioner of
the Louisville Chancery Court — Commercial Law—
Its Development From Growth of Cities — Attach-
ments— Review of Some of the Recent Innovations
as to Judicial Power.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN KEN-
TUCKY.—31.
BY CAPTAIN THOMAS SPEED.
Acts Establishing Courts Passed by Congress — Creation
of Kentucky District — Appointment of Judge Harry
Innes— His Prominence as a Lawyer and Judge —
Robert Trimble His Successor — Later Judges of This
Court — Places and Times of Holding Court — Circuit
Courts — Kentucky Made a Part of the Sixth Circuit
— William McClung Appointed Circuit Judge — Repeal
of the Act Creating Circuit Courts — Subsequent En-
actment of Circuit Court Laws — Justices Assigned to
the Circuit Including Kentucky — Court of Appeals — -
District Attorneys — United States Marshals — Clerks
of the United States Courts.
CHAPTER IV.
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS— 35.
BY JOSEPH M. MATHEWS. M. D.
Names of Illustrious Dead in the Medical Profession of
Louisville — As Now Constituted. Takes Rank With
That of Any City in America or Europe — Its Colleges
Can Not Be Surpassed — How They Are Conducted —
Progress in Methods of Teaching — “Higher Medical
Education” the Watchword — Louisville’s Six Medical
Schools — The Medical Department of the University
of Louisville — Its History and Present Faculty — Ken-
tucky School of Medicine — Lineal Descendant of the
iii
IV
CONTENTS.
Medical Department of Transylvania University — Its
Early Faculty — Handsome Building — Its Present
Faculty— Hospital College of Medicine— Organization
and Successful Career— Faculty — Louisville Medical
College — Founded in 1869 — Superb New College
Building — Enterprise and Push of Its Faculty —
Southern Homeopathic Medical College — A New But
Successful Institution — Present Faculty — Louisville
National Medical College— For Colored Men— Many
Reputable Graduates — Eighth Session — Medical Lit-
erature-Books and Treatises by Louisville Phy-
sicians— Medical Societies — The Medico-Chirurgical
Society— Louisville Clinical Society— Louisville Sur-
gical Society — Academy of Medicine — Falls City Med-
ical Society — Practitioners’ Club — Medical Journals
— Their Early Date — Four Journals of National Re-
pute— “The Practitioner and News” — “Medical Pro-
gress”— “Louisville Medical Monthly” — Mathews’
“Medical Quarterly” — Hospitals — Louisville City
Hospital— Kentucky School of Medicine Hospital —
John N. Norton Infirmary — Jennie Casseday Infirm-
ary For Women — Children’s Free Hospital — St.
Joseph’s Infirmary — St. Mary and St. Elizabeth Hos-
pital— Marine Hospital — The Morton Home — Erup-
tive Hospital.
CHAPTER V.
PHARMACY AND PHARMACISTS— 49.
BY PROFESSOR C. LEWIS DIEHL.
Medicine Supplied by Early Physicians — Dr. Richard
Ferguson the First Purveyor of Drugs — Dr. Daniel
Wilson’s Drug Store in 1817 — Others Follow — Whole-
sale Houses — Difficulties in Supplying Drugs in Early
Times — No American Pharmacopoeia — Difficulty of
Procuring Pure Drugs — Heavy Freights — Barter in
Herbs and Medical Roots — Peculiarities of Practice —
Excessive Use of Calomel — An Ounce Given at a Dose
— Hard Work of the Apothecary’s Clerk — Multifa-
rious Duties — Great Progress in the Business When
Louisville Became a City in 1828 — Line Drawn Be-
tween Wholesale and Retail Drug Stores — Stores Be-
came Neatly Kept, and the Druggist Became a Chem-
ist and Apothecary — Firms in 1830-50 — The Next De-
cade One of the Most Prosperous Periods in the Drug
History of Louisville — A Large Accession of Edu-
cated European Pharmacists — Emil Scheffer and
Others, Who Take High Rank — The Louisville Chem-
ical Works — Originated With Dr. J. Lawrence Smith
— The Writer’s Connection With Them — From 1860
to 1870 — About Seventy-five Drug Stores — New
Names Occur — The Next Decade — Important Devel-
opment-Colleges of Pharmacy — Louisville College
Founded — Its Promoters and Officers — Has Continued
Successfully Since 1871 — Present Faculty — Wise
State Pharmacy Laws— State Pharmaceutical Asso-
ciation— Louisville Botanical Club — Present Number
of Drug Stores— High Character of Louisville Phar-
macists.
CHAPTER VI.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.— 57.
BY THE EDITOR.
First Paper Issued in Kentucky at Lexington in 1787—
John Bradford First Editor — His Almanac — Papers
Which Followed the Kentucky Gazette Before the
Close of the Last Century — The Farmers’ Library the
First Paper Published in Louisville — The Western
American — The Western Courier — The Public Adver-
tiser— Lexington and Louisville as Literary Cities—
Shadrach Penn as a Journalist — Interesting Con-
tents of Early Issues of His Paper — Its Development
Into the First Daily — Sketch of Penn’s Life — The
Focus — A Leading Organ of the Whig Party— W. W.
Worsley Its First Manager — Dr. Joseph R. Buchanan
— The Morning Post — Tanner and Hodges — The
Gazette — George D. Prentice Comes to Kentucky —
His First Journalistic Work in This State— Penn’s
Earliest Compliments to His Rival — Establishment
of the Journal — An Organ of Henry Clay — Political
Issues and Controversies — Beginning of a Long Jour-
nalistic Warfare — The Journal Becomes Famous for
the Brilliancy of Its Editor — The Literary News Let-
ter— Famous Contributors to the Louisville Press —
George W. Weissinger — His Connection With the
Journal — The Louisville Journal Company — Some
Short-lived Journals — The Louisville Democrat
Comes Into Prominence — John H. Harney as Editor
— Sketch of His Career — William W. Harney — Es-
tablishment of the Courier by W. N. Haldemann — E.
H. Bryant, R. T. Durrett and Other Early Editors —
Heated Controversies Between Durrett and Prentice
— Organization of the Courier Printing Company —
The Courier Journal — Famous Journalists Who Have
Been Connected With This Paper and Its Predeces-
sors — Journalistic Reminiscenses — The Louisville
Times — Its Editor — The “Three Colonels” — The Bril-
liant O’Hara — Jabez H. Johnson, Wit and Humorist
— The Daily Commercial — Colonel R. M. Kelly Be-
comes Editor and Manager — Its Subsequent History
— The Louisville Ledger — Evening Post — Home and
Farm — Evening Times — Evening News — The New
Era — The Methodist and Way of Life — Christian Ob-
server— Farmer’s Home Journal — The Truth — Sun-
day Critic — Sketch of the Courier Journal Staff Since
1875.
CHAPTER VII.
PROSE AND VERSE WRITERS IN LOUISVILLE— 77.
BY THE EDITOR.
Difficult Task to Compile a List — Much Research Neces-
sary — Literature Strictly Speaking — History and
Belles Lettres — Dr. William McMurtrie, Louisville’s
First Historian — Dr. Joseph and Dr. J. R. Buchanan
— George D. Prentice— His Lines at the Grave of His
Mother — Mrs. Amelia Welby — Fortunatus Cosby, Jr.
CONTENTS.
v
— Mrs. Catherine A. Warfield — Mrs. Chapman Cole-
man— George W. Cutter — James G. Drake — Mann
Butler — Thomas H. Shreve — W. D. Gallagher —
Charles A. Page, a Poet Like Hood— Ben Casseday,
Second Historian of Louisville — Some Later Poets —
Will Wallace Harney — W. W. Fosdick — Mollie Grif-
fith— Theodore O’Hara — Some Filson Club Writers —
Colonel R. T. Durrett — Boyd Winchester — George M.
Davie — Troubadour Verse — General Basil W. Duke —
Captain Thomas Speed— Major W. J. Davies — Colonel
John Mason Brown — Hon. Z. F. Smith — H. M. Cleve-
land— Youngest and Oldest Poets — Madison J. Ca-
wein — Major Alex. Evans — Benjamin L. Swope — G.
W. Griffin and Alice McClure Griffin— Captain and
Mrs. J. J. McAfee — Mrs. Kate Goldsborough McDow-
ell— Mrs. John G. Roach — Col. Will S. Hays — Warren
Green— Miss Abbie Goodloe — Miss Jean Wright — A
New School — The Press as a Literary Educator and
Stepping Stone — Some Local Instances.
CHAPTER VIII.
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.— 85.
BY MILDRED J. HILL.
Music Among the Early Settlers — Folk Music as a Basis
for Composition — Negro Song in Central Kentucky —
Music of River Roustabouts — The Jim Crow Song and
Dance Originated in Louisville — The First Musical
Society Organized in Louisville in 1822 — Called St.
Cecilia Society — First Sacred Concert — Organization
of the Mozart Society — Mozart Hall — Jenny Lind’s
Visit — Her Song for the School Children — Catherine
Hayes, Ole Bull, Gottschalk, Camillo Urso — Work of
the Mozart Society — Origin of “Dixie,” “Molly Dar-
ling,” and Other Songs — The Liederkranz — Its Mod-
est Beginning — Regularly Organized in 1847 — Smaller
Societies United With It — First National Saengerfest
in the West Held in This City — Building Erected for
the Liederkranz Society — The Society’s Present Club
House — Meeting of the North American Saengerbund
in Louisville — The Musical Fund Society — An Or-
chestral Organization — Concordia Singing Society —
Philharmonic Society — Beethoven Piano Club — Men-
delssohn Club — Orpheus Society — Mozart Quartette —
La Reunion Musicale— Social Maenner chor--Alpenroe-
sli Society — Oratorio Society— Symphony Club — The
Musical Club — Harmonia Maennerchor — Chatterson
Club — Mandolin and Guitar Club — Quintette Club —
Piano Manufacturers — Organ Builders — The Male
Choir — Oratorio Choir — Personal Mention of Leading-
Musicians.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH — HISTORICAL RE-
VIEW.—98.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M'CLOSKE Y.
Distinctive Doctrine of the Catholic Religion— The Pope’s
Authority Questioned — Ecclesiastical Authority
Necessary — Christ Established a Visible Society —
Its Visible Head — The Old Unchangeable Church —
Its Credentials— The Groundwork of Catholic Faith
—The Primacy of Jurisdiction Given to St. Peter—
This Power Perpetual in the Church — Keynote of
Authority — Peter Rules All by Immediate Commis-
sion— The See of Peter— The Mystery of Unity—
Peter Lives in His Successors — The Chiefship of
the Apostolic See — The Mediaeval Catholic Church
— The Church Established on This Continent —
Conversion of the Northmen— Churches on the
West Coast of Greenland — The See of Gardar — First
Bishop of Gardar — Gardar’s Second Bishop — Gar-
dar’s Metropolitan — The Savages of the South-
western Coast Make an Inroad Into Greenland—
Churches and Dwellings of the Peaceful Green-
landers Burned — Bishops and Priests Murdered —
The Remnant of Catholics Send a Petition to the
Pope — The Bull of Nicholas V. — The Catholicity of
Greenland a Thing of the Past.
CHAPTER X.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN AMER-
ICA.—109.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M'CLOSKEY.
Discovery of America by Columbus — Vast Resources of
the Country — Comparison of the United States and
European Nations — The Columbian Era — The Oldest
Religious Organization in the United States — Gib-
bon’s View of the Catholic Faith — The Student of
American History Cannot Ignore the Catholic
Church — A Trusty Guide of Early Explorers — Heroes
of the Cross — The Altar Older than the Hearth —
Twelve Millions of Catholics in the United States
Today — Columbus First Erected the Cross in Amer-
ica— Europe Catholic at that Time — The Incipient
Civilization of America Catholic — A Catholic Navi-
gator Gives It His Name— John Cabot — The Conquest
of Mexico — Titles of the Various Bishoprics and
Their Significance — Early Missions and Missionaries
— Catholics First to Proclaim the Great Boon of
Religious Freedom in America.
CHAPTER XI.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY— 114.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M’CLOSKEY.
First Catholics in Kentucky — The Trappist Fathers —
Untiring Missionary Labors — The See of Bardstown
— The See of Louisville — Renowned Catholic Pio-
neers— The American College— Catholicism in Louis-
ville— Saint Louis’ Church — Saint Mary's Cathedral
■ — Presentation Academy — Saint Boniface’s Church —
Church of Our Lady — Saint Vincent’s Orphan Asy-
lum— Saint Joseph’s Infirmary — Sisters of Charity of
Nazareth — Sisters of Charity in the Civil War — House
of the Good Shepherd — Church of the Immaculate
vi
CONTENTS.
Conception — Saint Patrick’s Church — Saint Martin’s
Church — Ursuline Convent — Church of Saint John,
the Evangelist — Saint Peter’s Church — Saint An-
thony’s Church — Saint Michael’s Church — Saint
Louis Bertrand’s Church — Holy Rosary Academy —
Little Sisters of the Poor — Sisters of Mercy — Saint
Augustin’s Church — Saints Mary and Elizabeth
Hospital — Saint Benedict Academy — Sacred Heart
Church — Saint Bridget’s Church — Saint Cecilia’s
Church — Church of the Blessed Sacrament — Saint
Agnes’ Church — Saint Vincent De Paul’s Church —
Saint Francis Assissium — Sacred Heart Retreat —
Holy Trinity Church — Church of Saint Frances of
Rome — Smallpox Epidemic in 1873 — Saint Mar-
garet’s Retreat — Saint Charles’ Church — Saint Jo-
seph’s Orphan Asylum — Xaverian Brothers — Saint
Mary Magdalen’s Church — Saint Paul’s Church —
Saint Aloysius’ Church — Church of the Holy Name —
Holy Cross Church.
CHAPTER XII.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.— 133.
BY RIGHT REV. T. U. DUDLEY, D. D., LL. D.
Planting of the Church Upon the Western Continent —
John Cabot’s Discovery of the North American Con-
tinent— Sir Francis Drake on the Coast of Northern
California — Services Held by Francis Fletcher,
Priest of the English Church — Establishment of the
Colony at Jamestown, Virginia — Foundation of Our
Republican Form of Government Laid by English
Churchmen — Leaders of the Struggling States Chil-
dren of the Church of England — Churchmen in the
Revolution — Difficulties in the Way of the Consecra-
tion of a Bishop for America — The Episcopate Ob-
tained— The Church in Virginia — The Church in
Kentucky — First Missionary Sent to Kentucky —
First Church Established at Lexington — First Church
Services in Louisville — Christ Church Organized —
Early Conventions — Diocese of Kentucky — Theolog-
ical Seminary Chartered — An Unhappy Episode —
Saint Paul’s Church — Saint John’s Parish — Saint
Andrews’ Parish — Calvary Church — Grace Church —
Saint Peter’s Church — Trinity Church — Zion Church
— Saint Mark’s African Church — Saint Stephen’s
Chapel — Missions — Charities and Schools — Defection
of Rev. Dr. Cummins — His Organization of the Re-
formed Episcopal Church — Division of the Diocese
in 1895 — Election of a New Bishop.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE-
153.
BY REV. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D.
Early Settlement of Presbyterian Families— Whence
They Came — Rev. Daniel C. Banks and His Work-
Organization of Church— Erection of House of Wor-
ship-Rev. Daniel Smith First Pastor Installed—
Rev. Gideon Blackburn — Revival of 1828 — Rev. E.
N. Sawtell — Pastorate of Rev. George W. Ashbridge
— Installation of Rev. W. L. Breckinridge — Destruc-
tion of First Church by Fire — Organization of Sec-
ond Church — Installation of Rev. E. N. Sawtell —
Beginning of Dr. E. P. Humphrey's Pastorate — Or-
ganization of Third Church in Eastern Part of City
—Conveyance of Lot by Rev. R. J. Breckinridge —
Reorganization of Third Church in Western Part
of City — The New School Controversy — Two Schools
of Thought — Four Principal Sources of Trouble —
Plan of Control of 1801 — Ecclesiastical Control of
Educational Institutions — Doctrinal Differences —
New Measures in Conducting Revivals — Summaries
of New and Old School Positions — Property Question
Settled in Favor of Old School — Division in the
Synod of Kentucky — No Division in Louisville.
CHAPTER XIV.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: 1836-1866 — 161.
BY REV. EDWARD L. WARREN. D. D.
The First Church from 1836 to 1866 — New Church Build-
ing at Sixth and Green Streets — Meeting of General
Assembly in Louisville — Retirement of Rev. Dr.
Breckinridge from the Pastorate — Ministry of Dr.
Hoyt — Installation of Rev. Dr. Wilson — Second
Church from 1836 to 1866 — Mission Work of
This Church — Withdrawal of Members to Form
Chestnut Street Church— Address of Rev. Dr.
Humphrey at Dedication of Cave Hill Cemetery —
His Notable Sermon at Charlestown, South Carolina
— His Call to the Theological Seminary at Danville
— Installation of Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson — Rev.
John C. Young, Co-Pastor — The Third Church —
Death of Rev. J. T. Russell — Installation of Rev.
Joseph Huber — Pastorate of Rev. D. S. Tod — His
Experience Aboard the Ill-Fated Steamer “Lucy
Walker” — New Church at the Corner of Jefferson
and Eighth Streets— Ministry of Rev. B. M. Hobson
— New Church Building at Corner of Eleventh and
Walnut Streets — Destruction of This Church by
Tornado — Fifteen Persons Killed — Pastorate of Rev.
John H. Rice — Ministry of Rev. W. T. McElroy —
Fourth Church Organized — Rev. M. D. Williams in
Charge — Rev. F. Leroy, Sr. — Chestnut Street Church
Organized — Pastorate of Rev. Leroy J. Halsey — Dr.
J. L. McKee’s Pastorate — Death of William Rich-
ardson— Portland Avenue Church Organized — In-
stallation of Rev. A. A. E. Taylor — Rev. Edward
Wurts His Successor — Semi-Centennial Resume of
Church History — Distinctive Features of the Pres-
byterian Church — Constituent Elements — Division
of 1866 Into Northern and Southern Branches — Oc-
casion of the Disruption— Declaration and Testi-
mony— The “Spring Resolutions”— Action of the
General Assembly in Dissolving the Louisville Pres-
bytery— Litigation Over Church Property — Decision
of United States Supreme Court— Efforts to Bring
About a Reunion.
CONTENTS.
vii
CHAPTER XV.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: 1866-1896 —173.
BY REV. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D.
The Southern Churches — First Church 1866 to 1896 —
Death of William Garvin— Mission at Sixteenth and
Chestnut Streets — Differences between Dr. Wilson
and Some of His Elders Followed by Litigation —
Decision by the Court of Appeals — Death of Samuel
Casseday — Division of Second Church in 1866 — Ded-
ication of New Church Building — Death of A. A.
Gordon — Death of Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson — Third
Church 1866 to 1896 — Formation of West Chestnut
Street Church — Erection of Church at Walnut and
Nineteenth Streets — Name of West Chestnut Church
Changed to Fifth Church — Rev. Dr. Wilson and a
Portion of His Congregation Unite with the North-
ern Assembly — Union of Fifth and Third Churches
Under the Name of Third Church — Purchase of
Sixteenth and Walnut Street Property by Third
Church — Division of. Fourth Church in 1866 — Forma-
tion of Westminster Church — Dissolution of the
Church and Sale of Its Property — Portland Avenue
Church 1866 to 1896 — Highland Presbyterian Church
— Woodland Church — Westminster Church — Stuart
Robinson Memorial Church — Crescent Hill Church
Northern Churches — Chestnut Street Church 1866 to
1896 — McKee Mission Building Dedicated — -Dr. Mc-
Kee’s “Children’s Church” — Death of William S.
Vernon — Death of Edgar Needham — Broadway
Tabernacle — Name Changed to Warren Memorial
Church — College Street Church 1866 to 1896 — Forma-
tion of Covenant Church — Warren Church 1866 to
1896 — Twenty-Second Street Church 1880 to 1883 —
Fourth Church 1866 to 1896 — Central Church Formed
— Death of J. G. Barret — Knox Church — Green
Street Colored Church — Olivet Church — Name of
Olivet Changed to Calvary Church — Alliance Church
— Orphans’ Home Society — Theological Seminary —
Resume of Church History — Church Press and
Church Literature — Moderators of General Assembly
— A Republican Church in a Republic.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.—
189.
BY REV. JOHN A. M'KAMY.
One of the Junior American Churches — Pioneer Ken-
tuckians Had a Large Part in the Organization of
Cumberland Presbyterianism — The Great Revival of
1797— Conditions Supplied for the Free Exercise of
the Religious Spirit— Criticism and Opposition-
Cleavage in the Presbytery— Cumberland Presbytery
Dissolved — An Independent Presbyterian Body
Formed — Became Known as the Cumberland Pres-
byterian Church— Rapid Growth of the Church—
The Church in Louisville.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE— 194.
BY REV. T. T. EATON, D. D., LL. D.
First Sermon Preached in Louisville by a Baptist
Preacher— Squire Boone, Brother of Daniel Boone,
the Preacher — First Baptist Church in Jefferson
County — “The Baptist Church of Beargrass” — Rev.
John Whitaker, Pastor — First Baptist Church of
Louisville — Second Baptist Church — Consolidation
of First and Second Churches as Walnut Street
Church — East Church — Chestnut Street Church—
Broadway Church — Twenty-Second Street Church —
McFerran Memorial Church — Franklin Street Church
— German Baptists — Highland Church— Logan Street
Church — Portland Avenue Church — Southgate Street
Church — Third Avenue Church — Twenty-Sixth
Street Church — Parkland Church — Baptist Missions
— Orphans’ Home — Western Recorder — Book Con-
cern— Colored Baptists — Theological Seminary.
CHAPTER XVIII.
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.— 204.
BY REV. JOHN W. CUNNINGHAM.
Founders of Methodism — Mission to America— Conver-
sion of the Wesleys — Among the Moravians — Open-
Air Preaching— Society and Chapel in Bristol— Fet-
ter Lane Society— First Methodist Meetings in “The
Foundry” — Commemorative Churches — City Road
Chapel — Wesley Chapel Eccumenical — Why Called
Methodists — Calvanistic Methodists — Local and Itin-
erant Preachers — Conferences — Wesley a Book-
Maker and Philanthropist — His Personal Appear-
ance— Methodist Scholars and Teachers — Initial
Work for America — Embury in New York — Straw-
bridge in Maryland — A Preacher in Regimentals —
Missionaries to America — American Conferences —
Early American Preachers — Wesley and the Ameri-
can Societies — Methodist Episcopal Church Organ-
ized— Initial Work for Kentucky — First Preachers
and Church Members — James Haw and Benjamin
Ogden — In Peril by Savages — The Itinerants’ First
Society — A Gravestone’s Record — Progress of Meth-
odism in Kentucky — Methodism in Louisville —
Bishops Asbury, McKendree and Roberts — Louis-
ville Preachers — Book Concerns— Church Papers —
Educational — Missionary Operations — General Con-
ference of 1844 — Action of Southern Conferences —
Louisville Convention — Methodist Episcopal Church
South Organized — Louisville Honored— First Gen-
eral Conference — In Peril by War — Church Exten-
sion— Southern Methodist Churches in Louisville
— Louisville District — Louisville Conference — la
Memoriam — German Methodism — Methodism Among
the Africans— Methodist Protestant Church — Note
by the Author.
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE— 226.
BY REV. E. L. POWELL.
The Larger Movement, of Which the Louisville Church
Is a Part — Inauguration of a Religious Reformation
— Alexander Campbell the Central Figure in This
Movement — Sketch of His Early Life — His Father,
Thomas Campbell, Comes to the United States — The
Son Follows the Father— Thomas Campbell’s Minis-
terial Labors— The Younger Campbell Enters the
Ministry — Organization of the “First Church of the
Christian Association”— Baptism by Immersion One
of Its Tenets— Redstone Association— Mahoning
Association — Barton W. Stone Begins the Reform
Movement in Kentucky — Famous Revival Meetings
—The New Church Takes the Name of “Christian
Church” — Union of Reformers — The “Christian
Messenger”— Present General Status of the Church
—First Church Established in Louisville— Its Growth
and Subsequent History— Other Churches— Orphans’
Home— The Church and Its Doctrines.
CHAPTER XX.
HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH. — 250.
BY REV. JOHN HEYWOOD.
American Unitarianism— Its First Organized Expression
in New England — Unitarianism a Daughter of Con-
gregationalism— Kings Chapel of Boston How It
Became the First Unitarian Church in America—
Stress Laid on Ecclesiastical and Personal Inde-
pendence-Continuation of an Unending Discussion
—Liberal Christianity— A National Unitarian Con-
ference Held in New York— The Unitarian Church
Relatively a Small One— Nevertheless It Is a Power
in the World of Thought— The Church in Louisville
— Rev. James Freeman Clarke's Pastorate — Church
of the Messiah— The Church During the Civil War
—Its Growth Since the War.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.— 256.
BY REV. S. S. WALTZ, D. D.
Character and Spirit of the Church at Large— Born in
a Great Religious Struggle— A Church of Great
Moral Heroism — Its Doctrinal and Theological Sys-
tem— An Educational Church — Had Its Origin in
Central Germany and Partook of the Mold of That
Splendid People — Interweaving of the Lutheran
Church in American History — Founding of the
Church in This Country — Henry Melchior Muhlen-
berg and His Great Work — Lutheran Church in
Kentucky — First Church in Jefferson County at Jef-
fersontown — Action of the Lutheran Synod of the
West — First English Lutheran Church Established
in Louisville — Second Church — Third Church — Saint
Paul’s Church — Grace Church — Trinity Church —
German Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL SYNOD.— 264.
BY REV. THEOPHILAS F. BODE.
The Synod of German Origin — Mistaken by Many for the
Lutheran and by Others for the Reformed Church —
Points of Difference — Lutherans and Reform
Churchmen May Come Together in This Church —
The Church Known in Germany as the Prussian
Union — Its Existence in This Country — Churches in
Louisville.
CHAPTER XXIII
SOCIETY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.— 267.
BY REV. E. A. BEAMAN.
Earliest Members of the Society in Louisville — First
Society Regularly Formed — It Becomes an Incor-
porated Body — Analysis of New Church Doctrines —
Signs of the Times — Revelation — Swedenborg’s
Writings — The Great Motive of Life.
CHAPTER XXIV.
JEWS AND JUDAISM IN LOUISVILLE.— 273.
BY THE EDITOR.
Oppression of the Jews — Heroism of the Oppressed —
Asylum Offered Them in America — Other Nations
Begin to Treat Them with Humanity and Justice —
The Jews in England Prior to 1846 — Their Political
Disabilities in that Country — Jews in Germany —
Subjected There to Great Hardships — Napoleon’s
Decree Concerning Them — Limited Jewish Immigra-
tion to America Until Half a Century After the
Revolution — Early Jewish Immigrants to Kentucky
— Intermarriage of Jews and Christians — A Distinct
Jewish Element in Louisville — Jewish Congregation
Organized Here in 1842 — Adas Israel Congregation—
Its Charter — Names of Incorporators — First Perma-
nent House of Worship — Present Synagogue —
Erected in 1867 — An Oriental Structure — First Rabbi
— Pastorate of Rabbi Moses — Sketch of His Career-
Other Jewish Churches.
CONTENTS.
tx
CHAPTER XXV.
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.— 277.
BY OWEN GATHRIGHT, JR., AND W. M. DANNER.
Origin of the Association — Founded in London, England,
in 1844 — George Williams the Founder — A Move-
ment Which Met One of the Needs of the Times —
Semi-Centennial Meeting in Westminster Abbey —
Honors to the Founder of the Association — Initial
Steps in the Formation of American Associations —
The Movement Inaugurated in Louisville in 1853 —
First Officers of the First Local Association — Con-
ference of Associations at Buffalo in 1854 — League
of Christian Associations Organized — Louisville As-
sociation Joins the League — Lecture Courses Inau-
gurated Under Association Auspices — The Associa-
tion in 1859 — A Memorable Meeting — The Association
Merged Into the Christian Commission — Its Work
During the Civil War — Reorganized in 1865 — Incor-
porated in 1867 — Financial Difficulties — A Crisis —
Practical Dissolution of the Association — Revived in
1875 — Co-operation of Leading Men Secured — Inter-
national Convention of Young Men’s Christian As-
sociations Held in Louisville — Its Good Results — A
Building Fund Created — The Association Reorgan-
ized on the “Metropolitan Plan” — Present Depart-
ments of the Work — Central Department — Railroad
Department — Colored Men’s Department — Amalga-
mation of the Central and German Young Men's
Associations — Medical College Department — Pur-
chase of Property by the Association — A New Build-
ing Needed — Efforts Now Being Made to Provide
Such a Building — A Fund of One Hundred Thousand
Dollars to Be Raised for that Purpose — More than
Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars Already Subscribed
— Officers of the Association — Kentucky State Asso-
ciation.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS —
285.
BY RANDOLPH H. BLAIN, ESQ.
Governmental Charities — Denominational Charities —
Outdoor Relief Work — Private Charities — Louis-
ville Charity Organization Society — Its Objects —
Plan of Organization — Governing Body — Systematic
Work — The Wayfarers’ Rest — Humane Society —
Children’s Home Society — Flower Mission — Other
Charities — Free Kindergarten Association — First
Steps Toward Its Organization — First Free Kinder-
garten Established — Progress of the Work — Present
Status — Kentucky Institution for the Blind — First
Organized Movement for the Education of the Blind
in America — Founding of the Kentucky School as a
Private Charity — Friends and the State Come to Its
Assistance — Interruption of the Work by the Civil
War — Buildings and Grounds — Board of Visitors —
American Printing House for the Blind— School for
the Blind — Norton Memorial Infirmary — Founded by
Mrs. M. Louise Norton — A Noble Charity.
CHAPTER XXVII.
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.— 296.
BY H. B. GRANT, ESQ.
Teachings of Free Masonry — Why Free Masons Were So
Called — Ancient York Masons — Freemasonry Purely
Operative Prior to 1396 — Speculative Masonry —
Early History Interspersed with Fable and Romance
— Masonry in the Middle Ages — Grand Lodge in Eng-
land Formed in 1717 — Masonry in America — Provin-
cial Lodges — First Grand Lodge Organized — First
Sovereign Grand Lodge — Masonry in Kentucky —
First Lodge Organized at Lexington — Chartered by
the Grand Lodge of Virginia — Grand Lodge of Ken-
tucky Organized — Masonic Literature — Blue Lodges
of Louisville — The Masonic Temple — La Fayette’s
Visit to Louisville Lodges — Past Masters — Lodges of
Instruction — Capitular Masonry — A Grand Royal
Arch Chapter — Mark Lodges — The Order of High-
priesthood — Cryptic Masonry — Chivalric Masonry —
The Scottish Rite — Order of the Eastern Star — Ma-
sonic Home — Saint John’s Day Celebration — The
Mystic Shrine.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS— 311.
BY W. W. MORRIS, ESQ.
Odd Fellowship a Benefactor of the Human Race — An
Order That Teaches the Higher Ideal of Life — Eng-
land the Place of Its Origin — The Order Mentioned
Early in the Eighteenth Century — Lodges Originally
Formed by Workingmen — Each Lodge Supreme in
the Early History of the Order — Wildey the Father
of American Odd Fellowship — The Order Estab-
lished in This Country in 1819 — First Lodge Insti-
tuted in Baltimore, Maryland — Boone Lodge Insti-
tuted in Louisville in 1833 — Officers of the Parent
Lodge in Kentucky — Grand Lodge of the United
States Organized — Grand Lodge of the State of
Kentucky — Formed in 1836 — Encampment Branch of
the Order — First Encampment Instituted at Louis-
ville in 1837 — Subordinate Lodges and Encampments
— Rebekah Lodge — Practical Work of Odd Fellow-
ship.
CHAPTER XX TX.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHTAS AND OTHER SOCIETIES.
314.
BY THE EDITOR.
A General Review of the Growth of Fraternal Sentiment
in Louisville — The Knights of Pythias— The Order
X
CONTENTS.
Instituted in Washington, D. C., in 1864— First
Grand Lodge Organized— Author of the Ritual of
the Order — The Chief Promoter of Its Growth — First
Lodge Established in Kentucky — Clay Lodge, No.
1, of Louisville the Pioneer — Lodges Now in Exist-
ence— Order of Red Men — A Purely American Order
— Organized in 1776 — Two Tribes of the Order in
Louisville — Order of Elks — Composed Originally of
Members of the Dramatic Profession — “Social Ses-
sions” and Toasts to “Absent Brothers” — Number of
Lodges in the United States — American Protective
Association — Political in Character — Objects of the
Association — Its Influence in Kentucky Politics —
Number of Councils in Louisville — The Royal Ar-
canum— National Provident Union — Ancient Order
of United Workingmen — Senior Order of United
American Mechanics — Chosen Friends — American
Legion of Honor — Knights of the Ancient Essenic
Order — Knights of the Maccabees — Knights of Honor
— Knights and Ladies of Honor — Knights of the
Golden Rule — Improved Order of Heptasophs — Tem-
perance Societies — Ancient Order of Hibernians —
Catholic Societies — Hebrew Societies — Military Or-
ganizations— Labor Unions — Other Orders, Societies
and Brotherhoods.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL CLUB— 318.
BY MARMADUKE B. BOWDEN, ESQ.
Organization of the Club — Its Object — First Secretary
of the Club — Its Modest Quarters — Its First Public
Service — The Club Rooms a Gathering Place for
Business Men — Many Important Enterprises Origi-
nated There — The Columbia Building an Outgrowth
of Its Enterprise — Club Entertainments — Work of
Its Employment Committee — Good Work Done by
the Press Committee — Encouragement Given to
Building and Loan Associations — Its Warfare on
Swinging Signs — The Commercial Club Patrol — The
Club’s Efforts in Behalf of the Park System — A
Census of the City Taken Under Its Auspices — Work
Done in Behalf of a “World’s Fair” Appropriation
— The May Music Festival of 1891 — The Club Makes
a Sanitary Survey of the City — The Financial Panic
of 1893 — Its Effect on the Commercial Club — Re-
moval of Club Rooms to Board of Trade Building —
National Encampment of the Grand Army of the
Republic — Efforts of the Club to Bring the Encamp-
ment to Louisville — Its Hospitable Entertainment
of the Visiting Veterans — Work of the City Devel-
opment Committee — The United Editorial Associa-
tion of Indiana Entertained — An Excursion of Ken-
tuckians Conducted to the Atlanta Exposition-
Representatives of the Club at Important Conven-
tions— Efforts in Behalf of Needed Municipal Legis-
lation— Usefulness of the Club.
CHAPTER XXXI.
JOCKEY, SOCIAL, LITERARY AND OTHER CLUBS.
—323.
BY THE EDITOR.
The Jockey Club Organized in 1876— Its First Meeting—
Its Modest Club House— Integrity of Its Managers
— Reorganization of 1895— Extensive Improvements
Made on the Club Grounds— Successful Racing Sea-
sons—Louisville Always a Notable Racing Point-
Races Run on Market Street in 1783— A Jockey Club
Advertisement in 1823— Famous Race Horses Which
Have Run at Louisville— Oakland Race Course —
Woodlawn Race Course — The Louisville Driving and
Fair Association — Organized in 1895 — Lovers of Trot-
' ting Horses Its Promoters — Its Splendid Track and
First Meeting — Social Clubs — The Pendennis — The
Kenton Club — Standard Club — Athletic Club — The
Riding Club — The Waterson Club— The Garfield
Club — The Iroquois Driving and Cycling Club — The
Filson Club — The Salmagundi Club.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THEATERS AND THEATRICAL STARS— 328.
BY THE EDITOR.
The Drama Held in High Favor by the Pioneers of Louis-
ville— Strolling Companies Which Came Down the
River in Flatboats — A Theater Opened in 1808 — A
Sorry Structure — Remodeled in 1818 — Daniel Drake
as a Theatrical Manager — His Theater a Credit to
Himself and to the Town of Louisville — Alexander
Drake a Talented Actor— Julia Drake Chapman —
The Chapman Sisters — Visit of the Duke of Saxe-
Weimar at Louisville — His Attendance at a Benefit
to Mrs. Drake — His High Compliment to the Actress
— Old-Time Play-Bills — The Drake Family — Theat-
rical Stock Companies — Edwin Forrest in Louisville
in 1839 — Fanny Davenport’s Appearance — Descrip-
tion of the Old Louisville Theater — The Elder Booth
— His Friendship with Drake — Other Old-Time Fa-
vorites of the Stage — Decline of the Old Louisville
Theater — Its Destruction by Fire — The New Louis-
ville Theater — Its Location the Site of the Present
Courier-Journal Building — Its Prosperous Career of
a Quarter of a Century— Famous Actors Who Ap-
peared There — Macaulay’s Theater — Opening of This
Famous Play House — Mary Anderson’s Debut- -
Sketch of Her Career — Present Day Theaters.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FEDERAL, COUNTY AND CITY BUILDINGS— 332.
BY THE EDITOR.
The Most Notable Public Building in Louisville — Occu-
pied by the Post Office and Other Federal Offices —
CONTENTS.
xi
Space Devoted to the Post Office — United States
Courts — Internal Revenue Office — Surveyor of Cus-
toms— Pension Bureau — History of the Louisville
Post Office — First Postmaster — The Old Post Office
Building — List of Postmasters — Receipts of the
Office in 1799— Receipts in 1896— Executive Force of
the Office — Carriers’ Force — Old-Time Rates of Post-
age— Inauguration of the Delivery System — The
Court House — Projected on a Pretentious Scale —
Partially Completed in 1839. Completed as It Now
Stands in 1859 — The City and County Jail — City Hall
— Projected in 1866 — Completed in 1873 — Total Cost
of the Building — Damaged by Fire in 1875 — The
City Hospital — United States Marine Hospital —
Other Public Buildings — Notable Business Blocks —
Conspicuous Church Edifices.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE PUBLIC PARKS AND PARKWAYS.— 338.
BY COL. ANDREW COWAN.
Conditions Existing When Louisville Was Founded —
Forethought of Gen. George Rogers Clark — His
Suggestion of a Park System — Sale of Lands Re-
served for This Purpose to Pay Debts — Baxter
Square and One-Half of Court House Square the
Only Remnants of the Original Park Grounds —
Effort Made to Establish a Park in 1824 — Ground
Purchased for a Park in 1851 — This Land Given to
the House of Refuge in 1860 — Proposition to Make a
Park of Corn Island — Failure of the Project — Plan
for a Park System Formulated by the Salmagundi
Club — Public Interest Aroused Through a Published
Paper of Andrew Cowan — Legislation on the Subject
Asked For — The Commercial Club’s Efforts in This
Behalf — Park Bill Passed by the Legislature in 1890
— Park Commissioners Elected Thereunder — Issu-
ance of Park Bonds — Lands Purchased for Park Pur-
poses— Three Suburban Parks Established — Small
Parks and Interior Squares — Cherokee, Shawnee and
Iroquois Parks — Significance of the Names — Boone
Square, Logan Place and Kenton Place — Improve-
ment of the Parks — The Southern Parkway — Judi-
cious Use Made of Park Funds — Locations of the
Parks — Policy of the Park Commissioners.
CHAPTER XXXV.
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.— 344.
BY THE EDITOR.
“Cave Farm’’ — The Home of an Early Settler of Louis-
ville— The City Becomes Owner of the Farm — Quar-
ries Opened on the Property — Certain Lots Reserved
for Burial Purposes in the Town as Originally Laid
Out — These Spots Encroached Upon by the Increase
of Population — Old-Time Cemeteries — Their Conver-
sion to Other Uses — Changes in the Matter of Sepul-
ture— Visible Effects of Modern Civilization — Con-
trol of Cemeteries by Corporate Bodies — The
French People Pioneers in This Beneficent Innova-
tion— The Cemetery a Criterion of the Refinement
of the City to Which It Is Attached — Sectarian
Cemeteries of Louisville — Saint Louis Catholic Cem-
etery— Adas Israel Cemetery — The Methodist Ceme-
etery — Saint Stephen's Cemetery — Non-Sectarian
Cave Hill Cemetery — The Cave Hill Cemetery Com-
pany— Chartered in 1848 — A Portion of Cave Hill
Farm Conveyed to This Corporation — Dedication of
the Cemetery — Address of Rev. E. W. Sehon — Ode
of Fortunatus Cosby — Address of Rev. E. P. Hum-
phrey— A Memorable Utterance — Broad Spirit Man-
ifested in the Inauguration of the Cemetery — Entire
Absence of Sectarian Jealousy and Partisan Spirit —
Present Total Acreage of These Beautiful Burying
Grounds — Creation of a Perpetual Fund for the
Preservation of the Grounds— Cave Hill Investment
Company — A Sacred Endowment — Officers and Di-
rectors of Cave Hill Investment Company — Officers
of the Cemetery Company — Cemetery Improvements
—Admirable Taste and Skill of the Landscape Gar-
deners Employed — Impress of David Ross, First
Superintendent, Left Upon the Cemetery— Robert
Ross His Worthy Successor — Robert Campbell the
Present Superintendent — Miles of Avenues and
Drives — Trees, Shrubbery and Lawns— Geology of
the Cemetery — Total Number of Interments to June
1st, 1895 — Federal and Confederate Soldiers Buried
in the Cemetery — Cave Hill Gateway — Monuments
and Adornments — A Beautiful City of the Dead.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY— 354.
BY THE EDITOR.
THE APPENDICES.
TREATY OF FORT STANWIX.— 656.
TREATY OF WAUTAUGA.— 657.
LETTER FROM GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TO THE
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.— 659.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS TO GEN-
ERAL CLARK.— 653.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ahrens, Theodore, Sr 573
Alexander, George H 422
Allen, Charles J. F 649
Allmond, Angus R 523
Allison, Young E 505
Applegate, William E 586
Armstrong, John A • 525
Bailey, William 436
Baird, David : 542
Baird, David W 426
Ballard, Charles T 643
Barnard, Ignatius P 642
Barr, John W 399
Bay less, George W 437
Belknap, William B 653
Belknap, William R 654
Bell, Henry A 629
Blackburn, Cary B 439
Blain* Randolph H 417
Bode, Theophilus F 565
Bodine, James M 456
Bolling, William H 464
Borntraeger, Martin 632
Bouchet, M 533
Bowden, Marmaduke B 418
Boyce, James P 548
Boyle, St. John 401
Breckinridge, Alexander 613
Brenner, Carl C 512
Brinly, Thomas E. C 552
Broadus, John A 553
Brown, John M 611
Bruce, Horatio W 388
Bruce, Helm 405
Buckner, Benjamin F 365
Bullitt, John C 393
Bullitt, Thomas W 414
Bullock, William F 359
Burnett, Theodore L 362
Bush, William P. D 383
Caldwell, Isaac 602
Caldwell, James G 528
Caldwell, Junius 381
Caldwell, Peter 583
Caldwell, William B., Sr 434
Caldwell, William B., Jr 480
Carroll, Anthony J 421
Carter, James G 570
Carter, John A 567
Cartledge, A. Morgan 447
Cecil, John G 469
Cheatham, William 450
Colgan, John 483
Converse, Amasa 536
Cooke, Lyttleton 411
Cosby, Fortunatus, Jr 484
Cowan, Andrew 590
Craik, James 545
Dabney, Samuel G 469
Dallam, Douglas 631
Davie, George M 376
Davis, Vincent 474
Diehl, C. Dewis 473
Dodd, William 0 397
Drane, Joseph K 508
Dudley, Thomas U 534
Duncan, Garnett 620
Duncan, Henry F 508
DuRelle, George 416
Durrett, Robert 0 430
Durrett, William T 629
Eastin, George B 372
Eaton, Thomas T 558
Edwards, Isaac W 375
Elliot, Robert J 410
Erdman, Charles W 639
Field, Emmet 623
Foree, Erasmus D 448
Fox, Fontaine T 385
Fultz, John P 427
Gathright, Owen, Jr 579
Gathright, Richard 0 593
Gardner, Benjamin F 426
Gernert, Frederick, Sr 580
Gernert, Frederick, Jr..... 640
Gilbert, James C ; 481
Gilbert, Richard B 466
Gilmore, Thomas M 504
Goodloe, John K 366
Goodman, John 460
Gottbehoede, Lucas 557
Grant, Henry B 511
Grant, H. Horace 628
Grubbs, Charles S 394
Guthrie, Benjamin F 527
Haggin, W. T 386
Haldeman, Bruce 507
Haldeman, John A 506
Haldeman, Walter N 493
Haldeman, William B 499
Harbison, John J 535
Hartwell, Frank N 482
Hast, Louis H 519
Hays, Thomas H 513
Helm, James P 390
Heywood, John H 559
Hill, William W 539
Hite, Alfred H 524
Hoke, William B 374
Hopper, James W 486
Houston, Russell 356
Hughes, John C 480
Huntoon, Benjamin B 583
Hussey, Frederick D 584
Jackson, William L., Sr 601
Jackson, William L., Jr 386
Johnson, B. Polk 603
Johnston, James C 630
Johnston, William 641
Kastenbine, Lewis D 461
Kelly, Robert M 497
Kinney, William R 381
Knott, Richard W 490
Kohn, Aaron 616
Krack, John A 597
Larrabee, John A 441
Lemont, Seward M 543
Letterle, John M 607
Logan, Emmett G 500
Low, Emory 524
Macfarlane, Graham 526
Macpherson, Cornelius G 574
Macpherson, Ernest 407
Mark, E. H 654
Marsh, Benjamin K 609
Marvin, Joseph B 439
Mathews, Joseph M 442
Maxwell, William H 651
McCarty, James W 518
McCawley, Benjamin F 454
McClarty, Clinton 608
McCloskey, William G 532
McCulloch, Joseph G 479
McFerran, James C 561
McKamy, John A 564
McKay, Enoch E 398
Menefee, Richard J 604
Miller, Henry 454
Miller, Jacob 587
Miller, Shackelford 409
Minnigerode, James G 652
Mix, William 379
Moore, George H 515
Moore, Sherley 517
Morton, Douglas 465
Muldoon, Michael 581
Muir, Peter B 355
Newman, Eugene W 502
Newman, George A 474
Noble, Lorenzo H 377
Norton, Ernest J 529
Norton, William F., Jr 530
Nunemacher, Frank C 633
O’Neal, Joseph T 625
Ouchterlony, John A 627
Ouerbacher, Frank S 614
Ouerbacher, John N 644
Overton, Thomas B 626
Palmer, Benjamin R 428
Palmer, Edward R 437
Perkins, Edmund T 561
Phelps, Zaeh 408
Pirtle, Henry 360
Pirtle, James G 419
Pope, Alfred T 364
Pope, Benjamin 645
Pope, Curran, Sr 635
Pope, Curran, Jr 452
Pope, William 645
Pope, William H 646
Pope, Worden 606
Powell, Llewellyn 433
Prather, Thomas 647
Preston, William 610
Pyles, Madison 446
Ray, James S 391
Reynolds, Dudley S 461
Richardson, William 650
Richie, Charles G 426
Rivers, Richard H 596
Robinson, Charles B 632
Robinson, Stuart 537
Rodman, David M 406
Rodman, William L 467
Rogers, Lewis 431
Rowan, John ; 618
Rowland, Edward 522
Satterwhite, Thomas P 451
Sears, Charles E 502
Schulte, William F 645
Scott, Preston B 444
Short, Charles W 455
Smith, Ballard 492
Smith, George W 425
Smith, James R. W 382
Smith, Zachary F 599
South wick, Charles 589
Spindle, Thadeus W 422
Stanton, Henry T 615
Stine, John W 541
Stoll, Albert A 625
Stone, Henry L 402
Strother, John C 424
Stucky, Harry 428
Stucky, Thos. Hunt 459
Sudduth, Watson A 395
Swope, Benjamin L 491
Terry, Alvah L 588
Teupe, Frank 520
Thomasson, William P 621
Thompson, Reginald H 598
Thruston, Charles Mynn 358
Thruston, Charles M 420
Thruston, John 432
Toney, Sterling B 623
Trabue, Edwin F 392
Turner, Oscar 594
Vance, Ap. Morgan 467
Verhoeff, Herman 637
Waltz, S. S 556
Warner, William A 509
Warren, L. L 566
Warren, Edward L 569
Wathen, William H 443
Watkins, Thomas G 503
Watterson, Henry 487
Watts, William W 423
Weller, John H 649
Wheat, John L 577
White, William P 463
Whitsitt, William H 546
Wickliffe, John C 414
Wicks, George W 655
Wilder, Edward 476
Wilder, Graham 477
Wilder, James B 470
Wilder, Oscar 472
Williams, Thomas 572
Winchester, Boyd 369
W'itherspoon, Thomas D 540
Wulkop, Frederick H 585
Yandell, David W 428
Yoe, Richard T 468
Young, Bennet H 371
xii
PORTRAITS.
Ahrens, Theodore 573
Applegate, William E 323
Baird, David 542
Barr, John W 31
Bodine, James M 44
Borntraeger, Martin 66
Bowden, Marmaduke B 318
Boyce, James P 194
Boyle, St. John 401
Brinly, Thomas E. C 552
Broadus, John A 196
Bruce, Horatio W 16
Bullitt, John C 393
Bullitt, Thomas W 24
Burnett, Theodore L 6
Bush, William P. D 11
Caldwell, James G 198
Caldwell, Peter 285
Caldwell, William B. Sr 35
Carter, James G 216
Carter, John A 204
Cartledge, A. Morgan 447
Colgan, John 483
Cooke, Lyttleton 20
Cowan, Andrew 338
Elliott, Robert J 410
Erdman, Charles W 311
Gathright, Owen Jr 277
Gernert, Frederick Sr 264
Goodloe, John K 1
Guthrie, Benjamin F 527
Harbison, John J 535
Hast, Louis H 85
Hays, Thomas H 513
Haldeman, Bruce 72
Haldeman, John A 70
Haldeman, Walter N 60
Haldeman, William B 68
Jackson, William L. Jr 386
Kelly, Robert M 64
Lemont, Seward M 148
Letterle, John M 260
Macpherson, Cornelius G 189
Marsh, Benjamin K 182
McCloskey, William G 98
McFerran, James C 561
Miller, Jacob 587
Mix, William 379
Moore, George H 90
Muir, Peter B 354
Muldoon, Michael 296
Newman, George A 133
Ouchterlony, John A 42
Palmer, Edward R 437
Pope, Alfred T 384
Robinson, Stuart 161
Scott, Preston B 38
Smith, Zachary 80
Stine, John W 144
Stone, Henry L 402
Stucky, Thomas Hunt 459
Sudduth, Watson A 395
Swope, Benjamin L 77
Teupe, Frank 94
Thruston, Charles M 420
Turner, Oscar 12
Verhoeff, Herman 332
Warren, Edward L 153
Warren, L. L 173
Watterson, Henry 57
Wilder, Edward 476
Wilder, James B 49
Wilder, Oscar 472
Wulkop, Frederick H 256
Yandell, David W 428
Young, Bennett H 371
xiil
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE.
BY REUBEN T. DURRETT, A. M., LL. D.
It is not generally conceded that there is much
poetry in the austere judges who try to right the
wrongs of erring mortals, nor in the
BenSetan(i0Bar. wrangling lawyers who take con-
flicting views of the matters brought
before them. And yet it must be acknowledged that
there is some poetry connected with both of them
when all the judges of a locality are known as “the
bench” and all the lawyers as “the bar.” The judges
we know are called the bench because in ancient
times they sat on benches or long wooden stools
when they heard causes, but surely nothing less
figurative or creative than poetry could make uni-
versally known the whole body of learned and re-
fined judges of modem times as the wooden bench
on which their ignorant and rough predecessors sat
hundreds of years ago. Nor is the figure of speech
less poetical which converts the rough wooden rail-
ing which originally fenced off the lawyers from
the audience into the whole body of lawyers them-
selves. This poetic flight, however, was not so
marvelous in Louisville where the justices of the
peace who were the judges in early times literally
sat on a wooden bench in a log' cabin. There they
appeared in their buckskin hunting shirts and
breeches with their long flint-lock rifles by their sides
and their scalping knives in their belts. All that
poetic fancy had to do was to determine whether it
would designate them as the bench, the shirt, the
breeches, the flint-lock or the scalper. Poetry was
polite enough to avoid the other characteristics and
designate them as the bench. By the authority of
poetry as well as antiquity we may therefore proper-
ly call the early justices the bench of Louisville as
we call the early lawyers the bar.
Louisville was incorporated by an act of the Vir-
ginia Legislature in 1780, as a town in Jefferson
County, Virginia. The laws of Vir-
The courts of q-jnia created the original courts in
Virginia. & b
which our judges sat, and we must
therefore look to these courts for the kind of judges
that conducted them. The judge could be none
other than one suited to the court in which he was
to sit, and hence to know the courts is to be in-
formed of the judges.
In the judicial system of Virginia, at the time
Louisville came into existence, there were three
Supreme Courts, known as the High Court of Chan-
cery, in which three judges sat; the General Court,
presided over by five judges, and the Admiralty
Court, held by three judges. There was also one
Supreme Court called the Court of Appeals, which
was composed of all the judges who sat in the other
three superior courts.
In 1782 the Legislature of Virginia created an-
other superior court, especially for Kentucky, which
was known as the District Court. It was intended
to take the place of the High Court of Chancery and
me General Court, and thus enable Kentuckians to
litigate their causes without the inconvenience of
going 600 miles through a wilderness to the capital
of the country. It was presided over by three judges
and had the jurisdiction of the two Superior Courts
it was intended to replace.
None of these Virginia courts, however, ever held
a session in Louisville. The Court of Appeals, the
High Court of Chancery and the General Court held
their sessions at Richmond, the Admiralty Court at
Williamsburg and the District Court of Kentucky
first at Harrodsburg and afterward at Danville. I11-
1
2
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
stead of the learned judges who sat in these five su-
perior courts at Richmond and Williamsburg and
Danville, Louisville had a lot of justices of the peace
who presided over all of her courts from the first in
1781 to the establishment of Circuit Courts in 1803.
In the Virginia system, however, every county in
the State had quarterly courts, county courts and
courts held by single justices. These courts were all
held by justices of the peace who were abundantly
appointed by the Governor. They were not selected-
for their knowledge of the law, but for their standing
in the community. A respectable farmer with broad
acres and sleek horses and fat cattle and burly
negroes was the favorite material for a justice, but
the capitalist, the astute merchant, the skillful me-
chanic, and the affable landlord also sometimes
shared the honor. They were distributed over the
country so as to make their single courts conven-
ient for all neighbors at loggerheads. When the
subject of litigation did not exceed $4.16, or the of-
fense to be tried was less than felony, the jurisdic-
tion of these justices was original and complete, but
if the value was beyond $4.16 or the crime felony,
there was an appeal to the County or Quarterly
Court.
A County Court consisting of four or more jus-
tices was held each month in Louisville, and a
Quarterly Court, consisting of three or more jus-
tices, was held four times a year. All these justices
courts combined furnished a remedy for every
wrong that was not too big for their grasp or that
was not peculiar to the remedy provided by the
District Court at Danville or one of the Superior
Courts beyond the mountains. They were never-
theless presided over by persons claiming no knowl-
edge of the law and who consequently made the
bench of Louisville a body of justices of the peace
instead of judges.
When Kentucky became an independent State
she adopted, with but few alterations, the judicial
system of Virginia. At the first ses-
KCourtsky sion of tlle Legislature in 1792, sin-
gle Justices Courts, County Courts,
Quarterly Courts, a Court of Oyer and Terminer
and a Court of Appeals were established. One im-
portant change was the allowing of fees to justices
of the peace who had previously served for the honor
of the office, and another the giving of original jur-
isdiction to the Court of Appeals in land suits. All
the other changes were more of form than substance
and reached the same remedies in different ways.
In I795 District Courts were established which
took original jurisdiction from the Court of Appeals
and abolished the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
Louisville, however, still seemingly unfortunate in
her location, did not secure the District Court. It
was held at Bardstown, and Louisville was still left
with her courts held by justices of the peace.
In 1802 the District Courts were abolished and
Circuit Courts established in their place. Now for
the first time* it came to the lot of Louisville to begin
to have her courts held by judges instead of justices
of the peace. The act creating the Circuit Courts
made Jefferson County one of the circuits and desig-
nated Louisville as the place in which the courts
should be held by one judge and two assistants,
On the 7th of March, 1803, the first Circuit Court
was held in Louisville by Stephen Ormsby, judge,
and Henry Churchill assistant. Robert Breckin-
ridge was the other assistant, but he did not appear
and take his seat until the following September.
At last Louisville had gotten one real judge to
make up her bench. The two assistants, Henry
Churchill and Robert Breckinridge, did not pretend
to be lawyers, but Stephen Ormsby was a lawyer,
and a good one. The next best thing to be done
was to get rid of these assistants and have none but
lawyers for judges. This was done by the act of
1807, which made Jefferson County a part of the
Fifth Judicial District, and Stephen Ormsby sole
judge to hold the circuit courts of this county in
Louisville. And thus after twenty-six long and
weary years of courts held by justices of the peace,
Louisville had a single court in which no justice of
the peace appeared, but in which one thoroughbred
judge sat with the real learning and dignity of the
bench.
We must not, however, cherish ill-memories
of these old justices of the peace, even if
they were not capable of elevating the bench
to its proper dignity and learning. They were
honest men and true, whose sound judg-
ment seldom led them to a hurtful deci-
sion. Some of them, like Colonel John Campbell,
were hard men, who, like Shylock, demanded with
inexorable pertinacity their pound of flesh, but no
scandals have come down to our times concerning
them. The records of the County Court show that
no less than thirty-six of them sat as judges from
1784 to 1803, when the Circuit Court act went into
effect. How many of them sat in the County and
Quarterly Courts before 1784 we have no means of
ascertaining, as the records have not been preserved.
But some are known to have so served, while the
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE.
3
number of those who held single courts in different
neighborhoods, both before and after 1784, must
have been considerable. The following is a list of
those whose presence in the county courts before
1803 have been preserved with the years in which
they first appeared in court:
Richard Chenowith 1784
Isaac Cox 1784
George May 1784
William Oldham 1784
Isaac Morrison 178 4
Samuel Smyth 1784
George Wilson 1784
Samuel Culbertson 1784
Philip Phillips 1784
George Slaughter 1784
Andrew Hynes 17 84
James F. Moore 1784
William Pope 1785
Richard Taylor 1785
David Meriwether 1785
John Campbell 1785
Richard Terrill 1785
Alexander Breckinridge 1785
Robert Breckinridge 1785
Edmund Taylor 1786
Richard Eastin 1786
James Blackwell 1788
Samuel Oldham 1788
John Hughes 1788
Richard J. Waters 1788
James Merriwether 1789
Cad. Slaughter 1789
Abraham Hite 1790
Marsham Brashears 1791
John Harrison 1791
Martin Daniel 1791
Philip Buckner 1791
John Thruston 1792
John S. Gwynne .1792
Richard C. Anderson 1793
Henry Churchill 1793
Henry Duncan 1800
John Hunter 1803
It will be seen by the foregoing list that as many
as twelve of these justices of the peace sat as judges
in 1784. It is not likely that all of them received
their appointment from the Governor that year. In
fact, it is known that some of them bore commis-
sions dated before 1784. If the records from 1781
to 1784 had not been destroyed in the fire which
consumed the first court house in 1787, we might
discover some of them making their appearance in
court in 1781, 1782 and 1783. When Jefferson,
Fayette and Lincoln counties were carved out of
Kentucky County in 1780 nearly all of the justices
who had been appointed for Kentucky County were
found to reside in Fayette and Lincoln counties. On
the 12th of December, 1780, Colonel John Floyd
wrote to the Governor of Virginia that enough jus-
tices were not left in Jefferson County to hold a
court and recommended the appointment of Colonel
George May, William Oldham, James Francis
Moore and Richard and William May, the last two
of whom, he stated, had long been justices in Ken-
tucky. Richard Chenowith was sheriff of Jefferson
County, as shown by his acts in 1781, and this posi-
tion he could not have held under the old Virginia
rule of conferring this office on the oldest magis-
trate, unless he had been a justice of the peace.
There is evidence going to show also that George
Slaughter, Isaac Cox, Andrew Hines, William
Pope, John Floyd and others were made justices of
the peace for Jefferson County as early as 1781.
As soon as the Indians allowed the justices to
leave the forts and hold their courts in the sixteen-
by-twenty-foot log cabin, with
CourtHouse. board roof and puncheon floor,
which had been completed at a cost
of $309.79 in 1785, the justices as well as the lawyers
seemed to take both pleasure and pride in their
new quarters, humble as they were. On one occa-
sion, when three of the seemingly best fed of the
justices were holding a County Court and disposing
of cases in their own quiet way, John Rice Jones,
who had just gained a case for his client, asked his
fellow-attorney, Gabriel J. Johnston, who had just
lost one, what could be better than three justices
holding court? Johnston promptly replied, “One
justice.”
Ignorant as these justices were of the law, and
dependent entirely upon the lawyers for what they
learned during a trial, they, as a matter of course,
sometimes blundered and not unfrequently rendered
decisions that were amusing. Some of their curious
and funny decisions have come down in tradition
and are here given, not in a spirit of ridicule, but
as a legitimate morsel of the history of courts held
by justices of the peace unlearned in the law.
A merchant bought 100 bushels of corn of a
farmer and stipulated that it was to remain in his
crib until he could ship it by the
river. The corn remained with the
farmer one year and when the mer-
Curlous
Decisions.
4
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
chant came for it the farmer demanded pay for the
care of it so long. The merchant sued the farmer
for his ioo bushels, and the justice decided that
although the farmer might not be entitled to com-
pensation for keeping the corn under his contract,
he was entitled to lawful interest for the care of it
one year, and allowed him six bushels as interest.
A land suit having been brought in the name of
John Doe against Richard Roe, the justice thought
that the use of these fictitious names was intended to
make fun of his court. He therefore, when the day
of trial came, stated that the name of the plaintiff
might be John Doe or anything else so far as he
knew or cared, but as for the defendant, he knew
him very well, and his name was plain Dick Buck.
He dismissed the suit and entered judgment against
the plaintiff for costs.
A man who might have been good looking but
for an ugly wart on his face was one day sleeping
beneath a tree in his yard with the wart fully ex-
posed. A wag who saw it said he had not been able
to take an Indian scalp for some time, and that it
might be well to scalp that wart. With one stroke
of his hunting knife the wart was removed as nice-
ly as if done by a skillful surgeon. The wartless
man brought suit for the injury and laid his damage
at four pounds. The justice decided that he could
not have been damaged four pounds by the removal
of a wart only weighing an ounce, but on the con-
trary, that he was really benefited by having his
looks so much improved by the absence of the wart.
A man who had stolen some article of little value
was adjudged thirty-nine lashes at the whipping
Dost. The justice who tried him had just gotten his
commission and this was his first case. He had
heard the justices in passing sentence upon crim-
inals in the Quarterly Court end with “The Lord
have mercy on your soul,” and he wanted to follow
precedent in his learned decision. But like the pas-
senger who, having listened to the leadman sound-
ing for shallows until he thought he had learned
the song, and who, in an attempt to sing it, found
that he had retained the tune without the words, the
squire remembered the tone of the sentence but not
the words. He therefore wound up with the words
“and the whipping post have mercy on your back.”
A fellow notorious for lying was arrested for con-
fessing that he had stolen a pair of geese belonging
to a neighboring widow. The justice on hearing
that there was no testimony except his own confes-
sion dismissed the case, saying that he would not
believe the fellow on oath.
A miserly farmer being annoyed by pilferings
from his corn crib arranged a rope with a spring
so as to catch the next thief that might come. He
accidentally, however, got caught in his own trap
and was pretty nearly dead when a neighbor hap-
pened upon him and cut the rope and saved his life.
He sued the neighbor for spoiling his new rope. The
justice who tried the case gave judgment for the
full amount sued for and said he would give more if
he could as a punishment to the defendant for sav-
ing a life that ought to have been allowed to perish.
A teacher sued the father for instructing his
daughter in French as well as English. The justice
who was to try the case dismissed it for want of con-
sideration. He said one language was enough for
any woman to know, and teaching her a second was
an injury instead of a benefit.
The foregoing anecdotes came of the decisions
of single justices holding courts in their neighbor-
hoods, but some curious judgments were also made
while several of them sat in the County or Quar-
terly Courts.
In 1781 Samuel Squires, while being chased
around a tree by an Indian, claimed that he lost a
land warrant which had been issued to him. His
loss was brought before the County Court and an-
other warrant ordered to be issued to him for five
hundred acres.
In April, 1781, an election was held for delegates
to the Virginia Legislature. Isaac Cox and Willis
Greene were elected, and the entire proceedings,
including the names of all the voters, were ordered
to record in the County Court. The same volumin-
ous record was repeated in 1782, when John May
and Squire Boone were elected.
In December, 1781, John McCullum stated to
the County Court that he was in the continental ser-
vice and could not lay his claim before the land com-
missioners when they sat in 1779. The statement
and the proof he produced were ordered to be re-
corded with the judgment of the court that he was
entitled to a pre-emption of 1,000 acres adjoining
a log cabin he had begun to build in 1776.
In March, 1782, Daniel Sullivan and John Can-
had a rough and tumble fight in which Carr bit off
a part of the right ear of Sullivan. The matter was
brought before the County Court by Sullivan and
the loss of his ear in the fight duly recorded.
In June, 1783, William Oldham went before the
County Court and stated that he had been falsely
reported as saying that Robert Floyd and the rest
of the Floyd family were of the Mustee breed. He
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE.
5
denied having made any such statement about the
Floyds, and his statement was spread upon the
minute book of the court.
In 1784 Margaret Ganier, a widow, died leaving
an only female child. In the delirium which her
burning fever caused she made statements which
led to the belief that her child was illegitimate. After
the burial of the mother the matter was brought
before the County Court and the following cruel
and inhuman judgment entered of record:
“Ordered that Elinor Ganier, a base born child
of Margaret Ganier, aged thirteen years, be bound
unto Evan Williams according to law.”
And thus we might go on indefinitely citing ex-
amples of curious decisions by the justices of the
peace who formed the bench of
Noted jurists. Louisville until the Circuit Court
act, which went into effect in 1803,
began to replace them by real judges. This act,
however, coupled with the judge of the Circuit
Court two assistants who made no pretentions to a
knowledge of the law. They were simply the old
justices of the peace under another name. When
the Hon. Stephen Ormsby held the first Circuit
Court in Louisville, on the 7th of March, 1803, his
two assistants were the only seeming impediments
in the way of establishing a bench made up of men
learned in the law and worthy of the name. This
heavy incubus of two assistants to the judge in the
original circuit act was gotten rid of by an amend-
ment in 1807, which removed the assistants and left
a single judge to hold the Circuit Court. The dig-
nity and importance of the bench of Louisville had
at last been vindicated by the Legislature in the Cir-
cuit Court acts, and from this time onward we began
to have judges who were an honor to the State.
The following lists will show the judges who sat
in the different courts of Louisville with the times
of their service from the beginning in 1803 to the
constitution of 1850, when they began to be elected
by the people:
CIRCUIT COURT.
Stephen Ormsby 1803-1810
Fortunatus Cosby 1810-1816
Alfred Metcalf 1816-1819
John P. Oldham 1819-1826
Henry Pirtle 1826-1832
Thomas T. Crittenden .... 1832
Thomas Q. Wilson 1832-1833
J. Marshall Hewitt 1833-1836
John J. Marshall 1837-1846
William F. Bullock 1846-1851
CHANCERY COURT.
George M. Bibb 1835-1844
Samuel S. Nicholas 1844-1851
CITY COURT.
John Joyes 1836-1851
In the Circuit Court William F. Bullock was the
last of the judges appointed by the Governors and
the first to be elected under the Constitution of 1850.
In the Chancery Court Samuel S. Nicholas was the
last appointment by the Governor and Henry Pirtle
the first elected by the people. In the City Court
John Joyes was the only judge appointed by the
Governor, and at the expiration of his time George
W. Johnston was the first elected to succeed him.
None of these judges under the old regime is now
living. All of them have long since ceased to sit on
the affairs of frail mortals, and gone before that
higher tribunal where judgments never err. Some
of them left a record for intellect and learning and
integrity which must endure forever, and none of
them left a name beclouded by dishonorable deeds.
Stephen Ormsby, the first on the list, was com-
missioned by Governor James Garrard in 1803. He
was born in Ireland and educated for the bar in his
native land. He came to Louisville in his early
manhood and was admitted to the bar in 1786. He
was elected to Congress in 1810 and served in that
body until 1817. He was a fine lawyer and worthy
to be, as he was, the first educated attorney who pre-
sided over a court in Louisville. He may justly be
said to have been the beginning of the elevated
bench of Louisville. He died in 1846.
Fortunatus Cosby, by the appointment of Gov-
ernor Charles Scott, succeeded Judge Ormsby in
1810, and served until 1816. He was a native of
Georgia, where he was born in 1766, but was taken
to Virginia in childhood. Fie graduated at William
and Mary College, in Virginia, at the age of nine-
teen, and after spending two years in the study of the
law moved to Kentucky, where he was admitted to
the bar and began the practice in Louisville in 1797.
He was a learned judge and one of the most cul-
tured and accomplished gentlemen of his day. He
was a man of fortune, and at one time the largest
holder of real estate in Louisville. He purchased of
Sarah Beard, the heir of Colonel John Campbell, all
that was left of the broad acres on which Louisville
was laid out for $10,000. His hospitable house
was the one in which many of the distinguished
strangers who visited the city were handsomely en-
tertained. He died in 1847.
6
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
George M. Bibb, lawyer and statesman, born
October 30, 1776, in Prince Edward County, Vir-
ginia, was the son of Richard Bibb, an Episcopal
clergyman. He was the representative of the old
school and adhered until his death to the knee
breeches, silk stockings and silver shoe buckles.
He was a graduate of Hampden Sidney, and Wil-
liam and Mary Colleges, being at the time of his
death the oldest graduate of each. After practicing
law a short time in Virginia he removed to Lexing-
ton, Kentucky, in 1798, and soon became a promi-
nent lawyer. In 1808 he was appointed one of the
judges of the Court of Appeals, and in 1809 chief
justice, but resigned in 1810. In 1827 he was again
appointed chief justice, but resigned in 1828. Judge
Bibb served in the Legislature from Fayette
in 1806 and in 1817, and from Logan Coun-
ty in 1810. He was twice elected to the
United States Senate, first, in 1811, but re-
signed in 1814, and, second, in 1829, serving
the full term until 1835. From 1835 to 1844 he was
chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court, but
resigned to become Secretary of the Treasury under
President Tyler, to March 4, 1845. Thereafter until
his death, April 14, 1859, aged eighty-three years,
he practiced law and most of the time filled the posi-
tion corresponding to that of Assistant Attorney-
General. He was a great scholar and eminent jurist.
Henry Pirtle, one of the most noted of the dis-
tinguished judges and lawyers who have honored
the State, was commissioned circuit judge by Gov-
ernor Joseph Desha, in 1826. He was born in
Washington County, Kentucky, November 5, 1798,
and died ac Louisville, Kentucky, March 28, 1880.
He studied law at Bardstown, Kentucky, under the
celebrated John Rowan, in whose library were folio
editions of Coke on Littleton and other heavy tomes,
which were read as if they had been novels or poems
by the young aspirant for future fame. He began
the practice at Hartford, in Ohio County, Ken-
tucky, but soon found it an uncongenial field for his
high aspirations and moved to Louisville, which he
wisely thought was to be the great city of Ken-
tucky. He rose rapidly in his profession, and in
1826, at the age of twenty-eight, he assumed the im-
portant duties of circuit judge. He held this office
until 1832, and never was there a judge in our State
whose decisions were more just and learned. In
some of the disputed questions which were brought
before him his decisions made the law which has
not been changed to this day. In 1832 he pub-
lished “A Digest of the Decisions of the Court of
Appeals of Kentucky,” in two volumes, which be-
came a standard work, and so remained until later
decisions made a new work to embrace them neces-
sary. In 1840 he was elected State Senator and
served in the Legislature until 1843. Again in 1846
he was appointed circuit judge by Governor Wil-
liam Owsley, but resigned before the expiration of
the term for which he was commissioned. In 1851,
when the Constitution of 1850 went into effect, he
was elected chancellor of the Louisville Chancery
Court, and re-elected in 1862. As chancellor he
was worthy to fill the chair formerly occupied by
Bibb and Nicholas, and, indeed, added to the fame
of the profound decisions of these predecessors. In
1846, when the law department of the University of
Louisville was organized, he was made one of the
professors, and held this position until 1869. Be-
sides being a learned lawyer and profound jurist
he was a man of broad literary culture and wrote
with a force and elegance of style which showed that
he might have been famous in this line if he had
chosen it. His sketch of General George Rogers
Clark, which serves as an introduction to the “Cam-
paign in the Illinois” of that great military man,
published by Robert Clarke & Co., at Cincinnati,
in 1869, shows how well he could write when he
sat himself down to the task. In the brief space of
half a dozen pages he presents General Clark and
his great military achievements in better form than
others could have done in volumes.
John J. Marshall was commissioned circuit judge
by Governor James Clark in 1837, and held the office
for nine years. He was a profound lawyer and re-
markable for his capacity to follow the testimony
of witnesses and the arguments of counsel in the
most elaborate cases and sum them up and arrive at
his conclusions as soon as the end was reached. This
he did with such unerring precision as never to find
it necessary to revise the summary he had made or
change the conclusion he had reached. He was
born in Woodford County, Ky., in August, 1785,
and died in Louisville, Ky., in June, 1846. He was
a graduate of Princeton College and a fine classical
scholar. After studying law with his father, Hon.
Humphrey Marshall, the historian, he was for sev-
eral years a member of the Legislature. From
1829 to 1833 he was reporter of the Court of Ap-
peals of Kentucky, and published seven volumes of
reported cases, which are among the best of these
valuable works.
William F. Bullock, the last of the circuit judges
who held office by the appointment of the Governor,
J
7 <5^7
>7,
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE.
7
and the first to be elected by the people under the
Constitution of 1850, was commissioned by Gover-
nor William Owsley in 1846. After the expiration
of the term for which he was appointed he was elect-
ed by popular vote in 1851 for a term of six years,
but resigned in 1855, and resumed the practice of
the law. He was a graduate of Transylvania Uni-
versity, and distinguished while in college and in
after life for his rare attainments as a scholar and
high gifts as an orator. His address of welcome to
Henry Clay in 1824 and his oration at the unveiling
of Hart’s statue of the great statesman in 1867,
showed how nobly he could both write and speak
when the occasion required. In 1828 he moved to
Louisville at the age of twenty-one, and began the
practice of the law, at which he was unusually suc-
cessful. In 1838 he was elected to the Legislature,
and re-elected in 1840. While in the Legislature he
became the promoter of some of the most important
acts ever passed by that body. His name will for-
ever be associated with the establishment of the
common school system of the State, and with the
Kentucky Blind Asylum at Louisville. In 1849 he
was made one of the professors in the law depart-
ment of the University of Louisville, where he was
an exceedingly popular lecturer to the classes on ac-
count of his clear and pleasing delivery. On the
bench he was popular for his courteous manners
and esteemed for his learned and just decisions. He
was a judge without fear, and on one occasion when
some negroes had been hung in the court house
yard, partly on account of a decision he rendered
and which the mob construed as favoring the cul-
prits, he walked through the midst of the mob to
fill his seat in the court house as if that angry as-
semblage had been a smiling picnic. He was born
in Fayette County January 16, 1807, and died in
Louisville, Kv., on the 9th of August, 1889.
It might be supposed that a bench made up of
ignorant justices of the peace, as that of Louisville
was in early times, could hardly be
oid-Tlme Bar. a field f°r the development of
a learned bar. The result, however,
seems to have been otherwise. The fact that the
lawyers had to supply the justices as well as them-
selves with law seems to have made them masters of
the situation from the beginning. There is no re-
corded period and none within the memory of the
living when the bar of Louisville was not compara-
tively able and distinguished.
When courts were first established in Kentucky
it was the habit of the lawyers to leave their own
localities and go to the different places at which
courts were held. This custom brought at one time
or another most of the prominent lawyers of the
State to the locality of each important court. Hence
we find among the names of lawyers sworn to prac-
tice in the courts of Louisville in early times those
of Christopher Greenup, George Muter, Walker
Daniel, John Todd, etc., none of whom ever resided
in Louisville. They came from Harrodsburg and
Lexington and Danville and Stanford and Bards-
town, and other places, to gather such fees as they
could from clients at the falls. The lawyer present-
ed a picturesque appearance as he jogged along
bridle paths through the dark forests, with a pair of
saddle bags under him containing his books and his
briefs, and a rifle on his shoulder to protect him
against the Indians. Danger lurked behind the
trees and in the valleys and on the hills, but still his
faithful horse bore him along while his watchful eye
looked out for the savage. He needed fees to supply
food and clothing and shrank not from danger or
toil to secure them.
The pioneer lawyer had but few books to grace
the shelves of his office, which was a rough log cabin
covered with boards and floored with puncheons, so
that anything like a library would have made a
queer appearance in such quarters. Most of the
respectable attorneys had Blackstone’s Comment-
aries and Chitty’s Pleadings, but beyond these there
was no certainty of finding valuable law books in
any office. Alexander Scott had a copy of Glan-
vill’s treatise on the customs of England; Thomas
Perkins had a copy of Fleta’s Commentary on the
Laws of England; Benjamin Sebastian had
Brooks’ Abridgment of Law and Staunford’s Pleas
of the Crown, and Stephen Ormsby had Coke’s Lit-
tleton, Bacon’s Abridgement, Decisions of the Court
of Sessions and Plowden’s Commentaries. Out of
these and other old volumes with the assistance of
the Virginia Statutes and their own fertile heads, they
dispensed the law which regulated the conduct of the
pioneers and punished them for their offenses. At
a later, but still a comparatively earlv date, Ken-
tuckians began to be the authors of law books of
their own — such as Bradford’s Laws of Kentucky,
1779; Bradford’s General Instructor, 1800; Toul-
min’s Collection, 1802; Hughes’ Reports, 1803, and
Toulmin & Blair’s Review of the Criminal Law,
three volumes, 1804. The publication of the acts of
the Kentucky Legislature was begun in 1793.
Asa matter of course the forms of pleading found
in Chitty were in use here in early times and were
8
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
continued until the code of practice became the law
under the Constitution of 1850. A number of amus-
ing incidents grew out of these old forms of plead-
ing. Some of the pioneer lawyers seemed to delight
in substituting other fictitious names for John
Doe and Richard Roe in land suits. We find in
their declarations Timothy Seekright versus Peter
Wronghead, Aminidab Dreadnought against Jona-
dab Badtitle, and Abraham Dowrong at the suit of
Abram Doright. On one occasion, when Attorney
Thomas Perkins brought a suit of ejectment for his
client, Peter Martin, in the name of Peter Fearnoth-
ing against George Grutin by the name of Fear-
everything, Grutin informed Martin that this use of
his name was offensive and that he would convince
him that he at least was falsely named Fearevery-
thing. With this Grutin g'ave Martin a sound drub-
bing and left him to reflect upon the meaningless-
ness of names.
In 1780, when General Clark led his victorious
riflemen ag'ainst the Indian towns in Ohio, he
wanted some whisky to help to keep
a unique Case, up the spirits of his volunteers. Eli
Cleveland had a keg of the genuine
article, but liked it himself and would not sell it.
Clark impressed it and used it on his campaign.
When a court was established in Louisville in 1781
Cleveland sued Clark for the whisky. Alexander
Scott was Cleveland’s attorney, and the declara-
tion in trover which he filed was amusing. He stat-
ed that Cleveland had a keg of whisky which he lost
and that Clark casually found it and appropriated it
to his own use, well knowing that it was not his, but
belonged to the complainant. When the declaration
was filed John May, the clerk, issued a summons
against “Brigadear Ginerall George Rogers Clark”
with directions that he should be taken and safely
kept ready for trial. Benjamin Pope, a deputy under
Richard Chenowith, the sheriff, served the writ and
told Clark he must give security for his appearance
or go to jail. Clark replied that he had taken Cleve-
land’s whisky for the benefit of his soldiers and
given him a voucher therefor as had been given in
other instances of impressment, that he neither in-
tended to give security for his appearance nor go to
jail willingly, but if the sheriff thought he could
safely take him to jail he was at liberty to try it.
The sheriff did not attempt to take him to jail, but
made the following return on the writ: “Executed
and no security given.” In making such a return
the sheriff violated the law, but the flash of Clark’s
terrible eye when he invited the sheriff to take him to
jail if he could was no doubt deemed a sufficient
justification for the sheriff’s conduct. The case was
continued from time to time on the docket and
finally dismissed in 1783 by the plaintiff.
There seems never to have been any scarcity of
attorneys at the Louisville bar. Only a few were
here during the Revolutionary War, but after the
peace of 1783 they came in abundance. Old papers
yet on file in the County and Quarterly Courts and
the minute books of those courts which have been
preserved, show the following attorneys at this bar
with the dates of their first appearance:
LIST OF LAWYERS FROM 1781 TO 1800.
Alexander Scott 1781
John Todd 1781
Walker Daniel 1783
Christopher Greenup 1784
George Muter. . . 1784
Thomas Perkins 1784
Benjamin Sebastian 1784
Thomas Hall 1 785
John Rice Jones 1785
Stephen Ormsby 1786
James Hughes 1788
John P. Smith 1789
William McClung 1789
Gabriel J. Johnston 1789
William Murray 1789
James Overton 1786
Thomas Todd 1788
Buckner Thruston 1788
Francis Taylor 1789
John Rowan 1794
Richard Dickinson 1794
John Pope 1796
James Blain 1796
James Brown 1795
William Johnston 1798
Fortunatus Cosby 1797
Richard Harris 1797
Ninian Edwards 1797
Isaac Robertson 1798
Lyman Harding !798
Many of the lawyers whose names appear in the
foregoing list, besides rising to eminence in their
profession, acquired fame in other
pubifrLfe. pursuits of life. John Todd, who
was killed by the Indians at the bat-
tle of the Blue Licks, in 1782, was too young to have
done more than fill well the office of first Governor
of the Illinois territory, but he was regarded as a
THE EARLY BENCH AND BAR OF LOUISVILLE.
9
man of such promise that the opportunity alone was
wanted for him to have reached great heights.
Walker Daniel, another promising young lawyer,
who had already risen to the office of District Attor-
ney, was killed by the Indians in 1784, before he
had had years enough to fully develop his powers.
Christopher Greenup was elected to Congress in
1792 and became Governor of the State in 1804.
George Muter was Chief Judge of the District Court
of Kentucky, and afterwards Chief justice of the
Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Benjamin Sebas-
tian was one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals,
but resigned his seat to avoid an impeachment for
complicity in intrigues with the Spaniards. John
Rice Jones went from Kentucky to Indiana, where
he rose to fame as a lawyer, a judge and a states-
man. James Hughes was the author of the first
publication of the reported decisions of the Court
of Appeals. William Murray distinguished himself
in the debate with John Breckinridge on the cele-
brated resolutions of 1798 by making the same ar-
gument that Daniel Webster afterwards used in his
controversy with Hayne on the doctrine of nullifica-
tion. Buckner Thruston was made United States
Senator in 1805, and afterwards a Judge of the
United States Circuit Court of the District of Co-
lumbia. John Rowan was a member of the conven-
tion which framed the second Constitution of Ken-
tucky; Secretary of State under Governor Greenup
in 1804; a member of Congress in 1807; Judge of
the Court of Appeals of Kentucky in 1819, and
United States Senator 1825-31. John Pope was
Governor of the Arkansas territory in 1829, United
States Senator 1807-1813, and a member of Con-
gress 1837-1843. Ninian Edwards, after filling the
offices of Circuit Judge and Judge of the Court of
Appeals, and being made Chief Justice of Kentucky
in 1808, moved to Illinois and became a United
States Senator and Governor of that State. Stephen
Ormsby and Fortunatus Cosby, among the most
distinguished of the list, have been mentioned in a
previous part of this chapter.
When the Hon. Henry Pirtle was appointed
Judge of the Circuit Court in 1826, he made out a
list of the members of the bar for his own use upon
the bench. On rule days it was his habit to call the
lawyers by name as they sat before him and have
them make their motions in the order called. A list
of the members was therefore of help to him, and
he had it recorded in the back of the book in which
the cleik had arranged the docket, the following
is made up from this list of Judge Pirtle, and will
show with as much accuracy as is now possible the
members engaged in practice at this bar at the close
of the first quarter of the present century:
LIST OF LAWYERS IN 1825.
Henry Pirtle,
John W. Semple,
John Rowan,
James D. Breckinridge,
James Ferguson,
Charles M. Thruston,
William Tompkins,
James Guthrie,
Wm. P. Thomasson,
Robert H. Grayson,
Garnett Duncan,
Isaac H. Tyler,
Samuel S. Nicholas,
Lawrence Young,
Atkinson Hill Rowan,
William D. Payne,
Larz Anderson,
Peter W. Grayson,
Worden P. Churchill,
Greenberry A. Gaither,
John F. Anderson,
Samuel Beall,
Patrick H. Pope,
Richard S. Wheatley,
Wm. F. Bullock,
Mortimer P. Bainbridge,
F. G. Alexander,
William H. Martin,
Anderson Miller, Jr.,
Samuel T. Farish,
E. A. Addison.
While this list of 1825 does not present the names
of as many lawyers who became famous both in
their professions and in other pursuits as does the
list of 1800, it yet exhibits some shining examples.
John Rowan, Henry Pirtle, Samuel S. Nicholas and
William F. Bullock, who were among the most dis-
tinguished of them, are mentioned elsewhere in this
chapter. James D. Breckinridge, admitted to the
bar in 1806, was one of the wealthiest and most ac-
complished of Louisville’s lawyers, and a member
of Congress from 1821 to 1823. He died in 1849.
Garnett Duncan was admitted to the bar in 1823
and was in Congress from 1847 to 1849. He died
in 1875. Chas. M. Thruston was admitted to the
bar in 1813. He was born in 1793 and died in 1854.
He was several times elected to the State Legisla-
ture, and was possessed of rare gifts as an orator.
James Guthrie, in some respects the most distin-
guished member of the Louisville bar, was born in
Nelson County, Kentucky, in 1792, and died in
Louisville, Kentucky, in 1869. In 1821 he came to
Louisville and was admitted to the bar. He was
for several years in the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives of Kentucky, and in 1850 was presi-
dent of the convention which made the third State
Constitution. In 1853 he was made Secretary of
the United States Treasury by President Pierce,
and in 1865 was elected to the LInited States Senate.
He was one of the greatest financiers who ever lived
in Louisville, and accumulated one of the largest
fortunes ever possessed by any man in the State.
10
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
At the close of the next period of twenty-five
years we find the Louisville bar much enlarged.
But few of the names of those who
The- in were on the list of 1825 will be
found on that of 1850, and none of
those on the list of 1800 will be found in that of
1850. Death and the infirmities of age, and changes
of locality, and voluntary retiring from the practice,
made numerous blanks in both the old lists, but
new lawyers came in to fill up the gaps until the
number of practitioners in 1850 exceeded the total
of both 1800 and 1825. The following alphabetical
list of the members of the bar in 1850 is as full and
as accurate as can be made at this date.
Atchison, Samuel A.
Baird, Robert F.
Ballard, Bland.
Ballard, Andrew J .
Barret, John G.
Barret, Wm. F.
Bodley, Wm. S.
Boone, Wm. P.
Brackette, C. H.
Bridges, Matthew.
Bullitt, Joshua F.
Bullock, John O.
Chambers, Geo. W.
Chambers, James P.
Chambers, Leonidas.
Clarke, Chas. J.
Clemmons, J. L.
Clement, Joseph.
Cotton, Chas. B.
Craig, Edwin S.
Crenshaw, L. P.
Dozier, Jas. I.
Duncan, Blanton.
Durrett, R. T.
Elliott, Robt. J.
Evans, James.
Ferguson, Thos. B.
Field, Wm. FI.
Fields, William G.
Flusser, Chas. T.
Fontaine, A. B.
Fry, William W.
Furness, J. A. B.
Graves, I. FI.
Graves, Edm. A.
Greene, Isaac R.
Guthrie, James.
Haggin, Wm. T.
Harris, Alfred.
Harrison, James.
Harrison, J. O.
Hauser, Wm. A.
Henderson, Isham.
Holloway, W. R.
Hornsby, B. H.
Jacob, John I., Jr.
Jegli, John B.
Johnston, Geo. W.
Johnston, John C.
Jones, J. Wm.
Joyes, Patrick.
Ivinkead, J. B.
Lancaster, J. B.
Lilly, Jos. B.
Logan, Caleb W.
Loughborough, P. S.
Mayo, Joseph.
McKinley, A. J.
Meng, Chas. J.
Minor, William.
Morris, Walker.
Murphev, Michael.
Nicholas, S. S.
Page, Gwyn.
Pennebaker, C. D.
Philips, Thos. S.
Pilcher, Wm. S.
Poindexter, P. B.
Pollard, Ben W.
Pope, Hamilton.
Pope, Edmund P.
Preston, William.
Reasor, Wm. H., Jr.
Ripley, Charles.
Ronald, F. S. J.
Rousseau, R. H.
Rousseau, L. H.
Shaver, Leonard.
Sisson, Silas.
Smith, Sami. B.
Smith, Thos. M.
Smith, Ballard.
Smith, Hamilton
Southard, J. D.
Spear, D. D.
Speed, James.
Taylor, Chas. T.
Tevis, Robert F.
Thomasson, Wm. P.
Thomasson, Chas. L.
Thruston, Chas. M.
Tyler, Robert.
Tyler, John W.
Vance, Abner F.
Whiteley, L. A.
Wilson, D. W.
Williams, Sherrod.
Wolfe, Nathaniel.
Wood, Henry C.
Wood, Wm. C.
Worthington, E. S.
Only nine of the lawyers whose names appear in
the foregoing list are known to be now living.
These are Joshua F. Bullitt, James P. Chambers, J.
L. Clemmorjs, Robert J. Elliott, Isaac R. Greene,
William A. Flauser, Patrick Joyes, Blanton Dun-
can and the writer. The great majority of ninety-
two have died or moved away, or retired from
practice. Of the nine who yet linger, Isaac R.
Greene is the oldest, and, indeed, is the only non-
agenarian of the bar. He was born in New York
in 1801, and came to Louisville in 1829. In early
years he was noted for extraordinary strength, and
on one occasion lifted a full barrel of whisky from
the pavement and carried it across the street. He is
now but the shadow of his prime of life, but still
there is considerable vitality in him, and it is to be
hoped that he may yet measure out his cycle of one
hundred years.
In addition to James Guthrie, Samuel S. Nicholas
and Chas. M. Thruston, elsewhere mentioned, this
list supplies the names of a dozen of Louisville’s
most distinguished lawyers. Bland Ballard, Wil-
liam S. Bodley, Joshua F. Bullitt, Wm. H. Field,
Joseph B. Lancaster, Caleb Logan, Preston S.
Loughborough, William Preston, Charles Ripley,
L. H. Rousseau, James Speed and Nathaniel Wolfe
were men far above the average in intellectual en-
dowments and legal learning. Each one of them
would have stood in the first rank of any bar in the
land. Only one of them, the Hon. Joshua F. Bul-
litt, is still living. He is full of years and honors,
having been Chief Justice of Kentucky, and the au-
thor of several law books of standard authority.
A continuance of the plan of this chapter would
next embrace the lawyers and judges of 1875. It
was not intended, however, to extend the narrative
beyond the year 1850.
CHAPTER II.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
BY CHARLES B. SEYMOUR.
The courts sitting in Louisville (except the courts
of the United States) are Courts of the State of Ken-
tucky. Any historical sketch of the Courts of Louis-
ville, therefore, involves a sketch of the growth and
the development of the judicial power in the State
at large.
The judicial decisions of this State have been
especially important in matters of constitutional law;
while the circumstances under which the State was
first settled have resulted in the growth of some pe-
culiarity in commercial law which deserves especial
notice.
The City of Louisville, like all other cities among
us, is a municipal corporation, created by the State
of Kentucky, and existing solely by the will of the
State of Kentucky. It does not sustain to the State
the same relation that the State sustains to the Fed-
eral Government. As has been said by the Supreme
Court of the United States, this is an indestructible
Union of indestructible States.* Every citizen of
Kentucky owes allegiance to two powers — the State
of Kentucky and the Federal Government — and
those powers come into contact with the citizens in
the administration of the law in and through the
courts.
These courts act directly upon the parties to the
litigation, so that the Federal Courts act through
their own officers and not through officers or agen-
cies provided by the State.
The Federal Courts, however, are courts of spe-
cial and limited jurisdiction — they take cognizance
of cases involving certain subject matters, and of
cases between certain classes of parties. A speci-
men of the first class of cases is crimes against the
United States; a specimen of the second class of
cases is found in suits between citizens of different
♦Texas vs. White, 7 Wall., 400.
States. As the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts
is limited in this way, they do not so continually
come in contact with the mass of the people; and so
far as this sketch is concerned, it will be necessary,
in regard to the Federal Courts, to notice only their
course and influence in regard to questions arising
out of the great civil war and its consequences.
The State Courts, however, are the courts in which
the great bulk of the judicial business in the State
is transacted. Not only is it true that, in State
Courts, are tried the great mass of suits between
citizens of this State, as also suits between citizens
of different States, in which less than a certain
amount is in controversy, but the State Courts at-
tend to matters of marriage and divorce, to probate
business, to the granting of administration, and to
matters generally concerning domestic relations.
The extent of the judicial power is regulated by
the Constitution of the State, and by statutes adopt-
ed pursuant thereto.
The system of laws in force in Kentucky came
to us from England through Virginia. It included
the common law of England, and also certain Eng-
lish statutes enacted before the fourth year of King
James I, that is, in the year 1607. In the interval
between 1607 and 1792, great legal and commercial
changes had taken place in England ; so that the dif-
ferences between the civilization of Virginia and of
England had become well marked. The distinc-
tion between common law and equity, as systems of
administering justice, was well established and was
transmitted to Kentucky through Virginia. As a
rule, however, in Kentucky common law and equity
have been administered by the same tribunals. The
Circuit Courts are courts of general original juris-
diction, both at law and in equity, besides having ap-
pellate jurisdiction from courts of inferior original
jurisdiction.
11
12
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The growth of Louisville into a great city ren-
dered it necessary to have special courts carved out
from the general jurisdiction of the
chancery Circuit Courts. The first of these
Court.
was the Louisville Chancery Court,
established in 1835. To it was transferred the equit-
able jurisdiction of the Jefferson Circuit Court, al-
most entirely. The Louisville Chancery Court con-
tinued to exist until ended by the fourth Constitu-
tion, in January, 1893. The establishment of a sep-
arate local tribunal having general equitable juris-
diction was looked on by some citizens of the State
with disfavor; and in the third Constitution of the
State it was provided that said court should continue
subject to repeal by the General Assembly, and its
jurisdiction to modification.
The following persons, successively, were chan-
cellors of said court: George M. Bibb, S. S. Nicho-
las, Henry Pirtle, C. W. Logan, Henry Pirtle,
Thomas B. Cochran, H. W. Bruce, Alex. P. Humph-
rey, and Isaac W. Edwards.
During the existence of this court the third Con-
stitution was adopted, and under it judges were
elected, instead of being appointed, except that tem-
porary appointments might be made to fill a va-
cancy. Judges Bibb, Nicholas and Pirtle were ap-
pointed under the second Constitution; the others
mentioned, as also Judge Pirtle, were elected under
the third Constitution, except Judge Humphrey,
who, by appointment, filled out the unexpired term
on the resignation of Judge Bruce.
Jefferson County was, during the greater part of
the history of the State, one county of a judicial dis-
trict composed of more counties
court.' than one; but in 1840 it became
the Fifth Judicial District, John J.
Marshall being the Judge of the Circuit Court for
that district. Afterwards W. F. Bullock became
Circuit Judge. After the adoption of the third Con-
stitution, Jefferson County again became one of a
number of counties comprising a judicial district;
the judges of that circuit were successively W. F.
Bullock, P. B. Muir, G. W. Johnston, H. W. Bruce
and W. L. Jackson, Sr. During Judge Jackson’s
third term of office, Jefferson County was again
made into a judicial district; Judge Jackson was
judge of same until his death. R. C. Davis, by ap-
pointment, succeeded him, until the election of W.
L. Jackson, Jr., who remained judge of that court
until it was superseded by the court ordained by the
fourth Constitution. As above stated, the erection
of the Louisville Chancery Court carved out of the
jurisdiction of Jefferson County its equitable por-
tion, leaving to it criminal and common law civil
business. In pursuance of this policy, the estab-
lishment of the Jefferson Court of Common Pleas
took away almost all the common law civil business,
leaving the Jefferson Circuit Court chiefly a court
for the trial of crimes and misdemeanors. Civil
jurisdiction was conferred upon it, and it some-
times tried causes and questions transferred to it
from the Jefferson Court of Common Pleas. It
seemed, however, wise policy to the lawmakers, in
view of the great growth of Louisville, to have one
court of almost exclusively criminal jurisdiction in
the citv. This policy has become imbedded in the
fourth Constitution, as will be noticed later.
The Jefferson Court of Common Pleas was es-
tablished in 1865, and took jurisdiction of the civil
common law business of the Jeffer-
court of com- . gon circuit Court. At first this
mon Pleas.
court, like the Louisville Chancery
Court, had terms, but it became clearly desirable
that each of said courts should have continuous
sessions, and it was so enacted by statute. The suc-
cessive judges of this court were P. B. Muir, H. J.
Stites and Emmett Field. Jurisdiction of appeals
from justices’ courts was, for a time, given to this
tribunal; afterwards it was given to the Jefferson
Court of Common Pleas.
Thus far the General Assembly had proceeded on
the plan of carving out of the jurisdiction of the Jef-
ferson Circuit Court jurisdictions of
Equny Court, special statutory courts, but in 1872
a new departure was taken. A stat-
ute was enacted providing for the election of a judge,
to be called the Vice Chancellor of the Louisville
Chancery Court, who should hear and determine
such cases and questions as should be assigned to
him by the Chancellor and by the Judge of the Jef-
ferson Court of Common Pleas. By various stat-
utes the judicial office was so modified that it de-
veloped into a court styled the Louisville Law and
Equity Court, and actions were instituted in the
same, just as in the other civil courts of the rank of
Circuit Court. The four courts had but two clerks’
offices; the clerk of the Jefferson Circuit Court at-
tended to the business of the Jefferson Court of
Common Pleas and to the common law business of
the Louisville Law and Equity Court, while the
clerk of the Louisville Chancery Court attended to
the equity business of the Law and Equity Court.
The successive judges of this court were James Har-
lan, F. T. Fox, A. T. Pope, John G. Simrall, W. O.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
13
Harris and Sterling B. Toney. Judge Fox was ap-
pointed to fill an unexpired term, and did not run
before the people. Under the third Constitution a
vacancy in the office of Circuit Judge was filled by
appointment by the Governor, where less than one
year remained for the balance of the term; but
where more than one year remained the Governor
appointed to fill the vacancy until the holding of a
special election. Upon the resignation of Judge
Simrall, the Governor appointed Judge Harris, but
did not order a special election. At the next State
election Judge Toney ran before the people for the
office, and no one ran against him. He sued for
possession of the office and judgment was rendered
in the lower court dismissing his petition. This
judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals.*
It was decided that the law providing for filling-
vacancies in the Circuit judgeship applied to judge-
ships of this statutory court, and in consequence it
resulted, first, that the Governor could not appoint
to fill the vacancy until the end of the term, where
more than one year of the term remained; second,
that in such event the vacancy must be filled at a spe-
cial election, and that the Governor’s appointee held
until his successor should be elected and qualified.
Hence the votes cast at the general election before
the expiration of the term for which Judge Simrall
was elected were void. Judge Harris then resigned
the office, a special election was held under a procla-
mation from the Governor, and Judge Tonev ran
against Judge W. O. Harris at the special election
ordered by the Governor and was elected to fill the
remainder of the unexpired term of Judge Simrall.
Judge Simrall had been appointed upon the resig-
nation of Judge Pope, and although more than a
year of the term remained, he held till the end of
the term, as the question was not in any way raised.
He was then elected for a term of six years, and his
resignation during that term brought about the
events above stated.
At the expiration of the term for which he was
elected at the special election mentioned, Judge
Toney was again elected.
An important consequence of the development of
the three statutory courts above mentioned was that
the Legislature had power to fix the remuneration
of the judges at a greater sum than the salaries of
Circuit Judges in other parts of the State. By the
third Constitution, Article 4, Section 25, it was pro-
vided that “the judges of the Circuit Courts shall, at
*Toney vs. Harris, 85 Ky., 453.
“stated times, receive for their services an adequate
“compensation, to be fixed by law, which shall be
“equal and uniform throughout the State, and which
“shall not be diminished during the time for which
“they are elected.’’
In consequence of the changes in the purchasing-
power of money occasioned by the civil war, and in
consequence of the increase of expenses of living in
the City of Louisville, it became desirable to in-
crease the compensation of the judges here. As
the Constitution did not restrict the Legislature in
the matter of increasing the compensation of judges
of statutory courts, a statute was enacted providing
that the City of Louisville might pay one thousand
dollars per annum to the judges of these statutory
courts. After Judge Simrall’s resignation on ac-
count of the insufficiency of the compensation, the
amount so to be paid by the City of Louisville to
each judge was increased to two thousand dollars
per annum. After Jefferson County became a sep-
arate judicial district, the City of Louisville was, by
statute, authorized to make the payment to the Judge
of the Jefferson Circuit Court. The constitutional-
ity of this statute was never brought into question in
the courts, and the compensation has continued up
to the present time. The fourth Constitution modi-
fied the provision as to compensation of Circuit
Judges by providing that “the same shall be equal
and uniform throughout the State, so far as the
same shall be paid out of the State treasury.” The
additional modifying clause was not in the draft of
the Constitution submitted to the people, but the
same was added after the Convention reassembled.
The Court of Appeals, however, held, in Miller vs.
Johnson, 92 Ky., 589, that the entire Constitution,
as finally adopted by the Constitutional Conven-
tion, had been acquiesced in by the people and had
become the organic law of the people.
An act providing for the continuance of the ad-
ditional compensation was vetoed by the Governor,
his Excellency, Hon. John Young Brown, on the
ground, among others, that the provision for addi-
tional compensation by the city was not authorized
by the Constitution. Afterwards, however, a stat-
ute to that effect was adopted in the act for the gov-
ernment of cities of the first class.
Another special court existing under the third
Constitution was the Jefferson County Court, cre-
ated by the act of 1854. At a very
Jefferson early date in Kentucky the county
courts were important tribunals,
having cognizance of a great variety of subjects.
14
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The act of 1854 created the court mentioned, con-
ferring upon it a definite statutory jurisdiction, and
making its six terms practically a continuous ses-
sion by providing that each term should begin on a
Monday and should end on the Saturday preceding
the beginning of the next term.
The office of Associate Judge of the County Court,
provided for by the third Constitution, was repealed
by the Revised Statutes, under authority given by
that Constitution. The successive judges of the
Jefferson County Court, under the act of 1854, were
E. Garland, Andrew Monroe and W. B. Hoke, the
latter serving by successive re-elections twenty-eight
years. At the election held under the present Con-
stitution in 1894, C. G. Richie was elected Judge of
the Jefferson County Court.
It would protract this article too far to go into de-
tails as to the successive modifications of jurisdic-
tion of the Jefferson County Court or the provisions
for a Levy Court, composed of the County Judge
and certain justices, to see to the county levy. It is
proper, however, to call attention to the arrange-
ment between the City of Louisville and the County
of Jefferson, by which five-sixths of certain admin-
istrative expenses should be paid by the City of
Louisville, and the other one-sixth out of the county
levy. So far reaching was this contract that it ap-
plied even to the compensation of special judges of
the County Court, who for each day’s service re-
ceived from the City of Louisville $4.17, and from
the county levy eighty-three cents.
The City Court of Louisville was created bv the
act of 1837, and succeeded the Mayor’s Court. It
is a court of varied jurisdiction, em-
Louisville. bracing the punishment of certain
classes of misdemeanors, the hold-
ing to surety for the peace or for good behavior, and
the punishment for breach of ordinances of the city.
Under this latter head, of course, some important
revenue matters come into its jurisdiction. Failure
to pay license on occupations may, under the pro-
visions of the statutes, be punished by fine; or,
rather, the fine is said to be imposed for the offense
of carrying on the business without paying license
therefor. In addition to the jurisdiction mentioned,
this court is an examining court in criminal mat-
ters to be tried before the Jefferson Circuit Court.
The jurisdiction of the City Court of Louisville was,
from time to time, modified by statute.
Among the successive judges of the court were
John Joyes, G. W. Johnston, E. S. Craig, J. Hop.
Price, J. R. Dupuy and R. H. Thompson.
The courts under the fourth Constitution, which
took effect in September, 1891, conform to the gen-
eral system of courts throughout
Circuft61 court ^Ie State, as it was the aim of that
instrument to produce as nearly as
possible a uniformity in the tribunals of the State.
It will not be necessary, therefore, to notice further
details as to courts inferior to the Circuit Court.
But the Circuit Court is, under Section 137 of the
Constitution, differently organized from other Cir-
cuit Courts in this State. This section reads as fol-
lows:
“Each county having a population of one hundred
and fifty thousand or over shall constitute a dis-
trict, which shall be entitled to four judges. Addi-
tional judges for said district may, from time to
time, be authorized by the General Assembly, but
not to exceed one judge for each increase of forty
thousand of population in said county, to be ascer-
tained by the last enumeration. Each of the judges
in such a district shall hold a separate court, except
when a general term may be held for the purpose
of making rules of court, or as may be required by
law; provided, no general term shall have power
to review any order, decision or proceeding of any
branch of the court in said district made in separate
term. There shall be one clerk for such district,
who shall be known as the Clerk of the Circuit
Court. Criminal cases shall be under the exclusive
jurisdiction of some one branch of said court, and
all other litigation in said district, of which the Cir-
cuit Court may have jurisdiction, shall be distributed
as equally as may be between the other branches
thereof, in accordance with the rules of the court
made in general term, or as may be prescribed by
law.”
This section has not been fully construed by the
courts. It has, however, been decided by the Court
of Appeals that the criminal division of the Jefferson
Circuit Court has no jurisdiction of civil matters,
although the judge of that division may hear and
determine questions and cases pending in another
division, upon the request of the judge of such other
division entered upon the order book of his di-
vision.*
The act concerning Circuit Courts having four
judges provides that there shall be a chancery di-
vision, a common pleas division, a law and equity
division, and a criminal division. It was evidently
the intention of the framers of the statute to pre-
*Mengel vs. Jackson, 94 Ky., 472.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
15
serve the old arrangement of the courts so far as
could practically be done. The judges elected to
these respective divisions are I. W. Edwards, Em-
mett Eield, Sterling B. Toney, and W. L. Jackson,
Jr.,* the same persons who, when the fourth Con-
stitution went into effect, were the judges of the
several courts corresponding to these divisions. The
present statute provides that when any judge fails
to attend, a judge of another division may attend
and hold the court. It also provides for the hear-
ing and determining by the judge of any division of
any cause or question pending in another division
at the request of the judge of the division in which
it is pending, for the transfer of cases from one divi-
sion to another, under certain circumstances.
It is not within the scope of this article to present
the personnel of bench or bar, but the development
of the courts involves some state-
^Courts111 ment of matters of practice of con-
stitutional law and of commercial
law. It is plain that practice is widely different now
from practice in the old days, when there was but
one county in a circuit, or many counties having
but one Circuit Court, which sat in terms. Now
we have four circuit judges, three of whom sit con-
tinuously. The share of this State in the develop-
ment of constitutional law is of high importance,
while the growth of commercial law has, necessar-
ily, been great, from the early period when mer-
chandise was floated to us down the Ohio or brought
by horses across the mountains, to the present day
when scores of railroad trains enter the city daily.
In regard to these several matters, this article pro-
poses to sketch the growth of legal practice and
doctrine in the courts of this State so far as it af-
fects Louisville as the greatest commercial city of
the State. Some of the matters referred to came up
from other counties, but all considerably affect this
city. It is not within the province of the writer
to express an opinion as to the policy or impolicy of
any of the changes mentioned in it. The function of
the historian is largely that of a witness, who sees,
and tells what he has seen.
The division of cases among the courts accord-
ing to subject matter was a natural outcome of the
different machinery provided for
Cases. °f ^ie business of the different depart-
ments of the law. Equity is a pe-
culiar system, whose development can be understood
only from a historical standpoint. It is the singu-
♦Judge Jackson died December 29th, 1895, and L. H.
Noble, Esq., was appointed judge.
lar instance of the adaptation of a system of laws to
an advancing civilization by the establishment of a
tribunal alongside of the ordinary tribunals dealing
largely with the same subject matters as the ordin-
ary tribunals, but according to rules of its own, and
operating chiefly upon persons. Even when it en-
joins proceedings in common law tribunals, it pro-
ceeds upon the idea that the proceedings in the
common law courts are valid, not void. The jury'
is no essential part of the chancery system, but it has
always been regarded as an essential constituent of
the common law system. The chancery courts deal
largely with complicated matters of account, with
which a jury could hardly be expected to cope;
sometimes the settlement of a business running over
many years must be made. A commissioner to state
accounts is an essential feature of a chancery court.
In like manner, criminal law has a peculiar fea-
ture— the grand jury which indicts offenders. And,
indeed, while assimilated to the forms of civil pro-
ceedings, criminal proceedings differ from them
widely in substance.
Thus three courts were easily formed; but when
it became necessary to add the fourth, there seemed
no easy and natural division of the subject matter
to assign to it. Criminal cases went to the Circuit
Court, equity cases to the Chancery Court, and
civil common law cases to the Common Pleas Court.
The fourth judge was, therefore, originally an asso-
ciate judge of the two last courts, who heard and
determined cases and questions assigned to him
by the presiding judges of these courts. But when
the Vice Chancellor’s Court, or the Law and Equity
Court was erected into a separate tribunal, in which
suits could be brought, it became necessary to pro-
vide some mode of distributing cases among the
courts. It was provided that every third case at
law and every third case in equity should be as-
signed to the chancellor.* In consequence, plain-
tiffs speedily began to select their judges. A plain-
tiff would hold back his petition until the turn came
of the judge before whom he wished to try. Some-
times as much as a day would elapse without a suit
being filed, as parties were waiting for some case
to be filed which would enable them to file the next
case before the other judge. Sometimes a tran-
script for the purpose of obtaining an execution on
a justice’s judgment would be filed so as to stop the
gap, and in at least one case the gap was stopped by
the bringing of a fictitious suit.f
♦Act of April 13th, 1880.
•fDoe vs. Roe, No. 35745.
16
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
It was seriously urged that either the State should
return to the policy of referring to the fourth judge
only such cases as should be assigned to him by the
presiding judge of one of the courts, or that a spe-
cial division of subject matter should be assigned
him. The idea of one court becoming a Divorce
and Orphan’s Court was suggested, but it did not
meet with favor. It was natural that upon many
questions, especially questions as to which no ap-
peal could go to the Court of Appeals, there should
be differences of opinion between the judges, and
for a long time differences in the rulings of the local
courts, as to the law of exemptions and as to the
law of divorce, were especially marked.
The present statute provides for an equal division,
from time to time, by lot, of common law cases be-
tween the Common Pleas division and the Law and
Equity division; and for a division by lot of equity
cases in the proportion of four-sixths to the Chan-
cery division, one-sixth to the Common Pleas di-
vision, and one-sixth to the Law and Equity divis-
ion.
An interesting case has recently been decided in
reference to the distribution. By the statute, or-
ders in any case before distribution may be made by
any of the three judges. The case of Sullivan
against Columbian Insurance Company had been
assigned to the Chancery division. The judge of
that court fell ill, and W. R. Abbott was elected to
hold the court for the occasion. Being counsel for
a claimant in the case named, he could not preside
in it, but he transferred the case to the Common
Pleas division. A mandamus action was then filed
by one of the parties against the clerk, and was tried
by the Law and Equity division, resulting in a judg-
ment that the clerk, by lot, assign said principal case
to a division. The lot resulted in an assignment to
the Law and Equity division. Proceedings in pro-
hibition were thereupon brought in the Court of Ap-
peals; that tribunal held the judgment in the manda-
mus case void and permitted the Common Pleas
division to proceed with the case.* This decision
seems to settle the point that neither of the divisions
can, by collateral proceedings, take away a case
from another of the divisions.
Another interesting case on the subject of dis-
tribution of cases is now pending before the Court
of Appeals. An action had been assigned for trial
to the Chancery division; after such assignment,
the Law and Equity division proceeded to make or-
*Hindman vs. Toney, in 1895.
ders in the action and rendered a final judgment.
It was claimed that the defendants had not objected
soon enough to the exercise of jurisdiction. The
matter is now pending on appeal, and the point in-
volved is whether the taking of jurisdiction was
error.* These two cases will go far to remove the
uncertainties of the statute in reference to distribu-
tion of cases.
Another important question arose in the Louis-
ville Chancery Court in regard to sales. It has
been the rule, in England, not to regard the pur-
chaser at judicial sales as anything but a preferred
bidder, until confirmation; the commissioner was
and is regarded as a mere agent of the court to re-
ceive bids and report them to the court. It was
customary to open the biddings on the offer with
good surety of a considerable advance (usually ten
per cent was enough). f This practice has been de-
cided by the Court of Appeals not to be law in this
State. Another change introduced by statute is the
requiring of a deposit from the accepted bidder, to
make sure that he will give bond as required by the
judgment. Cases have happened in which a ficti-
tious bid has been made at a judicial sale, and the
deposit put up and forfeited, the defendant remain-
ing in possession until a new sale could be made.
Sale bonds bear interest from the day of sale, but
the purchaser is entitled to rents only from the con-
firmation, as a rule; hence sales made at the be-
ginning of the summer recess impose on the bidder
the burden of paying interest for a period for which
he gets no rent.
The three civil divisions of the Jefferson Circuit
Court are, by law, in continuous session, but by an
old custom, now sanctioned by rule of court, cases
are not assigned for any day in the summer recess,
which lasts about three months — from early in July
to early in October. One day in the week has long-
been set apart as a motion day, for the making of
motions, the returning of decisions, and the calling
of cases for pleadings and the like. When the num-
ber of circuit courts had increased to three, it was
felt quite burdensome that one-half of the week
should be motion days. Accordingly, it was ar-
ranged that one day in each week should be made a
motion day, and that the three courts should sit in
the same room at the same time on that day. This
arrangement has been found to be advantageous,
and the joint session, as it is called, will probably
*Schmidt vs. Mitchell, 15 Ky. Law Reporter, 768.
tStump vs. Martin, 9 Bush., 285.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
17
be a permanent feature in the practice of the courts.
The bulk of judicial business, if judged by the
number of suits filed in the Circuit Court, does not
seem to have increased as rapidly as might have
been expected. The number of cases filed during
the year beginning July I, 1865:
In the Jefferson Common Pleas Court was. . . 1,060
And in the Louisville Chancery Court was . . . 747
Making a total of 1,807
The number of cases filed in the Jefferson Circuit
Court during the year ending July 1, 1895, was
2,935. It may be that the character of litigation
makes the number of suits filed not an adequate
standard. But, besides this, changes in the life of
the people have diminished litigation in certain di-
rections. The abolition of slavery did away with a
large class of business; all suits growdng out of
warranty on the sale of negroes, whether warranty
of title or of health, have long since been disposed
of. The bankrupt law changed the business habits
of the people. There had been two previous bank-
rupt laws, but each of them continued in force less
than three years, and was enacted because of some
special emergency; whereas the bankrupt law of
1867 continued in force about eleven years, and
many persons expected it to become a permanent
feature of the legal system of the country. Under
these circumstances, the credits given were much
shorter than had previously been the case, and more
accurate, detailed and extensive reports of the finan-
cial condition of persons seeking credit have come
to be made.
Certain classes of actions for personal injuries
have come into prominence. It was a maxim of the
common law, “actus personalis moritur cum per-
sona,” and it was recognized that no civil action lay
for an injury resulting in death. By statute, this
rule was modified; causes of action were established
by statute for certain classes of injuries resulting in
death, and it was finally enacted that damages might
be recovered where the life is lost by the willful neg-
lect of any person. This statute was construed,
however, not to confer a right of action unless the
deceased left a widow or a child. The fourth Con-
stitution, Section 241, has, however, done away with
this exception. The growth of suits of this class is
largely due to the great extension of railroads. Cer-
tain other modifications in the practice and business
of the courts are so closely connected with matters
of constitutional law as to demand some notice of
that department of law before mentioning them.
Before saying anything about constitutional law, it
may be well to call attention to the early and rapid
growth of enlightened notions about law in Ken-
tucky. At a time when this State was sparsely set-
tled, it numbered among its inhabitants men who
had thought closely on legal principles. The sell-
ing of property on credit under execution, instead
of for cash, and the allowing of a replevin bond on
a judgment or execution, together with the giving
to these bonds the effect of judgments, are all the
outgrowth of conditions existing in the western
part of Virginia, when Kentucky was a portion of
same, and are . explained in the Virginia statutes.
The reform in pleading in Kentucky antedates by
far the rules of Hilary term, while the statute mak-
ing bonds, bills and notes for money assignable so
as to vest the legal rights of action in the assignee,
and doing away with the conclusive effect of a seal,
shows the intelligence and wisdom of our early law-
makers.
The law’s delay seems to be increasing as the
years go by. The changes wrought by the Civil
Code of 1877 tend to delay. As late as 1868, it
sometimes happened that an appellant, who was will-
ing to supersede a judgment, and so to risk a judg-
ment for ten per cent damages, would appeal to the
Court of Appeals, and before the fieri facias expired
would replevy it for three months, expecting to get
a decision of the appeal at any rate before the re-
turn day of the fieri facias on the replevin bond, thus
expecting a decision of the appeal within seven
months from the date of the judgment. No one
now expects, unless, for public reasons, the appeal
is advanced, to obtain a judgment of reversal within
a year from the praying of the appeal to the Court
of Appeals. It is also doubtful whether, in con-
tested common law cases in our Circuit Court, the
delay is not usually as great as in the Circuit Courts
having terms.
The growth in power and influence of the courts
and judges has been notable. The increase in com-
pensation is one of the most interesting features.
When the Louisville Chancery Court was created, in
1835, the salary of the chancellor was fixed at
$1,500; the salary and compensation of each of the
four Circuit judges is now $5,000. The increase
from $3,400, which was the compensation fixed in
1880, to the present amount, indicates the apprecia-
tion by the public of the importance of the office.
The fourth Constitution provides that the compen-
sation of no officer, except the Governor, shall ex-
2
18
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ceed $5,000 per annum. Hence it will be seen that
the compensation of our Circuit judges has’ reached
the limit provided by that instrument.
It was long imagined that the elections of judges
among us would remain free from the influences and
methods which have pervaded other elections, but
with the growth of the city that impression disap-
peared. The chief elements, however, in the growth
of the power and influence of the courts and the
judges have been closely connected with the de-
velopment of constitutional law.
To the average Englishman constitutional law, in
the American sense, is a puzzle. It is said that an
Englishman once studied the Con-
Constitutionai stitution of the United States for
Law.
two days, in the hope of finding the
clause that made the Supreme Court the guardian
of the Constitution, but he studied in vain. The fact
is that there is nothing mysterious about the process
by which our courts declare an act unconstitutional
and void; the process is familiar to the English
courts in acting as to the by-laws of corporations,
municipal or private. Wherever there is limited
legislative authority, the courts must pass on the
question whether any attempted action transcends
the limit. But the people of Great Britain have
never been willing to put any limit on the legisla-
tive authority of Parliament. An act of Parliament
cannot be questioned in the courts, because Parlia-
ment is supreme, and with the British people legis-
lation and sovereignty are one.
Certain historical events made it easy for the peo-
ple of this country to conceive of an extraordinary
legislature, which did not act continuously, but at
indefinite intervals. The fact that the Colonies had
their own local legislatures, while the Parliament of
Great Britain exercised sovereignty power over
them whenever it chose, prepared the way for a sys-
tem of government in which the ordinary legislature
should sit frequently, while a body of extraordinary
legislative powers, consisting of conventions or of
the electors voting at the polls, or of both, might
come into action on needful occasions. The fact
that the Colonies were really in the nature of munic-
ipal corporations having charters, prepared the way
for the acceptance of the idea of a written Constitu-
tion for a State, while the union of all the States un-
der one Federal Government, with powers pre-
scribed in the instrument creating it, was a natural
result of the same historical process.
The great difference between the British and
American system is that the British believe that the
security of liberty against those who execute the
laws requires an ordinary legislature politically
omnipotent, which can hold in check those who
execute the laws ; while among Americans there has
grown up a distrust of those who make the laws,
and many of our people believe that the security of
liberty against the abuse of legislative power re-
quires the establishment of tribunals which, in the
administration of civil and criminal justice, can
check the wrong-doing of the law-makers. In oth-
er words, the British expect the legislature to pre-
vent possible oppression by the judges, and the
Americans expect the judges to prevent oppression
by the legislature in certain classes of cases, and for
these cases they have provided by written constitu-
tions. Power of this kind is like the snow-ball,
which grows by rolling.
Various attempts have been made to put checks
on the power of the judges bv changing the mode
of their selection, and the tenure of office of the
judges, and by parceling out jurisdiction and power
among different courts. It remains, however, that
the most startling feature in our political history is
the vastly augmented power of the judges.
It should be remembered that the division of
power into three departments — legislative, execu-
tive and judicial — is not an ancient division. It used
to be thought that to make laws and to execute them
embraced the entire function of the State, so far as
laws are concerned. This division into two depart-
ments, legislative and executive, is set out in Black-
stone’s Commentaries. The execution of the law
was confided to the king, who not only was the
head of administrative law, but was also the en-
forcer, through his judges, of law in the courts. The
judges were approved by the king during pleasure.
But the oppressions practiced under the Stuarts
resulted in a change of tenure; the judges in Eng-
land are now appointed during good behavior; the
consequence is that they have become responsible to
Parliament alone, and not to the crown. It would
hardly occur to an Englishman that courts could
be efficacious to prevent injuries by Parliament. In
this State, as well as in this country at large, the
question of the extent of the control of the Legis-
lature over the judiciary has been always a matter
of importance, for it has all along been recognized
in this country that the departments are three, legis-
lative, executive and judicial.
The Federal Constitution has given to the legis-
lative department great control over the courts by
providing for one Supreme Court, and such inferior
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
19
courts as Congress may, from time to time, estab-
lish. While Congress cannot legislate a judge out
of office, it can abolish any Federal Court except the
Supreme Court; and even as to that court, as the
number of its judges is not fixed, Congress may, at
will, increase the number so as to obtain a change in
the ruling on some particular question. It is not
of course necessary that this power be exercised;
the mere possession of it is enough to give Congress
a control. In the famous legal tender cases the
Supreme Court, by a majority of one, had held a cer-
tain Federal statute unconstitutional.* Congress
provided for the addition of two judges of the Su-
preme Court, and the next time the question arose
the statute was declared constitutional bv a majority
of one, the two new judges holding that it was con-
stitutional.f
The first Constitution of Kentucky followed very
closely the provisions of the Constitution of the
United States in this matter. Later changes have
shifted the center of gravity of our political system.
It is not within the scope of this article to intimate
or suggest that the center of gravity has or has not
been shifted too far; nor, in referring to any deci-
sion, is it the purpose of the writer to suggest that
such decision is or is not erroneous. The historian
who shall write a century from now can tell the
world whether or not the shifting of the center of
gravity has been beneficial. Meanwhile the great
mass of the people of this commonwealth entertain
no doubt that the change has been a wise one. As
has been stated, the constitutional changes affect,
of course, the courts of Louisville, and many of
the cases to be cited came up from Louisville. At
the risk of some tedium to readers who are not law-
yers it is proposed to cite a number of cases illus-
trative of the changes referred to.
Some one has said that most of the new State
Constitution rests on two great theological doctrines
— original sin and total depravity. It evinces a
large distrust of men in general, legislators and vot-
ers included. But to make the remark perfectly ac-
curate, there must be excepted from the sweeping
application of these two doctrines one class of men
— the judges ; for the enforcement of restraints upon
the rest of mankind is committed to the courts. It
is reported that while the last Constitutional Con-
vention was in session at Frankfort a distinguished
citizen remarked in a private conversation that it
♦Hepburn vs. Griswold, 8 Wall., 603.
tKnox vs. Lee, 12 Wall., 461.
made very little difference what those gentlemen
should do, as the courts would have the right to say
what the new Constitution meant, and the Court of
Appeals would see that it was so construed as to do
no harm. The fact that such a story became cur-
rent shows the shifting growth of popular sentiment
as to the power of the courts.
The early legislatures of Kentucky did not hesi-
tate to exercise the power given them over the
courts by the Constitution. Before Kentucky be-
came a State her principal courts were the Supreme
Court for the District of Kentucky and the County
Courts. Under the first Constitution the Legisla-
ture established justices’ courts, county courts
and courts of quarter sessions. It also established
a court of oyer and terminer for criminal cases.
In 1795 district courts were established, but in 1802
the Legislature abolished the district court system
and established circuit courts. The circuit courts,
however, remained mere statutory courts until the
third Constitution took effect, when the circuit
courts were made constitutional courts. But as the
Legislature had express power to change and alter
the jurisdiction of the circuit courts, and as special
legislation in the matter was not forbidden, the
Legislature still possessed great power of control
over the circuit courts. Occasionally statutory
courts would be created in particular counties, with
jurisdiction carved out of that of the circuit
courts.
While the last Constitutional Convention was in
session a meeting of the bar of Louisville was held
to discuss the best scheme for local courts. It con-
tinued for three afternoons, and by a small majority
requested the convention to continue in force in
Jefferson County the system of statutory courts
then existing. The discussion took a wide range,
and it became plain that many influential and prom-
inent members of the local bar preferred for this
city a system of courts, the jurisdiction of which
should be free from any control by special or local
legislation. The convention finally adopted Section
137, which is quoted supra in full, and also by Sec-
tion 59 forbade the Legislature to pass any special
or local law to regulate the jurisdiction of courts.
Section 59, prohibiting special legislation, is exceed-
ingly broad and detailed. After enumerating twen-
ty-eight classes of subjects, as to which no local or
special law can be enacted, it adds: “In all other
cases where a general law can be made applicable,
no special law shall be enacted.”
Two decisions of the Jefferson Circuit Court illus-
20
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
trate in an interesting way the effect of this section
upon the powers of the courts. By
judTcw“power. Kentucky Statutes, Section 1321, a
penalty is imposed on all persons
working on Sunday, except certain classes named
therein, as ferrymen. It was held that the exception
of these classes makes the statute a special one, and
that a general law could have been made applicable,
and that, therefore, the entire section is void.* On
the other hand, it is provided by Section 408 that
whenever the commissioner needs, for the proper
conduct of his office, a deputy, and he and his depu-
ties are constantly employed in the discharge of
their duties, the court may allow him for reports and
other services rendered under order of court such
fees as the court may prescribe by rule or otherwise.
It was held that this section is in force and ap-
plicable to allowances for making sales under judg-
ments of courts. t Section 59, which forbids the en-
acting of any special law to regulate the compensa-
tion of officers of courts of justice, was held not to
apply to this section. The effect of Section 59 is to
devolve on the courts in every case the duty of de-
termining, 1, whether a particular act is a special
act; 2, if so, whether it comes within any of the
twenty-eight classes of cases specified; 3, if not,
whether a general law could have been made ap-
plicable.
One of the main motives for the adoption of the
fourth Constitution was to check local and special
legislation. The session acts had grown exceed-
ingly bulky by reason of the passage of local and
special legislation. In the debate between J. M.
Atherton and B. H. Young, pending the popular
vote on the adoption of the Constitution in 1891, as
to the propriety of voting for the proposed Consti-
tution, the most telling feature was the production of
a small volume of acts of a State which had forbid-
den special legislation, followed by bringing the
Statutes of Kentucky on the platform in a wheel-
barrow. Of course the more numerous the con-
stitutional inhibitions against legislative action which
are made judicial questions, the more is the power
of the judiciary increased. It has been held by the
Court of Appeals that where certain required modes
of procedure in the passage of laws were not ob-
served, the courts may decide on certain statutes of
the record that the bills never were enacted into
laws, | but it has not yet been decided, under the
♦Commonwealth vs. Seelbach, May, 1895.
fGermania Trust Co. vs. Brady, No. 45629.
$Norman vs. Board of Managers, 93 Ky., 537.
fourth Constitution, whether where the non-observ-
ance of these modes of procedure is put in issue by
affirmance and denial, the courts can look into the
journals, notwithstanding the signatures of the Gov-
ernor and the presiding officers of the two houses
to the statute. It is supposed by some that the Con-
stitution of 1851, by requiring judges to be elected
for a term instead of being appointed during good
behavior, has materially strengthened the judges;
for, as a rule, elective officers have more political
power than other officers. The Queen of England
is vastly less powerful than the President of the
United States. In theory she has an absolute veto,
while his veto is quite limited; but for nearly two
centuries the British veto has not been used. The
President, however, is the choice of millions of vot-
ers, though nominally they vote for electors only.
So the British House of Lords is a much less influ-
ential body than the Senate of the United States,
and for a similar reason. Indeed, the House of
Lords is far less influential than the House of Com-
mons, although the members of the latter body are
elected for not exceeding seven years, and the dura-
tion of any Parliament may be ended at any moment
by the sovereign. However this may be, certain
it is that no circuit judge in Louisville, within some
thirty years, if once elected at the polls, has ever
failed of re-election while of five appointees within
the past twenty years to fill vacancies, only one was
afterward elected, two declined to run for the office
and two others were defeated at the polls by men
who had never held judicial office by appointment
or by election at the polls.
The influence of the judges was no doubt large-
ly increased by the events which followed the kill-
ing of Judge Elliott of the Court of Appeals by
Thomas Buford in 1879. Before it was ascertained
by a judicial investigation that Buford, at the time
of the killing, was insane and irresponsible, a meet-
ing of the Louisville bar was held to take action in
the matter, and at that meeting remarks were made
ascribing to judges, as such, a participation in the
“divinity that doth hedge a king,” etc. These re-
marks could not fail to impress the people with the
dignity and importance of the office, uttered as they
were by men of influence and importance.
The doctrine of the immunity of judges from lia-
bility to suit for judicial action has been growing in
favor. In England there seems to be an absolute
immunity so far as the ordinary courts are con-
cerned, but of course the power of impeachment
there is not limited by any constitutional provisions,
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
21
nor is there any bound to the powers of Parliament
to punish. Whether the absolute immunity from
liability exists in favor of circuit judges in Ken-
tucky seems not to have been decided as yet by our
Court of Appeals. Two cases have arisen in Louis-
ville in which the question was argued. Cornelison
being imprisoned under sentence of a court, applied
to one of the judges of Jefferson County for a writ
of habeas corpus. He had previously sued out a
writ of habeas corpus before that judge, as well as
like writs before other judges in reference to the
same imprisonment. On the second application the
judge refused to issue the writ. Cornelison then
brought suit against the judge for five hundred dol-
lars, under Section 401 of the Criminal Code, which
provides that “if any officer authorized to grant the
writ shall, when legally applied to, refuse to issue
it, he shall forfeit and pay to the person in whose
behalf it was applied for five hundred dollars.” The
petition was dismissed, and on appeal the Superior
Court affirmed the judgment, and held that the ap-
plication failed to show probable cause to believe that
Cornelison was detained without lawful authority.
The argument, however, took a much wider range,
and, in its opinion, the court says: “We shall look
to the rule so firmly founded in the common law
that no judge is amenable to a civil suit for his judi-
cial decisions.”*
Some years before that time, a suit for divorce
between L. R. Kean and wife, an affidavit was filed
by the wife to swear the chancellor off the bench.
Thereupon, without notice to L. R. Kean of the fil-
ing or of the proposed election, a member of the bar
was elected to try the case. Kean objected to this
proceeding-, and filed an affidavit against him, but
the special judge continued to assert jurisdiction
over the case. Kean then, in open court on motion
day, moved the clerk to hold an election for special
judge, under the statute; the clerk refused to hold
it. Afterward the special judge entered an order
(after rule served) adjudging that Kean be im-
prisoned thirty hours for words spoken outside the
court house, which the judge construed to impart
a threat. After the termination of the imprisonment
Kean brought suit for damages, alleging that the
order was without jurisdiction and was malicious.
A demurrer was sustained to the petition. f The ef-
fect of a demurrer is to admit, for the purposes of
the demurrer, all the well pleaded averments of the
pleading demurred to, so that it seemed likely that
♦Cornelison vs. Toney, 12 Ky. Law Reporter, 746.
tKean vs. Woolley, No. 24332, J. C. C. P.
the question of the immunity of judges would be
squarely passed on by the Court of Appeals.
By the statute in force when the third Constitu-
tion was adopted a circuit judge could not im-
prison for a contempt more than twenty-four hours,
except upon a verdict of a jury; by the general stat-
utes the limit was fixed at thirty hours. It was con-
tended that this change was in violation of the clause
providing for the inviolability of the right of trial
by jury. Pending the appeal, however, Kean died;
the appeal abated, and the questions involved have
never yet been decided by the Court of Appeals.
The judges, however, have always been liable to
removal by the. Governor on address of two-thirds
of each House of the Legislature. It is believed that
this power has been exercised but once. An officer
of the Federal Army threatened, in 1864, to put to
death a judge of the Court of Appeals; he with-
drew to Canada, and, on address, he was removed
from office. Under the present Constitution no ses-
sion of the Legislature can last longer than sixty
days; nor can any called session consider any sub-
ject not embraced in the Governor’s proclamation.
Under the rules of procedure prescribed by the new
Constitution, a very small and determined minority
could readily postpone any proceedings for im-
peachment or address beyond the end of the regu-
lar session.
Some notice should be taken in this connection
of the famous old court and new court controversy
oid and New which shook the State to the cen-
Court controversy. ter, although by no means local to
Louisville. The relief legislation of 1820 provided
for a replevying of judgments and executions for
two years, unless the plaintiff would indorse
his willingness to receive notes of a certain
bank in satisfaction. This act was adjudged uncon-
stitutional in 1823 in two cases.* Great political
agitation ensued. The relief party could not com-
mand the necessary majority to address the judge
out of office; it is believed that the party had one
adherent too few in the Senate. Cnder these cir-
cumstances a bill was passed to reorganize the
Court of Appeals. New judges were appointed and
their decisions are reported in 2 T. B. Monroe’s
Reports. Afterward an act was passed declaring the
repealing act unconstitutional. The cases in 2 T.
B. Monroe are not regarded as legal decisions of
this State, nor are they cited in any later decisions of
the Court of Appeals. The two cases mentioned are
♦Blair vs. Williams, 4 Litt, 34; Lapsley vs. Brashear,
ibid, 47.
22
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
of great importance; it is believed that they are the
first cases in which a court of last resort held an act
unconstitutional under the provision against im-
pairing the obligation of contracts. But the great-
est value of the events cited is the demonstration
they afiford of the difficulty of the procedure of ad-
dress, and of the independence, by the courts, of
the Legislature under any ordinary circumstances.
Another illustration of the growth of the influ-
ence of the judges is found in the present marked
preference for equity proceedings, and in the
changes of the jury system. Under the present Con-
stitution three-fourths of a jury may find a verdict
in a civil case. This vastly weakens the influence of
any one juror, and results in unanimity quite fre-
quently, as jurors who dissent from a verdict do not
always care to let their dissent be known by a refusal
to sign, when the refusal would not in any way af-
fect the result.
Many interesting matters of constitutional law
must be passed by unnoticed in this article, as its
scope is confined to the development of the courts.
Notice, however, must be taken of those matters
which have affected that development.
Power to punish for contempt is
Contempt. essential to the maintenance of the
courts, and the development in this
respect is well worthy of study. In 1808 the Circuit
Court of Jefferson county imprisoned G. J. John-
ston, an attorney, six hours for a contempt; from
this judgment he presented a writ of error, which
the court quashed, holding that each court
should have exclusive jurisdiction to judge of
contempts to its authority, but the court said,
in its opinion: “Where is the security of the
citizen against the arbitrary oppression of the judge
by a willful infraction of the law? It is answered
that the citizen finds security in his own correct de-
meanor, in the great lenity and unwillingness, which
has generally been remarked in courts, to resort to
this exercise of their powers; but above all, in that
responsibility which the judge owes to the assem-
bled representation of the country for any corrupt
or willful and arbitrary abuse of his powers.”*
In 1793, the second year of the commonwealth,
the Legislature passed an act reciting that it is “con-
trary to these principles that any man or body of
men should have or exercise in any case an unlim-
ited arbitrary power to fine and imprison for of-
fenses against him or themselves, in any capacity
:|:Johnston vs. Commonwealth, 1 Bibb, 598.
whatever.” By this act the power to punish with-
out a jury was limited; a civil action was given
against any judge offending against the act, and
it was provided that on the trial by jury the truth
of the matter might be given in evidence by the de-
fendant. The provision for a civil action against
the judge has been omitted from later revisions.
By the act of 1829 the judges and courts were
forbidden to punish by process of contempt per-
sons who shall, by words or writing, animadvert on
or examine into the proceedings of such court or
judge, by words spoken or writing published, not
in the presence of such court or judge, nor on the
public grounds, nor in the court house, during the
sitting of the court.* In one case a person so ani-
madverting has been punished by a fine, and there
seems a tendency on the part of the courts to hold
that the Legislature has no power to limit the courts
in matters of contempt.f
In 1874 counsel in a case from Jefferson County
filed in the Court of Appeals a petition for rehearing,
which the court thought disrespectful; upon a rule
issued to show cause why his authority to practice
as an attorney of said court should not be revoked
and he be otherwise punished for contempt, these
statutes were cited. The court imposed a fine of
thirty dollars, but said: “The right of self-preserva-
tion is an inherent right in the courts. It is not de-
rived from the Legislature and cannot be made to
depend upon legislative will. The power of the leg-
islative department to interfere with the manner in
which the judicial department shall protect itself
against insults and indignities is denied by the Su-
preme Court of Arkansas, and doubted by the
Supreme Court of the United States. It remains an
open question in this State, and we intend, in this
case, so to leave it.”j;
Probably the most interesting case of imprison-
ment for contempt in Louisville was that of the im-
prisonment of the City Council in 1855. Mandamus
was taken to compel the City Council to grant a
tavern license; they refused to obey the judgment,
and several of them were sent to prison for the con-
tempt. Afterward the judgment was superseded,
and the defendants were released. It is reported
that, at the time of the judgment, there were two
*Tbe act of 1829 is believed to bave been occasioned by
tbe imprisonment of tbe proprietor of a Frankfort news-
paper for contempt in publishing an article relating to
a criminal prosecution in tbe Jefferson Circuit Court
disrespectful to the court.
tW. A. Kleissendorff, May 2, 1891; see No. 31,794%.
$Re. R. W. Woolley, 11 Bush, 95.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
23
claimants of the office of mayor. An Englishman
passing through the city remarked that Louisville
was the liveliest city he had visited, as it had two
mayors and all its council were in jail. The judg-
ment in the mandamus case was reversed, and it
was held that mandamus is not an appropriate rem-
edy to control the exercise of discretionary power.*
The writ of habeas corpus is the great personal
liberty writ, and as it is not issued among us by
courts, but by judges — as the decision against the
prisoner is not a bar to the hearing of another writ
in reference to the same imprisonment, as the deci-
sion on a habeas corpus is not reviewable by an
appeal, and as the prisoner cannot lawfully be re-
arrested for the same cause after a discharge on
habeas corpus — the writ serves as some check on an
abuse of the power of contempt. The only inquiry is
whether the commitment is valid; a decision ad-
verse to the validity of the commitment releases the
prisoner irreversibly.
When, in 1853, the Jefferson Circuit Court made
an order imprisoning J. C. Alexander for contempt,
until further order of court, he was released on
habeas corpus by Judge Henry Pirtle, who, in an
elaborate opinion, held that the power to punish
for contempt has its limits. f The same rule has
since that time been laid down and adhered to. It
has also been held that the Court of Appeals has
jurisdiction of appeals from orders punishing for
constructive contempts — as for disobedience of
orders of court — although it lias no jurisdiction of
appeals in cases of direct contempt.
Another interesting matter in the development of
our courts has reference to the swearing off of
judges.
The Constitution directed the
SWjudgeSs.0ff Legislature to provide for the hold-
ing of circuit courts where the judge
failed to attend or, if in attendance, could not prop-
erly preside, but did not set out what facts would
make it improper for the judge to preside. Interest
in the result of the suit, or near kinship to one of the
parties, was always held to disqualify a judge. In
Turney vs. Commonwealth, 2 Met., 630, it was held
that personal hostility to a defendant in a prosecu-
tion made it improper for the judge to preside, and
that the hostility might be made to appear by the
affidavit of the defendant. The General Statutes, in
persuance of this policy, provided that a party might
file with the clerk his affidavit that the judge would
*Kean vs. Louisville, 18 B. Mon., 9.
fRe. J. C. Alexander, 2 Am. Law Register, 44.
not afford him a fair and impartial trial, and there-
fore a special judge should be elected, if the parties
could not agree upon a special judge. The Kean
divorce case, above referred to, brought this provi-
sion prominently before the public.
In process of time the right to file the affidavit
against the presiding judge was greatly abused.
Persons seeking delay by way of continuance would
file the statutory affidavit, and the mode in which the
right was exercised presented a serious obstruction
to the administering of justice. In the Kean divorce
case the special judge claimed that special judges
were not within the statute; afterward, however, he
resigned, and the divorce case was tried by a special
judge acceptable to both parties.
The statute was generally regarded as binding,
and in 1884 the Legislature passed a special act pro-
viding for Jefferson County by which, when a judge
was absent, a special judge should be elected; but
when a judge could not properly preside the action
should be transferred to another court in the same
county; and further provided that cases in which
the statutory affidavit was filed should be deemed
cases in which the judge could not properly preside.
An unsuccessful attempt was made to get the Leg-
islature to repeal this provision. A meeting of the
bar was then called, at which three of the judges
presided, and this provision was fully discussed.
Two of the judges expressed an opinion that it was
unconstitutional, and one of them, in a case pending-
before him, rendered a decision to that effect.* The
range of argument at that meeting was interesting,
as indicating the development above referred to.
While of course the power of the Legislature to
make laws — rules of civil conduct — was insisted
upon; and it was further urged that the provision
for filing an affidavit is only a rule, and that the
Court of Appeals had in a recent case said that the
provision must be complied with, for so the law is
written, and had caused these emphatic words to
be printed in the report in italic letters ;J yet the main
scope of the argument turned on questions of policy.
On the one hand, there were urged the delays re-
sulting from carrying out the provision, the lessen-
ing of the dignity of the courts and the judges, and
the like. On the other hand, it was urged that the
possession of the power to swear off the judge will
render its present exercise unnecessary; that when
a strong man armed keepeth his house, his goods
are in peace; that the taking away of this defensive
♦Sherley vs. Sherley; No. 2968, V. C.
fRyram vs. Holliday, 7 Ky. Law Reporter, 740.
24
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
weapon tends to produce strife, not peace; that the
filing in the clerk’s office avoids any irritation of the
judge; and that the possession of the right to swear
off the judge not only prevents any person from pre-
suming to attempt unfairly to influence the judges,
but also makes it clear to the public that nothing of
the sort can be done.
Shortly afterward the Court of Appeals sustained
the constitutionality of the provision,* but held that
the affidavit must be promptly filed, and must set
out the grounds for the affiant’s belief and that the
circuit judge in the first instance must pass on the
sufficiency of these grounds. In a response to a
petition for rehearing, the court seems to rest its
decision largely upon the policy of the law.
An interesting case came up from Jefferson Coun-
ty, in which an affidavit was filed against the judge
before whom the action was pending. The plaintiff
then set his case before the other common law court,
but it refused to hear the case. A mandamus was
then prayed before the Court of Appeals against that
judge to compel him to try the case. It was refused
on the ground that the affidavit was insufficient, but
it resulted in a ruling that the circuit judge could not
pass on the truth of the matters alleged against him,
but only on the sufficiency of the affidavit. J On the
return of the case plaintiff, it is said, prepared an
affidavit which was never filed. The judge before
whom the case was pending declined to try the case,
but refused to transfer it, and ordered the election
of a special judge, holding that the Legislature had
no power to provide for a transfer. Under the direc-
tion of the special judge, however, the case was
finally transferred and was tried by the court to
which the transfer was made.
In the case of Powers vs. Reynolds^ the affidavit
had been filed against Judge Simrall and had been
passed on by him, and by him the case had been
transferred, and it was tried by Judge Stites. Mean-
while Judge Simrall resigned his office. No pre-
tense of bias on the part of Judge Stites existed, but
the Court of Appeals reversed, because of the trans-
fer, and held that a transfer to a co-ordinate court
in the same county, if the affidavit is insufficient, is
a prejudice to a substantial right.
It is believed that no later case has substantially
modified any of these rulings, although in one case,
not from Louisville, the Court of Appeals has
^German Insurance Company vs. Landram; 7 Ky. Law
Reporter, 740.
tVance vs. Field; 88 Ky., 433.
{Powers vs. Reynolds; 11 Ky. Law Reporter, 460.
passed on the insufficiency of the affidavit,* and it
is said that the question of the insufficiency of an-
other affidavit is involved in a case from Louisville
now under submission in that court.f
The election of special judges has given rise to
some interesting features in the development of
the local courts. Sickness of a
special judges. judge or absence from the county
or State, as well as disqualification
to try a particular case, resulted in the election of
special judges. It became apparent at least that
it was highly expedient to provide for a different
procedure in the different classes of cases. Accord-
ingly, by the act of 1884 above referred to, an elec-
tion of a special judge was required, if the regular
judge was absent, but a transfer to another court,
in the event of the disqualification of the regular
judge to try the case. It was held by one of the
judges that the provision for a transfer was uncon-
stitutional, as the power of the Legislature was con-
fined to the providing for the holding of circuit
courts. Accordingly, in a case or two, special
judges were chosen in that court, but as they held
the provision constitutional, they directed the clerk
to transfer the cases. J The views of the special
judges were approved by the Court of Appeals.§
There seems very little probability of a like ques-
tion arising under the present statute.
An interesting feature of several of the cases is
the recognition of the power of the Court of Ap-
peals over the proceedings in cir-
Appeiiate Power, cuit courts. The Fourth Constitu-
tion gives express power to the
Court of Appeals to issue such writs as are neces-
sary to give it a general control over inferior juris-
dictions, and this power has been frequently exer-
cised in matters arising in this county. Some of the
cases already cited are cases of prohibition against
circuit judges.
From the foundation of the State, however, the
Court of Appeals has claimed the right to issue writs
of mandamus to the circuit judges in and of appel-
late jurisdiction. The writ of mandamus, as issued
by the Circuit Court, is much narrower in Kentucky
than in England. It can only be used against execu-
tive and ministerial officers — not against any cor-
poration, except, perhaps, a municipal corporation.
*Massie vs. Commonwealth; 16 Ky. Law Reporter, 790.
{Schmidt vs. Mitchell; 15 Ky. Law Reporter, 768.
{Johnson vs. Thompson; No. 3564.
§Royal Insurance Company vs. Rufer; 11 Ky. Law
Reporter, 728.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
25
Mandatory injunctions have largely supplied the
vacancy left by the narrowing of the scope of a
mandamus, and the recent legislation on injunc-
tions is thoroughly relevant here. It had been held
that where a preliminary injunction is held in force
until the trial, and is then dissolved by final order,
a supersedeas, which the appellant might sue out
in the clerk’s office by giving bond, would keep the
injunction in force until the determination of the
appeal.* Should an injunction be dissolved before
final hearing the plaintiff might apply to a judge of
the Court of Appeals for reinstatement, and if re-
instated, it would remain in force until final hear-
ing. The act of 1894, however, provides that the
Circuit Court, at the time that the appeal is taken,
may make an order suspending, modifying or con-
tinuing the injunction during the appeal upon such
terms as it may impose. This order may be revised
by the Court of Appeals, or in vacation, by a judge
thereof, on application within twenty days.f The
same act, bv amending Section 296 of the Code,
provides that where an injunction has been granted
or continued by interlocutory order the party en-
joined may apply to a judge of the Court of Appeals
for a dissolution or modification. The constitution-
ality of this section has been seriously questioned,
and has never been passed on by the Court of Ap-
peals, but as several of the judges of that court
have acted under it by dissolving or modifying in-
junctions, it is probable it will be held constitu-
tional. The power it gives to a single judge of the
Court of Appeals, coupled with the fact that it au-
thorizes the party enjoined to select the judge to be
applied to, is noteworthy. One of the most inter-
esting cases arising under it grew out of the can-
vass of 1894 forjudge of the Court of Appeals from
Jefferson County. Under the present law that coun-
ty is an Appellate Court district. Joseph T. O’Neal
and Sterling B. Toney sought the Democratic nom-
ination at a primary election. Rules were adopted,
providing for the preservation of ballots in certain
cases and for a certain time, but shortly before the
election these rules were modified. O’Neal brought
suit against the committee and Judge Toney and
other candidates, seeking an injunction against the
destruction of the ballots and in other respects.
Judge Field, on a hearing, granted the preliminary
injunction, but Hon. Isaac M. Quigley, a judge of
the Court of Appeals, modified it so as not to forbid
*Smith vs. Western Union Telegraph Company; 83
Ky., 104.
tAmendment to Section 747, Civil Code.
the destruction of the ballots. The case, of course,
went no further. The primary was held and the bal-
lots were destroyed.
The present law, which thus authorizes a single
judge of the Court of Appeals, by interlocutory or-
der, to permit, pending the suit, the destruction of
papers, the preservation of which is the main pur-
pose of the suit, greatly modifies the power of the
Circuit Court, as previously existing.
Probably the most momentous change ever made
in the Kentucky code of practice was made by the
revision of 1877. By the previous code, Section
876, it was provided that an appeal should be grant-
ed as matter of right either by the court rendering
the judgment on motion made during the term, or
by the clerk of the Court of Appeals, on applica-
tion. But the code of 1877 modified this section by
inserting the word “thereafter’’ before the words
“by the clerk," thus taking away from the clerk the
power to grant an appeal during the term, and put-
ting it into the power of the circuit judge by refusing
an appeal to prevent a superseding of his judgment
until it could be carried into execution. As sixty
days corresponds to a term in Jefferson County in
civil cases, the immense addition to the power of
the judges will be seen. Under this section it has
been held that the mere asking for an appeal is not
a granting of the appeal, that the clerk of the Court
of Appeals cannot grant an appeal during the term
at which the judgment was rendered, and that a
supersedeas, issued on such an appeal, is void, and
disregard of same by the circuit judge will not be
punished as a contempt.* It has, however, been
held that the Court of Appeals may compel the cir-
cuit judge to grant the appeal, and in several cases
that court has so ordered.
The limitation of tlie revisory jurisdiction of the
Court of Appeals by the amount in controversy
greatly increases the power of the circuit judges.
In order to diminish the volume of business going-
up to the Court of Appeals, the Legislature has
fixed a sum below which that court shall have no
jurisdiction. It would, of course, cost the defend-
ant more than the amount of a very small judgment
to prosecute an appeal. It sometimes happens, how-
ever, that important public questions are involved
in cases in which the judgment is so small as not
to be appealable. In such cases the judgment of the
circuit judge is final, and important social results
depend on the opinion of the circuit judge. Thus
*Schmidt vs. Mitchell; 15 Ky. Law Reporter, 768.
26
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the judgment in the Sunday law case, and in the case
involving commissioners’ fees above cited, are not
appealable; and indeed matters of taxed costs rare-
ly amount to a sufficient sum to give the Court of
Appeals jurisdiction. The observance of Sunday
in different counties of the State will depend upon
the respective opinions of the different circuit judges.
A conviction for practicing medicine illegally under
the statutes, against empiricism, if for a first offense,
results in a fine too small to give the Court of Ap-
peals jurisdiction; so that the law against irregular
practitioners of medicine will be held constitutional
or unconstitutional according to the opinion of the
circuit judges. Numerous other illustrations might
be made, but those cited will give some idea of the
extent to which, in many social matters, the opin-
ion of the circuit judge is a finality, and regulates the
community. This lack of uniformity in the State
has induced some persons seriously to suggest that
the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals ought not to
be made to depend upon the amount in contro-
versy in any case in which the validity or the con-
struction of a statute is involved; the suggestion
has not met with favor. Even an amendment of this
kind would not produce complete uniformity. A
grand jury, for instance, will hardly indite contrary
to the judge’s charge; hence certain questions
will never arise, if the circuit judge believes the law
to have a particular construction; as, for instance,
as to whether Section 1677, Kentucky Statutes, for-
bids the playing of progressive euchre for a prize.
An interesting case, in which the Appellate Court
took jurisdiction, is Godshaw vs. Roberts.* For-
merly the Louisville Chancery Court had jurisdiction
to adjudge persons to be lunatics. As that court
had no jury commissioners and no regular panel, a
jury in every case had to be summoned for the oc-
casion. It was contended by the trustee of the jury
fund that all the members of all such juries were
bystanders, and that, therefore, they were not en-
titled to be paid unless they served more than one
day. The chancellor, however, thought that men
specially summoned could not be regarded as by-
standers, and ordered payment made. An appeal
was prayed, and it was earnestly contended that the
Appellate Court had no jurisdiction of the appeal,
same being from an order for the payment of money
where the amount in controversy was less than one
hundred dollars; but the court held that these words
did not refer to an order against a trustee of the
*Godshaw vs. Roberts; 2 Ky. Law Reporter, 215.
jury fund to pay public money to jurors. It took
jurisdiction and reversed the judgment.*
An important limitation on the power of the State
courts has been found in the judicial power of the
United States.
sS“rtf Not °nly doeS an aPPeal lie from
the highest court of the State to the
Supreme Court of the United States, in certain
States, of a case in which a Federal question is in-
volved, but suits can be brought in the first instance
in the Federal courts, where the amount is suffi-
cient to give jurisdiction, if the plaintiffs are citi-
zens of different States from the defendants; and
in certain classes of cases the cause may be removed
from the State court to the Federal court for trial.
Among the Presbyterian churches in this coun-
try there are two great bodies, one known as the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of Amer-
ica, and the other as the Presbyterian Church in the
United States; in common parlance, they are called
the Northern and the Southern Presbyterian
Church. Litigation sprang up as to who were the
officers of the Walnut Presbyterian Church, and the
Court of Appeals decided the question. f But some
members of that congregation were citizens of In-
diana, and they brought suit in the Federal Court
seeking for relief that the trustees hold for the bene-
fit of the congregation in connection with the North-
ern church. It was held that this question was not
precluded by the judgment of the State court, and
final judgment was rendered by the Federal court.J
It is not within the scope of this article to review
the church litigation that followed the war; this
case is simply cited as illustrating the development
of the courts.
The bankruptcy act of 1867 powerfully affected
the State courts. As an adjudication in bankruptcy
dissolved all attachments on mesne process in the
State courts sued out within four months before the
bankruptcy proceedings, and as the making of an
insolvent assignment was itself an act of bank-
ruptcy, and as the bankruptcy courts, in the great
mass of cases, had charge of matters that, under the
act in regard to preferences, commonly known as
the act of 1856, would have fallen into the circuit
courts, the effect of the bankrupt law on the de-
velopment of the State courts during its existence
will at once be understood.
The most noticeable influence of the Federal
*Godshaw vs. Roberts; 2 Ky. Law Reporter, 215.
tWatson vs. Avery; 2 Bush, 332; 3 Bush, 635.
JWatson vs. Jones; 13 Wall., 679.
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
27
courts upon the State courts arose out of the rela-
tions existing between the Caucasian and the Afri-
can races. Kentucky was a slave State until the
adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, and
negroes and mulattoes were under disabilities after
that time. Among other things, they could not tes-
tify in cases to which white persons were parties.
The Federal Circuit Court was of opinion, under
this state of things, that it had jurisdiction to
punish crimes committed by whites in Kentucky
in the forcible injury of negroes. The Supreme
Court of the United States finally held this view
erroneous.* Meanwhile the State had, by legisla-
tion, removed the disability referred to.
The statutory exclusion of negroes from being
members of grand juries or petit juries resulted in
a claim by the Federal Circuit Court that the cases
of negroes under indictment for crime could under
the removal statutes be removed into the Federal
Court for trial ; and when once removed the accused
had a right to be discharged, as the indictment
against him was not found by a legally empaneled
grand jury.f The serious effect of this ruling will
be at once appreciated, for it made it impossible to
punish any negro or mulatto for any offense, no
matter how grave, that must be prosecuted by in-
dictment. The Legislature had refused to strike the
word “white” out of the statute. Under these cir-
cumstances the Jefferson Circuit Court, and on ap-
peal the Court of Appeals, held that the effect of the
Federal legislation had been to repeal the disabil-
ity.:}: Upon these rulings being made the Federal
courts ceased to take jurisdiction of removals on
that ground. Since that time all shadow of disabil-
ity on the ground of race, color or previous condi-
tion of servitude has been removed by State legis-
lation.
As appeals from the State courts to the United
States Supreme Court do not lie unless the decision
is adverse to the right claimed under Federal law,
and as the decisions of the State Court may be fav-
orable to that right, the Federal courts have not
largely affected the action of this State, under the
clauses in reference to obligation of contracts and
interstate commerce. Interesting cases under these
clauses have been decided and some are now pend-
ing.
1 he distribution of powers among the three de-
*Blyew vs. United States; 13 Wall., 581.
tSpring of 1880.
tCom moil wealth vs. Johnson; 78 ICy., 509.
partments of government has already been alluded
to, and mention has been made that
Powers the judiciary is an outgrowth of the
executive. It should also be re-
marked that matters of status are often very near the
border between judicial and legislative functions.
Thus where married women are under disability to
contract, a statute giving a particular woman power
to trade as a single woman is an exercise of legisla-
tive power, for it is a rule of action applicable to all
persons that they may buy from or sell to that par-
ticular person. But it is also allowable for a statute
to make provision that, upon a certain state of facts,
courts may confer that power upon such married
women as apply for it, and the action of the court is
an exercise of judicial power. The Third Consti-
tution, Article 2, Section 32, forbade certain special
legislation of this character, to-wit: the granting of
divorces and the authorizing of the sales of estates
of persons under disabilities, also the changing of
names.
The growth of divorce litigation is among the
most marked features of local history, while the
questions arising upon judicial sales of estates of
persons under disability have been of very great im-
portance. Our courts have steadily held that chan-
cery courts have no inherent power to sell real estate
of infants; and the question whether, in such cases,
a particular sale was void or voidable has often been
highly important, while the rulings as to sales of
separate estates of married women built up quite an
important branch of the law. The technicalities re-
quired in proceedings under Chapter 86 of the Re-
vised Statutes have produced great uncertainty as
to the security of titles. The effect of that statute
has hardly passed completely away.
The power of appointment to office has been said
to be essentially executive,* but as courts have gen-
erally had power to appoint their own officers, there
have occasionally risen questions as to the appoint-
ing power by the courts or the judges. Indeed, it
was hardly to be expected that a sharp line could be
drawn between executive and judicial functions in
the appointment to office. The appointment of a
collector of back taxes by a judge of the Jefferson
County Court under a statute was sustained, and was
held to be the act of the judge, not of the court.f
The County Court has, from the very foundation
of the State, exercised functions which are largely
*Taylor vs. Commonwealth; 3 J. J. M., 401.
tHoke vs. Field; 10 Bush, 144.
28
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
executive and administrative. The judge of that
court has, under existing- statutes, the power of ap-
pointing some officers — for instance, an inspector
of oils — whose duties seem to have little to do with
the courts. An act authorizing the chancellor to
appoint police commissioners was held unconstitu-
tional on the ground that the Constitution required
officers for cities to be elected for a term.*
The most recent cases as to the exercise of ap-
pointing powers by the judges relates to the office of
official indexer of public records. By Section 908,
Kentucky Statutes, it was provided that in counties
having over 75,000 inhabitants, the judges of the
circuit and county courts should, in January, 1895,
and every three years thereafter, appoint an indexer.
Judge Hoke’s term as county judge expired on the
first Monday in January, 1895 ; between New Year’s
Day and the first Monday an attempt was made to
hold an election for this office. County Judge
Hoke, Circuit Judge Sterling B. Toney and Hon.
John L. Dodd, who, on account of Judge Edwards’
absence, had been elected to hold court in the
Chancery division, voted for Mr. Roberts. A later
election was attempted to be held after the first Mon-
day in January. Circuit Judges Field and Jackson
and County Judge Richie voted for Mr. Paul Cain.
In either case three votes were cast, being of course
a majority of five. The Court of Appeals held that
a member of the bar elected to hold the court for the
occasion does not possess the power of appointment
which is given by the statute to the judges; it fur-
ther held that, under Section 107 of the Constitu-
tion, which authorizes the Legislature to provide
for the election or appointment of county officers, it
may confer the appointing power upon judges.f
This disposes of two questions of peculiar public
interest.
The most interesting case in Jefferson County in
reference to exercise of executive powers by the
courts grew out of the office of com-
missioner of the Louisville Chan-
cery Court. Under the statute then
in force, the chancellor was to appoint a commis-
sioner for his term. Chancellor Thomas B. Coch-
ran, in 1868, appointed Thomas P. Smith commis-
sioner, but, in 1870, entered an order removing him
and appointing Robert Cochran commissioner.
Smith asked an appeal, and the chancellor refused
to grant it. At that time the word “thereafter” had
not been inserted in the section relating to the
Chancery
Commissioner.
power of the clerk of the Court of Appeals to grant
appeals, so an appeal was prayed at Frankfort.
Smith also brought suit for the office before the
Jefferson Court of Common Pleas, which dismissed
the petition, holding that it had no jurisdiction. The
Court of Appeals reversed both judgments, and
held that the order of the court removing Smith was
a judicial order from which an appeal lay, and that
the Jefferson Court of Common Pleas had jurisdic-
tion of the suit for possession of the office. It fur-
ther held that the statute in force was binding on
the chancellor.* Afterwards, the Legislature passed
an act providing for the separation of the office of
commissioner and receiver. Lffider this act, Chan-
cellor Cochran appointed Robert Cochran commis-
sioner, and his action was sustained by the Court of
Appeals. f The later history of this office is not un-
interesting. It was claimed by some persons that
the patronage given to the chancellor by the power
to appoint a commissioner and a receiver was an
undue addition to the powers of the office, and that
these offices ought to be within the gift of the four
judg'es jointly. When the new Constitution took
effect, a committee, consisting of four Circuit judges,
a judge of the Federal Court, and ten members of
the bar, was appointed to draft needful acts for the
organization of the court. A sub-committee report-
ed a draft of some acts in which, from fear of en-
croaching upon Section 59 of the Constitution, in
regard to special legislation, all questions of com-
pensation to officers were avoided. The bill, how-
ever, was so modified as to provide rules for com-
pensation differing in some respects from the gen-
eral rules in the State. The bill so modified passed
both Houses, and was vetoed by the Governor. A
new bill was then drawn so as to meet his objec-
tions, and was passed and has become a law. In
this act nothing seems to be provided as to the office
of receiver, but the judges have made appointment
of a receiver, as well as of commissioner, and both
offices are in active operation. From the time of
the creation of the office of receiver, the compensa-
tion for his services has come from the interest al-
lowed by the bank in which the deposit is made on
the balance in its hands from time to time.
In matters relating to commercial law, the de-
velopment of the courts, as might have been ex-
pected, has been notable. The
Commercial Law. Legislature of Virginia, in May,
1776, declared that the common law
*Speed & Worthington vs. Crawford; 3 Met., 207.
fRoberts vs. Cain; in 1895.
*Smith vs. Cochran; 7 Bush, 147, 154, 540.
tSmith vs. Cochran; 8 Bush, 108.
t
*
I
•
j
f
i
1
l
I
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE COURTS.
29
of England, and all acts of Parliament prior to the
fourth year of James the First, of a general nature
and not local to the Kingdom of England, were
made the rule of decision, except so far as modified
by legislative action of the colony. A large part of
the mercantile law of Great Britain, by statute and
by adjudication, grew up after 1607, the fourth year
of James the First. In consequence it is the case
that, in Kentucky, promissory notes taken before
maturity for value by a purchaser without notice of
a defense or set-off are subject to defenses, and
even set-offs; while, by the general commercial law,
a purchaser even of an overdue note does not take
subject to set-offs, having no connection with the
transaction in which the note was given. This is
but one instance, though a striking one, of pecu-
liarities of Kentucky commercial law.
The growth of great cities has necessarily de-
veloped that branch of the law. The ordinary pro-
cess for collection of debts used to be to get judg-
ment and either issue a fieri facias to subject prop-
erty, or a capias ad satisfaciendum to seize the debt-
or’s person. Except in a few classes of cases, the
capias has now been disused. The insolvent debt-
or’s oath is a means of discharge of the person of
the debtor. In the Alexander case, hereinbefore
cited, the prisoner attempted to procure his dis-
charge by taking the insolvent debtor’s oath, but
the court held that as the non-payment of the money
in that case was a contempt, he could not be so dis-
charged. It will be noticed that the proceedings
for the collection of debts were by each creditor
against his debtor. The courts of this State were
for a long time not inclined to greatly favor as-
signments for the benefits of creditors, although
equity delighteth in equality.
There grew up in Kentucky, by statute, a system
of attachments, new grounds of attachment being
created by statute from time to time; and as attach-
ments are satisfied in the order in which they are
delivered to the attaching officer, this remedy be-
came a favorite one, as it promoted diligence, and a
creditor will usually desire to make his own debt in
full, no matter what his theoretical views as to the
wisdom of having an insolvent’s assets equally dis-
tributed among his creditors. The courts held that
if an assignment for the benefit of creditors be made
with fraudulent intent on the part of the debtor, it is
void, no matter how fair its provisions, nor how
ignorant the assignee is of the designed fraud, and
that it furnishes a ground for attachment. In such
a case the attaching creditor would get a priority.
This has now been changed by statute, and no as-
signment for the benefit of creditors is now void, be-
cause of fraudulent intent, unless the grantor is sol-
vent in fact.
As already noticed, the last bankruptcy act fa-
miliarized our people with the idea of equality of
distribution among creditors. The idea was not
altogether novel, for in 1856 a statute was enacted
providing that any act done by a debtor in contem-
plation of insolvency, with the design to prefer a
creditor, should operate as an assignment for the
benefit of creditors. This statute proved far-reach-
ing. Its most serious defect was its inability to
reach preferences made to creditors outside the
jurisdiction of the courts of this State. It is believed
that recent changes in the statute have deprived it
of much of its efficiency. Many interesting ques-
tions have arisen under this statute, and quite a sys-
tem of law has been evolved in this connection. It
has been held, for instance, that a creditor suing
under the act may bring one suit attaching numer-
ous preferences. The point has not been passed on
formally by the Court of Appeals.
In suing under the act of 1856, although prose-
cuted by one for the benefit of all, the plaintiff might
dismiss his suit before others appeared. This gave
creditors opportunity to secure preferences by bring-
ing suits of this kind and maintaining them until the
six months allowed to sue in had passed, so that no
other creditor could sue; and then the plaintiff might
compromise with attaching creditors or with the
debtor. Unquestionably, in many cases, attachments
have been made the vehicle of obtaining preferences
by consent of the debtor. The present statute vests in
every assignee, for the benefit of the creditors, the
right to sue for property fraudulently or preferen-
tially disposed of. How far this will affect this mode
of obtaining preferences is a question for the future.
It is not to be supposed, because the narrative of
the above is calm and passionless, that the happen-
ing of the events themselves was always calm or
passionless. Some of the most momentous changes
were wrought very quietly. The change in the Code
of Practice, which took away the power of the clerk
of the Court of Appeals to grant an appeal during
the term at which the judgment is rendered, was
made so quietly that most of the bar did not know
of the change for years, and occasionally where the
judge of the lower court would refuse an appeal one
was prayed from the clerk of the Court of Appeals
during the term, and the supersedeas issued by him
was regarded by the officers of the courts.
30
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
But other changes have not been so quiet. Dur-
ing the interval between Judge Cochran’s refusal of
an appeal in the commissioner’s matter and the
granting of an appeal above, the commissioner's
office was kept closed and locked. During several
of the contests mentioned above public meetings
were held ; intense feeling at times prevailed. Even
the church litigation mentioned was not conducted
at all times in the unruffled temper in which two
friends usually sit down to discuss a problem in the
higher mathematics. The reader of this article, if
he wishes to have a life-like view of the matters nar-
rated, is at liberty to imagine according to his own
discretion the gusts of human passion which have
accompanied the changes above mentioned. The
change in the center of gravity of our political sys-
tem above referred to is abundantly shown as a mat-
ter of popular sentiment and feeling. The altera-
tions proposed by the late Constitutional Conven-
tion were the subject of much popular discussion,
but the overwhelming mass of articles in the news-
papers on the subject during its session related to
the courts. The experiment of thrusting greater
powers on the courts is about fairly in operation.
Even matters of a purely administrative character
are now conducted in a judicial form. The exten-
sion of the boundaries of the city is made under the
form of a suit at law and a judgment, and in one
case the judgment lias been reversed, because the
court allowed the wrong party to make the last
speech to the jury. The making of the experiment
is matter of history; the people have great confi-
dence in the wisdom of it. The results of the ex-
periment are to be found in the book of the future
— a sealed scroll- —and no man is able to loose the
seals thereof nor to read what is written therein. It
is safe to say that when that scroll shall be unrolled
matters of interest and importance will be found
therein relating to the development of the courts of
Louisville during the twentieth century.
/
CHAPTER 111.
HISTORY OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN KENTUCKY.
BY CAPTAIN THOMAS SPEED.
The first Congress of the United States, after the
adoption of the constitution, was held in the City of
New York, beginning March 4,
District Court. 1 789, and continuing to September
29, 1789. On the 24th of Septem-
ber, 1789, an act was passed, known as the Judiciary
Act, to establish the courts of the United States.
In this act it was provided that there shall be a court,
to consist of the State of Virginia, except that part
called Kentucky, to be called the Virginia District,
and a court was established of the remaining part of
Virginia, to be called the Kentucky District. Thir-
teen districts were made, one of them being the Ken-
tucky District. Kentucky was not a Territory, but
a part of Virginia. It was at that time seeking to be
established as a State, and its population and general
progress were such that Congress provided it with a
separate United States court, called the District
Court of Kentucky, while as yet it was a part of Vir-
ginia. The court was to be held at Harrodsburg.
Two days after the passage of the act, to-wit, Septem-
ber 26, 1789, President Washington appointed Hon.
Harry Innes judge of the District Court of Ken-
tucky. Judge Innes was born in Virginia, 1752, and
removed to Kentucky in the pioneer days. In 1782
he was appointed judge of the District of Kentucky
by the State of Virginia. His prominence as a
lawyer and judge made it fitting that he should have
been selected by Washington for the office of United
States district judge. He held the position until he
was removed by death, 1816. He was succeeded by
Hon. Robert Trimble, who was appointed by Presi-
dent Madison January 31, 1817. Judge Trimble
was born in Virginia. He removed to Kentucky,
and began to practice law at Paris in 1803. In 1808
he was judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. In
1813 he was appointed United States District At-
torney for Kentucky, and in 1817 became judge of
the court, as stated. I11 1826 Judge Trimble was
appointed on the Supreme Bench of the United
States by President John Quincy Adams.
October 20, 1826, Hon. John Boyle was appointed
to succeed Judge Trimble as United States district
judge for Kentucky. He was confirmed February
12, 1827. Judge Boyle was born in Virginia in
1774, and removed to Kentucky in 1789. In 1809
he was appointed Governor of Illinois Territory by
President Madison, but declined the appointment,
and went on the bench of the Kentucky Court of
Appeals. From the time of his appointment as dis-
trict judge, in 1826, he held the office until his death,
in 1834. On the 8th of March, 1834, Hon. Thomas
B. Monroe was appointed judge. He was born in
Virginia, 1791, and was a near relation of President
Monroe. He removed from Virginia to Kentucky,
1821, and became reporter for the Court of Appeals.
From 1833 to 1834 he was district attorney of the
United States for Kentucky. He held the office of
judge from 1834 to 1861, when he joined the south-
ern movement and went south. In his place Hon.
Bland Ballard was appointed Judge October 16,
1861, by President Lincoln, and was confirmed Jan-
uary 22, 1862. Judge Ballard was born in 1819. He
was a lawyer of unusual ability, and became distin-
guished as judge of the United States Court during
the Civil War and through the years immediately
succeeding, when a very great increase of business
came to the court by reason of the questions growing
out of the war, and especially the internal revenue
law and bankruptcy law. Judge Ballard held the
office until his death, June 29, 1879.
September 6, 1879, Hon. William H. Hays was
appointed judge by President Hayes, and was con-
firmed December 10, 1879. Judge Hays held office
only a few months. He died March, 1880. He
lived at Springfield, Ky., was highly esteemed as a
lawyer and citizen, and had served during the Civil
War as a colonel of the Tenth Kentucky Infantry.
31
32
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
April 1 6, 1880, Hon. John W. Barr was appointed
judge by President Hayes, and is the present incum-
bent of the office.
At the time Judge Innes was appointed, 1789, the
court was organized and held at Harrodsburg, Ivy.,
December 15, 1789. It continued there until Sep-
tember 16, 1794, when it was removed to Frankfort
by act of Congress of date June 9, 1794 (1st Statutes
at Large, page 397). On the 3d day of March, 1797
(1st Statutes at Large, page 518), Congress enacted
that the court should be held on the second Mon-
day in March, third Monday in June, and third Mon-
day in November of each year. June 15, i860 (12th
Statutes at Large, 36) it was enacted that the Circuit
and District Courts should be held at Louisville, on
the fourth Monday in April and September, and
that a clerk’s office should be kept there. Sessions
of the court were also to be held at Covington on
the second Mondays in January and September;
also court to be held at Paducah at such time as the
district judge should appoint. A clerk’s office was
to be kept at Covington and Paducah.
By the act of July 1, 1879 (2Ist Statutes at Large,
page 45), the courts of Kentucky are to be held as
follows :
At Covington — Second Monday in May, first
Monday in December.
At Louisville — Third Monday in February, first
Monday in October.
At Frankfort — First Monday in January, second
Monday in June.
At Paducah — First Monday in April, third Mon-
day in November.
On the 8th of October, 1888 (25th Statutes at
Large, 389), the court at Owensboro was estab-
lished. It was then enacted that the Counties of
Daviess, Henderson, Union, Christian, Todd, Hop-
kins, Webster, McLean, Muhlenburg, Logan, But-
ler, Grayson, Ohio, Hancock, and Breckinridge shall
constitute the Owensboro District.
Courts to be held there on the fourth Monday in
January and the first Monday in June of each year.
By the Judiciary Act of 1789 the District Court
of Kentucky was given Circuit Court jurisdiction.
February 13, 1801, an act was
Circuit Court. passed for the more convenient
organization of the Court of
the United States. By this act the States
were divided into circuits, and in the division the
Sixth Circuit consisted of the districts of East Ten-
nessee, West Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. For
the Sixth Circuit a judge was to be appointed, called
a circuit judge. By this act the place of holding
the United States Court in Kentucky was Bards-
town, on the 15th days of May and November.
Pursuant to this act, William McClung was ap-
pointed Circuit Judge February 24, 1801. On the
8th of March, 1802, the act was repealed, and Judge
McClung never sat as judge.
By act of Congress February 24, 1807 (2d Statute
at Larg-e, 420), Circuit Court jurisdiction was taken
from the District Court, and the States of Kentucky,
Tennessee and Ohio were made to constitute the
Seventh Circuit. July 15, 1862 (12th Statutes at
Large, 576), Congress enacted that Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, Arkansas, and Texas should constitute the
Sixth Circuit. By act of July 23, 1866, (Statutes at
Large, 14, p. 209), the States of Ohio, Michigan,
Kentucky, and Tennessee constitute the Sixth Cir-
cuit.
The justices assigned to the circuit including Ken-
tucky have been as follows: Thomas Todd, 1808;
Robert Trimble, 1826; John McLean, 1829; John
Catron, 1837; Noah H. Swayne, 1862; Stanley
Mathews, 1880; David J. Brewer, 1890; Henry B.
Brown, 1893; Howell E. Jackson, 1894; John M.
Harlan, 1896.
April 10, 1869, Congress enacted that for each
circuit there should be appointed a circuit judge,
with the same power and jurisdiction as the justice
of the Supreme Court allotted to the circuit. Under
this act the first judge appointed was H. H. Em-
mons, of Michigan, by President Grant. To suc-
ceed Judge Emmons, President Hayes appointed
John Baxter, of Tennessee, December 13, 1877.
Succeeding Judge Baxter was Howell E. Jackson,
of Tennessee, appointed April 12, 1886, by President
Cleveland. Succeeding Judge Jackson (who was
appointed to the Supreme Bench by President Har-
rison), Judge Horace H. Lurton, of Tennessee, was
appointed circuit judge by President Cleveland.
On the 3d day of March, 1891, Congress passed
a law creating the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals. The act provided for the
Court of Appeals, appointment of an additional circuit
judge; and the chief justice and as-
sociate justice of the circuit, and the circuit and dis-
trict judges within the circuit, are competent to sit
as judges of this court. On the 17th day of March
William H. Taft, of Ohio, was commissioned the
additional circuit judge for the Sixth Circuit, and is
now the presiding judge of the Circuit Court of
Appeals.
The following list of those who have held the
HISTORY OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN KENTUCKY.
33
principal court offices since the establishment of
United States Courts in Kentucky will be of interest
in this connection :
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
George Nicholas, appointed September 26, 1789.
James Brown, appointed March 31, 1790.
William .Murry, appointed February 26, 1791.
George Nicholas, appointed February 19, 1793.
John Breckinridge, appointed (recess) November
11, 1793-
John Breckinridge, confirmed January 28, 1794.
William McClung, appointed June 2, 1794-
William Clark, appointed (recess) September 24,
1796-
William Clark, confirmed December 22, 1796.
Joseph Hamilton Davies, appointed December
12, 1800.
George M. Bibb, appointed (recess) March 14,
1807.
George M. Bibb, confirmed November 18, 1807.
Robert Wickliffe, appointed March 21, 1808.
George M. Bibb, appointed (recess) August 23,
1819.
George M. Bibb, confirmed January 5, 1820.
George M. Bibb, confirmed January 20, 1824.
John J. Crittenden, appointed February 8, 1827.
John Speed Smith, appointed (recess) May 23,
1829.
John Speed Smith, confirmed March 18, 1830.
Thomas B. Monroe, appointed (recess) September
29, 1830.
Thomas B. Monroe, confirmed February 8, 1831.
Lewis Sanders, Jr., appointed March 29, 1834.
Lewis Sanders, appointed March 13, 1838.
P. S. Loughborough, appointed (recess) October
5, 1838.
P. S. Loughborough, confirmed February 2, 1839.
P. S. Loughborough, confirmed February 2, 1843.
P. S. Loughborough, confirmed January 13, 1847.
William H. Caperton, appointed May 9, 1850.
C. G. Rogers, appointed (recess) April 19, 1853.
C. G. Rogers, confirmed March 14, 1854.
C. G. Rogers, confirmed March 24, 1858.
Edward Bullock, appointed January 7, 1861.
James Harlan, appointed (recess) April 30, 1861.
James Harlan, confirmed July 22, 1861.
Thomas E. Bramlette, appointed February 27
1863.
Joshua Tevis, appointed (recess) May 8, 1863.
Joshua Tevis, confirmed January 20, 1864.
B. H. Bristow, appointed May 4, 1866.
3
Gabriel C. Wharton, appointed January 24, 1870.
Gabriel C. Wharton, appointed January 8, 1874.
H. F. Finley, appointed August 15, 1876.
John E. Hamilton, not confirmed.
Gabriel C. Wharton, appointed (recess) May 22,
1877.
Gabriel C. Wharton, confirmed November 30,
1877.
George M. Thomas, appointed May 19, 1881.
John C. Wickliffe, appointed (recess) May 23,
1885.
John C. Wickliffe, confirmed January 20, 1886.
George W. Jolly, confirmed (recess) August 5,
1889.
George W. Jolly, confirmed January 27, 1890.
William M. Smith, appointed January 23, 1894.
MARSHALS.
Samuel McDowell, Jr., appointed September 26,
1789.
Samuel McDowell, Jr., appointed (recess) Sep-
tember 26, 1793.
Samuel McDowell, Jr., confirmed January 28,
1794-
Samuel McDowell, Jr., confirmed January 28,
1798.
Joseph Crocketts, appointed (recess) June 26,
1801.
Joseph Crocketts, confirmed January 26, 1802.
Joseph Crocketts, confirmed December 17, 1805.
Joseph Crocketts, confirmed December 21, 1809.
Robert Crockett, appointed (recess) June 18, 1811.
Robert Crockett, confirmed November 26, 1811.
John T. Mason (appointed) (recess) June 30, 1817.
John T. Mason, confirmed December 16, 1817.
John T. Mason, confirmed January 9, 1822.
Chapman Coleman, appointed January 6, 1823.
Chapman Coleman, appointed January 12, 1827.
John M. McCalla, appointed (recess) May 23,
1829.
John M. McCalla, confirmed March 18, 1830.
John M. McCalla, confirmed March 11, 1834.
John M. McCalla, confirmed March 18, 1838.
William B. Blackburn, Jr., appointed July 10,
1841.
John Lane, appointed (recess) October 15, 1844.
John Lane, confirmed January 15, 1845.
John Lane, confirmed January 26, 1848.
James S. Speed, appointed April 25, 1850.
Thomas J. Young, appointed (recess) April 19,
1853-
Thomas J. Young, confirmed March 14, 1854.
34
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Thomas R. Dehoney, appointed March 30, 1858.
Alexander H. Sneed, appointed (recess) April 30,
1861.
Alexander H. Sneed, confirmed, July 22, 1861.
Henry C. McDowell, appointed (recess) October
16, 1862.
Henry C. McDowell, appointed March 15, 1863.
William A. Meriwether, confirmed February 3,
1864.
Eli H. Murray, appointed April 5, 1869.
Eli H. Murray, appointed March 10, 1873.
Thomas E. Burns, appointed (recess) September
13, 1876.
Weden O’Neal, appointed (recess) November 3,
1876.
Weden O’Neal, confirmed February 27, 1877.
Robert H. Crittenden, appointed (recess) June 25,
1877.
Robert H. Crittenden, confirmed November 12,
1877.
A. J. Auxier, appointed April 6, 1882.
Andrew J. Gross, appointed (recess) April 6, 1885.
Andrew J. Gross, confirmed January 27, 1886.
Drury J. Burchett, appointed April 2, 1889.
James Blackburn, appointed April 3, 1893.
CLERKS.
The clerks of the United States Courts in Ken-
tucky have been as follows:
1. Thomas Todd, appointed December 15, 1789.
He was clerk at Harrodsburg. He resigned De-
cember 18, 1792, and afterward was appointed jus-
tice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
2. James G. Hunter, appointed December 18,
1792. He was clerk while the court was at Har-
rodsburg, and also at Frankfort. He resigned
March 15, 1796.
3. Thomas Tunstall, appointed March 15, 1796.
He continued to be clerk until December 9, 1807.
4. John H. Hanna, appointed December 9, 1807.
He held the office until May 26, 1851, a period of
forty-four years, when he resigned.
5. John Adair Monroe, appointed May 26, 1851.
He held the office until November 6, 1861.
6. A. J. Ballard, appointed January 11, 1862, in
place of J. A. Monroe.
7. W. A. Meriwether was appointed clerk in
place of A. J. Ballard, June 6, 1870.
8. On the 20th of December, 1875, Sam B. Crail
was appointed clerk of the Circuit Court, and Aus-
tin Ballard clerk of the District Court at Louisville.
9. On the 30th of January, 1883, Austin Ballard
resigned, and Sam B. Crail was then appointed
district clerk in his place. Sam B. Crail was clerk
of both courts until July 9, 1892.
10. Thomas Speed was appointed clerk of the
Circuit and District Courts at Louisville, July 9,
1892. He is the present incumbent of the office.
In this office the present very efficient deputy,
Henry F. Cassin, began under Clerk Meriwether,
in 1872, and has been ever since continuously in the
office.
James Harlan, Jr., was appointed clerk at Frank-
fort, May 30, 1862, and held office until 1865. The
office was then administered by the clerk at Louis-
ville until the appointment of a separate clerk in
1878.
Thomas B. Ford was appointed clerk at Frank-
fort in the year 1878, and resigned January 19, 1891.
He was succeeded by W. J. Chinn, Jr., appointed
January 19, 1891, who now holds the office.
The first clerk at Covington was Napoleon B.
Stephens. He was succeeded by James M. Black-
burn, appointed April 22, 1869.
On December 6, 1872, Henry Bostwick was ap-
pointed, and he held the office until July 10, 1882,
when Joseph C. Finnell was appointed, who is clerk
at this time.
J. R. Puryear was appointed clerk at Paducah,
January 12, 1869, and has held the office continuous-
ly until this time.
The clerk’s office at Owensboro is filled by a depu-
ty, appointed by the clerk at Louisville. The depu-
ty at Owensboro is Edward M. Bell.
CHAPTER IV.
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
BY JOSEPH M. MATHEWS, M. D.
No author can do full credit, be he ever so wise
and well informed, to the medical history of Louis-
ville. Men who have devoted their lives to the re-
lief of the sick and distressed have themselves gone
the “silent way” and left no history to tell of their
good deeds and sacrifices. They were content to
work for the relief of humanity, and cared not for
monuments of brass and stone, or to be praised of
men for their good deeds. Be it said, however, to
the credit of this fair city that she has had her full
quota of such men. The names of Henry Miller,
the two Yandells, Theodore S. Bell, Llewllyn Powell,
Samuel D. Gross, E. D. Force, David Cummins,
Richard Cowling, John E. Crowe, R.C. Hewitt, Luke
P. Blackburn, the two Palmers, Rogers, Bayless and
a host of others, make a galaxy of dead heroes that
will ever be remembered by the rich and poor alike.
Their goods deeds are not recorded, and if they were
the recitation would fill volumes the size of this.
Turning from the past to the present, it can be
truthfully said that in no city in this Union can there
be found a medical fraternity more able, intelligent,
dignified, or more advanced and scientific than the
medical profession of Louisville. One noticeable
feature that exists to-day in contradistinction of the
past, is that a few decades ago the medical work in
this city was comparatively monopolized by a few
men, whereas to-day scores of physicians do a good
and lucrative practice. Be it said to the honor and
credit of the medical profession of Louisville that
no physician has grown rich in this world's goods
by the proceeds of practice. Men in the past have
made, and men now are making, the accumulation
of money secondary to philanthropy. Considered
as a whole, the medical profession of Louisville to-
day takes rank with that of any city, it may be said,
either in this country or Europe. In this history no
effort shall be made to praise men or detract from
their just merits. It shall be the purpose of the
author to deal only in facts, and if he fails at any time
to be accurate it will be due to want of information,
or rather to misinformation, and not to any inten-
tional oversight or intention.
For half a century Louisville has been recognized
as a medical center of learning. From the estab-
lishing of her first medical college
Medical Education, till to-day, she has justly claimed to
be in the front rank in medical
teaching. The fame of her medical schools has not
only drawn students from every State in the Union,
but has extended to the Territories and across the
water. Not only have men been graduated here
who have proven to be physicians and surgeons of
renown, but teachers of great ability have been
furnished other States and colleges. The East, with
its ability and, it might be said, its self-impressed
superiority in learning, has often called men to dis-
tinguished chairs in their medical institutions from
the medical colleges of Louisville, to-wit, Gross,
Flint, Parvin, Holland and others. These have
added luster to the East and given much credit to
the South. Time was when it was thought neces-
sary for the medical student to go East, or cross the
ocean for a thorough medical education; no such
impression obtains to-day. Louisville, with a full
number of medical colleges, with elegant and com-
modious buildings, chairs filled by competent and
distinguished teachers, laboratories and clinical ad-
vantages equal to the best, affords the student op-
portunities that cannot be surpassed anywhere.
Medical colleges are conducted at present very
differently from the plan pursued a score of years
ago. The curriculum is much more comprehen-
sive, and the task eminently more tedious and diffi-
cult. In the past, didactic teaching was the rule; in
the present this charactcr«pf instruction is supplanted
by that of the clinic and the laboratory. In a word,
surgery, and to a great degree medicine, has been
35
36
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
revolutionized by the learned research of distin-
guished scientists. The germ theory of disease is
proven and accepted, and to meet the requirements
of teaching modern medicine the schools have been
put to much trouble and expense. Laboratories
and hospitals have had to be erected, and competent
teachers employed. In many cities large sums of
money have been expended in the erection of suit-
able buildings for laboratory purposes. Sta,te boards
of health, Examining boards, etc., have, and are
now, requiring- a proficiency in these branches, and
to practice medicine in the several States this must
be attested by an examination. Louisville has by
no means “brought up the rear” in this advanced
work, but has been a leader.
The medical faculties of the different medical col-
leges have erected at great individual cost elegant
college buildings, and filled them with complete la-
boratories in ever)" department. Medical men from
different sections are surprised at the rapid strides
made by the colleges of this city, and especially so
when told that an endowment for any medical col-
lege here is unknown. The watchword in medical
teaching circles of this city is “higher medical edu-
cation," and every effort is being put forward to
accomplish it.
There are in Louisville six medical schools, four
regular (allopathic), one homeopathic, and one for
colored students. Each faculty is well organized,
and occupies a suitable building, several of which
would do credit to any city in this country. Each
pays attention to clinical teaching through the dis-
pensary system, and one college has erected a hos-
pital adjoining its building. On an average, as
many as twelve hundred students assemble in this
city annually to attend medical lectures. Each and
all of the colleges will embrace the four years’ term
required by the American Medical College Associa-
tion. Under the old regime, a term of two years
admitted the student to the right of application for
a diploma. The requirement for two years more
to be added had the effect of depleting the income of
colleges to a great degree. But it was a move for a
higher medical education and every college in Louis-
ville accepted it. It has been the means of reducing
in number the classes, but the faculties believe in
the innovation.
One of the oldest and most honored institutions
of medical teaching in the South or West is the
Medical Department of the University of Louisville.
A number of distinguished teachers have been
called from its ranks to Eastern colleges. Its alumni
can be found in every State of the Union. The his-
tory of the school is an interesting one. When the
Transylvania University (which was organized in
1817, and was located in Lexington) dissolved, three
of its faculty who came to Louisville immediately
set about to found a school with a medical and law
department attached. Mr. James Guthrie, a distin-
guished citizen of Louisville, was much interested
in the project. The City Council was asked to
endow the medical department
In response a square of ground was given and
$50,000 appropriated for the purpose of fitting the
building. Dr. Charles Caldwell, Dr J. E. Cooke, 1,
and Dr. L. P. Yandell, Sr., three professors who had i
left Transylvania University, were given the chairs
respectively of “Institutes of Medicine,” “Theory and
Practice,” and “Chemistry.” Dr. Henry Miller was
assigned the chair of “Obstetrics,” while Dr. Yandell
filled the chairs of “Materia Medica” and
“Chemistry.” The first course of lectures was de-
livered in a building which occupied the site of the
present structure. On the 22d of February, 1838,
the corner stone of the university was laid by the
Ancient Order of Masons. When this school was
founded, it was the fourth medical school west of 1
the Alleghenies. From the beginning it was a suc-
cess, and ranks to-day as one of the leading colleges [
of the country. At the time that it had its birth, *
but little attention was given by colleges to clinical
teaching, but the University even at that day recog-
cess, and ranks to-day as one of the leading colleges
grew in prosperity. The opportunity was afforded |
in 1859 for enlarged facilities for clinical instruction ‘
in this year. The Eastern Dispensary was estab- j
lished by Drs. T. P. Satterwhite and John Goodman !
for the purpose of affording medical students an op- j
portunity for prosecuting their studies in a thorough
and systematic manner and witnessing the examina-
tion and treatment of all varieties of medical and
surgical diseases, and to those sufficiently advanced
cases were entrusted to their individual care. This
Dispensary furnished the clinical instruction for the
University of Louisville once a week. Hacks con-
veyed the patients to and from the college. The
records show many capital operations were per-
formed through this source. In 1863, Drs. Satter- [
white and Goodman entered into a contract with
the trustees of the University and built a dispensary
upon the college grounds. The name of the dispen-
sary was then changed to the University Dispensary.
There was then formed a corps of teachers to con-
duct a spring and summer course in the interest of
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
37
the college. The teachers in this school directed
the studies of their pupils and submitted them to
daily examinations, accompanied by explanatory
lectures, dissections, etc. By this arrangement the
University students were furnished a daily clinic
through their entire course, this being the only dis-
pensary for many years. The number of patients
treated was very large. There was held for the first
time during Henry Miller’s professorship a gyneo-
logical clinic once a week. This Dispensary in the
last few years has been greatly enlarged and has
been a great factor in the success of the college. All
the major operations are done before the class, and
many cared for at the college building. The present
faculty consists of the following:
FACULTY.
J. M. Bodine, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and
Dean of the Faculty.
D. W. Yandell, M. D., LL. D., Professor of Sur-
gery and Clinical Surgery.
W. O. Roberts, M. D., Professor of Principles
and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery.
J. A. Ouchterlony, A. M., M. D., LL. D., Pro-
fessor of Principles and Practice of Medicine and
Clinical Medicine.
H. A. Cottell, M. D., Professor of Physiology,
Histology and Clinical Diseases of the Nervous
System.
Turner Anderson, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics
and Diseases of Women and Children.
Wm. Bailey, A. M., M. D., Professor of Materia
Medica, Therapeutics, and Public Hygiene.
H. M. Goodman, M. D., Demonstrator of Physi-
ology, Bacteriology, and Pathological Histology;
Assistant to the Professor of Medical Chemistry.
J. M. Ray, M. D., Clinical Lecturer on Diseases
of the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat.
R. B. Gilbert, M. D., Demonstrator of Anatomy
and Lecturer on Diseases of Children.
I. N. Bloom, M. D., professor of Genito-Urina'ry
Diseases.
D. T. Smith, B. A., M. D., Lecturer on Medical
Jurisprudence.
John L. Howard, M. D., Demonstrator of Micro-
scopical Technology and Normal Histology.
Thomas L. Butler, M. D., Demonstrator of Ope-
rative Surgery and Surgical Dressings.
William O. Bailey, M. D., and Crittenden Joyes,
M. D., Clinical Assistants in Ophthalmology, etc.
CLINICAL ASSISTANTS.
Thomas S. Bidlock, M. D., Assistant to the Pro-
fessor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and
Children.
Charles G. Lucas, M. D., Assistant to the Pro-
fessor of Principles and Practice of Medicine and
Clinical Medicine, and to the Hospital Medical
Clinic.
John L. Howard, M. D., Assistant to the Pro-
fessor of Clinical Diseases of the Nervous System.
J. T. Winded, M. D., Assistant to the Professor
of Genito-UYinarv Diseases and Curator of the Mu-
seum.
Cuthbert Thompson, M. B., C. M. (Edin. Univ.),
Assistant to the Professors of Surgerv and Clinical
Surgery.
Gavin Fulton, M. D., Assistant in Chemistry,
Bacteriology and Pathology.
John K. Freeman, M. D., Assistant to the Dem-
onstrator of Microscopical Technology and Normal
Histology.
This school has a most interesting history, as it *
is the lineal descendant of the Medical Department
of Transylvania University of Lex-
Kentucky School .
of Medicine, mgton, which, as has been said in the
notice of the Medical Department of
the University of Louisville, was founded in 1817.
'fhe author is specially fortunate in having in his
possession the first recorded notes of this school in
the handwriting of its distinguished dean, Dr. J. B.
Flint. From these notes the facts herein stated are
taken. “The first systematic proceedings for the
establishment of a second medical school in Louis-
ville took place in 1847, when a petition from twelve
of the most active practitioners in the city was ad-
dressed to the General Assembly, requesting them to
incorporate a board of trustees for the organization
and management, to be called The Kentucky Col-
lege of Medicine and Surgery. The gentlemen who
signed the first petition were Drs. C. and L. Rogers,
Ewing, Talbot, Powell, Winlock, Bell, Flint, Thorn-
berry, Thayer, and Morton, and they urged upon the
Legislature the enactment of the charter, from con-
sideration of public policy generally, as well as from
its tendency to promote the cause of medical educa-
tion. The bill failed to pass both houses after its
third trial.
During the vacation between the legislative ses-
sions of 1848-49 and 1849-50 the trustees of the
Masonic College at La Grange, Ivy., had determined
to apply to the General Assembly for university pow-
38
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ers, and a proposition was made by the friends of
the new medical school project and the president of
the Masonic College to have the proposed amend-
ments to their charter so framed as to allow them to
establish a medical department in the city of Louis-
ville. This measure also failed in the Senate. After
considerable delay an act was passed giving univer-
sity privileges. The friends of the new school ac-
cordingly determined to organize under the auspices
of the Masonic University. In the meantime, things
had come to pass in Lexington which greatly facili-
tated the new enterprise. The classes in the Transyl-
vania School of Medicine had been diminishing for
several years, notwithstanding the administration
of an able faculty. The inland position of that city,
the deficiency of hospital advantages, etc., made it
impossible for the respected old school to contend
with those in larger cities. The trustees and faculty
came to the conclusion that it would be best to
abandon the winter course and substitute a spring
and summer course. This arrangement left the
gentlemen of that faculty at liberty to make anv
new arrangements for the winter months that might
seem expedient. The gentlemen of Louisville who
were engaged in the enterprise were not slow to
avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded
of securing the co-operation of colleagues so well
calculated, in all respects, to give reputation and
render substantial services to the new school. Ac-
cordingly an association was formed, consisting of
Drs. Annan, Peter, Bush, and Dudley, of Lexington,
and Drs. Bullitt, Powell, and Flint, of Louisville,
to which the eminent Professor Dudley, Sr., per-
mitted his name to be prefixed as Emeritus, for the
purpose of establishing the proposed new medical
school in Louisville, under the auspices of the
“Masonic University of Kentucky.” Soon after, it
was agreed to change the name to that of The Ken-
tucky School of Medicine, and it was understood
that the Masonic University would foster this
scheme as one of her departments. At a subsequent
meeting of the trustees of La Grange, the following
appointments were duly made and recorded, to con-
stitute the faculty of the Kentucky School of Medi-
cine:
B. W. Dudley, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Anat-
omy and Surgery.
Robert Peter, M. D., Professor of Chemistry.
Samuel Annan, M. D., Professor of Theory and
Practice.
loshua B. Flint, M. D., Professor Principles and
Practice of Surgery.
James M. Bush, M. D., Professor of Anatomy.
Llewellyn Powell, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics.
Ethelbert L. Dudley, M. D., Professor of Surgical
Anatomy.
Henry M. Bullitt, M. D., Professor of Materia
Medica and Physiology.
Dr. Bullitt was appointed dean, and Drs. Thorn-
berry and Bartlett demonstrators of Anatomy, and
the first prospectus of the school was issued in 1850.
A large building at the southwest corner of Green
and Fifth streets was purchased by two individuals,
and fitted up as a college building and leased to
the faculty. In this the school was held for many
years. In 1867 an affiliation was had with the Medi-
cal Department of the University, which lasted but a
short time. Ever since its organization by the dis-
tinguished men that composed the first faculty of
the Kentucky School of Medicine, this institution
has grown in favor. Its alumni are scattered all
over the states and territories. ' It is the pioneer
spring and summer graduating school. Its pros-
perity is attested by the very large classes that
assemble each year. Its building is an ornament
and a source of pride to the city and a credit to the
founders and faculty. Two years ago it was agreed,
inasmuch as clinical teaching was the essential feat-
ure of a progressive school, that a hospital should,
be erected in connection with the college building.
This was done at a cost of $50,000, which was paid
by the professors, without the aid of any donation.
The hospital was designed with the view of giving
students practical hospital work, and for better utiliz-
ing the abundant clinical material from the exten-
sive dispensary which is in the building. The wards
are large, well ventilated and heated, and the private
rooms are as elegant as are those in private houses.
The hospital is lighted with electricity and gas, and
heated by steam and natural gas. Its faculty is com-
posed of men eminent as teachers, and every spe-
cialty is taught in the school. It has maintained
the dignity handed down by old Transylvania Uni-
versity, of which it is the lineal descendant. The
following compose the present faculty:
BOARD OF REGENTS.
James P. Helm, President; John H. Leathers,
Secretary; Henry C. Walbeck; George W. Ronald,
M. D.; William H. Wathen, M. D., LL. D.; Joseph
B. Marvin, B. S., M. D.; Joseph M. Mathews, M. D.
FACULTY.
Samuel E. Woody, A. M., M. D., Dean; Profes-
sor of Chemistry, Public Hygiene, and Diseases of
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
39
Children, and Director in the Laboratory of Chem-
istry.
William H. Wathen, M. D., LL. D., Professor
of Abdominal Surgery, Gynecology, and Obste-
trics.
Martin F. Coomes, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Physiology and Clinical Lecturer on Ophthalmol-
ogy and Laryngology.
Clinton W. Kelly, M. D., C. M., Professor of An-
atomy and Clinical Medicine.
Henry Orendorf, M. D., Professor of Materia
Medica and Therapeutics, and Clinical Lecturer on
Venereal and Skin Diseases.
Joseph M. Mathews, M. D., Professor of Surgery
and Clinical Lecturer on Diseases of the Rectum.
James M. Holloway, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Surgery and Clinical Surgery.
Joseph B. Marvin, B. S., Ad. D., Professor of
Principles and Practice of Medicine and Clinical
Medicine.
William L. Rodman, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Surgery and Clinical Surgery.
Carl Weidner, M. D., Associate Professor of Prac-
tice of Medicine and Director in the Laboratory of
Histology and Pathology.
Louis Frank, M. D., Associate Professor of Ob-
stetrics and Director in the Laboratory of Bacteri-
ology.
Thomas C. Evans, M. D., Lecturer on Ophthal-
mology and Laryngology.
William E. Grant, M. D., Director in the Labora-
tory of Anatomy.
Jesse T. Dunn, Al. D., Director in the Laboratory
of Surgery.
Henry E. Tuley, A. B., M. D., Assistant in Clinical
Aledicine and Instructor in Physical Diagnosis.
Henry H. Koehler, A. B., M. D., Assistant in
Clinical Aledicine and in the Laboratory of Bacteri-
ology.
Florence Brandeis, M. D., Assistant in Clinical
Medicine.
Waller O. Green, AL D„ Assistant in Diseases of
the Rectum.
Albert Muench, M. D., Ph. G., Assistant in Ma-
teria Medica, Dermatology, and Venereal Diseases.
J. Emmet Wimp, Al. D.,' Assistant in Chemistry.
A. Harris Kelly, B. A., Al. D., Assistant in Anato-
my and in the Laboratory of Anatomy.
William V. Laws, M. D., Assistant in Surgery and
Clinical Surgery.
Samuel W. Holloway, M. D., Assistant in Surgery
and Clinical Surgery.
D. Emmett Proctor, M. D., Assistant in Ophthal-
mology and Laryngology.
Oscar E. Block, A. M., M. D., Assistant in Dis-
eases of Children.
James Welch Guest, M. D., Assistant in Gyne-
cology and Abdominal Surgery.
William P. Banta, M. D., Assistant in Laboratory
of Surgery.
Gavin Fulton, M. D., Assistant to the Chair of
Physiology.
STAFF OF KENTUCKY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
HOSPITAL.
James M. Holloway, A. Ad., M. D., Clinical Sur-
gery.
William L. Rodman, A. AL, M. I)., Clinical Sur-
gery.
Joseph B. Marvin, B. S., M. D., Clinical Medicine.
Carl Weidner, Al. D., Clinical Adedicine.
Henry Orendorf, AL D., Genito-Urinary and Skin
Diseases.
Joseph M. Adathews, M. D., Diseases of the Rec-
tum.
Alartin F. Coomes, A. Ad., AL D., Ophthalmology
and Laryngology.
Thomas C. Evans, Ad. D., Ophthalmology and
Laryngology.
Samuel E. Woody, A. Ad., Ad. D., Diseases of
Children.
William H. Wathen, Ad. D., LL. D., Gvnecologv.
Louis Frank, Ad. D., Obstetrics.
In 1873, the Board of Curators of the Central
University, located at Richmond, Kentucky, decided
to establish a medical department at
H0SPltMed?c°inege °f Louisville. Dr. George W. Bayless
was selected to designate a suffi-
cient number of colleagues for the organization of
a faculty. Before he could perform the duty as-
signed to him, he was stricken by death. The chan-
cellor, Robert L. Breck, D. D., then undertook the
task, and Central University commissioned the fol-
lowing gentlemen as professors in the medical de-
partment: Erasmus D. Foree, Frank C. Wilson,
John T. Williams, William Bailey, William H. Bol-
ling, Dudley S. Reynolds, John J. Speed, James AL
Holloway, and John A. Larrabee. On the first day
of June, 1874, the old Westminster Church on Chest-
nut Street was acquired by Central University and
was christened “The Hospital College of Aledicine,
Aledical Department of Central University of Ken-
tucky.” Plans were prepared to adapt the property
for use as a medical college. In October, 1874, the
40
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
school began the first session. The first class of the
Hospital College was graduated in March, 1875.
Thus it will be seen that this college was organized
under the most favorable circumstances. It is the
medical department of one of the best known classi-
cal and scientific universities in the country. From
the very beginning its faculties have been composed
of able and distinguished teachers. Every facility
has been afforded the student for a practical knowl-
edge of his profession. In dispensary work it is
not surpassed by any school. Indeed, this has been
a feature always of this institution, recognizing, as
they did, that such instruction was essential to a
good medical education. Seeing that new quarters
were necessary to accommodate the increasing
classes, a large and elegant college building was
erected a few years ago and ample room provided
for clinical and laboratory teaching. The college,
from the beginning, took high rank with the schools
of the country, and has ever since maintained it. Its
curriculum is most thorough, and many of the grad-
uates occupy prominent positions in the profession
throughout the country. Since the organization of
the school four of its distinguished professors have
died, viz.: Drs. E. D. Foree, John T. Williams, John
J. Speed, and William H. Bolling. Their places
have been filled by men eminently qualified to fill
the vacant chairs. This school has associated with
it a dental department, which has also been highly
successful. The present facidty is as follows:
FACULTY.
John A. Larrabee, M. D., President, Professor of
Obstetrics and Diseases of Children.
Dudley S. Reynolds, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Ophthalmology, Otology, and Medical Jurispru-
dence.
Frank C. Wilson, A. B., M. D., Professor of Dis-
eases of the Chest and Physical Diagnosis.
Samuel G. Dabney, M. D., Professor of Physiol-
ogy and Hygiene, and Clinical Lecturer on Dis-
eases of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat.
Thomas Hunt Stucky, M. D., Ph. D., Vice-Presi-
dent, Professor of Principles and Practice of Medi-
cine and Clinical Medicine.
John Edwin Hays, A. M., M. D., Secretary, Pro-
fessor of Anatomy and Dermatology.
H. Horace Grant, A. M., M. D., Treasurer, Pro-
fessor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery and
Clinical Surgery.
Lewis S. McMurtry, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Gynecology.
P. Richard Taylor, M. D., Dean, Professor of
Materia Medica and Therapeutics.
Philip F. Barbour, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Medical Chemistry and Toxicology.
OTHER INSTRUCTORS.
J. Garland Sherrill, M. D., Tutor and Demon-
strator in Surgery and Demonstrator of Anatomy.
Charles L. Grant, M. D., Demonstrator of Sur-
gery and Demonstrator of Anatomy.
Philip F. Barbour, A. M., M. D., Demonstrator of
Chemistry.
William R. Blue, M. D., Demonstrator of Path-
ology and Director of the Bacteriological Labora-
tory.
J. Campbell Nunn, M. D., Resident Physician to
the Outdoor Department.
R. A. Bate, A. B., M. D., Chief of Medical Clinic
and Assistant to Chair of Theory and Practice of
Medicine.
Richard T. Yoe, M. D., Chief of Clinic on Dis-
eases of the Chest.
W. Redin Kirk, M. D., Chief of Gynecological
Clinic.
Robert G. Fallis, M. D., Assistant to Chair of
Materia Medica and Therapeutics.
J. P. Ferguson, A. B., M. D., Assistant to Chair
of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.
John Emerson Casliin, M. D., Assistant to Chair
of Anatomy and Dermatology.
J. H. Shuck, M. D., Chief of Surgical Clinic.
J. G. Sherrill, M. D., Assistant to Chair of Sur-
gery.
Philip P\ Barbour, A. M., M. D., Chief of Chil-
dren’s Clinic.
Arthur Schellsmith, M. D., Assistant to Chair of
Surgery.
William Breathwit, M. D., Chief of Eye and Ear
Clinic.
J. P. Ferguson, A. B., M. D., Anaesthetist to Sur-
gical Clinic.
Arthur Schellsmith, M. D., Prosector to Chair of
Anatomy.
George Kirk, M. D., Assistant to Surgical Clinic.
John Knox Morris, M. D., Tutor in Physiology
and Clinical Assistant in Diseases of Eye, Ear and
Throat.
This well known institution was founded in i86q.
The new college building on the corner of First and
Chestnut streets is one of the finest
Louisville Med- ec[ifices devoted to medicine in the
ical College.
Union. It was erected two years ago,
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
41
at a cost of $150,000, and is a complete building in
every respect. It is massive and imposing, the
entire outer walls being of rough oolitic limestone,
and a handsome tower rises to a height above all
adjacent structures. It is a great ornament even in
this city, given, as it is, to perfect architecture. In-
side it is a most thorough building for what it is
intended. From the faculty rooms to the attic every-
thing is perfectly arranged. The main amphitheater
is one of the largest and best arranged in the coun-
try, and has a seating capacity of 600. The third
floor is devoted to the laboratories of histology,
microscopy and bacteriology, which are thoroughly
equipped. The fourth floor is given over entirely
to the demonstration of anatomy. The dispensary
is built in harmony with the main building of solid
stone. Clinical rooms are provided, which admit
of all surgical operations being performed before the
class. This very large and elegant structure was
built by the individual faculty. No donations or
outside gifts were received. Great credit is due
these gentlemen for the enterprise, which is a great
tribute to the medical history of Louisville. Much
young blood is instilled in the faculty, which is com-
posed of some of the most prominent physicians
and surgeons of this city. Nothing daunted by the
heavy outlay of money, new acquisitions are con-
tinually made to the faculty, and no expense spared
in conducting the school.
The course of lectures is thorough and the cur-
riculum up to the highest standard. The classes are
large and constantly growing. Nothing is wanted
to make it one of the best medical schools in the
Union. The push and enterprise of these gentlemen
are to be commended, and have been rewarded bv
the great patronage which it receives. Together
with the other schools of Louisville, the Louisville
Medical College embraces the four-year term and
is for advanced medical education. The commence-
ment exercises of the college never fail to draw
large audiences, which attests its popularity with our
citizens.
The present faculty embraces the following
names:
. i ! ! ' { ! !
TRUSTEES.
Hon. Lyttleton Cooke, President; Gen. Basil W.
Duke, Vice-President; Plon. W. B. Fleming, Sec-
retary; Hon. Boyd Winchester; C. W. Kelly, M. D.;
Hon. Thomas H. Hays; A. Reutlinger; C. A.
Bridges.
FACULTY.
C. W. Kelly, M. D., Professor of Descriptive and
Surgical Anatomy and Clinical Medicine; Dean.
J. A. Ireland, M. D., Professor of Gynecology.
L. D. Kastenbine, A. M., M. D., Professor of
Chemistry, Urinology, and Medical Jurisprudence.
James M. Holloway, M. D., Professor of Clinical
and Operative Surgery.
Samuel Cochran, M. D., Professor of Physiology,
and Clinical Lecturer on V enereal Diseases.
George M. Warner, M. D., Professor of Materia
Medica and Therapeutics; Secretary.
A. Morgan Cartledge, M. D., Professor of Prin-
ciples and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery.
H. B. Ritter, M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and
Clinical Gynecology.
William Cheatham, M. D., Professor of Ophthal-
mology, Otology, and Laryngology.
J. G. Cecil, B. S., M. D., Professor of Principles
and Practice of Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and
Hygiene.
DEMONSTRATORS.
F. W. Samuel, M. D., Surgical Laboratory.
August Schachner, M. D., Anatomy.
W. B. Pusey, M. D., Ophthalmology, Otology,
and Laryngology.
James B. Steedman, M. D., Obstetrics and Gyne-
cology; Chief of Clinic.
Curran Pope, M. D., Diseases of Mind and Ner-
vous System.
H. S. Burke, M D., Clinical Surgery.
R. Lindsey Ireland, M. D., Gynecology.
Frank P. Young, M. D., Histology.
John E. Hays, M. D., Bacteriology.
John M. Williams, M. D., Clinical Surgerv.
LeRoy Long, M. D., Genito- Urinary Diseases.
W. A. Keller, M. D., Ophthalmology, Otologv,
and Laryngology.
Robert E. Sievers, M. D., Principles and Practice
of Medicine.
The Southern Homeopathic Medical College
was founded in this city in 1893, and has just closed
„ .. „ its third session. Although a young
pathic Medical college, it has proved verv successful,
college. anci each year a class of graduates of
intelligence have been granted diplomas.
The college building is well located, being in the
center of the city, and convenient to the different
hospitals, infirmaries, etc. The faculty is composed
of a competent corps of teachers, and attention is
carefully paid to clinical as well as didactic teaching,
42
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and also laboratory work. All students are required
to attend the City Hospital clinics, and two members
of the graduating- class are appointed each spring
after competitive examination to serve as internes
for one year at the City Hospital. The following
comprise the faculty:
FACULTY.
A. Leight Monroe, M. D., Dean; Allison Clokev.
M. D., Registrar.
J. A. Lucv, M. D., Emeritus Professor of Materia
Medica.
C. P. Meredith, M. D., Professor of Materia Med-
ica and Therapeutics.
Adam Given, M. D., Professor of Theory and
Practice.
H. C. Kasselman, M. D., Professor Pathology and
Physical Diagnosis.
M. Dills, M. D., G. S. Coon, M. D., Professors of
Operative and Clinical Surgery.
A. Leight Monroe, M. D., Professor of Gyne-
cology and Orificial Surgery.
G. O. Erni, M. D., Professor of Descriptive and
General Anatomy.
J. T. Bryan, M. D., R. W. Pearce, M. D., Profes-
sors of Obstetrics.
Allison Clokey, M. D., Professor of Physiology
and Visceral Anatomy.
J. F. Elsom, Professor of Medical Chemistry,
Microscopy, Histology and Bacteriology.
Edward Herzer, M. D., Professor of Paedology
and Dermatology.
J. M. Higgins, M. D., Professor of Mental and
Nervous Diseases.
G. D. Troutman, M. D., Professor of Ophthal-
mology, Otology, and Laryngology".
Sarah J. Millsop, M. D., Professor of Hvgiene and
Sanitary Science.
Marmaduke B. Bowden, Professor of Medical
Jurisprudence.
J. W. Clark, D. D. S., Professor of Dental Sur-
gery.
E. A. Severinghaus, M. D., Demonstrator of Ana-
tomy.
There are but few medical colleges in the United
States that are intended solely for colored men. One
of them is in Louisville. Under a
Nat,0Co1nege.dlCal charter from the State of Kentucky,
this college is working and doing
some effective service. With the great disadvan-
tages that they have to contend with, it should be
very gratifying that so good a showing has been
made. This school is recognized by the State Board
of Health of Kentucky, which has done everything
in its power to encourage the faculty in its very
laudable object. The college building is on Green
Street, near First, and is fairly well suited to its pur-
pose. Laboratory work is required, as is dissecting,
etc., very much the same as in many schools intended
for white pupils. Several classes have been gradu-
ated from this college, and in the number are some
very reputable physicians. A three-year term is
exacted by the faculty. Women are admitted to
the degree of M. D. The eighth session began on
October 8th, 1895.
Louisville has been for many years a medical cen-
ter; with schools the equal of any in the country,
and a profession unrivaled, it is natural
LUera'ture ^iat much should have emanated in
the way of medical literature. It has
been often said that the medical men of the South
did not keep pace with their brethren of the East in
the way of writing books. Indeed, it has been, it
must be confessed, too much the custom with South-
ern men of prominence in the profession to rely upon
others for medical publications, and not to busy
themselves with giving to the world the results of
their own observations. This fact is not due to any
want of knowledge, or that the Southern mind was
any the less prepared for such work, but that there
has been a lethargy in this line must be admitted.
Louisville has been given to this same line of indif-
ference. Although she has had for many decades
in her midst men of great calibre and much wisdom,
but little will go down to posterity in the way of book
writing. However, awakening to the thought that
our light should not always be hid under a bushel,
some books have been written in the last decade or
two. Dr. Richard O. Cowling, professor of surgery
in the Medical Department of the University of
Louisville, wrote just before his death an admirable
little work on “The Treatment of Fractures,” which
had quite a good sale. Dr. James Holland, late
professor of chemistry in the same school, edited a
book of much worth, styled “Diet for the Sick."
Although the author has removed to Philadelphia,
the work is still being published by John P. Morton
& Co., of this city. Dr. Lewis S. McMurtry, profes-
sor of gynecology in the Hospital School of Medi-
cine, is the author of a book on “Training of Nurses,”
which is being extensively used in training schools
for nurses all over the country. Dr. Martin F.
Coomes, professor of physiology in the Kentucky
School of Medicine, issued several years ago a mod-
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
43
est work on “Nasal Catarrh,” which was published
in this city. Dr. Samuel E. Moody, professor of
chemistry in the Kentucky School of Medicine, pub-
lished a work on “Chemistry” through John P. Mor-
ton & Co., which is now in its third edition. Dr.
Joseph M. Mathews, professor of surgery in the
Kentucky School of Medicine, is the author of a
work on “Diseases of the Rectum, Anus, and Sig-
moid Flexures,” published by D. Appleton & Co.,
of New York, which is now in its second edition.
All these works have been received with much favor
and reflect credit upon the authors.
In the way of writing upon medical topics, much
has been accomplished. Indeed, it has been bv the
articles contributed to the various medical journals
of the country that many of our physicians have
made national reputations. It is accorded to the
local profession of Louisville that it contains men
equally eminent as writers as those of any city in
the Union. Their articles are often copied and com-
mented upon by leading journalists both, in this
country and Europe. If these valuable contribu-
tions to medical literature could be collected and
bound, it would not only be a vast volume, but a
lasting monument to our local profession. Physi-
cians and surgeons in this city are often importuned
for articles by the leading journals of the country,
and their essays are often bound in the more sub-
stantial annual publications.
Louisville has been noted for many years for its
medical societies. The older men of the profession
recount with much pride the achieve-
societies rnents and fame that followed such
organizations in the past. No wonder
it was, when it is to be remembered that some of
the greatest medical lights of the country had their
birth in this city. There has never been a time in
the medical history of Louisville that so many and
such splendid organizations of the kind existed as at
present. There are in healthy condition and good
working order six medical societies, each having its
full quota of members and each doing excellent ser-
vice in a scientific way. The older of the six is
the Medico-Chirurgical Society, which has perhaps
more elderly men embraced in its membership than
any other in the city. It also is the largest of them
all. Many young men, however, have their names
enrolled as members. The society meets every sec-
ond week at the home of the member entertaining.
By entertaining is meant that after the proceedings
of the society are through a repast is served. The
“entertainer” is expected also to read the essay of
the evening. After the reading, the paper or essay
is freely discussed by the other members present.
Many of these papers, as well as the discussion, are
very learned and scientific, and are sought by editors
of medical journals all over the country. The sec-
ond oldest medical society is the Louisville Clinical
Society. This society was organized some years
after the Medico-Chirurgical. Its founders, or orig-
inators, intended that the chief feature of its meet-
ings should be the recitation of clinical cases. In
other words, a bedside experience given for the
edification of the members. The idea proved to be
an admirable one and is to-day the characteristic of
the Clinical Society. The sick, if able to move, are
taken before the society and a careful analysis made
of each and every case. This society has also a
“repast” or supper served after the session has closed.
It has in its membership some of the ablest physi-
cians in the city. The number composing the soci-
ety is limited to twenty. It can also be said of the
Clinical Society that its proceedings have been pub-
lished in many of the leading medical journals of
the country.
The Louisville Surgical Society is, as the name
implies, strictly a surgical society. No one is admit-
ted to membership unless his claim can be verified
by a history of good surgical work. It can be readilv
understood that surgeons are anxious to become
members of this highly respectable society. Nearlv
every surgeon of note in the city prides himself upon
being a member. Much time is given at the meet-
ings of the Surgical Society to the exhibition of
pathological specimens — perhaps more than is the
custom of any other society. The reports from its
meeting's can be read in many foreign as well as
home medical journals. Each of the above societies
employs a stenographer, whose duty it is to take
down the proceedings. They are then published in
one or more good medical periodicals.
It was believed by many that a general societv
with none of the usual restrictions around it would
be of service to the whole profession. Upon this
idea the Academy of Medicine sprang into existence
about two years ago. It is composed of medical
men of all ages, and the meetings of this society are
unusually attractive. No supper is served, but the
entire evening is taken up with one or more essays
and a free discussion. Although a young society, it
is rapidly growing in numbers, and its influence is
being felt for good by the medical profession.
The young medical men living in the western part
of the city conceived the idea three years ago that
44
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
it would be well to have a medical society in that
portion of the city, to be made up in membership
principally of young men, and organized the Falls
City Medical Society. The venture was a great suc-
cess. It was really more popular after awhile than
the originators had supposed, and older men in the
profession sought admittance and were received.
Consequently physicians of all ages are now mem-
bers up to the limit of membership. Much good
scientific work is done by the society.
The Practitioners’ Club is a medical society or-
ganized by the young men of the profession living
in the center of the city. Up to the present it is con-
fined to the younger class. It has proven to be a
great stimulus, and papers are read at the regular
meetings that would do credit to any physician or
surgeon in the city or State .
It is easy to understand why medical journalism
in Louisville should be successful. The city, being
long recognized as a great medical
journals center, must of necessity be well pro-
vided with good medical journals. It
is well known that such have been published and
edited here from beyond the recollection of the old-
est practitioner. At present there are four medical
journals of national reputation issued regularly in
this city. They are: “The Practitioner and News,”
a bi-weekly, edited by Drs. H. A. Cottell and D. W.
Yandell; “Medical Progress,” edited by Dr. Ken-
ner; “The Louisville Medical Monthly,” edited by
Drs. J. B. Steedman and George M. Warner; and
"Mathews’ Medical Quarterly,” edited by Drs. Jo-
seph M. Mathews and Henry E. Tuley. As con-
tributors these journals have the names of some of
the oldest physicians and surgeons in Europe as. well
as America. They are each well patronized and
much quoted. All are devoted to general medicine
and surgery, except the latter, which is a special
journal devoted to diseases of the rectum and gastro-
intestinal diseases and surgery. One is a bi-weekly,
two published monthly, and one quarterly.
Louisville is abundantly provided with hospitals
and private infirmaries. It can be questioned if any
city in the Union, according to size,
Hospitals. is as well provided to take care of its
sick and afflicted as Louisville is.
A city can be very justly judged by the manner in
which it takes care of its sick poor. Louisville can
stand the test of such an application. She has one
of the best prepared hospitals in the country for this
purpose. The Louisville City Hospital was incor-
porated by an act of the Legislature, approved Feb-
ruary 5, 1817. The preamble recites the fact that, ow-
ing to the growth of the city and the development of
its commerce, the charity of private individuals is
unable to provide for the many sick from the ex-
posure incident to long voyages. “It would be wise
and humane to incorporate an institution at that
place for the relief, comfort, sustenance and restor-
ation of the poor and afflicted of the description
aforesaid.” The following persons, comprising the
most prominent citizens, were made incorporators:
Robert Breckinridge, Levi Tyler, Thomas Bullitt,
Thomas Prather, David Fetter, Richard Ferguson,
John Croghan, Peter B. Ormsbv, James H. Over-
street, William S. Vernon, Paul Skidmore and Den-
nis Fitzhugh. They were authorized to acquire by
purchase or donation land suitable for the erection
of a hospital and money not exceeding $50,000. No
appropriation of money was made, but Mr. Thomas
Prather and Cuthbert Bullitt, having given the pres-
ent site of the hospital — the former donating five,
and the latter two acres — the Legislature in 1821
appropriated $10,000, and the following year $6,000,
to complete the erection of the building, and the
hospital was finished and ready for the reception of
patients in 1825. The act providing for the hospital
styled it “The Hospital Company,” but the institu-
tion was afterward given the corporate name of the
Louisville Marine Hospital, in view of the original
idea which suggested its establishment. In 1836
the Legislature transferred the hospital to the City
of Louisville, to be held in trust for the State and
managed by a board of trustees appointed by the
mayor and City Council. It is still held only in
trust by the city and has been since the date named
conducted as a city institution.
Marine as well as city patients were formerly cared
for in this institution, the government paying for the
former until the present United States Marine Hos-
pital was built. Since then, it has been known as
the Louisville City Hospital. In 1867, two large
wings were erected in order to accommodate the
increase in patients, at an expense to the city of
$125,000. In 1894, the building was further re-
modeled and enlarged. Formerly it was under the
control of a board of trustees, but afterward was
under the direction of the Board of Public Charities,
which board was created by the city, and remained
so until the Board of Safety was established under a
new charter. The location of the hospital is a beau-
tiful one, and the grounds, as well as the spacious
building, present a pleasing sight. One graduate
from each of the medical schools is appointed each
'
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
45
year as resident physician to the hospital, making
its competent local staff. A staff of visiting, and
also consulting physicians and surgeons, is selected
by the Board of Safety each year from the most
prominent surgeons and physicians in the city, who
serve without pay. The building is sufficiently
large to accommodate all who may apply for admis-
sion, and of course they are served and cared for
free of charge. A chartered training school for
nurses is in the building, and these ladies receive
their instruction at the bedside of the sick poor,
thereby learning this very important profession, and
at the same time relieving the sick and afflicted.
The faculty of the Kentucky School of Medicine
have erected a commodious hospital adjoining their
college. This building was designed with the view
of giving students practical hospital work, and for
better utilizing the abundant clinical material. The
lighting, heating, ventilation and plumbing are as
perfect as modern science permits. The private rooms
and wards have every comfort and convenience that
architectural skill can secure. The building is
equipped with an elevator, dumb-waiters, speaking-
tubes, electric bells, hot and cold water; is heated by
steam, and natural gas in open fire-places, and
lighted by gas and electricity. The basement con-
tains the boiler-rooms, coal room, laundry and dry-
ing rooms, storage room, bandage and mechanical
rooms. On the first floor are the drug room, wait-
ing rooms for patients, ten private examining rooms,
dark room for ophthalmological work, photographic
room, museum, library and faculty rooms and toilet
rooms. On the second floor are four wards, two
white and two colored, male and female; attendants’
rooms, bath and toilet rooms; the anesthetizing and
recovery rooms, fitted with every necessary appli-
ance, and adjoining a large clinical and operating-
amphitheater, which is well lighted and ventilated,
and equipped with every modern convenience re-
quired for the performance of aseptic work.
On the third floor is the kitchen and pantry, a
ward and a number of private rooms, attendants’
rooms, bath and toilet rooms.
The college hospital and dispensary are open to
patients all the year. The dispensary is under the
personal care of a resident physician and druggist,
and the clinics are attended by patients illustrating
every variety of disease. Clinics are held in the col-
lege hospital daily. Attendance is required from
senior and second year classes. The senior class is
divided into sections, and receives practical instruc-
tion in the examination of medical and surgical cases
for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. These
sections meet daily in the dispensary. Students in
their senior year are given the care of clinical out-
patients. All operations, illustrating every variety
of general and special surgery, are performed in the
clinical amphitheater before the class.
One of the most notable as well as the most use-
ful institutions of the city is the Norton Infirmary,
situated on the northeast corner of
infirmary Third and Oak streets. This is the
only hospital in the city that is
under the control of the Protestant faith. The in-
firmary was named in honor of the late Rev. John
N. Norton, D. D., who for many years was a faithful
and efficient assistant rector of Christ Church, dur-
ing the ministry of its late rector. Rev. James Craik,
D.D.
In 18S1 the John N. Norton Memorial Infirmary
was incorporated under the general statutes of the
State of Kentucky, “the general nature of the busi-
ness of the corporation and the object of its organi-
zation being that of providing an infirmary for the
care and nursing of the sick, which institution shall
be conducted and controlled under the auspices of,
and direction of, persons connected with the Protes-
tant Episcopal Church.” The affairs of the corpora-
tion are controlled and managed by a board of trus-
tees, consisting of eight persons, members of the
Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky. The
president of this board is the Rt. Rev. T. U. Dudley,
bishop of Kentucky. In addition to this there
is a board of managers elected annually from the
Episcopal churches in Louisville. Mrs. E. S. Tulev
is president of the board, of which she has been
a member since the organization of the infirmary,
and of which board she was the vice-president prior
to the death of Mrs. R. A. Robinson, whom she suc-
ceeded as president. The corner stone was laid on
Ascension Day, 1882, and in December, 1885, the
large and commodious four story brick building was
thrown open, fully equipped with an experienced
superintendent and trained nurses. Since that period
the infirmary has grown in such favor with the sick
and with the medical profession that it is no longer
adequate to meet the demands upon it for accommo-
dation. There are fifteen rooms in the building and
two wards for the use of the sick, each of the wards
accommodating eight persons. Most of the rooms
are styled “memorial rooms,” bv reason of the fact
of their being furnished in memory and by the fam-
ilies of deceased persons. There are four endowed
beds, $5,000 permanently endowing a bed, $3,000
46
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
permanently endowing a cot, $300 supporting a bed
and making it free for one year.
The furnishing of the house, especially of the
rooms, and operating room, are thorough and of the
latest approved pattern, and each room has an at-
tractive outlook. Electric bells, speaking tubes,
fire alarm, furnace and open fires and a commodious
elevator add to the completeness of its appointments.
The infirmary is an ideal home for the sick. The
infirmary is under the superintendence of Miss Nel-
lie Gillette, who has recently entered upon her fourth
year of most acceptable service. Miss Gillette is a
graduate of the New York Hospital Training School
for Nurses, and was spoken of most highly by Bishop
Dudley in the ninth annual report. Connected with
the institution is an excellent nurses’ training school,
under the superintendency of Miss Gillette. The
superintendent’s report for 1894 was as follows:
Number of patients in the infirmary, December
3B 1893 19
Admitted during 1894 288
Total 307
Discharged 271
Died 21
Number remaining December 31, 1894 15
1 otal 307
Number of surgical cases 22 s
Number of medical cases 82
Number of operations performed 176
Number discharged cured 136
Number discharged improved 146
Number discharged not improved 4
Number of paying patients 240
Number of charity patients 42
Number of partial beneficiaries 25
The prices of the rooms vary from $21 to $14 per
week. Wards $5 per week, or $1 per day. The
work is entirely non-sectarian, in that patients of any
creed may be admitted, and there is no regular visit-
ing staff, each patient having his own attendant.
The Jennie Casseday Infirmary for Women was
organized in 1891 and incorporated December 12th
of that year. The property now
Jennie Casseday • , , „
Infirmary. occupied, at 1912 Sixth Street, was
purchased and reconstructed for
hospital services, and was formally opened for the
reception of patients on April 12, 1892. This infirm-
ary was founded by the members of the Order of
King's Daughters residing in Louisville and vicinity,
and is owned and controlled by them. It was estab-
lished for the relief of women suffering from diseases
peculiar to their sex, in accordance with the recog-
nized fact that these diseases can be most success-
fully treated in a hospital especially arranged and
equipped for that purpose.
Within recent years great advances have been
made in the diagnosis and treatment of the dis-
eases peculiar to women. Many painful and fatal
diseases occurring in women, mostly under middle
age and mothers of families, which were formerly
incurable, are now readily cured by appropriate treat-
ment. This treatment consists of timely resort to
surgical operations. For the successful perform-
ance of these special surgeons are trained, and spe-
cial conditions of surgical cleanliness on the part of
nurses and surroundings are now generally recog-
nized as absolutely necessary. These conditions
relate especially to surroundings free from germs
and poisonous matter so abundant in the vicinity of
suppurating wounds and infectious diseases. These
recognized facts, the result of scientific investigation
and practical demonstration, have caused special hos-
pitals for the treatment of diseases of women to be
established in all large cities in America and Europe.
The Jennie Casseday Infirmary for Women was
named in honor of a noble and philanthropic lady,
now deceased, whose devoted labors for the sick
and destitute have made her name a household
word in Louisville.
The capacity of this institution is twenty-two pa-
tients. It has two departments and is intended for
two classes of patients, a free department open to
the deserving poor, who are received and cared for
free of any cost whatever either for board, nursing,
or surgical services, and a private department,
wherein the superior advantages and facilities of
modern hospital appointments may be had by those
compelled to seek surgical treatment and desiring
to pay for the same. This arrangement is identical
with that of similar institutions throughout the
world. Indeed this infirmary is arranged, equipped
and conducted in exact accordance with the meth-
ods observed by special hospitals of its class.
The building was found inadequate to accommo-
date the patients who applied for relief, and during
the second year additions were made to the buildings
so as to increase its capacity to that above stated.
From the last official annual report it may be seen
that 142 patients were admitted during the year.
Of this number 114 required surgical operations,
the larger proportion of these operations being
MEDICINE AND MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
47
major operations for grave conditions of disease
which quickly terminate fatally without such treat-
ment. There were 112 recoveries and two deaths,
a mortality of less than 2 per cent. These results
place this infirmary fully up to the most advanced
standard of modern surgical achievement. Since
the foundation of the infirmary Dr. L. S. McMurtry,
the well-known specialist in gyneology and abdo-
minal surgery, has been the surgeon in charge.
There is a training school for nurses connected
with this infirmary.
The officers of the infirmary are as follows:
TRUSTEES.
John C. Benedict, President.
J. S. Bockee, Vice-President.
David S. Green.
W. L. Lyons.
Helm Bruce.
Henry Schroder.
LADY MANAGERS.
Miss Jennie C. Benedict, Chairman.
Mrs. Helm Bruce, Secretary.
Mrs. Louis T. Davidson, Treasurer.
Mrs. Sebastian Zorn.
Mrs. John Prewitt.
Mrs. John A. Stratton.
Miss Annie E. Lewis, St. Louis, Mo.
Mrs. James Buchanan.
Miss Hannah Muldoon.
CONSULTING PHYSICIANS.
William Bailey, M. D.
Thomas Hunt Stucky, M. D.
CONSULTING SURGEONS.
George W. Griffiths, M. D.
Joseph M. Mathews, M. D.
SURGEON IN CHARGE.
Lewis S. McMurtry, M. D.
SUPERVISING NURSE.
Miss Sarah E. Dock.
HOUSE-KEEPER.
Miss Helen Von Borries.
There is no greater charity in Louisville than the
Children’s Free Hospital. It was incorporated un-
der the laws of Kentucky on the
ChiHospitaiFree ^th October, 1890, and on the
23d of January, 1892, received its
first patient. It has been a success, from the begin-
ning. The hospital is located on Chestnut Street,
near Floyd, and it would have been difficult to have
selected a better place. It has not been able to
accommodate all the sick and afflicted children who
have offered for admission. With the demand it
cannot be long before additional buildings must be
put up. During the year 1895 there were one hun-
dred and twenty children in the hospital who were
treated for various maladies. Most of them were
restored cured or improved. Out of the whole num-
ber only five deaths occurred, and these were in de-
plorable condition when they were received. Dur-
ing the four years the hospital has been in operation,
three hundred and sixty-five children have been
treated in it. They have had the attention of the
most skillful physicians and surgeons, whose ser-
vices are rendered without pay. The children are
cared for by the best trained professional nurses,
under the immediate direction of a well qualified
superintendent. The following constitute the offi-
cers and board of directors:
OFFICERS.
R. T. Durrett, President.
Miss Mary Lafon, Vice-President.
R. C. Kinkead, Secretary.
Columbia Finance and Trust Company, Treasurer.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Miss Mary Lafon.
Miss Zara DuPont.
Mrs. Harriet H. Cochran.
Mrs. Louise E. Yandell.
Mrs. Minnie N. Caldwell.
R. T. Durrett.
R. C. Kinkead.
John Stites.
Lewis Barkhouse.
Miss Lizzie F. Boyce, Associate Director.
Miss Hattie Quigley, Associate Director.
This large and elegant institution is located right
in the heart of the city, being on Fourth Avenue, be-
tween Chestnut and Broadway
st. Joseph s in- Streets. It is the oldest medical in-
firmary.
firmary in the city and perhaps in
the South. It was established before the war, and
was kept up during that eventful period, and has
since gone on without interruption. It has no staff
of physicians or surgeons, but every physician of
respectability is allowed to take his patients there
for treatment. Although a Catholic infirmary, much
the larger percentage of patients received are Prot-
estants. It is known in every State of the l nion,
and to nearly every household in Kentucky. I wo
years ago a large annex was added in order to
48
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
accommodate the great demand for rooms. It can
be truthfully said that the infirmary has one of the
most complete operating rooms in the South. No
professional nurses are employed, for the fact that
the sisters themselves are the most proficient of
nurses. A resident physical! is appointed each year
from the graduating class of the Kentucky School of
Medicine, and resides in the infirmary. The charges
for board and attention are very moderate, the table
service good, and the nursing and care of the sick
excellent. A drug store is in the building, attended
by a sister who has been in the infirmary thirty-two
consecutive years as druggist. St. Joseph’s Infirm-
ary is an institution of which Louisville is justly
proud.
The Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital is situated
at the extreme southern end of Twelfth Street. It
is a magnificent looking structure,
B.izlbemHospL. located upon high ground. One
can easily overlook the entire city
by taking a view from the top of the building. Al-
though within the corporate boundary of the city,
it has the advantage of being so situated that patients
can breathe the fresh country air continually. The
hospital has its origin in a munificent gift or donation
by Mr. Shakspeare Caldwell. It is presided over by
the Sisters of Charity of the Catholic Church, and is
one of the most admirably conducted hospitals to be
found. Like St. Joseph's, no professional nurses
are employed, the sisters doing all such service. A
staff of well-known physicians and surgeons serve
without pay, and a resident physician is appointed
each year by the Medical Department of the Univer-
sity of Louisville.
Nowhere in the Lmion are the marines better
cared for than at this post. The government has
been particularly fortunate in se-
Marine Hospital, curing the grounds upon which the
hospital is built. Situated in the
lower or western part of the city, close to the river,
the view of both grounds and building is very beau-
tiful. A number of acres are included in the lot, and
everything is kept in the most perfect order. The
hospital proper is a building of large proportion and
admirably adapted for the purpose. Indeed, no
more attractive hospital can be found in this country.
The very best surgeons in the marine hospital service
are usually sent here, and prove a welcome addition
to our local profession. Statistics show that it is
one of the best managed hospitals controlled by the
government. It is a haven of rest to many a worn
and tired old mariner.
The Morton Home is located in the extreme east-
ern part of the city, on Morton Avenue. It was
founded by the late John P. Morton
Morton Home. in a generous gift, and was originally
intended as an infirmary similar to
the Norton. Because of its distant location from
the center of the city it never prospered as such. It
is now used as a home for delicate and aged women.
It is one of the most commodious buildings in the
city and its location in the eastern highlands splen-
didly adapted for the purpose for which it is now
used. A competent matron is in charge and every-
thing has a home-like appearance. The sick are
cared for by their own physician.
Louisville has always had the reputation of taking-
care of her sick and afflicted. Those with eruptive
diseases have not been forgotten or
Eruptive Hospital, neglected. At the city’s expense an
eruptive hospital is provided
and kept in running order. A regular physician
is employed, whose entire professional duty must be
to look to the interests of patients consigned in the
hospital. The best of care is given in the way of
nursing and medicines.
Besides the number of hospitals and infirmaries
already mentioned, there are several of a private
nature run by physicians for the accommodation of
their patients.
CHAPTER V.
PHARMACY AND PHARMACISTS.
BY PROFESSOR C. LEWIS DIEHL.
During the early days of this century physicians
in the rural districts, as now, supplied the medicines
required by their patients at the bedside or from
their offices; and so in the beginning of Louisville
the scant population depended upon the physician
not alone for advice, but for medicine as well. With
the growth of the little town, however, the purvey-
ing of medicines, as of other commodities, assumed
sufficient importance to become a distinct business,
and Louisville very early after its foundation be-
came headquarters for the supply of drugs and med-
icines to the surrounding settlements in Kentucky
and Indiana.
One of the first to so supply medicines appears
to have been Dr. Richard W. Ferguson, a man
eminently fitted for this business,
Barly 2ra- being not alone well qualified in his
chosen profession of medicine,
but an assiduous student of botany, and an adept in
the compounding of simples useful in the healing
art. At all events, he very early in the century sup-
plied drugs and medicines to the public independent
of his practice, and was so successful that he soon
met with competition in the person of Dr. Daniel
Wilson, who, in 1817, established a drug store at the
northeast corner of Jefferson and Fifth streets.
The business of Dr. Ferguson, whose tastes evi-
dently ran more in a scientific direction than in that
of trade, was soon relinquished, and our knowledge
of it is mainly traditional ; that of Dr. Wilson, on
the other hand, exists as a living monument to his
enterprise at the present day, having passed by suc-
cession through his sou, the late Dr. Thomas E.
Wilson, to the present firm of Arthur Peter & Co.
Situated at a corner facing the court house square,
Dr. Wilson’s store soon became one of the land-
marks of the little city, it being identified to its in-
habitants and to those of the surrounding country
by a very handsome painting of “Hercules and the
4
Hydra,” which added to the adornment of the store-
front and bore eloquent testimony to the esthetic
taste of the founder of the establishment; for it must
be remembered that in a community of pioneers the
necessities of life were paramountly the objects to
be gratified, and there was' little opportunity to cul-
tivate a taste for the beautiful. With success came
stimulus for further exertion. The town added from
year to year to its population, and with increased
population came competition. New drug stores
were opened, one by Wm. F. Pettet, in 1828, on
Market and Fourth streets, another by Wm. Nock,
in 1830, on Fifth Street, near Market. But under
this competition, and that of dealers in the neighbor-
ing villages and settlements, the business of Dr. Wil-
son expanded rather than contracted, for he was in
position to supply his competitors as cheaply and
more conveniently than they could procure else-
where. So when the business passed by the death
of Dr. Wilson to his son, Dr. Thomas E. Wilson, it
was removed to Main Street, near Fifth, and as-
sumed essentially the character of a wholesale drug
house, expanding from year to year, until at the
breaking out of the civil war it was recognized as
the foremost drug house west of the Allegheny
Mountains.
It is beyond the scope of this paper to trace the
history of all the druggists that have been estab-
lished in Louisville, and it is only possible to briefly
sketch the history of those houses that have left
their impress upon and shaped the drug trade of
our. city, but there are no three houses that have
been more closely connected with the development
of the drug business than the three that have been
mentioned. That founded by Dr. Daniel \\ ilson
has already been traced to a fixed character — that
of a wholesale drug house — and it only remains to
mention here that with Dr. Thomas E. Wilson at
the head of the house, we find the firm changes to
49
50
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
have been: Wilson, Starbird & Smith, Wilson &
Starbird, Wilson & Peter, and Wilson, Peter & Co.,
until, in 1869, Dr. Wilson retired, and the title of
the firm became Arthur Peter & Co. This firm
name has remained unchanged, and the present firm
is composed of Mr. Arthur Peter, and his two sons,
M. Cary and Arthur Peter, Jr.
The mention of Mr. Peter’s name brings us again
to that of William F. Pettet, by whom Mr. Peter was
engaged when he came to Louisville from Pittsburg
in 1834, where he had learned the drug business
under the guidance of his brother, the late Dr. Rob-
ert Peter, who afterward located in Lexington and
is remembered as one of the foremost chemists of
this State. Here, Mr. Arthur Peter became asso-
ciated with Mr. Richard A. Robinson, succeeding
to Mr. William F. Pettet’s stand, and after a tripart-
nership with the late Mr. George H. Cary, Messrs.
Robinson & Peter opened a wholesale drug house
on Main Street, while Mr. Cary continued for many
years to do a successful business at Mr. Pettet’s
old stand. Eventually Mr. Peter retired from the
firm of Robinson & Peter, associating himself with
Dr. Wilson ; the firm became R. A. Robinson & Co.,
Mr. Charles H. Pettet, a son of William F. Pettet,
becoming a partner, and this house is now incor-
porated under the title of Robinson-Pettet Company,
and continues to enjoy the generous patronage that
has in the past made it one of the foremost drug-
houses of — what was at one time considered — the
far west.
The house established by Mr. William Nock has
also an interesting history. Mr. Nock was pre-
ceded to Louisville by his father, Mr. George Nock,
who established a soap factory in 1817 on the pres-
ent site of the city hall, this soap factory eventually
passing into the hands of Mr. William Cornwall and
his successors. After having been in the drug busi-
ness in New York for about ten years, Mr. William
Nock was persuaded by his father to establish him-
self in Louisville, opening out in 1830 on Fifth
Street, near Market. In 1831, however, he decided
to change his location, and selling out to Mr. Fred-
erick Schorch, opened a store at the northeast cor-
ner of Market and Second streets, where he soon
established a large trade, and became one of the
popular druggists of his day, continuing in active
business until the year of his death, 1873. His son,
Mr. Douglass Nock, became his partner in 1866, and
in 1881 associated- himself with Mr. Robert J. Sny-
der, the firm’s name being changed to the present
style — Nock & Snyder. Mr. Nock’s Fifth Street
house, after passing into the hands of Mr. Frederick
Schorch, continued to prosper, and on his death
passed into the hands of his son, Thomas F.
Schorch. By him it was sold to Mr. A. G. Schmidt,
and after his death, in 1864, it passed into the pos-
session of the late William G. Schmidt, who was,
perhaps, its most successful owner, building up in
addition to a very lucrative retail business, an en-
viable wholesale trade. After his sudden death, in
1876, the wholesale department was closed out, the
retail department being sold to Mr. William C. Gar-
land, by whom it was soon disposed of to Mr. J. A.
Flexner, now on Market, above Fifth Street.
Before wandering off too far from the early days
of Louisville, it will be interesting to make some
mention of the conditions under which business was
done and of the difficulties that were encountered
in supplying drugs of the desired kind and quality.
It must be remembered that in 1817, the ymar when
Dr. Daniel Wilson opened his drug store, there ex-
isted no American standard (Pharmacopoeia) for
the guidance of physicians to prescribe or the
pharmacist to prepare medicines, and they were con-
sequently dependent upon European pharmaco-
poeias for all such information. Naturally the
standards selected were those of Great Britain,
where three pharmacopoeias were in use, one pub-
lished in London, another in Edinburgh, and a third
in Dublin. Other works of reference that had to be
consulted in the practice of pharmacy were obtained
from Great Britain also, together with many of the
supplies, shop fixtures and utensils, the most gen-
erally useful and popular works consulted by the
pharmacist of this period being Cox’s Dispensatory
and the “New” Edinburgh Dispensatory of Dr.
Lewis. Under these conditions the drug business,
as practiced in Louisville during the first quarter
of the century, and until standards better adapted to
the needs of our country had been created, followed
the lines of English practice, influenced and modified
in a very slight degree only by French methods, infil-
trated through ti e necessary intercourse and trade
established between Louisville and New Orleans.
For, while many of the goods supplied to druggists
were brought from eastern cities by wagon over the
mountains to Pittsburg or Wheeling, thence by
“keel boats" to river points, this route was chosen
only for such goods as were required with expedi-
tion, or for which a remunerative advance could be
charged, heavyr class goods, such as chalk, whiting,
Venetian red, and staple goods that were not re-
quired in a hurry, finding their way down the Atlan-
PHARMACY AND PHARMACISTS.
51
tic coast and through the Gulf by vessel to New Or-
leans and thence up the river by steamer, at a cost
infinitely cheaper than across the mountains, not-
withstanding the fact that the charges for handling
at New Orleans were frequently more than the com-
bined ocean and river freight. Some idea of the
expense of freighting over the mountains may be
gathered from the fact that in 1835 ^ cost s'x cen,s
per pound to bring freight across the mountains to
Louisville.
The trade of the city was by wagon to all points
not reached by boats. Country merchants, when
they came to the city to make purchases, brought
wagons, generally loaded with all sorts of produce
for barter, and to take return loads of goods pur-
chased; the incoming loads consisting of a great
variety of articles, many of them now never seen in
our market. Feathers, flaxseed, ginseng, composed
the largest part, but medicinal roots and herbs were
also brought in quantities, and from the mountains
even turpentine and lampblack (both very crude),
deer hides and dried venison made up the cargo.
Occasionally linseed oil and castor oil were also
brought, there being some country oil mills in Ken-
tucky, while castor oil was made at several points
in Illinois, notably at Carmi. So the druggists of
Louisville were compelled to do a mixed business,
which, while extensive, and doubtless also remunera-
tive, resembled more that of a general country store
than that of a well regulated drug business. Many
of the doctors, also, kept their own stock of medi-
cines, and compounded their own prescriptions;
lienee not many prescriptions were sent to the drug-
gists, and those that were, were in most of the stores
not placed on file, but were thrown away and swept
out when, as was occasionally deemed necessary,
the store was swept. By many of the druggists but
little attention was paid to the quality of the drugs,
yet there was very little adulteration practiced, in-
feriorities being due mainly to deterioration, and to
carelessness or bad judgment in selection. There-
fore, while inferior goods were bought and sold,
this was due more to accident than design, and was
carefully avoided by druggists in good standing.
Mr. Arthur Peter, Sr., to whom the w'riter is in-
debted for much information respecting the prac-
tice of pharmacy in the early days of Louisville, ob-
serves that “all tinctures and powders were prepared
in the house; also soda and seidlitz powders, and
the popular remedies of the day, such as Godfrey’s
Cordial, Bateman’s Drops, Steer’s Opodeldoc, An-
derson’s Pills, Lee’s Pills, etc., all country orders
embracing some of these and frequently all of them.
All druggists kept a set of seals for these articles,
to seal with wax the stoppers of each vial or the
tops of each pill box, these seals generally bearing
the representation of a bear’s head surrounded by
the legend, “By the King’s Royal Patent Expired,”
and any vial or box without this was likely to be
returned as counterfeit.
One peculiarity of the practice of medicine at that
time was the almost universal excessive use of calo-
mel, a practice which prevailed par-
Ca'cTerksnd ticularly among the graduates of
Transylvania LIniversity, at Lexing-
ton, in which institution Dr. John E. Cooke — from
whom we have the, to this day, popular prescription
for “Cook’s Pills” — was a highly honored professor.
It was a common thing for a druggist to receive a
prescription for one ounce of calomel, with the di-
rection that it be taken at one dose; and when the
people began to rebel against this heroic treatment,
it became the practice to prescribe the calomel in
the same quantities and doses as “Hydrarg. Sub.
Mur, Rub.,” or as ‘“Hydrarg. Sub. Mur. Nig.,” the
first being calomel colored red with bole Armenia,
the second the same colored black with lampblack,
these expedients being resorted to with the view to
assure the patients that they were not taking calomel,
which they knew to be white. Incidentally also
these designations served as a puzzle to the unin-
itiated drug clerk, who, after a diligent search in the
dispensatories, often gave it up as one of the things
“no fellow could find out.” And in these early days
the position of a drug clerk was no sinecure in other
respects, and certainly widely different from that of
the drug clerk of to-day. There was perhaps less
science, but there was more practice, and what this
practice meant may be inferred from the fact that
he was supplied with the crude material and had
to convert this into a suitable form for medicinal
exhibition. Drugs had to be garbled and pulver-
ized, converted into tinctures, syrups, pills and other
preparations; putty had to be kneaded, paints had
to be mixed, window glass to be cut, and a thou-
sand and one little duties performed, which the drug
clerk of the present day knows nothing about, or is
not required to do. Doubtless, also, the drug clerk
of these early days had his compensations, and his
opportunities to flirt with a pretty girl now and
then, but it was not as now, over the soda water
counter, or the perfumery case, for neither of these
figured very extensively in the equipment of a
pharmacy during the first half of the century. Cel-
52
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
atin and sugar-coated pills, tablet triturates, elixirs
and proprietary fads, so popular to-day, were not
known, and to be a drug clerk during these early
days meant something more than to be able to
count out pills and tablets correctly as to quantity
and kind, to hand out a ready spread plaster, to pour
a proprietary mixture from one bottle into another,
or to dispense a glass of soda water with dignity
and grace. As Mr. Peter — already quoted — says:
“There was but little division of labor in the drug
store of the early days. The clerk that took an
order from a customer was expected to put it up,
pack and address it, deliver and receive payment;
hence a popular clerk had much more work than
many fellow-clerks equally competent. Customers
frequently showed a preference to be waited on by
the same clerk, and sometimes when they found
their favorite busy would go out and return till they
found him at leisure to wait on them.”
With the steadv prosperity of the “Falls City,” the
increase in population went hand in hand, and the
town of 1817, with a population of perhaps 1,200,
had in 1830 grown to be a city of 15,000. This brought
about not alone an increase in the number of drug
stores, but also a change in the character of the
business. Druggists from the East were attracted
to Louisville as being a remunerative field for their
enterprise; a more, distinct line was drawn between
the wholesaler and the retailer, and each confined
his business ventures more and more to the legiti-
mate drug trade. But it was in the retail store
that the most marked change was effected. Louis-
ville had begun to assume the character of a great
medical center, and the demands made upon the
pharmacist were from year to year more in line with
those demanded from pharmacists in the Eastern
centers of population. Physicians abandoned the
supply of medicines to their patients, and their pre-
scriptions were compounded by pharmacists, who
found it to their interest to place them on file for
future reference, and not, as formerly, to sweep
them out with the litter of the shop. Neatness and
order began to prevail, where formerly there had
been slovenliness and chaos; they vied with each
other in the supply of good drugs, and in dispensing
them neatly and accurately, and so in the course of
time were justified in assuming the title of chemist
and apothecary, which many of them displayed over
their store doors.
From the year 1830 to 1850 the number of drug
stores did not increase very rapidly, and they were
located principally on Main and Market streets.
We find in 1832 the names of Joab Atkinson, Wil-
liam Bull, George H. Cary, Peter Gardner, L.
George, H. F. Miller, William Nock, William
F. Pettet, Frederick Schorch, John
°ld T'gistsDrUS" 3- Smith, Ira Vail & Co., Samuel Wil-
cox, Thomas E. Wilson, and Thom-
as E. Wolf. In 1836 we find the firm of Moore &
Henry established as a botanic drug store, catering
specially to the followers of the Thompsonian
School of Medicine, which at that time enjoyed
great popularity; we find also that George H. Cary
has formed a partnership with Mr. Yenowine, suc-
ceeding to the business of “Doctor F. Schorch, at
the old stand, five doors below Fisher’s Tavern
(Union Hall), Main Street.” In 1839 Thomas A.
Hurley established himself as a retail “druggist and
apothecary” on the southeast corner of Jefferson
and Seventh streets, promising that “no medicines
will be put up unless of the first quality,” and that
“he will deliver them at any hour of the night.” In
this year also we find the firm of Roberts & Rowand,
corner of Second and Main streets, and of H. Rosen-
garten, fourth cross street between Market and
Main. In 1844 we find the new firm of Peter &
Robinson (Arthur Peter and Richard A. Robinson),
as successors to William F. Pettet, and of George H.
Cary & Bro., as successors to Cary & Yenowine.
In 1845 appear for the first time the names of J. S.
Morris & Co. (wholesale) ; Lurton & Bettison
(wholesale and retail); W. W. Brown (botanic
druggist); B. Morsell, James Burns, Hugo Preiss-
ler, Gamble, Ivneiss & Co., E. A. Ivunkler & Co.
(importers and wholesale), and M. L. Lewis (bo-
tanic druggist). In 1849 Lapping & Co. opened
a wholesale and retail store on Fourth Street, Watts
& Thomas a wholesale store next door to them, H.
A. Hughes opened a pharmacy under Odd Fellows’
Hall, on Jefferson and First streets, T. H. McAlis-
ter, on Third Street, and Montgomery & Sutcliffe,
on Main Street. George H. Cary became a partner
in the house of Peter & Robinson, the style of the
firm being Robinson, Peter & Cary, while Dr.
Thomas E. Wilson became associated with A. P.
Starbird and John J. Smith under the firm name of
Wilson, Starbird & Smith.
The next decade may be designated as one of the
most prosperous periods in the 'history of the drug
trade of Louisville, so that, notwith-
Access^ons. standing the depressing check re-
ceived bv the business interests of
this country during the financial crisis of 1857, and
the serious troubles brewing on the political horizon
PHARMACY AND PHARMACISTS.
53
immediately thereafter, we find at the beginning of
i860 not alone a large number of wholesale and
retail drug houses, but also a decided advance in the
qualification of the pharmacists engaged in the busi-
ness, and in the quality and character of the goods
handled. Louisville, in fact, during this decade
assumed absolute supremacy in the drug market of
the West, and its druggists secured an enviable
reputation for reliability and integrity. During this
decade, also, a new element that exerted a powerful
influence upon the prosperity of Louisville mani-
fested itself. The revolutionary troubles in Europe
during 1848-49 caused a tide of German emigrants
toward this country, distinct from that of previous
periods, in that the preponderance of the emigrants
were of the educated classes. Professional men of
every description, lawyers, physicians and apothe-
caries, came to our shores, and by reason of their
thorough and systematic training, soon met not
alone with a measure of success, but with new ideas
and methods became popular and active competi-
tors of their American professional brethren. This
was notably the case among pharmacists, whose op-
portunities to qualify themselves for business in the
territory west of the Alleghenies were confined to
the practical experience of the shop, and such self-
study as inclination and opportunity afforded, while
the German pharmacist had, as a rule, gone through
a systematic apprenticeship, during which he had
attended and completed the prescribed courses in
pharmacy, chemistry, botany, pharmacognosy, and
allied branches of science, at one of the universities
of his native country. It is true that several col-
leges-of pharmacy existed in this country at and
prior to this period; but lectures were delivered at
only two of them — in Philadelphia and New York —
and neither of them could count upon a large class
of students. The advent of the educated German
pharmacist was therefore a decided advantage to the
pharmacists of our Western cities, since, by reason
of their thorough scientific and practical training,
they became educators, inculcating their knowledge
and experience either as clerks to proprietors, or, as
proprietors, to their clerks and apprentices. Fore-
most among accessions of this kind we have Emil
Scheffer, who came to Louisville in 1850, and after
clerking for a time, became the owner of Ivneiss’
drug store on Market Street, near Preston. Mr.
Scheffer, now retired from the active drug business,
is not alone known as one of our foremost pharma-
cists, but has a reputation as a chemist second to
none. His career may serve as an example of the
thorough training to which the pharmacist is sub-
jected in Germany. After pursuing the necessary
courses of instruction in the high school (gymna-
sium) of his native city, he became apprenticed to
the drug business, during which he attended the rec-
ognized course of study at the University of Tubin-
gen, the whole extending over a period of five or
six years. During the latter part of his attendance
at the university he became assistant to Professor
Gmelin — whose name is familiar to scientists
throughout the world as the author of that incom-
parable work, “Gmelin’s Chemistry” — and subse-
quently he was for a time also assistant to Professor
Fehling, the well-known author of the most popular
text book of the day on analytical chemistry. Thus
prepared and qualified, he entered upon the duties
of his chosen profession, serving as assistant in
various pharmacies in his native country and in
Switzerland, until in 1848-49 he became involved in
the political troubles of that period, and was forced
to seek refuge in this country. Other German
pharmacists of this period were Charles Tafel — now
practically retired from active business, though -still
interested in the drug store managed by his son,
William Tafel; Albert Kohlhepp, Edward A.
Preuss, George C. Stein, C. Haller, and Gustave A.
Zausinger, all popular druggists for many years,
but now no longer among the living; Bernhardt
Beckman, Louis Eichrodt, and the Springer broth-
ers— William, Edward and Ottmar. Of these the
career of William Springer is notable, for, beginning
in a most modest way with his brother Edward, he
soon established the most popular German phar-
macy of the time, a position which he maintained
for many years, amassing a fortune and retiring
about ten years ago, having disposed of his lucrative
stand to his partner, George Zubrod. Among the
pharmacists of this period who have contributed
no little to shaping the character of the retail drug-
business of Louisville, S. Fisher Dawes must be
mentioned. Coming from Philadelphia, at that
time the fountain head of American pharmacy, Mr.
Dawes for many years exercised a beneficent in-
fluence among his professional brethren, and suc-
cessfully carried on popular pharmacies in various
parts of the city. We find during this period an in-
crease to about fifty retail drug stores, and quite a
number of wholesale houses; the firms of Linden-
berger & Co., Edwin Morris, J. B. Wilder & Bro.,
Edward Wilder, and Owen & Sutton appearing- for
the first time. The firm of Sutcliffe & Hughes also
appears as the sucessor of Montgomery & Sutcliffe,
54
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and later on Lindenberger & Co. became the house
of Henry Chambers & Co. But with one exception
none of these firms are now in existence, the suc-
cessors to the house of Owen & Sutton being now
ihe well-known firm of Renz & Henry, corner cf
Market and Floyd streets.
One of the most interesting enterprises of this
period was the organization of the Louisville Chem-
ical Works, an establishment that
Cworksa' was Probably ’n advance of its time,
and is now a thing of the past, but
that had wonderful success during its existence and
may be considered as the prototype of the numerous
successful and wealthy pharmaceuto-chemical estab-
lishments that now flood our country. Dr. Edward
R. Squibb, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who has a world-wide
reputation as a manufacturer of pharmaceutical
chemicals and preparations, and is the only survivor
of the original partners in this concern, speaks of its
origin as follows:
“The enterprise originated with Dr. J. Lawrence
Smith, and he supplied the entire capital and very
much of the knowledge and skill that were contribu-
ted. I was then a passed assistant surgeon in the
navy and assistant director of the U. S. Naval La-
boratory at Brooklyn, and had within the past four
years started and managed the Naval Laboratory.
Dr. Smith came to me to see this laboratory and to
discuss his enterprise, and as the result of a few
months’ discussion he, in November, 1856, offered
me a co-partnership in the enterprise, Mr. Thomas
E. Jenkins being a third co-partner. I accepted
the co-partnership, with an optional limit of one
year, the firm being Thomas E. Jenkins & Co. By-
correspondence the name of the Louisville Chemi-
cal Works was decided upon, the ground was pro-
cured, the dimensions and plans of buildings were
decided upon, and the buildings were erected by Dr.
Smith, and some of the apparatus sent from New
York was put in. In September of 1857 J went to
Louisville and aided in completing and starting the
works, and by August, 1858, the plant was finished
and in active operation. On the 20th of August 1
withdrew from the co-partnership and returned to
Brooklyn, and since that time I have no knowledge
of the works.”
The writer of this paper, having been called to
Louisville in July, 1865, to re-establish the Louis-
ville Chemical Works, in the interest of the whole-
sale drug firm of Wilson, Peter & Co., can add the
following, partly from personal knowledge and
partly from information. The works were con-
tinued in active operation after the retirement of Dr.
Squibb until shortly after the breaking out of the
Civil War, when the plant — which was situated on
High Street, below Twelfth, was abandoned, Dr.
Smith, who was an ardent Southern sympathizer,
going abroad. The abandonment became necessary
because the products of the works, while enjoying
a reputation for excellence wherever they were in-
troduced, had found their principal market in the
South, and because the sympathies of the owner
precluded the continuance of the enterprise for the
benefit of the North. Dr. Thomas E. Jenkins had
severed his connection with the work sometime be-
fore this, and carried on for many years thereafter
one of the most popular pharmacies of the city at
the corner of Third and Walnut streets, Samuel P.
Walker being his successor and the present owner
of the stand. Dr. Jenkins is remembered as one of
the most noted pharmacists and chemists of his day,
and his reputation, particularly as an analytical
chemist, was well established in his native country
as well as in Europe. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, for
many years after his return, was actively engaged
as president of the Louisville Gas Company, and
was during his incumbency responsible for many of
the improvements that have been introduced for the
economical manufacture and purification of illum-
inating gas. During his leisure hours he devoted
himself to his favorite pursuit of analytical chemis-
try, and the scientific journals of the period bear
witness to his industry and accomplishment in this
his favorite field of study and research. He had
disposed of his title to the Louisville Chemical
Works to Wilson, Peter & Co., who undertook to
re-establish the business on a new site in 1865, un-
der the management of the writer. Fairly success-
ful in this enterprise, the members composing the
wholesale drug firm named concluded to dissolve
partnership at the close of 1868, and this necessi-
tated the disposal of the chemical works also. They
were sold to Barnum, Starbird & Post, and the con-
nection of the writer with the works ceased. After
several years the affairs passed into the hands of a
stock company, the original site of the works on
High Street having been meanwhile acquired. But
for one reason and another the enterprise failed of
success, and was practically abandoned during the
first half of the seventies.
From 1860-1870 the number of drug stores in
Louisville was increased to about seventy-five, and
we find among the accessions of this period the
names of John and Edwin Colgan, George A. New-
PHARMACY AND PHARMACISTS.
55
man, D. B. Grable, J. M. Krim, Ferdinand J., Ed-
ward C. and H. Adolph Pfingst, Fred C. Miller,
William Saudeck, Simon N. Jones, Vincent Davis,
C. J. Rosenham, E. Kampfmeuller, B. F. Alford, B.
Buckle, and William G. Schmidt.
The beginning of the decade 1870-1880 is marked
by an important development in pharmacy that has
had decided influence on the prac-
College of .
Pharmacy. tlce of pharmacy throughout our
country. Prior to 1870 there exist-
ed practically only three institutions in the United
States in which instruction was given to pharma-
cists: In the New York and Philadelphia Colleges of
Pharmacy, and in the School of Pharmacy of the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Instruction
in a limited way was also given in the Maryland
College of Pharmacy at Baltimore, but in the other
colleges of pharmacy then existing, at Boston, Chi-
cago, St. Louis and Cincinnati, no lectures were
delivered at all, their usefulness being confined
simply to association, which brought the pharma-
cists of their respective localities together occasion-
ally. But in this or the following year (1871) all of
these colleges began to teach, and from this time on
numerous schools of pharmacy, either controlled by
pharmacists or connected with state colleges and
universities, were called into existence. Up to this
time, also, no college of pharmacy or other associa-
tion of pharmacists existed in Louisville, though
the desirability of such an institution was clearly
recognized, and had been the topic of discussion
among the pharmacists of the city for a number of
years.
Matters were brought to a focus when, on
the evening of July 28, 1870, a small number of
Louisville pharmacists — Graham Wilder, S. Fisher
Dawes, J. M. Krim, William Strassel, Charles J.
Rademaker, Daniel B. Grable, Fred C. Miller, and
C. Lewis Diehl — met informally in the office of J.
B. Wilder & Co. and decided to call a general meet-
ing of the druggists of the city for the purpose of
organizing and establishing a college of pharmacy.
Accordingly, on the 1 6th of August, 1870, a gen-
eral meeting was held, which was well attended by
representative druggists — both wholesale and retail
— and a permanent organization was effected by the
adoption of a constitution and the election of the
following officers: President, C. Lewis Diehl; vice-
presidents, B. F. Scribner and George A. Newman;
recording secretary, Fred C. Miller; corresponding-
secretary, Louis Eichrodt; treasurer, George H.
Cary; curator, James A. McAfee; trustees, Thomas
E. Jenkins, S. Fisher Dawes, Daniel B. Grable,
Ferdinand J. Pfingst, and John Colgan.
The Louisville college from its very beginning
has been enthusiastically supported by the drug
trade of the city, nearly all of the retail pharmacists
and many of the wholesale druggists joining in
active membership. Funds to establish the school
of pharmacy were freely contributed, and within
thirteen months of its organization, in September,
1871, the college was able to inaugurate its first
annual course of lectures before a respectable num-
ber of students, in commodious rooms on the east
side of Third Street, south of Walnut, the first facul-
ty consisting of Thomas E. Jenkins, professor of
materia medica; L. D. Kastenbine, professor of
chemistry, and C. Lewis Diehl, professor of theory
and practice of pharmacy. It is well to note that
the Louisville College thus began its instruction,
and consequent usefulness, during the same year
that the older colleges of pharmacy, which had
lain dormant for years, began their course of in-
struction. The college has since given its annual
courses of instruction with regularity, and has dur-
ing the quarter of a century of its existence as a
teaching college educated most of the young phar-
macists now engaged in Louisville, and many that
are residents of the South and of the adjacent States
of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois; and it counts among
its graduates some of the brightest men in the pro-
fession of pharmacy, as well as in that of medicine
It has kept well apace with the modern progress
in the sciences with which it is concerned, augment-
ing its curriculum and extending its facilities for
instruction as occasion demanded, so that to-day it
stands in line with the older institutions, and the
peer of those that had all the advantages of earlier
organization and of great centers of population.
The affairs of the college are to-day managed by its
graduates. Even its largely increased faculty is,
with two exceptions, composed of its graduates,
and the exceptions are members of the
original faculty — Kastenbine and Diehl. Pro-
fessor Jenkins was succeeded by Professor Emil
Scheffer after the first year, and the faculty remained
unchanged ofr a decade or more. Dr. Vincent Da-
vis filled the chair of pharmacy for several years,
and was succeeded by Dr. B. Buckle, a graduate of
the college, who filled the chair until 1893-94. Pro-
fessor Edward Goeble, who succeeded Professor
Scheffer, was also a graduate of the college, as is
Professor Oscar C. Dilly, his successor in 1890 and
the present incumbent, the faculty now consisting
56
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
of L. D. Kastenbine, C. Lewis Diehl, Oscar C. Dillv,
Otto E. Mueller and Louis Rominger as senior pro-
fessors, with H. O. Haeusgen, Gorden L. Curry
and William G. Zubrod as adjunct professors. The
presiding officers during these years were: C. Lewis
Diehl, 1870-1880; Vincent Davis, 1881-1882; Wiley
Rogers, 1883; Emil Scheffer, 1884-1887; J. W.
Fowler, 1888-1889; R. J. Snyder, 1890: E. C.
Pfingst, 1891-1892; J. W. Fowler. 1893; M. Cary
Peter, 1894; Addison Dimmit, 1895; and M. Cary
Peter, 1896. Die clerical work for many years —
from the organization to 1894 — was in the efficient
hands of Mr. F. C. Miller, and since then Mr. Gor-
den L. Curry has been the recording secretary as
well as dean of the college.
But after all, while the success of the Louisville
College of Pharmacy was largely dependent upon
the faithfulness and efficiency with which these sev-
eral officers and the faculty performed their respec-
tive duties, the credit for their success belongs real-
ly to the board of directors, to whom, in conformity
with the charter of the college, the guidance of its
affairs is entrusted. It is through the wisdom and
energy of these, their representatives, that the
pharmacists of Louisville have succeeded in estab-
lishing a school that is a credit to the city and to the
State; that the college has been endowed with the
valuable property at the corner of Chestnut and
First streets; and that Louisville pharmacists have
an authoritative voice in the pharmaceutical coun-
cils of the nation. They have been the promoters
of important measures for the benefit of the general
public as well as for the interest of pharmacy. They
have been the promoters of a wise pharmacy law
for the protection of the public in our State, which,
enacted in 1874, makes Kentucky one of the pio-
neers in the enactment of pharmacy laws, similar
laws having since been enacted in almost every
State in the Union. Kentucky was also one of the
first States to organize a State Pharmaceutical As-
sociation, and the Louisville pharmacists were
largely responsible for its creation, as well as for its
maintenance. And last, though not least, Louis-
ville pharmacists have succeeded in organizing and
maintaining a local trade association — an offspring
of the college, the Louisville Botanical Club — which
among pharmacists throughout the United States
is pointed out as the one association that has solved
the problem of united action and policy on ques-
tions that ordinarily appeal only to the selfish side
of human nature — namely, “trade interests.” It
may be that in the future some one will find it in-
cumbent upon him to write a history of the Louis-
ville Botanical Club. When this is done, the his-
tory of contemporaneous pharmacy in Louisville
will be written far better than can be done in the
present paper; for during the last two decades
the profession of pharmacy has undergone changes
so great as to be almost revolutionary, changes
which in other professions have manifested them-
selves with equal force, and which may be applauded
or deplored in accordance with the individual view
taken.
It may suffice to say in conclusion that Louisville
to-day has about one hundred and fifty drug stores;
that as a class its pharmacists stand as high in the
character of their proficiency and integrity as any
in the land; and that as a representative class of
good citizens, its pharmacists stand to-day, as here-
tofore, second to none in the community.
t
a
CHAPTER VI.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
BY THE EDITOR.
The history of the press of Louisville is a subject
fraught with interest to every citizen, old or young.
To the former, much of it will be a reminiscence; to
the latter, a revelation. Its inauguration was a
natural sequence in the order of evolution from the
hunter and pioneer life to that of fixed government,
municipal organization, commerce, manufactures
and the arts. But twelve years elapsed from the
first permanent settlement in the wilderness until
John Bradford, on the nth of August, 1787, issued
the first number of his “Kentucky Gazette” at Lex-
ington. The scalping-knife and
The (^zette^ tomahawk were busy in many parts
of Kentucky for several years after
that date. The undaunted pioneer of the ink-pot
and scissors brought an old hand-press and a font
of crude type over the mountains and down the river
to Maysville, setting up the first number on the flat-
boat as it floated down the stream. Its issue was
delayed some days from the pieing of a form while
being conveyed on a pack-horse to Lexington. It
appeared as a surprise to the good people of the
town, a small quarto of two pages, with the motto
from Cowper at its head:
“True to his charge
He comes, the herald of a noisy world,
News from all nations lumbering at his back.”
There was not much news in it, according to the
modern standard of journalism, but it proved a
valuable medium of communication and advertise-
ment to the primitive community, and its weekly
issue was doubtless looked forward to with as much
eagerness and interest as the blanket daily issues of
the present day. Type foundries being remote, the
enterprising proprietor eked out his scant supply of
capitals by cutting out wooden type from the dog-
wood, and from his crude hand-press, inked with
old-fashioned dog-skin balls, turned out creditable
specimens of press work.
John Bradford also printed an almanac two years
after the “Gazette" was started, the publication of
which he continued twenty years. He also printed
books as early as 1793, some of which are still pre -
served. The people honored him, and made him
chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lexington,
a position corresponding to that of the modern
mayor. And when the State government was or-
ganized, he delivered the address of welcome to
Governor Shelby, when he arrived on horseback
from his home, “Travelers’ Rest,” in Lincoln Coun-
ty, to be inaugurated, June 4, 1792. He was made
the first State printer by the Legislature when it met,
and for his services received the munificent sum of
£100 as the emoluments of his office. He served
also as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tran-
sylvania University, and filled many offices of trust
and honor, dying in 1830, as high sheriff of the
county, still the proprietor of his paper- — worthy
disciple of Guttenberg and Faust! His generation
honored him. Posterity cherished his name as one
whose humble torch of civilization shone out amid
the gloom of the wilderness and lit the path which
has since become luminous by the light of his num-
berless successors. For less services to the State
and civilization, monuments have risen skyward,
while to him, save in his own work, there is none.
The press of Kentucky owes it to him, as to itself,
to perpetuate his name on imperishable granite.
As yet
“In his own page, his memory lies enshrined,
As in their amber sweets the smothered bees, —
As the fair cedar, fallen before the breeze.
Lies self-embalmed amidst mouldering trees."
Other papers followed the “Gazette," and before
the last century closed, there was a second paper in
Lexington, “The Herald;" one of
other Pioneer the same name in Paris; one, “The
journals. Mirror,” in Washington. Mason
County; and one in Frankfort,
“The Palladium." Louisville did not enjoy the dis
57
60
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
able one, too, for, as you know, he was a very
ready and able writer. I do not think ‘The Tele-
graph’ was printed more than three or four years.
Before leaving Georgetown Penn married a Miss
George, daughter of Leonard George, who kept a
hotel on the corner of Main and Main Cross streets
— the old ‘Bull’s Eye’ building, as it was called.
The paper on which ‘The Advertiser’ was printed
was made in Georgetown, at a paper mill on the
Spring Branch, the present site of Lair’s flouring
mill.” This embraces as much as is known of
Penn’s early life, and more than has ever been pub-
lished before. Collins says that he served in the
War of 1812, but a thorough examination of the
muster rolls of the Kentucky commands fails to
disclose his name. Professor Ranck, the historian,
of Lexington, states that “The American States-
man" was established in that city by Penn in 1811,
the same year he began the publication of “The Tel-
egraph" in Georgetown, but it is scarcely probable
that, at that early day, any one would have under-
taken the publication of two papers. There are few
persons now living who remember Penn personally,
and their memory adds but little to the details here
given. In the Directory of 1832, his brother-in-law,
Leonard George, kept a drug store on the east side
of Fourth Street, north of Main. Notwithstanding
the fact that Prentice and Penn, for eleven years,
sustained a fierce and frequently personal warfare,
all reports tend to show that their social relations
were friendly and that, off duty, they were “hail fel-
low, well met.” In 1841, when Penn removed to
St. Louis, Prentice parted with him in an editorial
replete with good wishes and expressions of regard.
It has been said that Penn left on account of the
unequal contest, but this is hardly to be accepted
as true, after a rivalry so long and so well sustained
by one who had, for twenty-two years, conducted a
paper of such merit and influence. It is more than
likely that, after the political land-slide of 1840, in
which both State and Federal elections had gone
against him, Penn, following the trend of emigra-
tion which was setting so strongly westward, was at-
tracted to St. Louis by other motives. There he
became editor of “The Reporter,” continuing in
that position until his death in 1846*.
*Note by the Editor. — Since the foregoing was written
I have received a letter from Mrs. Laura Penn Tyndall
of Concord, New Hampshire, a daughter of Shadrach
Penn, in which she says that her father began his
editorial career in Georgetown, Ky., in 1809, and that
he served in the war of 1812 in the command of Col.
James Simrall. He was born in Frederick, Maryland, in
1790 and died June 15, 1846. She says that upon the elec-
Mr. Ben Casseday, the historian of Louisville, in
a sketch of the veteran journalist, said of him: “Mr.
Penn was an experienced politician, a forcible writer
and a man of extraordinary tact. His paper soon
took the position of political leader, not merely in
its local circle, but all over the West. It was the
acknowledged Jackson organ, and both city and
State recognized its power and influence. It was
without a rival; if it did not create, it represented
the dominant power for twelve years. Until the
birth of ‘The Louisville Journal,’ in 1830. Pern
found ‘no foeman worthy of his steel.’ His adver-
saries had, one by one, fallen before him. He was
supreme, and a few years previous to the date above
referred to, was confirmed in it by a great victory
over the ‘Old Court,’ or ‘Anti-Relief’ party, and his
championship acknowledged of a party victorious
in a political struggle as bitter as had ever agitated
the State.”
This compliment to Penn has been repro-
duced bv Perrin in his Filson Club paper, on
“The Pioneer Press,” and in other publications of a
historical character, all of whom, in their readiness
to accord to Penn the compliment paid to his abil-
ity, have failed to note the error embodied in the
last sentence. Penn was an “Old Court” and “Anti-
Relief” man, and the great victory achieved by him
was over the “New Court,” or “Relief” party, large-
ly, it is true, composed of Democrats, but with
many notable exceptions.
“The Focus” was established November 20, 1826.
The earliest number in Colonel Durrett's file is that
of March 21, 1827, Vol. I, No. 18. It was well
printed, on good paper, with small, clear type, 24x14
inches in size and with six columns. Its heading
was “The Focus of Politics, Commerce and Litera-
ture: Printed for the Proprietors by John P. Mor-
ton, at the Louisville Book Store, Main Street,” the
same site occupied by John P. Morton & Co. of to-
day. Its name was changed, March 28, 1827, to
“The Focus.” Among the advertisements noted
in a late examination were two, showing that the
spirit of the turf, which has since found Louisville
such a successful field, was already early actively
organized, thus: “The Louisville Jockey Club will
commence the first Wednesday in October, 1827,
tion of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency in 1828, he offered
to her father, whose paper had first proposed his name
for the office, a cabinet position which he declined, but
at the request of Gen. Jackson he spent a winter in Wash-
ington where he was the confidential friend and adviser
of the President. In 1841. she adds, that at the solicita-
tion of prominent democrats he moved to St. Louis and
edited the St. Louis Reporter until his death in 1846.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
61
on the Louisville Turf, Hope Distillery,* and con-
tinue four days, ist day; three-mile heats, $120.00;
2d day, two-mile heats, $80.00; 3d day, one-mile
heats, $50.00; 4th day, three best in five, one mile
and repeat.” Also the following: “There will be
six two-year-olds run over the Beargrass, one mile
and repeat, at Major Peter Funk’s, on the last Tues-
day in October, 1827, one mile and repeat, for $30.”
“The Focus” was a strong Whig paper, support-
ing the administration of Mr. Adams, advocating
his re-election in 1828, while Penn opposed both
with vehemence. On Saturday, the
a whig organ. 6th of October, 1827, a meeting of
the friends of the administration
(Adams’) was held at the Court House, when Cap-
tain Abraham Hite was called to the chair, and Gar-
nett Duncan and Isaac PI. Tyler selected as sec-
retaries. A committee was then appointed to bring
in resolutions, and, in a short time, reported five
columns of “The Focus,” in solid nonpareil, red-hot
against Jackson. The report of the meeting, out-
side of these, did not occupy more than ten lines.
July 22, 1828, “The Focus” was enlarged to seven
columns and its size increased to 26x20 inches, mak-
ing a handsome, beautifully printed paper. On the
28th of January, 1831, it became an evening daily
and was reduced in size to 24x14 inches, and a little
later was merged into “The Journal.” The casting
of the vote of Kentucky in the House of Represen-
tatives for John Quincy Adams, in 1825, over Gen-
eral Jackson, a Western man, and Mr. Clay’s sub-
sequent acceptance of the place of Secretary of State
in Mr. Adams' Cabinet, had strengthened the
chances of General Jackson as the successor of Mr.
Adams. The prestige of “The Advertiser” — which
had become a daily also — admonished the friends of
Mr. Clav of the necessity of a more vigorous organ
in Louisville, since “The Focus” was devoted to
literature quite as much as to politics. According-
ly, W. W. Worsley, of Lexington, a warm friend of
Mr. Clay, who had come to Kentucky from Vir-
ginia about the same time with him, was selected
as the best man for this important work. He had
been, in 1807, the founder of “The Lexington Re-
porter,"’ the organ of Mr. Clay, and which, under
various changes of proprietorship, continued until
the Civil War an anti-Democrat paper. Worslcv
retired from it in 1816. He was a trained printer
and attended rather to the business and mechanical
departments of the papers with which he was inter -
’"The Hope Distillery was at the foot of Sixteenth
Street.
ested than the editorial, having always associated
with him some one who filled the editorial chair.
He had accumulated good property in Louisville be-
fore he moved here, being the owner of the build-
ing on Main Street in which John P. Morton began
business in 1825, and which the latter bought in
1829 and continued to occupy until his death. As
his associate in the newspaper, Mr. Worsley selected
Dr. Joseph Buchanan, then a resident of Shelbyville,
and the two, coming to Louisville, established the
new organ, of which Worsley was the owner. Lfpon
his retirement from “The Focus” Mr. Worsley con-
tinued to reside m Louisville until his death in 1852.
Dr. Buchanan was a very distinguished man of
science, born in Washington County, Virginia,
August 24, 1785, who came to Kentucky in 1805
and finished his education in Transylvania Univer-
sity, graduating later in medicine in 1808. He was
the author of “The Philosophy of Human Nature,”
published in 1812. In 1817 he studied law, and lec-
tured to private classes. Shortly after this he united
in editing the Lexington “Reporter,” and later “The
Palladium,” and “The Western Spy" at Cincinnati.
Dr. Buchanan was a strong writer on all subjects,
and in point of scientific attainments and original
ideas in all branches of science had no superior in
his day. He was the father of Dr. Joseph R. Bu-
chanan, of this city, a gentleman of prominence in
Louisville for many years, in political, literary, and
scientific circles, who is represented in the present
generation bv his sons, Lvtle and Rowan Buchanan.
Another paper which was, for a time, conspicu-
ous in Louisville in this decade, so prolific of news-
papers, was the semi-weekly “Morning Post," which
was established by S. H. Bullen, already referred
to, who, in 1824, sold it out to A. G. Hodges and
D. C. Pinkham. The latter soon after this sold his
interest to William Tanner, and, with two such prac-
tical newspaper men, the venture promised success.
But, upon the exciting controversy then pend-
ing between the Old and New Court parties, the
owners differed, and each upheld his views upon
opposite sides of the paper, Tanner being for the
New and Hodges for the Old Court. Finally, rec-
ognizing that a house divided against itself could
not stand, they tossed a copper as to who should
sell his interest to the other; Tanner won and
bought out Hodges. The paper, however, had suf-
fered from its internal dissensions, and its publica-
tion was not long after discontinued. Both of the
proprietors became veterans of the press and, in
time, became rivals in Frankfort. Hodges started
62
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
a paper in Frankfort in 1833, called "The Commen-
tator,” which he changed soon after to “The Com-
monwealth,” and which survived as a Whig and
Republican organ until 1873. “The Yeoman" was
founded in 1840, as successor to Amos Kendall’s
“Argus of Western America,” and Tanner, for some
time, was its editor and proprietor. They became
prosperous men and made the political fortunes of
many aspiring politicians, who soon forgot the
friends who gave them the first lift. It is an old
story. Shakespeare refers to it in speaking of the
ambitious youth who rises by such aid :
. “But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degree
By which he did ascend.’’
Colonel Hodges, in his latter days, was wont to
say that he had spent his life making great men out
of small material, for which he had had nothing but
ingratitude. They both — like many who preceded
and have followed them in similar unselfish labors —
lost their all and spent the last days of their useful
lives in comparative dependence.
Still another paper started its existence in Louis-
ville about this time, “The Gazette.” It was founded
by another veteran newspaper man, William Hun-
ter, the first number of which was issued March 13,
1826. But little is known of this paper, and I have
been unable to find a copy of it. Its existence was
brief, and it soon added another to the list of news-
paper wrecks with which the journalistic coast was
becoming strewed. Hunter was another veteran
who had founded “The Frankfort Palladium” in
1798, which ceased publication only in 1826.
We have thus brought the history of the press of
Louisville down to 1830, in the order of the founda-
tion of the several papers. It will
The Press in 1830. be observed that, with few excep-
tions, the editors and proprietors
were men of experience, who came to Louisville
from other portions of the State — a striking evi-
dence of the progress and growing commercial im-
portance of the Falls City. Two years previous it
had been created a city by Legislative charter, and
had more than doubled its population in the decade
just closed. Many lawyers and other professional
men, who afterward became distinguished, had
come from the interior of the State to cast their
fortunes here, while enterprising men of all callings,
merchants, manufacturers and capitalists, had been
attracted by the bright commercial prospects
awakened by the construction of the canal and the
rapid development of trade with the South and
Southwest. The party dissensions — wdiich had so
sorely oppressed the State with the questions of
“Relief” and “Anti-Relief,” “Old Court” and “New
Court” — had happily been ended, and peace and
prosperity rested over the land. The political as-
pect was calm — but it was a calm which precedes
the storm. After the heated controversy which
followed the election of John Quincy Adams by
the House, in 1825, and the sharp alig-nment of the
people into the Democratic and Whig parties, with
Jackson and Clay, respectively at their head, the
former had in 1828 triumphed over Adams and was
President. But the Whig party was still animated
by the hope of a successful issue in 1832. With
that view, and in order to counteract the power of
the Democratic press in the State, as particularly
manifested by “The Advertiser,” under the vigorous
editorship of Shadrach Penn, “The Louisville Daily
Journal” was established on the 24th of November,
1830.
The center of gravity in the matter of political
influence had shifted from Lexington and was fast
moving from Frankfort to Louisville. John Rowan
— who had moved to this city after having been
Secretary of State, Congressman, and judge of the
Court of Appeals — was a United States Senator,
and gave to Louisville a prestige not hitherto ac-
corded toxher. James Guthrie had come to the
front with a power and influence which he held for
more than a third of a century afterward, while
other prominent Democrats gave to Louisville an
importance as a political stronghold not to be over-
looked.
In the early months of 1830 a young New Eng-
lander— who had come West to write the life of
Henry Clay — had become so fascinated with his idol
during his sojourn at “Ashland,” and had evinced
such strength as a writer that he was selected as
the editor of the new organ to be started at Louis-
ville. The idea comported both
Gprentfce°f with his literary tastes and his po-
litical convictions, since he had al-
ready enjoyed some experience as a writer. George
Denison Prentice, selected for this important posi-
tion, was born in New London County, Connecti-
cut, December 18, 1802. He is said to have been
so precocious that, at four years of age, he was a
fluent reader, and at fifteen could translate and
parse any verse in Virgil or Homer. Want of
means debarred him, for a time, from attending col-
lege, but having taught school for several years, he
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
63
entered the sophomore class of Brown University
in 1820, from which he was graduated in 1823. He
then studied law, but finding the practice distaste-
ful, he abandoned it and became editor of “The Con-
necticut Mirror,” in 1825. In 1828 he became asso-
ciated with the poet Whittier in the publication of
“The New England Review,” and remained in that
connection until he came West in 1830, on his bio-
graphical mission. There are evidences that this
was his sole object, and that he had contemplated
returning to his editorial charge after the conclu-
sion of his work. While in Kentucky he wrote a
series of letters to his paper in Connecticut, which
were published as “Letters from a Strolling Editor
to the Publishers of the N. E. W. Review.” These
contained descriptions of the country and the peo-
ple with whom he came in contact, of a graphic
and spicy character. They were also more or less
pervaded with a caustic criticism of the political ele-
ment. One, especially, was notable for the sharp
comments made upon the scenes of a three days’
election in Lexington, was severe upon Jackson
men at the polls, the free use of spirits, and the
alleged riotous conduct of bullies at the voting
places. So that, when it was announced, not very
long afterward, that he, in company with Mr. A. S.
Buxton, of Cincinnati, would commence the pub-
lication of “The Journal,” Penn, of “The Adver-
tiser,” wrote the following respecting his future
rival :
“GEORGE D. PRENTICE.
“This gentleman and Mr. Buxton, of Cincinnati,
have issued proposals for publishing a daily paper in
Louisville, which is to be edited by Mr. Prentice.
Willing that the gentleman shall be known by the
people whose patronage he is seeking, we copy to-
day from a Cincinnati paper his account of the late
elections in Kentucky. The production may be
viewed as a fair specimen of his ‘fine literature,’ his
‘drollery,’ ‘strong powers of sarcasm,’ and, above all,
his ‘poetical capacity.’ The respect and attachment
he displays toward Kentucky (to say nothing of the
Jackson party) must be exquisitely gratifying to
the respectable portion of Mr. Clay’s friends in this
city. To them we commend the letter of Mr. Pren-
tice as an erudite, chaste and veritable production,
worthy of the ‘great editor’ who is hereafter to fig-
ure as Mr. Clay’s champion in the West. We may,
moreover, congratulate them in consequence of the
fair prospect before them; for with the aid of such
an editor they cannot fail to effect miraculous revo-
lutions or revulsions in the political world. The
occupants of all our fish markets will be confirmed
in their devotion to the opposition beyond redemp-
tion.”
In another column appeared the letter referred to,
copied from the “Cincinnati Advertiser,” headed
“Prick Me a Bull Calf Till He Roars,” and prefaced
with the following introduction:
“Mr. George D. Prentice, Mr. Clay’s protege, and
author of all the ribaldry and slang lately emanating
from New England, I have heard, intends publish-
ing a paper in Louisville, Kentucky. As a specimen
of his feelings toward the citizens of that State, I re-
quest you would publish the following extract from
a letter written by him to a friend in New England.”
Then follows the letter, too long for insertion here.*
The severe editorial of Penn’s, holding Prentice
up to Ihe scorn of the people, was well calculated to
arouse a deep feeling of resentment in the new-
comer and to stimulate him to his highest efforts.
It was like Jeffrey’s stinging review of Byron’s earlv
poems, which evoked the “English Bards and
Scotch Reviewers,” and started him on his great
career.
"The Journal” made its appearance as a daily on
an imperial sheet, printed in a clear type, with a
standard of presswork and paper
The journal. which it maintained to the end.
Expectation was on tip-toe among
all readers of the press, the Democrats confidently-
expecting that it would soon be snuffed out by “The
* Advertiser,” and the Whigs nervous with apprehen-
sion lest the young editor should not be able to cope
successfully with his veteran adversary. The rather
ungracious introduction which Penn had given
Prentice proved to be of great service to the new
leader, for its very asperity was a concession to his
formidable rivalry and recognized in him a foeman
worthy to be combatted. A policy ignoring him
and belittling him with silence would have been
more effective. But if it gratified the Democrats,
its effect upon the Whigs inured equally to Pren-
tice’s advantage. They looked upon him, not in his
individual capacity, but as the chosen exponent of
their party, the young David selected by them,
whom they worshipped as their great political idol,
to overcome, with his sling, the Goliah who had so
long upheld the Democratic banner, and, one b\
one, vanquished every foe who had been pitted
against him. His bearing, under the provocation,
was discreet and manly. His resentment found
vent in no violent rejoinder, but, while meeting
♦Perrin’s “Pioneer Press," Filson Publication, p. 77.
64
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Penn’s raillery with wit, marked more with pleas-
antry than acrimony, he addressed himself sedulously
to the higher task which lay before him, that of
making “The Journal” a good newspaper and an
efficient organ. The times demanded an exhibition
of this force, rather than that he should make his
paper the vehicle of mere personality. I he Whig
party, in the election of 1828, had lost the Presiden-
tial vote of Kentucky, for, while it had carried the
State for Metcalfe, its candidate for Governor, Jack-
son had received the electoral vote for President,
and Breathitt, the Democratic candidate for Lieu-
tenant-Governor, had been elected. The contest
ahead was for Mr. Clay, as the Whig candidate for
President in 1832, as against Jackson, and to that
result all energies were to be bent. The re-charter-
ing of the United States Bank and Mr. Clay s Amer-
ican System were the main political issues while the
personal popularity of the two Western rivals con-
tributed to make the canvass one of the most noted
in the history of parties. The old State issues had
been settled. The old court had been firmly rein-
stated. The relief questions had been eliminated
by judicial decisions and a returning prosperity,
while the nightmare of depreciated currency had
vanished with the retirement of State banks. Par-
ties aligned themselves upon the broader questions
of national politics and upon personal preferences
between the opposing candidates. Many leading-
men, who had been opposed to Mr. Clay, broke
their former alliances and came to his support on
the question of the United States Bank and the
tariff, while others, who had affiliated with his fol-
lowers on the settled State questions, appeared as
adherents of Jackson. For the first time since
fefferson’s administration the issues were clearly
defined, and the new alignment marked the divi-
sions sharply as between the Whig and Democratic
parties. The fight was spirited, and the rival editors
bent themselves to their work with unremitting en-
ergy. Hard licks were given and taken on either
side. Prentice, like a skilled fencer, was aggressive
with his thrust of wit and satire, vdiile Penn, rejoin-
ing with no mean reply in the same vein, looked
more to the ponderous blows of his political broad-
sword than to stinging paragraphs. The election
came on apace and Jackson was successful. Clay, it
is true, carried Kentucky, but Jackson was elected
President, while the Democrats carried the State
for Governor in the election of Breathitt. Thus was
the result of 1828 reversed. Then began the long
combat between the papers, which ended only with
the retirement of Penn in 1841. The competition
was hardly an equal one in the personnel of the
combatants, Mr. Prentice having the advantage
over his opponent of being younger, as well as bet-
ter equipped with incisive satire, provoking wit and
ludicrous humor, which, at that period of personal
journalism, were such powerful weapons. “The
Louisville Journal” became famous for the brilliancy
of its editor, no less than for his great political lead-
ership, and Louisville, which had been known as the
City of the Falls, acquired a new celebrity as the
place where “The Journal" was published and the
home of Prentice. Nor were his labors confined to
his paper. His literary contributions to other pub-
lications were many and varied, both in prose and
verse.
In 1838 “The Literary News Letter” was started,
the first number being issued December 1st. It was
published by Prentice & Weissinger, and edited by
Edmund Flagg. The first number contained two
pieces of poetry by Prentice, “Lines to an Unseen
Beauty” and “The Ocean,” with one of prose, “The
Broken-Hearted.” It was a weekly of eight pages,
four columns, 14x20 inches. An examination of
its pages — through the several volumes, completed
before its suspension — shows it to have been a pub-
lication of much solid merit, almost every number
of which contained contributions from Mr. Pren-
tice’s pen, while Longfellow, Washington Irving,
George P. Morris, Fortunatus Cosby, Jr., N. P.
Willis and John G. Whittier were frequent con-
tributors. Mr. Flagg remained its editor until De-
cember 14, 1839, when he was succeeded by Leon-
ard Bliss, and its publication continued until No-
vember, 1830, Mr. Bliss having lost his life in a
street encounter. Mr. Flagg afterward became
consul to Venice, and wrote a history of that re-
public.
During Mr. Prentice's career a number of changes
were made in the ownership and business manage-
ment of “Tbe Journal.” In 1833
career. Mr. Buxton sold out his interest to
Mr. John N. Johnson, who was at
that time a merchant doing business on Wall Street.
Two years later he sold at a handsome profit to Mr.
George W. Weissinger, who remained as one of the
editors and proprietors of the paper until his death,
February 26, 1849, 'n the forty-second year of his
age. He was a native of Alabama, a graduate of
Transylvania University, and came to Louisville in
1828. He was practicing law when he became con-
nected with “The Journal,” but retired from his
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
65
profession and devoted himself exclusively to the
paper. He was said by Mr. Prentice, in an obituary
notice full of appreciative friendship and feeling, to
have been “a man of compact, massive, vigorous
mind, who took broad, clear and comprehensive
views of every subject. He was a most able, cor-
rect, forcible and earnest writer.” Much more of
the same import wrote Mr. Prentice of the mental,
moral and social qualities of his friend, whose asso-
ciation with the paper had tended greatly to its
refinement and to the establishment of an elevated
tone to its columns. Upon the death of Mr. Weis-
singer his interest was purchased by Isham
Henderson, and later Mr. John D. Os-
borne acquired a share in the paper, when
the firm name became Prentice, Hender-
son & Osborne, the latter being business manager.
At the close of the war it became a corporation
under the name of “The Louisville Journal Com-
pany.” In 1842 Mr. Thomas H. Shreve became an
associate editor of “The Journal,” and so continued
until his death in 1853. He had been formerly con-
nected with W. D. Gallagher in the editorship of
“The Hesperian,” a literary journal published in
Cincinnati. He was a writer of scholarly force and
of decided political talent. In 1852 Mr. Paul R.
Shipman became assistant editor of “The Journal,”
and soon acquired a reputation as an able and in-
cisive writer second only to that of Mr. Prentice.
He held his position until the consolidation of “The
Journal” with “The Courier,” in 1868, and had be-
come the managing editor who directed the course
of the paper during the war.
The coming on of the war found Mr. Prentice in
need of a younger and stronger arm to bear the
brunt of the battle in which his paper became en-
gaged. He had been thirty years in business and
was beginning to show the efifect of age and hard
service. To these were soon added a family af-
fliction growing out of the war, which bowed his
head in a sorrow that was never healed. In 1835
Mr. Prentice had married Henrietta, daughter of
Colonel Joseph Benham, a distinguished lawyer of
Louisville, the fruit of which marriage was two sons,
William Courtland and Clarence J., then grown to
manhood. A strong Union man himself, Mr. Pren-
tice was grieved to see them both enter the Con-
federate army, and in September, 1862, he was
called to mourn the death of Courtland, of General
Morgan’s command, who fell while bravely leading
his company at the battle of Augusta, Kentuckv.
When the war closed, he was greatly aged by its
5
conflicting cares. In 1868 the death of Mrs. Pren-
tice added heavy sorrow in the loss of a brilliant
and devoted companion, who had graced his home
and been the mainstay of his life. In November of
the same year he saw his paper consolidated with
“The Courier,” and to the pang of bereavement and
financial want, experienced the further mortification
of knowing that the scepter of editorial power had
passed from his hands and that he was little more
than a stipendiary of a former rival. Upon the
organization of the State Press Association, at
Frankfort, January 13, 1869, he was elected its first
president, a recognition at the hands of the younger
members of the press which sensibly touched him.
He continued to write, but in a desultory way. His
hair and beard became long and unkempt, and few
who saw him in his late years could recognize in
him the man whose hand had, for a third of a cen-
tury, held the lever of one of the most powerful
and aggressive engines ever known in American
history. He had passed into the seventh age, “the
lean and slippered pantaloon,” and made his exit,
after a brief attack of pneumonia, January 21, 1870
- — another instance of a life spent in the service of
others, ending in dependence and sorrow.
In 1834 D. C. Banks and A. E. Napier published
a paper called “The Louisville Notary,” which had
only a brief existence. In 1836 John J. and J.
Birney Marshall started “The Dailv
S Journals'1 City Gazette,” but the field was oc-
cupied, and it did not long survive.
Birney Marshall was a brilliant writer and accom-
plished journalist, who was afterward connected
with a number of leading papers. He was the son
of Judge John J. Marshall, a distinguished jurist,
and the brother of General Humphrey Marshall,
member of Congress four times and a gallant soldier
in two wars.
“The Western Recorder,” the present ably con-
ducted organ of the Baptists, was founded in 1834,
and may be said to be the oldest paper published
without a change of name in Louisville. Its editors
have been the ablest representatives of the Bap-
tist Church in Kentucky, the succession being
worthily kept up by Rev. T. T. Eaton, now the
head of the editorial staff.
In 1836 appeared also in Louisville “The West-
ern Messenger,” edited by Rev. James Freeman
Clarke. It had been published a year in Cincinnati
and was moved to Louisville, where it remained
for about four years, when it was taken back to
Cincinnati. Mr. Clarke was pastor of the Uni-
66
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tarian Church in Louisville from 1833 to 1840, and
edited “The Messenger,” while it was published in
Louisville. “It bore always,” says Rev. J. H. Hey-
wood, who succeeded Mr. Clarke in his pulpit, “a
high character, having for its principal contributors,
besides Mr. Clarke, Mr. James H. Perkins, Rev.
Ephraim Peabody, Rev. W. G. Elliott, of St.
Louis, Rev. William H. Charming, and kindred
minds. Its aim was high, its spirit liberal,
and many of its articles were of great historic inter-
est and value, and its influence was always on the
side of what its managers and contributors believed
to be for the real welfare of humanity.”
In 1837 Rev. B. O. Peers, the first rector of St.
Paul’s Church, established “The Western Journal
of Education,” but, in the following year, was called
to New York as the head of the educational interests
of the Episcopal Church, and, suspending the pub-
lication of his paper here, established “The Journal
of Christian Education” in that city.
In 1843, upon the suspension of “The Adver-
tiser"— which had been edited, after Penn’s depar-
ture from Louisville, by Henry C.
The Louisville Pope — “The Louisville Democrat,”
Democrat. which was destined to play a con-
spicuous part in Louisville journal-
ism, was founded by Phineas M. Kent, of New
Albany, Indiana. The money for its establishment
was furnished by James Guthrie and other leading
Democrats, who felt the need of an organ in the
Presidential campaign about to open. After a short
time Mr. Kent, not evincing sufficient editorial
capacity to be at the head of a paper with such an
object before it, transferred his stock to John H.
Harney, who at once took charge of the paper. Not
long after, Mr. William E. and Thomas Hughes, the
former a son-in-law of Mr. Harney, became in-
terested in the paper, and the latter remaining but
a short time, the firm name became that of Harney
& Hughes, continuing the same until 1868, when
the paper ceased to exist.
John Hopkins Harney, second son of R. Shelby
and Mary Mills Harney, was born February 20,
1806, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, near the
Nicholas line. His father was a Revolutionary sol-
dier, and the farm on which he lived was derived
from a warrant for his services. Both parents died
of cerebro-spinal meningetis — known as the “cold
plague” at that day — within a few days of each other,
leaving eleven children, the eldest seventeen, and
the youngest, Shelby, a babe in arms. The estate,
two hundred and fifty acres in cultivation, with the
usual stock and servants, besides some accrued
capital, was apparently consumed in the board and
education of the infants. John fell to the care of his
uncle, Judge Benjamin Mills, the distinguished jur-
ist of the Appellate Court, who had been his father’s
fellow-soldier, the two marrying each the other’s
sister. The boy of eight was thus reared under
auspices most favorable for mental and moral train-
ing, and, having mastered the usual primary course
of studies, bought an algebra, geometry and Greek
grammar, and before he was twenty-one became a
contributor to Adrian’s “Diary,” a mathematical and
scientific periodical; a correspondent of Bowditch,
of Biot, and other American and foreign scholars.
At the age of seventeen, an important survey, in-
volving much technical science, embarrassed the
surveyors and they brought it to Judge Mills. “Give
it to John,” said the judge, pointing to John H. Har-
ney, a boy poring over his books, “he can set it
right for you.” The advice was taken and the prob-
lem solved, and those keen, clear-headed surveyors
went out to sing the boy’s praises over the highway.
It had its effect, and at nineteen he was principal of
the Paris High School, a trim, elastic and beardless
youth, five feet eleven inches in height, a capital shot
with a rifle and able to lift a barrel of flour by the
chines. At the expiration of the second term John
H. Harney entered Oxford College, Ohio, and grad-
uated with honor in 1826.
Indiana University having applied to Oxford for
a professor of mathematics, the young Kentuckian
was chosen. Before taking charge he returned to
Paris, where he had met Miss Martha Rankin Wal-
lace, the daughter of Rev. William Wallace, a Pres-
byterian preacher of Lexington and Paris — who
had died, leaving three girls and one boy, William
Ross Wallace, the poet. The young couple were
the same age to a day, and were married in the win-
ter of 1827, and left at once for their new home in
Bloomington, Indiana. Here he remained until
1833 as professor of mathematics, when he was ap-
pointed president of Hanover College, and while
thus engaged began his “Inductive Algebra,” the
first work of the kind from an American.
In 1839-40 Professor Harney was appointed to the
presidency of Louisville College, and entered upon
his new duties simultaneously with the issue of his
“Algebra” from the press of Morton & Griswold,
which became a text book in the schools. At this
time his family included Eliza Ross, one daughter
— afterward the wife of William E. Hughes — and
two sons, Ben Mills and William Wallace.
C
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
67
In 1844 the Whig party, by diverting the school
fund to the promotion of internal improvements,
impaired the school system to such an extent that the
public school system of Louisville was, for a time,
paralyzed, until the adoption of the new constitu-
tion in 1850 and the new city charter of 1851, so
that the demand for Mr. Harney’s services in an-
other field led him to surrender his position as an
educator, although his interest in the schools of
Louisville continued unabated and his influ-
ence for their efficient organization was al-
ways active and effective. In 1851 he was
chosen chairman of the City Board of
School Trustees and so efficiently organized the
system that it rapidly grew into one of notable ex-
cellence. When bonds were authorized for the
building of school houses, and 87J was the maxi-
mum price bid, Mr. Harney, during a visit East,
through his personal relations with Stephen A.
Douglas, became acquainted with August Belmont
and induced him to take them at 97J. No man was
more instrumental in founding upon a secure basis
and fixing the high standard of Louisville’s school
system than he in his nearly thirty years’ residence
in Louisville.
The demand for Mr. Harney’s services in a new
field was political. For a long time the Whig party
had been dominant in Kentucky, controlling the
State by the appointive power of the Governors in
the matter of judges and the county offices, and as-
serting to itself all the decency, coupled with a kind
of hereditary assumption which illy brooked opposi-
tion. Mr. Clay’s influence and the talent of George
D. Prentice overawed opposition. Linder these cir-
cumstances, as already related, Mr. Harney took
charge of “The Democrat,” and his well-trained
scholarship and dignity of character soon placed the
paper upon a high plane as a Democratic organ;
and the Presidential victory in the election of James
K. Polk paved the way for the great success which
afterward gave it, for so long, supremacy in Ken-
tucky. The change of the State from 26,000 major-
ity for Clay in 1844 to its vote for Pierce in 1852, in-
dicated the advantage a party has in one able, recog-
nized leader constantly at his post. The great battle
fought by Mr. Harney for Democratic principles
was one which, having many temporary checks and
reverses, was yet equally aggressive and progressive,
knowing no change of purpose, depressed by no
disaster, and elated beyond a discreet exultation by
no victory. It was practically a hand to hand fight
with Prentice for nearly a quarter of a century, an
intellectual combat on a high key, void of rude per-
sonalities unworthy of such a mind as Mr. Harney’s,
and yet so bravely waged that, when these two lead-
ers came to lie down in their last sleep, they were
the advocates of the same party on the lines for
which Mr. Harney had contended so long and faith-
fully. .
When the war troubles came on Mr. Harney,
while an ardent Union man, sought to save Ken-
tucky from internecine strife and secure the action
of her people as a unit. Being assured that the
basis of the Crittenden Compromise would govern
the conduct of the war, and that Kentucky’s position
would be respected, he urged the neutrality of the
State, not as a war measure, but as consolidating
opinion. At this critical period Mr. Harney was in-
duced to accept a seat in the Legislature, where he
was made chairman of the Committee on Federal
Relations, and drew the resolution which demanded
the evacuation of Columbus and Kentucky by the
Confederates. But, in 1863, Mr. Lincoln’s emanci-
pation proclamation, in his opinion, violated the
condition under which the State acted — simply, ac-
cording to his logic, a plain breach of covenant.
Then it was that he gave notice, in his quaint, edi-
torial style, that “it was about time to get off the
train.” This was followed by editorials declaring
that a Union held together by the sword, with law
to be enforced by a standing army, was not the
Union to which Kentucky pledged her faith, and
that she should not give another man or dollar to
its support. The arrest of the editor was expected
by all his friends, and was urged upon General Burn-
side, then at Cincinnati, but that blunt soldier, know-
ing that Harney had in him the stuff that martyrs are
made of, is said to have remarked that “he had no
Spider-web strong enough to hold that wasp,” and
he was not molested. Of course those who did not
know the high moral and intellectual forces which
governed Mr. Harney and made his action per-
fectly consistent with the position assumed by him
at the beginning, that the moment the war ceased to
be a war for the Union he was pledged to oppose
its continuance, were blatant against this attitude
assumed by him. But he was unmoved by clamor,
and at the close of the war was vindicated by the
people of Kentucky.
In the winter of 1866 he was elected public printer
by the General Assembly for a term of two years,
receiving the full vote of the Union-Democratic
party, then in control of the State. On the 26th day
of January, 1868, he died at his home in Louisville,
68
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and received from the whole community a tribute of
sorrow worthy of one who had labored so long' for its
good. Among- those who united in an appropriate
testimonial of respect was his old political rival.
George D. Prentice, who survived him less than
two years.
William Wallace Harney, son of John H. Har-
ney, was born at Bloomington, Indiana, June 20,
1831. Having received a thorough education in the
schools of Louisville, under the supervision and in-
struction of his father, he taught in the graded
schools for several years and was then, for two years,
principal of the High School. When the State Nor-
mal School was established in Lexington he was
made professor and remained there during the two
years of its existence. Returning to Louisville, he
studied law and entered upon the practice ; but, his
literary taste predominating, he became one of the
editors of “The Democrat,” and continued with it
until its consolidation with “The Courier” and
“Journal.” He then went South and has since made
his home in Florida. To a cultivated mind and
unusual force as a prose writer, Mr. Harney adds
merits as a poet, which have enrolled him among
the most distinguished names of the continent. Of
him it may be said, as was written of his father, that
he is “a cultivated and genial gentleman, and a
graceful, vigorous and spirited writer.”
In 1843 Godfrey Pope was publishing a paper
called “The Daily Sun,” with which, at one time,
Theodore O'Hara was editorially
The Courier. connected. Some printers in his
employment became dissatisfied
with their positions and started “The Daily Dime”
on their own account. The first number was issued
March 11, 1843. It struggled along for nearly a
year, when Walter N. Haldeman — who had been a
clerk in “The Journal” office, but was the proprietor
of a circulating library on Fourth Street, to whom
the proprietors had become indebted — took charge
of the paper to save himself, and was thus lead in-
voluntarily into the newspaper business. He was
then twenty-three years of age, and having acquired
considerable knowledge of the newspaper business
from his connection with “The Journal,” concen-
trated his whole attention upon it. He assumed
control February 12, 1844, and soon after changed
its name to “The Courier.” For the history of Mr.
Haldeman’s life and much valuable information re-
specting “The Courier” and “The Courier-Jour-
nal,” the reader is referred to the biographical sketch
of this veteran proprietor, which appears elsewhere
in these volumes; also as to sketch of Hon. Henry
Watterson. The history of “The Courier” carries
with it the names of many of the prominent news-
paper men of Louisville. Edwin H. Bryant is the
first which occurs, who came from Lexington with
much experience as a journalist, and in 1848 retired
from journalism to seek his fortune in California. He
became the first alcade or mayor of San Francisco,
wrote a charming book called “What I Saw in Cali-
fornia,” and acquired a fortune. Returning in time
he built a villa at Peewee Valley, but wealth did not
bring happiness, and in a fit of mental aberration
he took his own life. F. B. French and W. D. Gal-
lagher, the poet, became for a time co-proprietors,
and in 1857 Colonel R. T. Durrett bought a half in-
terest. He was editor in chief for two years, during
which he conducted it as a Democratic organ, it hav-
ing been, prior to 1855, a Whig and a Native Ameri-
can paper. It incurred the bitter enmity of Prentice,
and the heated disputations culminated in a street
shooting between Prentice and Durrett, in which the
only resulting damage was a flesh wound received
by George D. Hinkle, a bystander. Walter G. Over-
ton, a ready writer, purchased Durrett’s interest in
1859, when the paper became a corporation by leg-
islative charter, under the name of “The Louisville
Courier Printing Company.” Colonel Robert Mc-
Kee, of Mason County, then became editor
and continued until the war, a gentleman
of culture and a writer who possessed the
very best qualities of a journalistic leader.
The suppression of “The Courier” by General
Robert Anderson, September 18, 1862, its subse-
quent publication as “The Bowling Green-Nashville
Courier,” and its revival December 4, 1865, at Louis-
ville are matters of well known historic record.
The consolidation by purchase of “The Journal”
and “The Democrat,” and the issuance of the
hyphenated “Courier-Journal,” No-
Tjournainer" vember 8, 1868 — the first of an end-
less catalogue of similar nomencla-
ture— constitute an era in journalism and mark a
period of progress and success universally re-
cognized and applauded. In the lifetime of
“The Courier” and its successor, covering a
period of more than fifty years, the list of the names
of those who have been editorially and otherwise
connected with it presents, in addition to those al-
ready given, an army of which any paper may be
proud. The veteran H. M. McCarty, himself the
founder of half a score of papers, was the reporter
and correspondent of “The Courier” in the conven-
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
69
tion of 1849, his employment being then regarded
as a great feat of journalistic enterprise. Charles D.
Kirk, who corresponded under the signature of “Se
De Kay,” was another ante-bellum reporter of fine
capacity. Poor fellow! He started a paper, “The
Sun,” here after the war, and one day dropped dead
in the street of heart disease. Len G. Faxon was
an editorial associate after the war — the brother of
the author of “The Beautiful Snow”- — who went
later to the Paducah press and died there within
the past year. On the 1st of June, 1868, General
S. B. Buckner, who had lately been editor of “The
New Orleans Crescent,” became editor of “The
Courier” and graced its pages for some months with
articles from his trenchant pen. Then, after the
hyphenation, what a swarm of bright fellows flitted
across the horizon! Baylor, Hatcher, Ballard Smith,
Sears, Wright, Polk Johnson, Gus Matthews, Knott,
Emmett Logan, Morton Casseday, Dan O'Sullivan,
Young Allison, Hopper, Tom Watkins, Sam Bur-
dett, Jo Eakin, Harrison Robertson, Eugene New-
man, Arthur Ford and Dick Turpin — editorial, rep-
ortorial and managerial; are not their triumphs re-
corded on its pages and in other fields, and are not
some still winning fame in its columns?
But the record of the press of Louisville is still
not complete. Resuming the narrative, in 1844,
“The Daily and Weekly Whig,”
Reminiscence. published by Montserrat & Hull;
“The Dollar Farmer” and “Western
Journal of Medicine and Surgery,” were published
at “The Journal” office; “The Baptist Banner and
Western Pioneer,” by W. C. Buck; “The Catholic
Advocate,” by Benedict J. Webb; “The Public Led-
ger and Commercial Bulletin,” by N. Peabody Poor;
“The Beobachter am Ohio,” a German paper edited
by Martin Ekel and published by Plenry Beutel ; and
“The Daily Times,” edited by James Henry and
published by Webb & Lynch. A few of these have
survived, but most of them were short-lived and live
only in their names. Nor must mention fail to be
made of a bright society paper, “The Bon Ton,”
which, in 1848-49, was edited by William Preston
Woolley, assisted by a bright coterie of writers,
such as Charles A. Page, a poet whose fug-
itive pieces should yet be collected and pre-
served in permanent form for their bright
fancy, their genuine sentiment and pure poetic
rhythm; Ben Casseday, William Preston John-
ston and others. William Woolley was a born
newspaper man, and in 1849 published for a short
time a daily, “The Journal of Commerce,” but died
of cholera before he was twenty-one. Ben Casse-
day, whose name belongs to pure literature rather
than to journalism, brought out, about that time,
a life of Petrarch, and was a frequent contributor'
to the press. His chief work, by which his name is
indelibly connected with this city, is his admirable
“History of Louisville,” published in 1852. In 1849
“The Louisville Anzeiger,” which is still hale and
prosperous after a career of nearly half a century,
was founded by George P. Doern and Otto Schaef-
fer. The large and intelligent immigration which
found its way to Louisville as the result of the Ger-
man revolution of 1848, rendered the establishment
of a German daily feasible, and it was well main-
tained from the start. In 1852 Mr. Schaeffer re-
tired, and “The Anzeiger” was conducted solely by
Mr. Doern until his death. George P. Doern was
a native of Nassau, where he was born September
6, 1829, his father being a son of one of Bluchers
old soldiers in the Napoleonic wars. The family
came to Louisville in 1842, and George learned the
printer’s trade in the office of “The Beobachter am
Ohio.” By his energy and close application he suc-
ceeded in founding “The Anzeiger” before he was
twenty-one years of age. On the 2d of October,
1851, he married Miss Barbara, only daughter of
Philip Tompert, at one time mayor of Louisville.
He filled many important positions of trust, as pres-
ident of the Louisville Building Association, vice-
president of the German Protestant Orphan Asy-
lum, director of the German Insurance Company,
etc. For a time he published “The Evening News”
(English), one of the predecessors of “The Post."
Flis loss was widely deplored, as lie was a man
who combined much amiability and force of charac-
ter with fine business judgment and large popularity.
“The Anzeiger” was always Democratic. In 1877
it was incorporated, with Mr. Doern as president.
He was succeeded by Mr. M. Borntraeger. Mr., now
Colonel, Henry S. Cohn was the first secretary of
the company, and has continued with it ever since.
He came to Louisville at the close of the war and
set type in the office of “The Anzeiger" until 1871,
when he took charge of the business management,
which he still conducts. Another German paper,
“The Volksblatt,” was founded in 1862 by Mr. Wil-
liam Krippenstapel, in connection with Messrs.
Schuman & Rapp. Mr. Krippenstapel, who was the
son of an old officer of the Russian army which op-
posed Napoleon, was born in Denmark, December
30, 1826, and came to Louisville in 1853. He was a
practical printer and worked in “The Anzeiger" of-
70
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
flee for several years. His paper was Republican
in politics, but ceased publication some time ago.
Since 1866 he has been editor and proprietor of “The
Sunday Omnibus,” a German weekly devoted to lit-
erature and society, which is frequently quoted for
its spicy wit.
In 1852 “The Louisville Times” was started. Its
editors were Theodore O’Hara, John T. Pickett and
W. W. Stapp. It was one of the brightest papers
ever published in Louisville, advocated Douglas for
the Presidency and was in favor of Cuban annexa-
tion. O’Hara, the author of “The Bivouac of the
Dead,” was a brilliant writer. Pickett, who was then
consul at Vera Cruz, enriched its columns with his
correspondence. Stapp was a sturdy fellow, and
at one time also editorially connected with “The
Yeoman.” He was a nephew of Squire William
Shannon, a saddler, of Frankfort, an excellent old
gentleman of some means, who always wore a silk
hat, and a swallow-tail coat — broad, with large diag-
onal pockets. He was a great Jackson Democrat
and member of the Central Committee, in deference
to whose sterling character and unblemished Demo-
cracy Governor Powell selected him to administer
the oath of office when he came to be inaugurated as
Governor in 1851. The old gentleman was proud
of his nephew as a shining light, and on frequent
occasions staked him when he became impecunious,
as editorial writers frequently did, in those days.
When Buchanan was elected Stapp was pressed
for consul to Pernambuco, whereupon he repaired,
with much pride, to Frankfort to be congratulated
by his venerable uncle and to make a raise for his
outfit. After much parleying the old gentleman,
wishing more definite information, said to him:
“Walter, where is this place you call Pernambuco,
and what is the remuneration?” The answer was
satisfactory and Walter went on his way rejoicing.
The career of “The Times” under the editorship of
“the Three Colonels” was brief, and in 1853 it was
purchased by Colonel William Tanner — heretofore
mentioned — who soon after sold out his interest to
Colonel John O. Bullock and Colonel John C.
Noble. The former of these was a very brilliant
young lawyer, the son of Hon. W. F. Bullock by his
first marriage, and a strong writer, who, unfortu-
nately for his generation, died young. Noble was
already a veteran editor, who had lately conducted
“The Hopkinsville Press.” “The Times” was for
several years an influential paper, thoroughly Dem-
ocratic and a valuable opponent of the Know Noth-
ing movement. It continued until January, 1857,
when the material of the office was taken to Paducah
by Colonel Noble, who there established “The Padu-
cah Herald.” He continued in editorial harness for
many years, and, a hale and hearty octogenarian,
still enlivens the press of that city with his interest-
ing contributions. It was in the columns of “The
Times” in 1854 that that inimitable wit and pioneer of
humor, Jabez H. Johnson, made the acquaintance of
the public He was a Vermonter, of light hair, blue
eyes and an innocent expression, but of infinite
humor. He wrote over the nom-de-plume of
“Yuba Dam” and was a worthy predecessor of Arte-
mus Ward, Bill Arp and Bill Nye. When “The
Times” suspended he wrote for “The Courier” and
other papers, until carried off by a pulmonary com-
plaint. Ben Casseday says of him: “Johnson had
the most inexhaustible fund of humor that was ever
contained in one man. It not only trickled from his
pen, whatever the subject upon which he wrote, but
it slopped over in his conversation and even in his
soliloquy. It was not wit, though he had occasional
flashes of that, but a subdued and impenetrating
humor. His very signature, ‘Yuba Dam/ was a
pantagruelism. He was a man of culture, and hence
his humor rarely degenerated into coarseness, but
was characterized by good taste and geniality. It
was never forced, but exuded from him as natural-
ly as the moisture from his skin. He occasionally
aspired to the highest forms of serious composition
and was not unsuccessful in them, but the effort
appeared to fatigue him. Life seemed to him an
endless round of fun, and he enjoyed seeing it spin
away on its silly course.”
In 1847 the following papers were printed in
Louisville: “The Journal,” “The Bulletin,” the
evening edition of “The Journal,” “The Democrat,”
“The Courier,” “The Presbyterian Herald,” Rev.
W. W. Hill; “The Baptist Banner,” Rev. C.
W. Buck; “The Catholic Advocate,” “The True
Catholic,” “The Christian Journal,” “The Tem-
perance Advocate,” and “The Western Medical
Journal.” In noting the publications which,
at various times, have constituted the press of
Louisville, it is interesting to note how the
printing offices kept pace with the postoffice in its
several migrations. When the postoffice was on
the north side of Main Street, opposite the Bank of
Louisville, the newspaper offices were on Wall and
Pearl streets, except John P. Morton’s. In the
“thirties” it was on the north side of Market Street,
between Third and Fourth, and the newspapers
generally were located on Third, between Main and
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
71
Market. In 1840, when the postoffice was on the
northeast corner of Third and Jefferson, they came
still further south, and when, in 1857, the new post-
office building on the southwest corner of Third and
Green was occupied, they gravitated about that
point, somewhat as they are now. The new system
of collection and delivery of mails removes the
former cause of migration, and it is hardly likely
that the movements will continue, none having been
made in the four years since the present postoffice
has been established.
“The Commercial and Industrial Gazette” was
established in 1865 by Mr. J. H. Turner, now with
John P. Morton & Company, who published it until
1871. In 1868 Gilderoy W. Griffin, in association
with the venerable Colonel Charles S. Todd, edited
the paper and it became strong and influential. Mr.
Griffin was a man of fine literary taste and the
author of several volumes embracing studies in lit-
erature and books of travel. In 1870 he was made
consul to Copenhagen, then to Samoa, then to Auck-
land, New Zealand, and afterward to Sydney, New
South Wales, filling that position at the time of his
death in Louisville while on leave of absence.
On the 27th of December, 1869, the first num-
ber of “The Daily Commercial” was issued. It was
established by a joint stock com-
CommercS. Pany composed of leading Repub-
cans in the State, who recognized
the need of a central newspaper representing their
principles. There were, at that time, a total of eighty
papers in the State, of which sixty were political.
Of these, fifty-five were Democratic and only
five Republican. The only morning paper in
Louisville at that time was “The Courier-Journal,”
and from that day to this — with the exception of
“The Daily Ledger,” 1871-76 — “The Commercial"
is the only English daily paper which has shared
with it this field. The company had procured a
legislative charter authorizing a general newspaper,
book and job printing business, and Colonel R. M.
Kelly, originally of Bourbon County, but then of
Lexington, who was collector of internal revenue for
the Seventh District, was chosen as editor and gen-
eral manager. He resigned his place as collector
and came to Louisville to enter upon his duties, and
Mr. Thomas Bradley, of Bradley & Gilbert, was
made business manager. Many changes have taken
place in the editorial and business management of
“The Commercial,” but Colonel Kelly has, with but
a slight intermission, been connected with it from
the start, and still continues its editor after more
than a quarter of a century’s service, retaining alike
his influence with his party, the friendship of his
colleagues, and the respect and confidence of the
public at large. For a sketch of his life the reader
is referred to his biography elsewhere in these pages.
Many prominent names have been connected with
“The Commercial” during its existence. General
John T. Croxton of Paris, Kentucky — who died as
consul to Bolivia in 1874 — was one of its chief
founders and friends, while General John W. Fin-
nell, ex-Secretary of State and ex- Adjutant-General,
a strong and effective writer, was at one time con-
nected with it editorially and as business manager.
He was a man of warm personal attachments, with
a vein of fine humor, as attested by his occasional
contributions as “Jeemes Giles of Caney,” on the
order of Petroleum V. Nasby’s lucubrations. He
had at one time accumulated an independence, but
financial reverses overtook him, and all his efforts
to recuperate failed. He started a weekly paper
here, “The Republican,” eight or ten years ago, but
it was short-lived. Then he went to Helena, Mon-
tana, where he died after a brief residence. Mr. L.
S. Howlett, who rose from the case, was at one time
managing editor, but floated out into the broader
sea of politics and moved to Washington Territory,
where his name was connected with the Senatorship
when it was made a State. But despite the fact that
its party held the national field, “The Commercial”
was often financially cramped, and in 1879 it was
reorganized, Mr. B. duPont, Eli H. Murray, R. M.
Kelly and W. S. Wilson becoming the principal
stockholders. General Murray became president
and W. S. Wilson business manager. General Mur-
ray— who had been LTnited States marshal until
1877, and in 1880 was made Governor of LTah by
President Hayes, and Mr. Wilson, who became col-
lector of internal revenue — gave up their positions,
and the brunt of the work fell upon Colonel Kelly.
Then later Young E. Allison became the managing
editor, with W. A. Collins as principal writer and
Hawthorne Hill city editor. In 1883 the name of
the corporation was changed to “The Louisville
Press Company.” Various changes were made
afterward, and the price of the paper was reduced
to two cents. The paper also changed from Re-
publican to independent, and “The Commercial”
has continued in a more prosperous condition in
the past few years, the office being equipped with the
linotype machines. Mr. duPont is at the head of
the company, with Colonel Kelly as chief editor
and Colonel W. S. Forrester — now Assistant Adju-
72
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tant-General of Kentucky — as managing editor, and
A. S. Dietzman business manager.
"The Louisville Ledger,” an ultra Democratic
paper, was founded in 1871 by Governor Bramlette,
Isaac Caldwell and L. G. Matthews.
ledger'6 The latter WSS President and James
A. Dawson manager. Matthews ran
a liberal Democratic paper in Jeffersonville. Dawson,
lately register of the land office, a Lhiion Demo-
crat, was a lawyer by profession, a ready writer of
large political acquaintance and indomitable energy.
He wielded a vigorous pen and for several years
gave close attention to the paper. In 1875 Colonel
Dawson retired from the paper and resumed the
practice of law in his native county, but moved to
Denver, Colorado, became surveyor-general under
Mr. Cleveland's first administration and died in of-
fice. Colonel Michael W. Cluskey, a widely-known
Democratic politician, who, at one time, was editor
of “The Memphis Avalanche,” was the first editor
of “The Ledger,” a dashing writer and a gentleman
of large local popularity. He died in Louisville in
1873. Hon. John G. Carlisle, then Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of Kentucky, was at one time chief editorial
writer. Judge W. P. D. Bush, long reporter of the
Court of Appeals, had soon after its establishment
become a part owner and subsequently its sole own-
er, and conducted it ably until 1876, when its pub-
lication ceased.
In 1874 “The Evening News” was started by
George P. Doern, of ‘“The Anzeiger,” and later was
edited by George Baber, formerly editor of “The
Bowling Green Democrat.” It was the pioneer of
the modern evening newspaper, and was a bright,
newsy sheet in its best days, when Polk Johnson
was city editor.
In 1879 “The Evening Post,” which had been
started in 1878 by R. W. Knott, E. W. Halsey and
W. T. Bodley, was consolidated with
“The News” and became “The
Evening Post.” The venture, how-
ever, did not prove a profitable one, and in 1880 the
company sold the paper to Colonel C. E. Sears and
E. F. Madden. The former had made wide repu-
tation as editorial writer on “The Courier-Journal,”
while the latter had made his mark as city editor
of the same paper. Governor John C. Underwood
was also, for a time, connected with “The Post,”
having consolidated his paper, “The Bowling Green
Intelligencer,” with it, and acquired an interest,
but after a year he disposed of his interest to Col-
onel Sears and retired. Linder Colonel Sears' man-
Evening
Post.
agement it became a very strong paper, and in 1882
added largely to its circulation by reducing the price
per copy from five to two cents. In 1884 Mr. B.
duPont purchased from Colonel Sears a half in-
terest in “The Post,” and two years afterward the
remaining half, when Colonel Sears retired from
the editorship. It then became a stock company
and was editorially conducted for the greater part of
the time by W. M. Finley, until 1893, when, upon
a reorganization, Mr. Richard W. Knott became
editor in chief, Mr. B. Gill Boyle managing editor,
Elisha W. Kelly city editor and D. W. Raymond
business manager. Mr. Archie W. Butt, one of
the brightest young newspaper men in the West,
is its Washington correspondent. It had been for
many years published at “The Commercial” office,
but a year ago moved to the new office of its own,
where it has all the modern improvements, type set
by the Mergenthaler process and presses run by
electric motors. Mr. Knott, as an editorial writer,
wields a pen of great power and exerts a large influ-
ence throughout the State, as well as the city. In
the same building is “The Home and Farm,” an
agricultural weekly, which has long been conducted
by Mr. R. W. Knott, having a very large circula-
tion in the South and West, as well as in Kentucky.
“The Louisville Evening Times,” one of the young-
est of the city, was founded by Mr. W. N. Halde-
man, and is printed at “The Cour-
ier-Journal” office, with all the ad-
vantages possessed by that very
completely equipped establishment, which was the
pioneer in the introduction of the Mergenthaler
typesetting machines in the West. They were in-
troduced in the office in December, 1887. The great
Hoe press of “The Courier-Journal,” it may be add-
ed here, has a maximum capacity of 72,000 copies
of an eight-page paper per hour. The first issue of
“The Times” was on May 1, 1884, and from the
start it has proved a success. Mr. Emmett G.
Logan, who had graduated on “The Courier-Jour-
nal,” was the first editor, and, with the exception of
a brief interval when he tried the experiment of
being a Warren County farmer, he has continued
in editorial charge ever since. Its city editor, A. J.
Carroll, rose to the speakership of the Kentucky
House of Representatives, and his predecessor, Mr.
R. W. Brown, has long been prominent as a news-
paper man on both papers. Its Washington cor-
respondent, “Savoyard,” is Mr. E. W. Newman, long
connected with the paper, and who, in vacation,
lends his editorial assistance to it. He is one of the
Evening
Times.
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
73
The
New Era.
best informed and most thoroughly equipped writers
in the country, making, with Mr. Logan — who is
a splendid paragraphist — a combination rarely
equalled.
“The New Era,” the present labor organ of the
city, was founded September 28, 1889, by E. L.
Cronk, its present editor and pub-
lisher. It is issued weekly and has
a large circulation among the me-
chanics and laboring men of Louisville. Its editor,
Edward L. Cronk, was born in Canfield, Mahoning
County, Ohio, August 31, 1844. His father was
the son of one of seven brothers who immigrated
from Germany early in the century. He entered a
printing office at sixteen, learning the trade of a prac-
tical printer, and for a time discharging all the func-
tions of printer, editor and business manager of a
country newspaper. As journeyman he worked at
the case on “The Cleveland Plaindealer,” “Cincin-
nati Gazette,” and at Indianapolis, finally pulling up
in Louisville in 1871, where he has resided since.
His first work was on “The Ledger,” then on “The
Evening News,” and later on “The Courier-Jour-
nal.” In 1889 he became connected with the labor
movement and started “The New Era.”
“The Methodist and Way of Life” is a weekly,
devoted — as its name implies — to the interests of the
Methodist Church. It was founded
Papers! ’n Frankfort in 1889 by Rev. H.
C. Morrison, then pastor of the
Methodist Church at that point. In 1891 it was
moved to Louisville, where it has since been pub-
lished. Its editors are Rev. IT. C. Morrison and
Rev. H. B. Cockrill. “The Louisville Methodist”
is another weekly, also devoted to the interests of the
Methodist church. It was founded by Rev. J. H.
Young, presiding elder, December 1, 1895, and is
edited by him, with other ministers as assistants.
“The Baptist Recorder” is one of Louisville’s oldest
papers. Its history will be found in Rev. T. T.
Eaton’s sketch of the Baptist church.
“The Christian Observer,” a weekly Presbyterian
paper, dates back to a very early period in the cen-
tury. It owes its descent to “The Christian Moni-
tor,” founded July 8, 1815, in Richmond, Virginia,
by Rev. John IT. Rice, who conducted it with sev-
eral changes of name and some intervals until in
February, 1827, Rev. Amasa Converse, father of
the present editors, became associate editor of it;
it was then called “The Family Visitor.” I11 1839
it was united with “The Philadelphia Observer.”
"The Presbyterian Herald” was started in 1831, and
in 1836 passed into the hands of the Rev. W. L.
Breckinridge and Rev. J. G. Montfort, then a licen-
tiate. About the year 1835 “The Western Protest-
ine” was started at Bardstown by Rev. Nathan L.
Rice. In 1838 the two papers united, and after Dr.
Breckinridge’s retirement in 1839, and that of Dr.
Rice in 1841, were conducted by Rev. W. W. Hill,
under whose able editorship it attained large influ-
ence. During the war it was edited by Rev. Stuart
Robinson, D.D., and Rev. J. V. Logan, now presi-
dent of Central University. It was known then as
“The True Presbyterian” and “Free Christian Com-
monwealth.” In 1869 its owners invited the editors
of “The Christian Observer” to purchase the good
will and assume charge of it. It was accordingly
removed from Richmond. “The Free Christian
Commonwealth” merged with it in August of that
year, since which time it has been issued without
intermission, as “The Church Observer.” The ven-
erable proprietor, Rev. Amasa Converse, D.D., died
in Louisville December 9, 1872. His two sons suc-
ceeded him in the ownership, the firm name being
Converse & Company. Rev. Francis B. Converse,
the senior, was born in Richmond, Virginia, June
23d, 1836, graduated at the University of Philadel-
phia in 1856, and the Princeton Theological Sem-
inary in i860. He preached at the Olivet Church,
near Richmond, for two years, and was associated
with his father on “The Observer,” succeeding to
the chief editorship upon his death. His brother
and associate editor, Rev. Thomas E. Converse,
D.D., was born in Philadelphia, 1841, had his col-
legiate education at Princeton and graduated in
theology at the Union Theological Seminary in
Prince Edward County, Virginia. In 1870 he was
a missionary in China, but in 1875 came to Ken-
tucky, and after having a pastorate at Bardstown
moved to Louisville to become associate editor of
“The Observer.” The editorial staff also comprises
Rev. Francis R. Beattie, D.D., Ph.D.
“The Farmer’s Home Journal” was started in
1865 in Lexington, Kentucky, by J. J. Miller, and
was afterward made a stock com-
jouHiai* pany and published by the Lexing-
ton Press Company, Otlio D. Rey-
nolds and John Duncan being editors. In 1875 it
was moved to Louisville, Mr. John Duncan, then
editor, coming with it, and Mr. Ion B. Nall becom-
ing connected with it. After a time it was re-organ-
ized and has continued to prosper. Mr. Nall is edi-
tor, M. W. Neal business manager and J. W. Vree-
land advertising manager.
74
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
After many attempts to establish Sunday papers,
ending in their collapse after a brief existence, “The
Truth’’ was started October n,
Papers! 1885, by a company of which
Young E. Allison was president, Ben
H. Ridgely vice-president, and George W. Smith
secretary and treasurer. Allison and Smith sold out
in 1886 to Ridgely, who disposed of a half interest
to Isaac Dinkelspiel. These owners held it until
1894, when Ben Ridgely, having been appointed
consul to Geneva, the present new Truth Company
was formed. Since this time Judge William M. Fin-
ley has been editor of “The Truth.” Judge Finley
is a newspaper man of large experience, a writer of
force and ability. lie is a native of Shelbyville, Ken-
tucky, where he was born August 3, 1858. His
first journalistic experience was in 1878, when he
went on the “Courier-Journal” as a reporter. In
1880 he went on “The Evening Post,” of which, in
the following year, he became managing editor.
Upon the retirement of Colonel Sears from “The
Post” in 1886 he became editor-in-chief, and re-
mained in that position until the paper was pur-
chased by R. W. Knott in 1893. Upon the appoint-
ment of Mr. Charles Weaver as postmaster of Louis-
ville by President Cleveland in 1893 he was made as-
sistant postmaster, and served for a year, resigning
to take charge of “The Truth.” This he did on Jan-
uary 1, 1895. With the exception of the one year’s
interregnum, Judge Finley has been connected with
the Fouisville press continuously for seventeen
years, and is one of the veterans of the press.
“The Sunday Critic” was started September 7,
1889, by Dan O’Sullivan, who is sole editor and
proprietor, and it was a success from the begin-
ning. While recognized as a leading society paper,
crisp with the freshest matters of interest relating
also to art and the drama, it keeps the public fully
posted in municipal and political as well as social
news. Few men of his age have had as much ex-
perience in newspaper work, or wield as strong a
pen as Dan O’Sullivan. He is a native of Warren
County, Kentucky, where he was born September
22, 1858. His first experience was in the business
department of the Bowling Green “Pantagraph,”
and afterward in editorial work on “The Intelli-
gencer,” published at the same place. In 1880 he
came to Fouisville and was engaged on “The Even-
ing Post.” In the same year he became one of
the staff of “The Courier-Journal,” and was soon
made city editor and afterward managing editor. In
the fall of 1884, pending the Presidential election, he
was correspondent of “The New York World,” and
for several months was a member of the editorial
staff of that paper. In 1885 he became managing
editor of “The Louisville Commercial” and for two
years was editor-in-chief of that paper, then inde-
pendent in politics. When he gave up this posi-
tion he started “The Critic.” Mr. O’Sullivan is a
Democrat in political affiliation, and has been, since
the city charter went into effect in 1893, a member
of the Board of Public Safety.
In addition to the foregoing list of papers now
published in Louisville there are a number of others
which are published by social, religious and charit-
able organizations, together with several monthly
or other periodical publications, the more important
of which are mentioned under other heads. The
press proper of Louisville will compare favorably
with that of any city of its size in the Union in en-
terprise, typographical excellence and ability.
=!= ^ ^
The editor is indebted to Colonel E. Polk John-
son for the following sketch of the Courier-Journal
staff from 1875 to 1889:
When I first became a member of the Courier-
Journal staff, Ballard Smith was the managing edi-
tor. He was young, not long from Princeton,
whence he had graduated, and had but little news-
paper experience. In its stead he had executive
ability to a considerable degree, and the capacity to
imitate the methods of his superior officer. He
knew an item of news and was untiring in its pur-
suit. He left the Courier-Journal to edit the Even-
ing Ledger, already in the shadows of its early de-
mise. Thence he went to New York, where he
served at one time and another the Sun, Herald
and World. He is now in charge of the foreign
service of the latter paper. It is as a news-gatherer
rather than as a writer that he should be classed,
and he is well toward the head of his class.
Charles E. Sears was an editorial writer, coming
to the Courier-Journal from the Paducah News.
He is a Virginian and an accomplished man. He
has a not ungraceful pen, but dips it too often in
vitriolic ink. He was usually in charge in Mr. Wat-
terson’s absence, and well sustained the reputation
of the paper for vigorous and forceful utterance on
all important questions.
Major J. M. Wright, a West Point soldier, had left
the army and was practicing law, when he was sent
to the Legislature. Serving two terms, he gradu-
ated to the staff of the Courier-Journal, as I had also
done from the House, and became an editorial
THE NEWSPAPER PRESS OF LOUISVILLE.
75
writer. He had the direct force one would expect
from a soldier, was a sunny foil to the sometimes
bitterness of Sears, and was, altogether, a compe-
tent amateur journalist, much loved by the staff,
who regretted his too early departure into other
fields of usefulness. He is now marshal of the Unit-
ed States Supreme Court, and spends most of his
time in Washington.
George C. Cochran, a Mississippian, was an edi-
torial writer at a later period — an earnest, methodi-
cal plodder, with an untiring energy, turning out
daily almost limitless columns of matter, every line
of which was as serious, as methodical and free of
humor as himself. He never made a joke in his
life, nor could he understand one without the aid
of an encyclopedia. After long and conscientious
service he quit the staff and went to St. Paul, and
is now connected with some one of the newspapers
of that city.
Donald Padman, a Canadian by birth, a Michi-
gander by adoption, came via Nashville and the
Federal army to the staff before I joined it. He had
a quaint humor, which was utilized in a depart-
ment first known as “Small Talk,” and later as
“This and That.” This department being finally
abolished, he became an editorial paragrapher, and
later managing editor, which latter position he ana-
thematizes to this day. He knew his art from the
case of a compositor through every department to
the manager’s chair, and did good work, not un-
marked by certain idiosyncracies, amusing enough
to those who best knew him, but not always under-
stood by the public when they showed in print. A
few years ago, after long service, he left the paper
and went to St. Louis to join the staff of the Post-
Dispatch, on which paper he writes editorial para-
graphs about the “crime of 1873,” and urges the
claim of the Post-Dispatch as the greatest moral
engine in the universe.
William H. Chilton, of Virginia, a stern, austere
man, dignified to an imposing degree, a gentleman
by birth and instinct, was the commercial editor,
and the most noteworthy the paper ever had. More
than any other man, he deserves credit for making
Louisville the greatest tobacco market in the world.
As an editorial writer, he devoted much time and
space to the silver question, about which no one
else then on the staff seemed to know or care any
more than the law required. Finally his silver arti-
cles became somewhat monotonous, and Mr. Wat-
terson directed me to issue a silver supplement, and
to say to Colonel Chilton that he was to be its sole
contributor, with the understanding that he was to
therein exhaust the subject and thenceforth drop it.
Chilton was vastly pleased and at once went about
the preparation of his copy. I have forgotten the
size of that supplement, but it comprised a number
of pages and was as full of silver as one of Senator
Stewart’s speeches. Many of his arguments have
since been quoted against the Courier- Journal, not-
withstanding the fact that no one about the office
but the author and the proof-readers ever knew or
cared very much what the supplement contained.
Colonel Chilton’s mind soon afterwards failed and
he speedily passed away, respected and regretted
by those of his associates wdro knew the pure good
beneath his austere manner.
John E. Hatcher was the sunbeam of the staff,
and a purer, more lovable man never lived. He
was a Tennessean, and came to the paper sometime
after Mr. Watterson took charge. He wrote hu-
morous articles in the midst of war’s alarm and
brightened the gloomy monotony of the Southern
soldiers’ lives over the signature of “G. Washington
Bricks.” He was a well-spring of joy in a newspa-
per office; gentle and pure as a woman, loving his
pipe, his not too frequent glass and his friends, it
was a delight to know him. He did such work as
suited him, his frail body, being unequal to the
harsher demands of newspaper work. His whole
nature seemed wrapped up in his bright young-
daughter, and when, soon after coming to woman-
hood, she died, his gentle nature sank under the
blow, and he soon followed her, dying, as he had
lived, beloved by everyone who had known him.
He has had and can have no successor on the staff.
Harrison Robertson, a young lawyer from Mur-
freesboro, Tennessee, was an occasional correspond-
ent, or, rather, contributor, as he never sent
news items, over the signature of “Quipple Yar-
row.” After a time he was invited to join the staff,
perhaps in 1876, and has since been a member. He
is a versatile and interesting writer, almost a re-
cluse, perhaps having fewer acquaintances than any
other man in the city who has lived in it so long.
He is a good newspaper man, being lacking, per-
haps, in the news faculty — that is to say, in the hot
pursuit of an item. He succeeded me as managing
editor, and made a good one, filling the position to
the satisfaction of everyone save himself. It is a
heart-breaking position, and most of its occupants
have quitted it without a sigh. He is now the ca-
pable editor in charge, during Mr. Watterson’s ab-
sence.
76
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Richard W. Knott came to the editorial staff from
the Evening Post, to which paper he, thirteen years
later, returned, and is now its editor. Knott de-
voted his attention in large part to city and State
affairs. He had no training as a newspaper writer,
but was industrious, persistent, and as unyielding as
adamant, or, rather, as John Calvin, whom he
adopted as his model in the matter of religious and
secular backbone.
Emmett Logan came in my day, too. He was
first a compiler of Kentucky and Southern news,
doing his work well; then a Legislative correspond-
ent, in which capacity he stirred up the animals to
an interesting degree; then he became managing
editor, and in most respects, notably as a news-
gatherer, he succeeded there. His temperament
does not fully fit him for management, but in the
pursuit of a news item no man ever excelled him.
He knows news and follows it to the fountain head
unerringly and with rare judgment. He and I one
day wandered into other fields together, but were
glad enough to get back again after brief experi-
ences elsewhere. As editor of the Times which pa-
per he and I jointly edited for its first eighteen
months, everybody knows him. His paragraphing
is unexcelled by that of any other man in the State,
its only apparent defect being his inability to see
the form of a friend when standing between him
and a well-turned period. If the friend do not move,
the paragraph is apt to hit him. I have often told
Logan that he is the meanest man in journalism, in
return for which compliment he proves its truthful-
ness at my expense in his next paragraph. He and
I have been together for years, always on terms of
close intimacy, and I believe he is as fond of me as I
am of him. Next to Watterson, I consider him the
foremost newspaper man in the State. He can do
all kinds of newspaper work, and do it better than
any one else in the harness to-day, or out of it, for
that matter. I began in 1875 on the Courier- Jour-
nal, and, after varying fortune, left it in January,
1889.
(s
CHAPTER VII.
PROSE AND VERSE WRITERS OF LOUISVILLE.
BY THE EDITOR.
One of the most difficult tasks in connection with
the compilation of a history of Louisville is to give
a just and full account of those who have contributed
to its good name in the field of literature. The do-
main is so wide and the number of writers in the
several departments of literature is so large that it
is an undertaking of much delicacy to select from
the long list of names those who are worthy of men-
tion without omitting many entitled to the distinc-
tion equally with those included in the list. In the
department of bibliography there has been a notable
neglect by the historians of the past, and an effort
even to compile a list of Louisville writers necessi-
tates original research in the annals of the city, the
press and the tradition of survivors of its earlier
days. By literature in its common acceptation is
meant contribution in prose and
History ^and^Beiies- verse. Qf history and belles-lettres
as to the former, and of sentiment as
to the latter, leaving still a large field as to the
learned professions and sciences. It is the more
difficult to treat of authors in the several groups
separately, since competence in one field often im-
plies capacity and performance in another; so that
in undertaking to give some account of those who
have made reputations as writers, the aim will be to
treat the subject rather chronologically than by
classification as authors in prose and verse, and to
limit them as nearly as possible to the field of litera-
ture proper.
One of the earliest contributors to the literature
of Louisville was Dr. H. McMurtrie, known as the
first historian of the city, who, in 1819, wrote a vol-
ume entitled “Sketches of Louisville and Its En-
virons,” pp. 255, printed by S. Penn, Jr., Louisville,
1819, containing some pretentions to geological de-
scriptions of the locality and of the State generally,
which only tend to show the crudity of the knowl-
edge of geology generally at that time, and of Ken-
tucky geology especially. His botanical observa-
tions have much greater merit, there being as the
result of his practical botanizing a catalogue of over
four hundred specimens of the flora of this region.
His description of the town, its people and indus-
tries presents a valuable picture of Louisville at that
day, and is the chief source from which we derive a
knowledge of the progress made in its growth. Dr.
McMurtrie was born in Philadelphia in 1793, and
educated at William and Mary College in Virginia.
He afterward graduated in the medical department
of the University of Pennsylvania. In the war of
1812, while acting as surgeon and supercargo on
the ship Penrose, he was captured with his vessel
and held a prisoner two years. Upon his release he
returned to America, and, after marrying, came to
Louisville in 1816. In addition to his history of
this city, he translated Cuvier’s “Regne Animale,”
and was the author of the “Lexicon Scientiarum,”
published in Philadelphia in 1847. When he re-
turned to Philadelphia he became Professor of Anat-
omy, Physiology and Natural History in the Cen-
tral High School in that city. He died in 1865. with
a high reputation for scientific learning.
The next literary name which Louisville presents
is that of Dr. Joseph Buchanan, who was one of the
editors of the Louisville “Focus” from 1826 to 1829.
Before coming to Louisville he had established a
high reputation as a scientist, as well as an editor.
He was a native of Washington County, Virginia,
where he was born in 1785, and a graduate of
Transylvania University, and was the author of a
volume on the Philosophy of Human Nature, 8 vo„
336 pages. His son, Dr. J. R. Buchanan, who sur-
vives, in California, is also an author in mental and
moral philosophy and anthropology.
George D. Prentice is the next name of distinction
77
78
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
in chronological succession, a sketch of whose life
will be found in these volumes in the History of the
Press. For nearly fifty years he contributed to the
prose literature of Louisville in the
Earlier Poets, columns of his paper, the “Journal,”
his editorials and paragraphs being
models of strong and polished writing, while his
poetic fancy kept pace with his scholarly prose. He
was equally at home in the loftiest blank verse and
the most delicate rhyme. His fancy was rich and
original, his versification faultless, and when he es-
sayed the field of sentiment he was as tender as Gray
and as bright as Tom Moore. His contributions are
scattered through his paper and the periodicals of his
long career, and gems which would enrich the litera-
ture of any age are buried in obscurity among pages
which can only be scanned by the few who have the
opportunity or time to search for them. A fitting
labor remains to some one in the future to rescue
them from oblivion and preserve them in book form.
In 1859 he published a book with the title “Pren-
ticiana,” a collection of his witty sayings in the
Journal.
One of Mr. Prentice’s finest pieces is “The Clos-
ing Year,” written as a carriers’ address. It is in
blank verse, and in strength and depth of thought
ranks with Bryant’s “Thanatopsis.” Its length pre-
cludes its introduction. In contrast with it in ten-
derness are his lines written at his mother’s grave,
from which these verses are taken :
The trembling dewdrops fall
Upon the shutting flowers; like souls at rest
The stars shine gloriously, and all,
Save me, are blest.
Mother, I love thy grave!
The violet with its blossoms blue and mild
Waves o’er thy head; when shall it wave
Above thy child!
’Tis a sweet flower, yet must
Its bright leaves to the coming tempest bow.
Dear mother ’tis thine emblem; dust
Is on thy brow.
And I could love to die,
To leave untasted life’s dark, bitter streams;
By thee, as cast in childhood, lie
And share thy dreams.
And I must linger here
To stain the plumage of my sinless years,
And mourn the hopes to childhood dear
With bitter tears.
Among the early periodicals to which Mr. Pren-
tice contributed many prose sketches and poems
was the Newsletter, a literary periodical published
from his office in 1839-40, edited by Edmund T.
Flagg. Mr. Flagg was a man of fine literary cul-
ture himself, and his prose contributions to his pa-
per were of a high order. He was afterward consul
to Venice, and the author of a book of travels.
Amelia Welby is a name which, in her day, shed
a bright lustre upon Louisville, one of the earliest
of her sex to win fame in the West as a poet. Her
maiden name was Coppuck, and she was born in
St. Michael’s, Md., February 3, 1819. In 1834 she
came with her parents to Louisville, and in 1837
published her first verses in the Louisville Journal.
Her reputation grew steadily, and in 1845 she issued
a volume of poems, which have since passed through
twenty editions. Her descriptive poems are bright
and true to nature, while through all her efforts there
breathes a tone of tenderness and purity of thought
in keeping with the personal virtues she possessed.
She became the wife of Mr. George Welby, a prom-
inent merchant of Louisville, in 1838, and died May
3, 1853. The following is the first stanza of the
“Rainbow”:
I sometimes have thoughts in my loneliest hours,
That lie on my heart like the dew on the flowers,
Of a ramble I took one bright afternoon
When my heart was as bright as a blossom in June;
The green earth was moist with the late fallen showers
The breeze fluttered down and blew open the flowers
While a single white cloud to its haven of rest
On the white wings of peace floated off in the west.
Fortunatus Cosby, Jr., a native of Jefferson
County, Kentucky, who died in 1871, was one of the 1
most polished and scholarly poets of his day, who, •
between 1840 and 1850, contributed to the press
many poems of great merit, which, unfortunately,
have never been collected in a volume. Among his
best known is his poem, read on the occasion of
the dedication of Cave Hill Cemetery, which will be
found entire in the chapter on Cave Hill in this His-
tory. Although his verses were generally of a sober
tone, the following stanzas from a poem published in
Graham’s Magazine give a good idea of his capacity
for the lighter vein:
You ask me to write you a sonnet.
My fancies to fix as they rise.
Shall it be on your brow or your bonnet?
Shall it be on your lips or your eyes?
I will take from my pallet some carmine
And mix with the powder of pearls,
Till the coldest grows warm with the charm in
The cheek that lies under your curls.
PROSE AND VERSE WRITERS OF LOUISVILLE.
79
I will snatch from the sunset its roses,
The bloom on your lips to display;
From the woodbine the sweets it discloses,
The sweets they conceal to display.
I will rob the gazelle of its splendor
That lives in her languishing glance,
But to show that your own is more tender
And soft as a dream of romance.
George W. Cutter, a native of Massachusetts,
born 1809, died 1865, resided a number of years in
Louisville. He commanded a company of Ken-
tuckians in the Mexican war, and was the author of
a number of well known poems which were pub-
lished in 1848, and again in 1857. Among them
were “Buena Vista,” “The Song of Lightning” and
“The Song of Steam.” The following is the first
stanza of the latter, the spirit of which is well sus-
tained in those which follow :
Harness me down with your iron bands,
Be sure of your curb and rein;
For I scorn the power of your puny hands
As the tempest scorns the chain.
How I laughed as I lay concealed from sight
For many a countless hour,
At the childish boast of human might
And the pride of human power.
James G. Drake, of an English family, born 1810,
died here in 1850, was a song writer whose produc-
tions will be recalled by older citizens. He was the
brother of Samuel Drake and Alexander Drake,
who, with their sister Julia, were prominent on the
early Western stage. He was the uncle of Julia
Dean, a Louisville actress, who, a quarter of a cen-
tury before Mary Anderson, had a similar celebrity.
Among Mr. Drake’s songs, which were generally
sung to the guitar, were “Parlez Bas,” “Beautiful
Isle,” “Pensez a Moi,” “Tom Breeze,” etc.
Mrs. Catherine A. Warfield was a native of Mis-
sissippi, nee Ware, who, after a long residence in
Lexington, lived the latter part of her life near
Louisville. In 1846 she published, in connection
with her sister, Mrs. Eleanor Percy Lee, a volume
of poems entitled “Poems by Two Sisters of the
West,” which permanently established her reputa-
tion. For many years subsequently her poetical
contributions to the Journal and other Kentucky
papers were widely copied and greatly admired. As
a prose writer, she was equally well known, her
principal publication being a novel entitled “The
Household of Bouverie.”
Mrs. Chapman Coleman, daughter of Hon. John
J. Crittenden, wrote the life of her father in two vol-
umes, and, in conjunction with her daughter, trans-
lated from the German of Miss Miilbach several
works on the life of Frederick the Great and his
times.
Professor Mann Butler, the second historian of
Kentucky, long a distinguished educator in Louis-
ville, is entitled to a place in the very front rank
among the literary men of Louisville. He was early
a teacher in Maysville, and in 1814 was editor of the
Louisville Western Courier, and for many years
principal of the Jefferson Seminary. In 1834 he
published his Llistory of Kentucky, the result of
very thorough original research, and containing a
large amount of historical matter in the shape of
documents and state papers not. hitherto published,
while the text is characterized by a scholarly style
and precision of statement worthy of a conscien-
tious and faithful historian.
Professor Noble Butler, a native of Washington
County, Pennsylvania, born July 17, 1810, but long
a citizen of Louisville, was also an educator of prom-
inence here, the author of a number of text books,
and particularly a grammar, which made him widely
known. He was a contributor to the literary jour-
nals and magazines in both prose and verse, but his
productions have never been collected. He was
fond of nature, and had a beautiful home near
Pewee. His taste is well reflected in lines to a blue-
bird, which have survived. He died in 1882.
Mr. Thomas H. Shreve, who was for a number of
years on the editorial staff of the Louisville Journal,
was well known to his cotemporaries as a writer of
great versatility. He was a merchant, whose strong-
literary tastes led him into journalism. Coupled
with this was a talent for art, and he painted with
merit. As with most of his literary companions, he
has left no collection of his writings save a romance
entitled “Drayton; a Romance of American Life,”
and some fugitive poems, which show genuine merit.
Mr. Gallagher said of him: “He was as joyous in
his verse as the lark soaring in the early morn.” He
was a native of Alexandria, Va.; died comparatively
young, December 23, 1853, aged 45 years.
William Davis Gallagher, who has passed awa\
within the last year, covered a longer period and
had a more extended reputation as a poet than am
in the literary list of Louisville. He was a native
of Philadelphia, where he was born August 21, 1808
After much journalistic experience in Cincinnati,
he came to Louisville, and was editor o! the Courier
from 1853 to 1854. Most of his life was devoted to
literature, his prose contributions to periodicals and
80
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the daily press covering a wide field. He pub-
lished several volumes of poetry; the last, “Miami
Woods, Golden Wedding, and Other Poems,” was
issued in 1881. Col. Durrett, in a brief sketch of the
venerable poet, referring to the book, says: “It is
a good volume on which to rest his fame. There
are in it descriptions of nature, songs of patriotism,
and lyrics of the affections, and legends and odes
that will live as long as our country exists and the
English language is spoken.”
One of the brightest poets who ever sang in
Louisville was Charles A. Page, who lives only in
the memory of those who loved him or admired his
genius. He was the son of Mr. Samuel K. Page, of
this city, and was a native of Louisville. He has been
long dead, but he wrote verses forty or fifty years
ago as bright and full of wit as Hood’s. He was an
elegant scholar, and all that he wrote was of thor-
ough polish, and yet as free as if written impromptu,
at which, indeed, he was most apt. He belonged to
a coterie of wits and literary young men who enliv-
ened the press and social circles with their prose and
poetical contributions. “The Bon-Ton” was the
name of a society paper published here in 1848-49,
which sparkled with these literary lucubrations.
Among this number was Ben Casseday, who de-
voted himself to literature. In 1852 he published a
History of Louisville which indissolubly connects
his name with his native city. It is a very valuable
contribution to the bibliography of the city, not only
for the compilation of facts and statistics of the
o-rowth of Louisville to that time, but for its ad-
o
mirable style as a literary production. Mr. Casse-
day was a poet as well as a scholar, and among his
literary works was a “Life of Petrarch,” which
gained him much reputation in the literary world.
One of the most versatile and most scholarly writ-
ers whom Louisville claims is Will Wallace Harney,
son of the distinguished editor of the Louisville
Democrat, himself a Kentuckian and scholar of high
merit. He was born in Bloomington, Indiana, June
21, 1831, and came to Louisville with his parents
when a child. He was the first principal of the
Louisville High School, and was also Professor of
Belle-Lettres in the State Normal
some Later School at Lexington. He after-
wards became associate editor of the
Democrat, and evinced much ability as a political
writer. From the start he was a poet, and is yet.
Some of his pieces have been inserted in the choicest
cyclopaedias of poetry both in this country and Eu-
rope, and "The Century” and “Harper” not unfre-
quently have their pages enriched by his contribu-
tions. His most striking piece, written many years
ago, which yet makes one’s hair involuntarily rise,
no matter how often he reads it, is “The Stab,” which
we reproduce. J. J. Piatt has said of it: “Nothing
could be better; it is a tragic little night-piece which
Heine could not have surpassed in its simple, graphic
narration and vivid suggestiveness.” In 1869 Mr.
Harney went to Florida to live, and in prose and
verse he has done much to make our American Italy
known to the world. One of his poems, “The Ex-
ile,” written amid the orange blossoms and the
palms, reveals the latent love he still cherishes for
the snow of Kentucky:
THE STAB.
On the road, the lonely road.
Under the cold, white moon,
Under the ragged trees, he strode;
He whistled, and shifted his heavy load —
Whistled a foolish tune.
There was a step, timed with his own,
A figure that stooped and bowed;
A cold, white blade that gleamed and shone,
Like a splinter of daylight downward thrown —
And the moon went behind a cloud.
But the moon came out so broad and good
The barn cock woke and crowed,
Then roughed his feathers in drowsy mood,
And the brown owl called to his mate in the wood
That a dead man lay on the road.
W. W. Fosdick, who was the son of Julia Drake
by her first marriage, and half brother of Julia Dean,
the actress, properly belongs to Louisville. Although
studying law here, he became a resident of Cincin-
nati. He was a poet of more than ordinary merit. In
1857 he published a collection of poems, “Ariel
and Other Poems,” one of which, “Tecumseh,”
brought him first into notice. One of them, “Light
and Night,” was the versification of Tennyson's
“Charge of the Light Brigade,” and written before
that poem. It begins as follows:
Out through the loom of light
Wheu comes the morning white
Beams like the shuttle’s flight
Other beams follow.
Up the dawn’s rays sc slant.
Forth from his roof and haunt,
Darts the swart swallow.
A favorite of Louisville was Mattie Griffith, a na-
tive of the city, who contributed poems to the Jour-
nal which, in 1853, were published in a volume. In
i860 she removed to Boston, and wrote poems and
tales for the journals of that city and New York.
PROSE AND VERSE WRITERS OF LOUISVILLE.
81
A sketch of the soldier poet, whose fame has be-
come immortal from his “Bivouac of the Dead,” will
be found at the close of Chapter XI,
Theodore O’Hara. Volume I, of this history, with a
correct copy of the poem, which
is a rare thing to find.
Col. R. T. Durrett, upon whom has been conferred
the honorary degree of LL.D. by more than one in-
stitution of high standing, is at the acknowledged
head of historical literature in Kentucky. For many
years he has devoted his life to the collection of ma-
terial bearing on the history of Kentucky and the
West, and has the largest and most
FWritersUb valuable private library bearing on
these subjects in America. He has
written many valuable monograms which have been
published by the Filson Club — of which he is the
president and founder — such as “The Life and
Times of John Filson, First Historian of Ken-
tucky,” “The Centenary of Kentucky,” and “The
Centenary of Louisville,” besides valuable contri-
butions to the press, historical journals and encyclo-
pedias. In all matters relating to pioneer history he
is an encyclopedia in himself, and the general refer-
ence to whom all writers on such subjects apply
with an assurance which never fails of receiving all
they desire. His latest work is his contribution to
this History of four chapters on the early history of
Louisville and a chapter on its early bench and bar.
In his younger days he cultivated the muses, and
among his productions his “Old and New Year in
the Coliseum of Rome,” in 1856, has had wide pub-
lication.
Hon. Boyd Winchester is one of the few promi-
nent men of Louisville who is the author of a stand-
ard literary work. After serving two terms in Con-
gress, and filling for four years the post of minister
to Switzerland, 1885-1889, upon his return from
Lurope he gave his attention to literary work, and
in 1891 published “The Swiss Republic,” a history
of Switzerland, which competent critics have pro-
nounced the best modern work on that subject —
an opinion concurred in both in America and
Lurope. Mr. Winchester has later written very
scholarly essays upon the Latin Poets, which
evince a high order of literary capacity, and
which, if published in book form, would make quite
a volume. By invitation, he has visited a number
of universities and colleges and used them as classi-
cal lectures.
George Montgomery Davie is a native of Christ-
ian County, Kentucky. Although one of the most
6
prominent members of the bar of Louisville, Mr.
Davie is recognized as one of the most classic of
our poets. His translations of some of the leading
odes of Horace have attracted the wide attention of
scholars, while his poems in the metrical key of the
“Troubadours” are not excelled. His modesty is
equalled by his merits, as, with the exception of a
few contributions to the “Century,” his poems have
been confined to the Salmagundi Club or printed for
private circulation. A collection of his fugitive pro-
ductions would enrich the literature of the age in
which he lives. Everything he writes is marked
with wit, scholarship and a rare faculty for versifica-
tion. The following from the “Knight Errant” is
a specimen of his Troubadour verse:
With a chivalry romantic, and with love and honor
frantic,
With a cross upon his armor, and a spur upon his
heel,
He would bind him in indentures to impossible adven-
tures,
And to rid the world of evil — or to never take a
meal!
Then to slay the dark deceiver, or the wicked unbeliever,
He would swim the deepest river, and would sleep
upon the sward;
To subdue a horrid schism, he would risk the rheuma-
tism—
All to prove his high devotion to his lady, and his
lord.
Then it was not looked absurd on, if he wore a lady’s
guerdon
Whom he loved to desperation — but he didn't know
by sight—
Or would ride a distant journey, to indulge in joust or
tourney,
To maintain her matchless beauty over any caitiff
knight.
Then, their statutory vapor, upon parliamentary paper.
Couldn’t dwarf his noble nature with debilitating
“laws”;
For he stopped not to construe ’em, with their horrid
“meum,” “tuum,”
But survival of the fittest proved the justice of his
cause!
General Basil W. Duke is a native of Scott Coun-
ty, Kentucky, who was settled in St. Louis at the
practice of law when the war broke out. His mili-
tary history as the able lieutenant of General John
H. Morgan, his brother-in-law and his successor as
a cavalry commander, is too well known to require
further mention here. Since the war lie has resided
in Louisville as a lawyer. He is the author of a
system of cavalry tactics which was used during the
82
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
war, and of a “History of Morgan’s Command,” pp.
578, Cincinnati, 1867. His contributions to cur-
rent literature have extended through the whole
period since the war, he having been editor of “The
Bivouac,” and later of the Southern Magazine. A
graphic writer in prose and an orator as well, he
wields a facile pen in poetry, pathetic, lyrical and
humorous. Like Mr. Davie, he has contributed
many bright effusions to the Salmagundi, of which
he is president, and is known as one of the brightest
writers, wits and conversationalists in Louisville.
Captain Thomas Speed, of the Louisville bar, is
a ready and polished writer, long a contributor to
the press of valuable papers on current topics, his-
torical, political and miscellaneous, under pseu-
donyms which have deprived him of the credit due
him for much instruction and enjoyment to others.
Of his published works are a volume on the Speed
family, rich in biography of many eminent person-
ages, and two valuable monograms published by
the Filson Club, of which he is secretary, entitled
“The Wilderness Road” and “The Political Club,”
both valuable contributions to the pioneer history of
Kentucky. In another part of the Memorial His-
tory will be found a chapter by him on the Federal
military of Louisville, which confirms his title to
signal merit in the field of historical literature.
Major William J. Davis is an author of a number
of books and monograms, the former chiefly edu-
cational and the latter scientific, for a more particu-
lar mention of which reference is made to his bio-
graphical sketch in these volumes.
Colonel John Mason Brown, who died in 1890,
in the prime of life, although engrossed with a large
law practice, had found time to do much literary
work. He was fitted for the highest fields of litera-
ture by his education and scholarly habits. A thor-
ough Greek and Latin scholar, he was also well
versed in the modern languages. I11 his principal
historical work, “Political Beginnings of the West,”
he translated many documents from French and
Spanish records, and his work was published by the
Filson Club. His address on the centennary of the
Battle of Blue Licks, 1882, and that of Frankfort,
1886, are valuable productions, as are many others
of similar character.
Hon. Z. F. Smith, who was long prominent in
Kentucky as Superintendent of Public Instruction
and in other spheres, is the author of a valuable His-
tory of Kentucky, published in 1892, with several
special re-issues. It shows much labor and is the
most complete work since that of Collins.
Henry W. Cleveland, who, though not a native of
Louisville, has long been a resident, is an author and
literary scholar of much experience. Before he
came here from Georgia he wrote the life of Alex-
ander Stephens, a volume of 800 pages, showing
much research and embodying a large amount of
valuable material. He is also the author of a life of
Andrew Jackson, and of many contributions to lit-
erary journals and magazines.
Professor Marcus B. Allmond, a Virginian long
resident in Louisville, is a scholarly writer in both
prose and verse. His poem, “Estelle,” has received
the highest encomiums from standard critics.
Madison J. Cawein, the youngest of Louisville’s
poets, and yet whose name has a broader fame in
the literary world of both England and America, is
a native of this city, where he was born March 23,
1865. He commenced writing early, and had
scarcely attained his majority when
and^ofdest. he liad given evidence of genuine j
poetic genius. The critics of the
East, such as Howells and Stedman, early recog-
nized his merit and admitted him to the fullest j
literary fellowship, a judgment which has been [
echoed in Europe. Mr. Cawein has grown steadily ;
and proved himself a genuine star of the first magni- [
tude, instead of a fleeting comet. He has published t
a number of volumes as “Blooms of the Berry,” |
“Triumphs of Music,” “Accolon of Gaul,” “Lyrics j
and Idyls” and “Days and Dreams.” His latest j
book, published in handsome style by J. P. Morton
& Co., comprises translations of various German j
poets which has added no little to his literary fame. <
To attempt to give any specimens of Mr. Caurein’s 1
poetry would be an injustice, as to appreciate him j
one must read his verses in their entirety. His |
versification covers a wide range, with much depth j
of thought, yet on the whole proving himself a
true son of nature. In dedicating a book of poems
to him, James Whitcomb Riley epitomized him truly 1
in saying: “He is a soul as well as a singer.”
Major Alex. Evans, who is now an octogenarian, >
has been long familiar to the Louisville public for |
his fugitive poems in the press, extending back to j
1837. His verses have a neat turn and are enliv- f
ened with a bright imagery. He has from time to
time published several volumes of his poems.
Benjamin L. Swope, who was born in Maryland
in 1S24, and died in Louisville in February, 1896,
was a man of superior literary culture and a poet
whose modesty concealed the great merit which lay
under his unassuming character. He lived in Louis-
PROSE AND VERSE WRITERS OF LOUISVILLE.
83
ville more than a third of a century, and possessed
capacity as a writer that, if accompanied with some-
thing of the self-assertion requisite now to success
in any calling, would have made him a high repu-
tation. There was a finish in all he wrote, a sub-
tone of the true impulse of poetry, which always
suggested a great reserve force back in feeling ex-
pression. It is greatly to be hoped that some loving
hand will gather together the many gems which
may be found scattered through the local newspa-
pers for the last thirty years and put them into an
enduring form.
, Rufus J. Childress, a native of Paducah, is one of
Louisville’s best-known poets. He is the author of
two volumes of verse, and a frequent contributor to
the press.
Mrs. Alice McClure Griffin, whose husband, Mr.
Gilderoy W. Griffin, was also an author of some
note, is the author of a volume of poems, 126 pages,
12 mo., published in i860. Most of her poetry was
written between fifteen and twenty. Her husband,
who was a native of Louisville, was from an early
age connected with newspapers. His first book was
“Studies in Literature,” of which several editions
were published. In 1876 he was appointed consul
to Copenhagen, and was in the consular service at
the Sandwich Islands and Samoa until his death in
1891. He was also the author of several books of
travel.
Among the most scholarly prose writers of either
sex are Mrs. Patty B. Semple and Miss Mary
Johnston.
Captain and Mrs. J. J. McAfee have both con-
tributed to the literature of Louisville. The former,
besides contributing to the press many historical and
biographical sketches, was the author of two books,
one the life of his ancestor Robert McAfee, as “The
First Commodore of the Three Principal Rivers of
the West,” and the other, “Kentucky Corncrackers;
Sketches of Kentucky Politicians.” He was a mem-
ber of the Louisville bar, and died April 6, 1896.
Mrs. McAfee, better known as Nellie Marshall Mc-
Afee, is the daughter of the late General Humphrev
Marshall, and has evinced much of the talent of the
family. She has published two volumes of poetry,
“A Bunch of Violets” and “Leaves from the Book of
My Heart.” Among her novels are “Eleanor Mor-
ton; or, Life in Dixie,” 1865; “Sodom Apples,”
1866; “As By Fire,” 1869, etc.
Mrs. Kate Goldsborough (Wright) McDowell,
wife of Major William P. McDowell, is one of
Louisville’s sweetest poets, with much of the facility
of versification and beauty of expression of Amelia
Welby. She has never published a volume, but has
made frequent contributions to the current press.
Mrs. John G. Roach some years ago published a
volume of poems which attracted attention and fa-
vorable criticism, showing fine descriptive powers
and a close study of nature.
Mrs. Sophie Fox Sea is a poetical contributor to
the press and the author of a number of fugitive
poems.
Will S. Hays, one of the veterans of the press, is
a poet whose name has been made famous by many
songs, charming alike in sentiment and melody, of
which he is the author. To undertake to enumer-
ate them would require more space than can be
given in this connection, and it is only necessary to
say that he holds high rank among the sweet singers
of the Southland.
Mr. Warren Green, who was United States consul
at Kanagawa, Japan, in Mr. Cleveland’s first term,
is another author who has devoted himself to prose
entirely. He has written a number of novels, and
devotes himself to literature exclusively.
Miss Abbie Goodloe, a bright young daughter of
the late J. Kemp Goodloe, has met with success as a
magazine writer and as author of a clever book,
“College Days” and “Antinous.”
Miss Jean Wright, daughter of Major J. M.
Wright, now marshal of the Supreme Court of the
United States, is well known for her bright verses,
a collection of some of which was published as a
Christmas souvenir some years since.
In the foregoing an effort has been made to men-
tion as many of the writers of prose and verse of
Louisville, living and dead, as memory can recall,
and if any omission has occurred it must be at-
tributed to no intentional purpose
A New School, to slight any one, but entirely to in-
advertence or ignorance. There
yet remains a large class who merit a separate
mention.
This comprises those connected with the press.
The demand for bright, talented writers for the
various departments of the modern newspaper has
built up, as it were, a school not only of efficient re
porters and staff writers, but it is educating and
bringing constantly to the front numbers who pur
sue a career in the broader field of the magazines
and literary journals parallel with their daily profes
sional work. It would be difficult to enumerate the
many instances in which men and women have
climbed well up the ladder of literary reputation
84
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
from small beginnings as newspaper workers. It
may be said that they are what they take into the
work. This is in one sense true, since there must be
the germ before the plant, but it requires proper
opportunity for development, and this is what the
newspaper affords. ,
The brightest of all this Bohemian family is Miss
Elvira Sydnor Miller, who writes so much piquant
prose and verse for the Evening Times. She was a
poet of reputation before she became one of the
press, but neither she nor the public knew her full
capacity until she assumed the difficult role in which
she has made such success. Yet her broader liter-
ary work goes on, and she has published several
volumes of verse and prose entirely separate and
apart from her journalistic labors. Of this number
also is Will S. Hays, the veteran river editor, who
has a national reputation in verse and song. And
there is Young E. Allison, who, from the exacting
demands of his newspaper work, has found time to
enliven the pages of the “Bivouac,” the “Century”
and other journals with contributions of enduring
merit. There is also Harrison Robertson, who, with
twenty years of severe labor on our chief daily, has
made a reputation as an author of bright stories, and
as a poet to whom the best magazines pay high
prices. And so it was of Dan O’Sullivan when he
was in close harness, an outside contributor to the
muses as well as the plainer field of literature.
There are many others. Enough has been said to
define the class. Ex uno omnes!
In conclusion it is just to say that there is a
growing excellence in the literature of Louisville.
The schools are contributing much to this end by
their course of reading and literary examinations.
The Polytechnic Library is a very great factor in the
work, as are the literary clubs to which the best citi-
zens give attention. In the future, as in the past,
let us hope that Louisville will maintain the very
satisfactory position held by her as a center of liter-
ature, culture and scholarship and to be honored by
her writers of prose and verse.
CHAPTER VIII.
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
BY MILDRED J. HILL.
The history of music in Louisville dates beyond
the memory of any of the present generation — going
back to the year 1778, when Louisville, in embryo,
was situated on Corn Island. At a time when the
hearts of those brave settlers were never at rest for
fear of the invasion of their homes by the merciless
Indians, it was a negro fiddler, who, in this instance,
furnished the meagre supply to the universal de-
mand of humanity for music.
Colonel Durrett, in his “Romance of the Origin
of Louisville,” says: “A means of endless pleasure
to the islanders was a fiddle in the hands of a negro
named Cato Watts, who belonged to Capt. John
Donne, one of the original settlers.” Cato would
play all day in the shade of the trees, Avhile the
young and the old joined in the Virginia reel, the
Irish jig, or the Highland fling. When Sunday
came, however, the fiddle of Cato was silent, and
all joined in singling the hymns of Watts, from a copy
in the hands of Mrs. James Patton. The chron-
icler goes on to state, in substance: “In 1778, the
settlers felt that they might leave the confined quar-
ters of their island home and risk a residence on the
main shore, as the hostile tribes around them had
been conquered by General Clark. A fort was then
built at the foot of what is now known as Twelfth
street. As Christmas of that year approached, the
settlers determined to celebrate it in their new home,
and this plan was carried out. One thing was want-
ing, however, to make the occasion a success,
namely Cato’s fiddle strings were all gone, and the
young people could not dance without music. At
this juncture, a Frenchman by the name of Jean
Nickle stopped at the fort to repair his boat, and was
invited to the housewarming. He happened to men-
tion his fiddle, and was at once besieged to play for
them, obligingly consenting. He could only play
certain French airs, however, which were not at all
suited to the Kentucky dances, and all were in
despair, when Cato, the old standby, appeared on the
scene, having secured some of the Frenchman’s
strings. He struck up the favorite Virginia reel,
and, in a moment all was happiness again.” This is
the first mention of music of any kind in Louisville,
and as it is a story of happiness, contentment and
good-fellowship, it makes a pleasant starting point
for a pleasant subject.
Cato’s music was certainly the music of the
people and, in this day and generation, when the
whole world is waking up to the study of folk lore in
every form, it behooves us to record any and every
thing bearing on so important a subject as folk
music. If a history of music in Kentucky were
being written, a large portion should be devoted to
the music of the negro in our State, but the music
of the negro in a city is of little interest, because he
is so surrounded and influenced by the music of the
whites that his own loses its characteristics and,
therefore, its interest.
The great composers of to-day are constantly
using the folk music of their respective countries as
a basis for their compositions. Dr.
Tus'ic Dvorak, the head of the American
Conservatory, is attempting to do it
for us, but he is a foreigner, and it must remain for
an American composer to do this properly. There
is no richer field in the South in negro song than
Central Kentucky. Some negro hymns from Boyle
County were sent to the Folk Lore Magazine a few
years ago, and that periodical stated that they were
the most valuable contributions made to that de-
partment during the decade. The old negroes, who
alone know this music, are fast dying out, and it is
sad that some effort is not made to secure it before it
is too late.
Another branch of folk music, which is already
lost, is that of the roustabouts on the Mississippi and
Ohio River steamboats. These negroes were with
85
86
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the whites constantly, but kept to themselves in a
peculiar degree, and, therefore, their music was un-
tainted. It has all perished with the roustabouts
themselves, and it is a great loss to the students of
folk lore. In this connection it will be well to relate
that there is a tradition that the famous “Jim Crow"
song and dance originated in Louisville. The tra-
dition runs thus: Jim Crow was an old negro who
amused the children on the streets with his songs
and dances. The original Daddy Rice saw him, and
at once copied him on the stage, and, in this way, the
old song and dance of Jim Crow got its start. The
song runs:
“First the heel and then the toe,
That’s the way to jump Jim Crow.”
The first musical society in Louisville was the St.
Cecilia, organized in 1822. This was purely orches-
tral, and very little is known of its
societies workings. It was m existence
about two years — from 1822 to 1824
— and was reorganized about 1835. There are those
who remember that, in 1840, there was a large chest
of music with the name St. Cecilia stamped on each
copy, which afterward became the property of the
Mozart Society. A few copies of this music are now
in the possession of some of our musicians. St.
Cecelia being the patron saint -of musicians, it was
quite fitting that the first attempt at concerted work
should have been named in her honor.
I11 1840, or thereabouts, Professor E. W. Gunter,
of much loved memory, was organist at St. Paul’s
Church. He conceived the idea of getting together
the musicians of Louisville — then a town of about
43,000 inhabitants — to give a sacred concert. He
carried out this plan, and the concert was so great a
success that he proposed to the singers to form
themselves into a singing society, which was accord-
ingly done, and the famous old Mozart Society
came into existence. Mr. A. D. Miles, of this city,
was the first member to put his name on the roll,
and he has been a faithful lover of the divine art all
through the succeeding years, having been organist
in several churches, playing double bass in the or-
chestras and, at the present time, taking an active
interest in all musical matters. The exact year of
the organizing of the Mozart is not known, but it
was prior to 1845. The first concert given was in
St. Paul’s Church, and parts of Llaydn’s oratorio of
the “Creation” were sung, Dr. Mason, Mrs. Harry
Peters, and Mme. Ablamowicz taking the solo parts.
An amusing anecdote in connection with this con-
cert is related. When the singers came to the
chorus “And God said ‘Let there be light,’ and
there was light,” it was arranged that the lights in
the church were to be turned on full, so as to be as
realistic as possible, but in the excitement of the
moment the lights were turned out instead and the
realism failed. There were about fifty members in
the Mozart — it may have been larger — and an or-
chestra, later on, of fifteen or eighteen volunteers.
They met in Odd Fellows’ Hall, on the north side of
Jefferson Street, between First and Second. They
had two and often three rehearsals a week and an
open rehearsal to visiting members once a month.
They gave few public concerts at this early date,
and their audiences were made up of members and
their families. Among the first music bought by the
Mozart were fifty copies of the Family Bible edition
of the “Messiah,” costing $5.00 each. The size of
these books makes them unique. Several copies are
still owned by musicians, and they measure sixteen
inches by twelve. A large chorus of singers, each
with books measuring thirty-two inches across, must
have been an amusing sight. Finally the public be-
came interested in this energetic society, and the
John I. Jacob family put up a hall on the northeast
corner of Fourth and Jefferson for their use, and
called it Mozart Hall. This building is still standing
(January, 1896), but the hall has been made into two
stories and into rooms. (This building was torn
down in March, 1896.) Mr. Miles, has among his
papers, a subscription list of tickets to a concert
given by the Mozart, the proceeds of which were to
furnish the hall. It was in this hall that that great
and good woman, Jenny Lind, sang, on April 7th,
1851. Strange to relate, she was under the manage-
ment of P. T. Barnum, as a ticket, now in the pos-
session of Mr. C. H. Shackleton, testifies. These
tickets sold for fabulous sums, the first choice bring-
ing $100 each.
It is related of Jenny Lind, that, during her stay
in Louisville, she was entertained in the old Shreve
house, at Sixth and Walnut
Visit of
Jenny Lind.
streets. The school children gath-
ered around the house hoping to
catch a glimpse of this famous woman. When she
was told of it, she opened the window and sang
“The Last Rose of Summer” for them, to their last-
ing delight. A lady of this city says that many of
the Mothers in Israel felt that Jenny Lind disgraced
herself, not only by singing in public, but also by
calling herself “Jenny" instead of plain “Jane.” The
furore she caused here has never been exceeded by
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
87
with people eager to hear the faintest tones of her
wonderful voice. About this time Catharine Hayes,
another singer of much less reputation than Jenny
Lind, but nevertheless of world-wide fame, gave two
concerts in Mozart Hall. She was an Irish girl, and
seems to have made a fine impression. A few years
later on Louisville was visited by three other great
artists, Ole Bull, Gottschalk, and Camilla Urso, as a
little girl.
Professor Gunter continued to be director of the
Mozart for many years, until his arduous duties as
teacher forced him to give it up. George Brainerd,
of the famous Brainerd family of Cleveland, Ohio,
then became its leader. He was organist at Christ
Church, and laid the foundation for the splendid
choir which has been in that church ever since. The
soloists were Mrs. George D. Prentice, Mrs. Harry
Peters, Albert Snyder, and Dr. Mason. While
under the direction of Mr. Brainerd, the Mozart had
the misfortune to lose their musical library by fire
and for several years they did not meet again. The
records were burned at the same time, and this was
practically the end of the Mozart. It had done a
great work in Louisville, holding its standard high
and never lowering it. At the close of the war, in
1865, Professor Gunter called the Mozart together
for their final concert. This was called a “Peace
Festival,” and they ended as they had begun, with
the “Creation.”
The true history of the writing of “Dixie” will be
of interest just at this date. This famous song has
been claimed by several writers, the
^Songs'8 Century Magazine of November,
1895, having an article accredit-
ing it to Dan Emmett. When the Buckner Guards
went South at the beginning of the war, there was a
glee club among them, and they requested Will S.
Hays and Charlie Ward to write a song especially
for their use. There was no time to write an orig-
inal song, so these two gentlemen went into the
music store of D. P. Faulds, then on Main Street,
between Second and Third, and, looking through
a lot of Scotch music, came across the old song “If
I had a beau, for a soldier would go.” The melody
at once attracted them and, while Mr. Ward played
the song through, Mr. Hays stood by the piano and
wrote the first verse and chorus. They then modi-
fied the music to suit the words, and D. P. Faulds at
once published it. It immediately became popular
here, and Mayor Delph, the military mayor, tried to
suppress it, without success. It soon got through
the ranks both ways and at once became the most
popular song of the South. Dan Emmett was in
the South at the time, and, writing a different set
of words, claimed the authorship. Mr. Faulds had
quite a difficulty with Emmett’s publishers, and
finally sold out to Ditson & Company. Will S.
Hays has been perhaps the most prolific song writer
in this country, having written three hundred and
fifty-four songs, besides hymns, anthems and instru-
mental pieces. One hundred of his songs have
reached a sale of 75,000. “Molly Darling,” his most
popular song, has been published in six languages,
and over a million copies have been sold. Mr. Hays
probably stands at the head of the list as a writer of
songs selling the -highest number, and this is con-
vincing proof of his popularity as a song writer.
Mr. Hays belongs to Louisville, as he was born here,
July 19th, 1837.
The famous Liederkranz Society, of this city,
which has made so great a name for itself, can be
traced to a very modest beginning".
The Liederkranz. In 1 846, four SOllg-lovillg men,
Messrs. Volkmar, Walter, Denhard
and Bernhard, formed themselves into a quartet,
under the direction of a violinist named Ivisten,
who was a hotelkeeper on Market Street, be-
tween Second and Third. This quartet was dis-
solved in a short time, because of lack of time
on the part of the director, and was re-organized in
1847, under the direction of Krimms, a piano player.
In the early part of the year 1848, a musically edu-
cated man, by the name of Benzon, came to Louis-
ville from St. Louis to take a position on a news-
paper. With him came a good musician by the
name of Schafer, who at one time had directed a
quartet club in New York. Through the paper
on which they worked, these two music lovers, sup-
ported by the members of the before-mentioned
quartet, called a meeting on February 12th, for the
purpose of founding a singing society. This meet-
ing was held in a house on the corner of Fifth and
Walnut, and it was there decided to hold another
meeting at the same place on the night of the 15th,
at which all of the friends of song were invited to
be present. There were forty-five present at this
meeting, and Schafer was chosen director. They
then decided on the name “Liederkranz,” thus
signifying that German song must be like a wreath,
binding together the Germans of all classes. They
at once went to work, holding two rehearsals a week.
In May of the same year friendly relations were
established with a Cincinnati society, being the first
step toward founding the Saengerbund, which was
88
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
any other celebrity, Jefferson Street being packed
accomplished the next year, in 1849. The first pub-
lic concert given by the Liederkranz was early in
1849. ^ second concert was given in May of the
same year, the receipts of which were to send the
society to Cincinnati to take part in the first Saenger-
fest. No other concerts were given that year, but
the society was heard at the laying of the corner-
stone of St. Peter’s Church, and in a benefit concert.
In a short time, the Liederkranz was increased by
union with several smaller societies. Among them
were the Frohsin and the Teutonia. The society at
one time numbered one thousand members. An
important event in the year 1850 was the holding of
the second Saengerfest in our city. The concert
was given in a church on Brook Street, the picnic
was on Harrod’s Creek, and the ball in Odd Fellows’
Hall. The success of the Liederkranz was so great
upon this occasion that its permanency was there-
after secured.
The first National Saengerfest in the West was
held in this city on July 24th to 29th, 1866. This
was the first time a special building had been put up
for their use, and a newspaper notice says: “The
great singing festival of the First German Singing
Union of North America will take place July 24th
in Louisville. The central committee for this festi-
val have united with their American fellow-citizens
of Louisville, and the most cordial reception and as-
sistance have been proffered by the latter, so that
the splendor of the occasion will be unusual, and
the festival will not be confined to the Germans
alone, but will be a popular one in the broadest
sense. The central committee have erected a hall
expressly for the four days’ festival at an expense of
$9,000, and the festival will not only be composed of
singing performances, but will end with an excur-
sion to the celebrated Mammoth Cave, where an
instrumental and vocal concert will be given.”
There were forty-two societies represented in this
festival, besides delegates from other societies which
did not belong to the Union. It was upon this oc-
casion that selections from “Lohengrin" were heard
in Louisville for the first time. This special build-
ing spoken of was erected on the southwest corner
of Fifth and Broadway, and was considered ac-
coustically perfect. It seated an audience of five
thousand, besides one thousand male singers and
sixty-nine in the orchestra. The director was Sobo-
lewski, a then well-known musician. Up to the
year 1870, the Liederkranz was for men’s voices
only, but women were finally admitted, and the first
concert of mixed choruses was given on the one
hundredth anniversary of Beethoven’s death.
By this time the Liederkranz was in so flourish-
ing a condition that they determined to put up a
building for their own use. After many trials and
failures, this was finally done, and a handsome
structure, exactly suited to their needs, was erected
on Market Street, between First and Second, at a
cost of $160,000. The cornerstone was laid on July
1 8th, 1872. The building was near enough com-
pletion for them to move in in April of the next year,
but the large hall was not used until September, j,
1873. This building passed out of their hands in 1
1880, and, although they have continued to meet j
there, they have been practically without a home i
from that date until the present time. In 1895 they
determined to again secure a home. They pur-
chased the old parsonage of St. Paul’s Church, on
the northwest corner of Sixth and Walnut streets,
where a handsome and commodious club-house has i
been erected at a cost of $35,000. This building j
was opened with dedicatory exercises in April, ;
1896. j
The next event of importance in the history of the |
Liederkranz was the meeting here of the North
American Saengerbund in 1877. This was in real- |
ity the most important event in its entire history. f
The festival covered a period of five days, and the
concerts were given in the old Exposition building,
on the corner of Fourth and Chestnut. There were
fifteen hundred in the chorus, seventy-five in the or-
chestra, and the affair was a tremendous success,
artistically and financially, a handsome surplus being ‘
left after all expenses were paid. The directors of
the choruses were Schueler of Louisville, Brand of |
Cincinnati, and Eitelof St. Louis, and the chief solo-
ist was the great Eugene Pappenheim.
The Liederkranz was never in a more substan-
tial condition than at the present time. Under the
able management of its President, Mr. J. J. Fischer,
it seems on the road to greater deeds than ever be-
fore, and the society has shown its appreciation of
Mr. Fischer’s efforts in its behalf by electing him to
the office of President twenty-five years in succes-
sion. Musically, it has never been better than now. f
The director, Mr. Karl Schmidt, is a musician in
every sense of the word. He is a ’cellist of rare
ability, and having played under most of the
famous directors of this country and Europe, and
also being a composer of merit, he brings to the
Liederkranz that trinity which secures success —
knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm. Mr.
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
89
Schmidt is also the director of the Liederkranz or-
chestra, which numbers about thirty pieces.
The society at the present time numbers five hun-
dred and fifty members, and is in every way pre-
pared to add to the splendid reputation it has made
for itself and Louisville at home and abroad.
The Musical Fund Society was organized about
1857, by Professor E. W. Gunter, and was only
orchestral. Previous to this there
Societies was an°ther orchestral organiza-
tion, by name Handel and Haydn
Society, but nothing can be learned of it except the
fact that it bequeathed its musical library to the
musical fund. Mr. Joseph Kneffler of this city be-
came a member of the Musical Fund in 1859 and re-
members using this music. No program of the
Musical Fund can be found, so that very little is
known of its early work. A newspaper clipping
states that it was re-organized in 1867 with thirty-
five members, and another clipping, in 1870, says:
“The Musical Fund began its rehearsals last night.
It numbers forty instruments, and this gives prom-
ise of a full rendering of the greatest musical com-
positions. The following officers were elected:
Directors, Professors Hast and Plato; Musical
Committee, H. J. Peters and Joseph Kneffler;
Treasurer, D. P. Faulds; Secretary, J. M. Byer. At
their first open rehearsal they gave an entire sym-
phony of Mozart and an overture by Cherubini.”
Still another notice says: “All the musical public,
we feel assured, will be glad to hear that this society
has re-organized, and there is now a good pros-
pect of having a fine orchestra in this city. The con-
certs of Theodore Thomas in December (1869) have
given the public a taste of orchestra music, so that
there is scarcely a doubt that orchestral concerts will
be well patronized. Even in former days the old
Musical Fund was very successful and they pre-
sented the best classical music to the public. That
society was an honor to the city, and the people were
proud of having such a fine orchestra here.” This
must have been the first visit of Theodore Thomas
to our city, as there is no previous mention of him.
The Concordia Singing Society is one of the old-
est in Louisville, having been organized December
28th, 1858. Their rehearsals are held at St. Boniface
School Hall, with Professor George W. Nahstoll as
Director. The members are: Thirty-one active,
one hundred and seventy-five passive, and twenty
honorary. This society is a member of and will
take part in the North American Saengerbund,
which holds its twenty-eighth Saengerfest June,
1896, at Pittsburg. The present officers are: Presi-
dent, Fred Echsner; Vice-President, Julius Holz-
knecht; Secretary, Hugo Leidenfaden; Treasurer,
J. J. Mueller.
In i860, a club was formed which took no active
part in the musical history of Louisville, but which
did high standard work for five years. The
Beethoven Piano Club was composed of twelve or
fourteen young ladies, who met at the home of J. H.
Rhorer, on Market Street, between Twelfth and
Thirteenth. The interest in this club was so great
that Mr. Rhorer added a small hall to his residence
for their meetings. They played compositions for
one, two or eight pianos. Mr. Jack Semple was
the only male member of this club.
In 1866, Professor Louis Hast organized a com-
bined orchestral and vocal society, called the Phil-
harmonic. This organization had an existence of
only two years. They met at first on the top floor of
the Masonic Temple and, as there was no gas in the
room, each musician had his own candle. Later,
they met in the Presbyterian School on Sixth Street.
There first concert was given on December 31st,
1866, in Masonic Temple. The Philharmonic was
re-organized in June, 1868, but only for a few meet-
ings. Some ten or twelve years later the Philhar-
monic Orchestra was organized, with Theodore
Becker as Director, and later on Albert Sartori. It
is now merged into the Liederkranz, and is work-
ing regularly with that body under its able Director,
Karl Schmidt.
After the cessation of the Philharmonic rehearsals
there was no singing society in Louisville — of
course excepting the German societies — until Sep-
tember 5th, 1867, when John Byer and Donald
Macpherson called a meeting of those interested in
music, and the Mendelssohn Club was formed, with
Donald Macpherson as President, and C. C. Hull
as Director. They met first in private houses, but
soon outgrew such quarters. Mr. Macpherson,
being at this time Secretary of the School Board, was
able to procure for them the use of a room on the
fourth floor of the Center and Walnut School build-
ing. It was in this room that they were singing the
“Dies Irae” from Mozart’s “Requiem," when a ter-
rific storm came up, which so emphasized the words
of the chorus that a panic almost ensued among the
singers. In its most prosperous days this club mini-
90
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
bered about one hundred singers. Among its mem-
bers were several interesting characters. Albert
Snyder, the old tenor, who was educated for opera
by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, was one of these.
His voice had a bell-tone quality, and he was the
most dramatic of all our singers. His delivery of
the watchman’s solo in Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of
Praise” was something never to be forgotten. He
left Louisville early in the seventies for his old home
in Switzerland and died there shortly after. An-
other gifted singer, who was in his prime a few years
earlier than this — probably about i860 — was Con-
rad Colliere. He was a musical enthusiast, and had
a wonderful bass voice, which he retained to a good
old age. He also was educated for the opera, but
died in the monastery of Gesthemane as Father
Joseph. His rendition of “Elijah” seems to be re-
tained as a beautiful memory by those who heard
him. Harry Peters, another interesting character,
was the soloist of the orchestra of the Mendelssohn,
and the general adviser on all questions, whether
financial or musical. The orchestra was far from
complete, but was good in its personnel. The
famous quartet of the Mendelssohn contained four
such singers as had never been gotten together by
any society in Louisville: Mrs. Emily Davison,
soprano; Mrs. Cushman Quarrier, alto; Albert
Snyder, tenor, and Donald Macpherson, bass.
Among the great works given by the Mendelssohn
were Haydn’s “Creation,” “The Seasons,” and “Im-
perial Mass;” Handel’s “Messiah;” Mendelssohn’s
“Forty-second and Ninety-fifth Psalms,” “Hymn of
Praise,” “Elijah,” and “St. Paul;” Mozart’s “Re-
quiem;” Beethoven’s “C Mass;” Verdi’s “Crowned
with the Tempest,” and many minor choruses. The
Mendelssohn, after a prosperous career, went out of
existence in 1873.
The Arion Society was a male chorus under the
direction of Professor George Jonas, and made quite
a reputation in the seventies. It was re-organized
later under the direction of Professor Theodore
Becker.
The Orpheus seems to have been a prosperous
singing society from 1869 to 1873, but there is also
a mention of it in 1849. The few programs to be
found indicate that a high order of music was
studied under the directors, Carl Bergstein and Pro-
fessor Glagan.
The year 1870 brought into life a new musical
society, which did some of the best work in this line
ever done in the city. The Mozart Quartet or Quin-
tet Club was in existence for about two years and
gave a number of what they called “parlor concerts”
in the small hall of Masonic Temple. John Byer
was President, Secretary and General Manager; W.
R. McQuown and Professor Rosenplanter, first vio-
lins; Henry Lb Frankel, second violin; Henry Preiss-
ler, violoncello and flute; Max Zoeller, ’cello and
viola; H. Charlton, viola; Ernst Zoeller, pianist.
The programs of their concerts would do credit to
any organization in any city, and it is to be re-
gretted that the life of so creditable an organization
should have been so short. The programs of most
of the concerts about this date show a peculiarity
which belongs to no other time, either earlier or
later. The names of the participants are omitted
altogether, or only the initials given. Whether this
was a case of super-modesty or a fad deponent saitli
not. During the summer of 1872 Professor Moebius
gave bi-weekly concerts, with an orchestra of about
forty musicians, in Central Park. These were very
popular. In the fall of the same year he had charge
of the music in the old Exposition, on the corner of
Fourth and Chestnut streets, where the new cus-
tom house now stands. His two daily concerts here
were very successful and proved a good drawing
card for the Exposition. After Mr. Moebius left
Prof. Eichorn gathered together the remnants of
this orchestra, and later on Prof. Otto Schueler
took hold of it and trained the members into a state
of comparative excellence.
»
La Reunion Musicale, organized in 1874, was one f
of the most popular societies Louisville has ever |
known. The name selected by Prof. Hast, its found- j
er and director, and at whose home it had its meet- ,
ings, suggests its purpose — that of a coterie of musi- j
cal people who united for their own artistic enjoy-
ment and the cultivation of a taste for the highest
and best in music in their audiences. The following
composed the list of active members: Vocalists,
Mrs. Emily Davidson, Mrs. James Floyd, Mrs. L
Cushman Quarrier, Messrs. C. K. Needham, Par- j
sons Price, John E. Green, William Plato, Donald ;
Macpherson; pianists, Miss Jessie Cochran, Messrs. j
Louis Hast, George Zoeller, George Selby and H.
J. Peters. Their first program, given on November
9, 1874, in Masonic Temple, was the keynote to
all their after work:
Overture, “Egmont,” two pianos Beethoven
Quartet, vocal, from “Macbeth” Verdi
Trio, piano, violin and ’cello, op. 42. . . .Rubinstein
'
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
91
Intermission of ten minutes for conversation.
Aria, from “Huguenots” Myerbeer
Serenade, with piano accompaniment, op. 43
Mendelssohn
Duett, from “Stabat Mater” Rossini
Intermission.
Sextette, for piano, two violins, viola and
two ’cellos Onslow
Aria, from “Figaro” Mozart
Sextette, from “Don Giovanni” Mozart
La Reunion gave these rehearsals monthly dur-
ing the season, from 1874 to 1877, to the great im-
provement and pleasure of its many friends and
subscribers.
In 1878-9 a few amateurs formed the Louisville
Amateur Orchestra and engaged Prof. Sclmeler as
director, with C. H. Shackleton as president. The
object of the orchestra was to develop a taste for
orchestral music among its members, and to afford
them an opportunity of practical instruction and
experience.
The programs were mostly of a light character,
but the society developed quite a number of young
players, some of whom have since become more or
less prominent. Charles Hildebrand, first violin in
the Thomas Orchestra, had his first experience here,
as did also Sol Marcosson and Miss Currie Duke.
This orchestra was in existence about three years
—from 1879 t° 1882 — with a membership varying
from thirty-five to fifty, and in that time gave about
twenty concerts.
When this orchestra was organized Prof. Hast
gave them a quantity of orchestral music, which in-
cluded some of the finest work then extant, such as
some of the Beethoven symphonies, some of Haydn
and Mozart, overtures by Wagner, Cherubini, Men-
delssohn and many others.
The Social Maennerchor was organized on No-
vember 10, 1878, with Prof. Otto Sclmeler as direc-
tor. There were thirty-five active, one hundred and
fifteen passive and two honorary members. Since
that time there have been three other directors, J.
M. Roemele and C. Toelle, and the society is now
j ’ _ . J
doing steady work under the direction of G. H.
Clausnitzer, and will take part in the Saengerfest at
Pittsburg June, 1896. They give about four con-
certs a year, besides the balls, picnics and excur-
sions.
The Alpenroesli Society was organized March
1, 1878, and holds weekly rehearsals at Beck’s Hall.
It numbers twenty-two active members, and is under
the direction of Prof. E. Scheerer.
In October, 1881, John Byers and Donald Mac-
pherson called together all of the musicians of the
city and a new society, by the name of the Oratorio
Society, was formed. It was composed of the best
singers in the community, and has done probably the
most solid work of any of the societies of the city.
Mr. Macpherson was director during its seven years'
existence, and the late lamented William Frese was
the pianist. The board of directors were the choir
leaders of the different churches of the city, and,
bringing their choirs with them into the society, the
best singers were thus secured. Their rehearsals
were held in the chapel of the Presbyterian church
on the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets.
The following is an almost complete list of the
works given:
Bach: “St. Matthew’s Passion,” by a double
quartet.
Handel: “Israel in Egypt,” “Messiah,” “Sam-
son,” “Judas Maccabaeus,” “Coronation Anthem”
and “Dettingen Te Deum.”
Mendelssohn: “Elijah,” “St. Paul,” “Hymn of
Praise,” “Forty-second and Ninety-fifth Psalms,”
and some smaller cantatas.
Haydn: “The Creation,” “Imperial Mass,” “The
Seasons,” entire. (Very few societies ever give all
of the latter work.)
Mozart: “The Requiem,” and “Three Famous
Motettes.”
Beethoven: “Mass in C,” choruses from “The
Mount of Olives.”
Gounod: “The Redemption,” and several small-
er works.
The first rendition of Handel's “Israel in Egypt”
and Gounod’s “Redemption” in the West was by
this society.
The Symphony Club was organized in 1881, with
John Byers as president, Clement Stapleford as
director, and Miss Hattie Bishop as pianiste. The
object of the club was to give choruses and part
songs. They met at the home of Mr. John M. Ather-
ton during the four years of existence and gave a
number of good concerts.
The Musical Club was organized in 1882 and in-
corporated in 1883. A small society had been
formed a few months previously, which was known
as “The Sweet Sixteen,” or Frese Choir. 1 he of-
ficers of this society were C. II. Shackleton, presi-
!
92
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
dent; C. A. Beckmann, secretary, and William
Frese, director. The Frese Choir took part in sev-
eral benefit concerts in 1883 and also participated
in several notable representations of “Pinafore,”
which were given by the Prentice Club for the bene-
fit of the poor of the city, under the direction of Mr.
Shackleton, with Mr. Frese at the piano. After the
incorporation of the society as the Musical Club
Mr. Shackleton was elected director and has held
that position ever since.
In 1885 a Ladies’ Chorus, called the Madrigal, was
organized as a part of the Musical Club, which held
weekly rehearsals and managed its own affairs. The
first appearance of this chorus was in May, 1888,
and -from this time forward it became a regular con-
tributor to the programs of the winter concerts.
The union of the two societies in mixed chorus did
not occur until a year later, when the entire club
joined in giving part songs and choruses. Subse-
quently performances of more ambitious works were
given with orchestral accompaniment. The club
continued to give the regular series of concerts until
1891, when it adjourned its rehearsals for the pur-
pose of allowing the members to take an active part
in the organization of the May Festival Chorus,
under the auspices of the Commercial Club. Mr.
Shackleton was elected to drill this large chorus.
This May Festival was one of the greatest events
in the musical history of Louisville. The famous
Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of
Mr. Arthur Nikisch, was engaged, and also emi-
nent soloists. The part taken by the chorus of two
hundred and fifty voices was in the “Stabat Mater"
of Dvorak, and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” Of the
training and work of this chorus Mr. Nikisch said:
“Mr. Shackleton has shown remarkable ability in
training this chorus, and his pupils have shown
great talent in reaping the benefit of his instruc-
tions. I do not think a more promising organiza-
tion exists anywhere; its future is full of possibilities,
and I trust that it will be a permanent organization.”
Of the six concerts given at this time the chorus
took part in three, and the remaining three were
given by the orchestra and the soiosists: Clemen-
tine DeVere, soprano; Gerture Edmands, contralto;
Whitney Mockridge, tenor, and William Ludwig,
bass; Frank Kneisel, violin. This festival was a
great success, artistically and financially. After the
May Festival the Musical Club gave one concert
at Phoenix Hill Park, after which it did not appear
in public until the organization of the World’s Fair
Chorus in 1892. The national reputation achieved
by the May Festival Chorus of 1891 caused Mr.
Shackleton to be summoned to Chicago in March,
1892, to attend a conference of chorus directors,
under the presidency of Mr. Theodore Thomas, with 1
the object of outlining plans for the appearance of
large choral bodies at the World’s Fair. The result
of the conference was that Mr. Shackleton was re-
quested to form a chorus to take part in a grand
festival to be held in July, 1893. The Musical Club
made a most creditable appearance at this festival,
receiving high compliments from the officers of the
Bureau of Music and from the press. The club is
now a permanently fixed chorus and is the leading
organization of the city. Its great success is due to
two things. First, the faithfulness of its members,
who meet for rehearsal once a week the year around,
and the second, the earnest enthusiasm and musi-
cal intelligence of the director, Mr. C. H. Shackle-
ton, who gives of his time, strength and ability with-
out any remuneration save the pleasure of promot-
ing the art.
The Harmonia Maennerchor was organized in
February, 1882, and meets in the new Turner Hall
on Jefferson Street, near Preston. There are thirty
active and eighty passive members. The society has j
only had two directors, Christ Landoldt from 1882
to 1885, and Adam Reinhardt from 1885 till the
present time. They give several concerts a year and j
arrange picnics and boat excursions for the amuse-
ment of their friends and members.
|
The Southern Exposition of 1883 to 1886 gave to !
the Louisville public the greatest musical feast in !
her history. The opening year, 1883, the Exposi- j
tion lasted one hundred days, Cappa’s Seventh Regi-
ment Band giving daily concerts during the first I
fifty days, and Gilmore’s Twenty-second Regiment j
Band the last fifty. There was also a chorus of five
hundred voices, under the direction of Mr. Donald
Macpherson and Prof. Otto Schueler. This was the
largest chorus of Louisville singers ever gathered t
together.
These concerts were made up of the best class ;
of music of which a brass band is capable, and were j
attended by large and enthusiastic audiences. In
order to cater to all classes of music lovers the man-
agers of the Exposition determined, in the later
years, to have both band and orchestral music. So
the Damrosch Orchestra of forty pieces, with Wal-
ter J. Damrosch as director was engaged. This was
immediately after the death of Dr. Damrosch, and
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
93
was the first engagement of the young director, then
a youth of a little over twenty years. He followed
in the footsteps of his illustrious father and held the
high standard which the elder Damrosch had set for
this orchestra. The result was that no city was ever
blessed with a series of concerts of a higher order
of music, and the genuine love of music by the
Louisville public was evidenced by their apprecia-
tion of the music thus offered them. Nothing has
ever done so much to cultivate and elevate the musi-
cal taste of the city as these concerts, and musicians
look back to those days as a red letter time in the
musical history of Louisville. In addition to this the
Exposition management erected a magnificent organ
at enormous expense, and almost daily concerts
were given by such celebrities as George W. Mor-
gan, Jarvis Butler and George Whiting, thus intro-
ducing to Louisville audiences a branch of music
which hitherto, of necessity, had been unknown to
them. At the close of the Exposition in 1886 this
organ was bought by the Warren Memorial Church,
where it remains a constant pleasure to all lovers of
organ music.
A ladies’ chorus of eighteen members was organ-
ized six years ago by Mrs. J. M. Chatterson, who
has been its only president and director. The few
public appearances which the club has made have
been warmly commended, and while having numer-
ous calls and invitations to give concerts and open
rehearsals, they never have appeared, except before
invited guests in private houses. Many of the best
voices in the city are among its members, and their
musicales are always largely attended.
The Louisville Mandolin and Guitar Club was
organized in June, 1891, with eleven members, and
has earned a reputation second to no similar or-
ganization in the country. The club is social, musi-
cal and benevolent in character and has always been
among the first to promote and respond to enter-
tainments for charitable purposes. The proceeds of
all concerts are turned over to some well known
local charity. The club now numbers fifteen mem-
bers and has a handsomely furnished club room on
Fourth Avenue. On two occasions the club has
serenaded Signor A. Arditi and Adelina Patti, and
from these famous persons has received the highest
praise. The management has always been in the
hands of Mr. R. W. Langan, who was the originator
of the club, and it is mainly due to his untiring ef-
forts that the organization has reached its present
standing and efficiency.
Many years ago the ideal music — that of the string
and piano quartet and quintet — was brought here
by the older professors, Gunter, Hast and Peters.
They performed among themselves the chamber
music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. It is al-
most thirty years since that coterie was broken up
by the sad accidental death of Prof. Gunter. For
many years this style of music had scarcely a hear-
ing here, with the exception of the short-lived exist-
ence of the Mozart Quintet, and our young musi-
cians grew up without a knowledge of the very high-
est inspirations of the art — music that the greatest
composers wrote, -far above the multitude and for
their own pleasure. In about 1891 the Louisville
Quintet was formed, with William Frese as the pian-
ist; Henry Burck, first violin; S. Krebs, second
violin; M. Zoeller, viola, and Karl Schmidt, 'cello.
1 he best of the old classic school was rehearsed
and also the modern works of Raff, Saint-Saens,
Goldmark, Jadassohn and Sinding — all in such style
as would not be unworthy of any musical center. It
is safe to say that no music we have had here com-
pared in artistic finish with the performances of the
Louisville Quintet Club during the last year of Mr.
Frese’s life.
In the piano parts Mr. Frese was an aston-
ishment to even his greatest admirers. More
especially in his last appearance in these concerts,
when broken down in health and hardly able to
stand, like the song of the dying swan, his last essay
was his noblest and will long be remembered by
those who heard it. It was remarked by Mr. Wil-
liam Semple that “poor Frese will never again play
as he did to-night.” It was a strange coincidence
that Mr. Semple, the organizer of the club, its chief
support and a true lover of art in all its forms, was
buried the same day as Mr. Frese — two strong, earn-
est, noble souls, whose departure has left a void in the
hearts of their friends. After Mr. Frese’s death and
Mr. Burck’s departure for Europe, the club was re-
organized, with Miss Hattie Bishop, pianiste; John
Surmann, first violin; Victor Rudolf, second violin;
Charles Letzler, viola, and Karl Schmidt, violoncello.
For two seasons they have been doing satisfactory
work, as their increasing audiences prove, and it
is now a permanent organization and one in which
we may take great pride. Mr. Karl Schmidt, who
is now the director, sees to it that they still have
the newest and best on their programs, and it is often
the case that Louisville musicians are already famil-
iar with compositions which are being given for the
first time in New York and Boston.
94
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The Male Choir was organized in October, 1893,
by a few gentlemen interested in music, and the
late William Frese was elected director. The in-
troductory appearance of the choir was in Prout’s
cantata, “Damon and Pythias,” January 18, 1894,
given at Warren Memorial Church. The Easter
service following at Christ Church Cathedral intro-
duced in the city a service designed strictly for men’s
voices.
This service proved to be one of the last public
appearances of Mr. Frese and was a most appro-
priate exit of so great and gifted a genius, as he died
at sea July 2, 1894.
Mr. Horatio W. Browne accepted the directorship
in October, 1894, and under his guidance the splen-
did memorial service to Mr. Frese was given at
Christ Church Cathedral.
The objects of the organization, which is now the
leading male chorus of the city, are the proper de-
velopment of church music and the study of Eng-
lish glees, it being the only male choir in the coun-
try devoting itself to the betterment of church music.
The membership of the choir is limited to twenty
voices and will make four appearances each, year.
The Oratorio Choir, consisting of about sixtv
members, under the able direction of Mr. George B.
Selby, was introduced to the Louisville public
through its rendition of Stainer’s “Crucifixion,” on
Tuesday of Holy Week, 1893. This rendition made
so deep an impression on the large audience gath-
ered in Cavalry Church, where Mr. Selby has been
organist for many years, that they requested that
this composition be repeated each year on the same
date, which has been and will continue to be done.
The future of the Oratorio Choir, as outlined, is
to perform publicly two oratorios yearly, with an
intermission between. These are to be exclusive of
the Lenten performance of the Passion music by
Stainer or by some other composer. The choir is in
a most flourishing condition. The rehearsals are at-
tended regularly and the interest shown by the sing-
ers is most gratifying. The high appreciation in
which this organization is held is evidenced by the
large audiences in attendance, standing room being
at a premium always.
The youngest musical organization in Louisville
is the Musical Literary Club, which was organized
in June, 1895, with Mr. Douglas Webb as president.
This club belongs to the federation of musical clubs,
of which there are many thousand. It has a mem-
bership of twenty-five, meets bi-monthly, and prom-
ises to be a source of profit as well as of pleasure.
A complete list of the musical organizations since
1835 is as follows:
St. Cecilia 1822
Mozart Society 1843
Liederkranz 1848
Orpheus 1849
Musical Fund, 1857, reorganized in
1867 and 1870
Concordia Singing Society 1858
Beethoven Piano Club i860
Philharmonic 1866
Mendelssohn 1867
Arion 1870
Mozart Quintet 1870
Moebius Orchestra 1872
La Reunion Musicale 1874
Social Maennerchor 1878
Alpenroesli . . .• 1878
Amateur Orchestra 1879
Oratorio Society 1881
Symphony Club 1881
Musical Club 1882
Harmonia Maennerchor 1882
Exposition Concerts 1883-86
Burck String Quartet 1887
Chatterson Club 1890
Saturday Night Orchestra 1890
Louisville Mandolin and Guitar Club. 1891
Louisville Quintet Club 1891
Male Choir 1893
Oratorio Choir 1893
Musical Literary Club 1895
It is not generally known how many piano fac-
tories Louisville has had, and she has not only made
pianos, but what is better, has a
Manufacturers, reputation for making them well.
The first piano made in Kentucky
was made in 1801, in Frankfort, by John Goodman.
It is known as the Garrard piano, and is now owned
by Mrs. Dr. William Cheatham of this city. Good-
man also published the first sheet music in this State
in 1800.
The first piano made in Louisville was made by
Joseph Potter, as near as can be ascertained, about
the year 1830. He was a fine mechanic and made
very good pianos for many years. The firm name
was afterward Potter & Ritchie, and later on Potter
& Adams, or vice versa. The Potter piano was
characterized by the nicest workmanship, the best
1
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
95
materials at his command, and by their great dura-
bility, so that we still see them occasionally.
Timothy Cragg and his brother, Thomas P.
Cragg, associated themselves together under the
firm name of T. P. & T. Cragg about the
year 1835 or 1836. They entered into the
manufacture and sale of pianofortes, and made
good and sweet-toned pianos until about 1850,
About that time Benedict J. Webb and Harry Pe-
ters, who had succeeded William C. Peters in the
retail piano, sheet music and small musical mer-
chandise business, joined themselves with the firm
of T. P. & T. Cragg, and continued both to manu-
facture and 'sell their own pianos and deal in East-
ern pianos and sheet music under the firm name of
Peters, Cragg & Company. After a year or two
Mr. T. P. Cragg withdrew from the firm, and he
and Prof. Louis Tripp bought out the sheet music
and small musical merchandise business of Peters,
Cragg & Company, and continued to make pianos
extensively, successfully and of a high quality of
tone and finish. Their trade grew and spread over
a large portion of the South, with important agen-
cies at Nashville, Memphis, Vicksburg, .New Or-
leans, Mobile and Galveston, as well as at St. Louis.
In i860 the firm name changed to Peters, Webb &
Company, and they continued to make exceedingly
fine-toned pianos until 1879, when they closed out
their business and dissolved their firm. Mr. Benja-
min Webb, of that firm, is still living, and has the
comfort in his old age of knowing that his pianos
are so highly thought of that they bring more in
trade than almost any other old piano.
John Adams began piano making in Louisville
about 1840. His pianos were durable, of good ma-
terial and of fair tone, but were massively made, and
were, in that respect, peculiarly German. He never
manufactured extensively, having not more than
from two to six pianos under construction at one
time. He was partner for several years with Joseph
hotter, and afterward joined with Mr. Hillar, under
the firm name of Adams & Hillar. This partner-
ship was dissolved in 1852, and after that Adams
remained alone in business.
In 1859 Messrs. Julius Hinzen, Ernest Rosen
and Theodore Green formed a co-partnership to
make pianos, under the firm name of Hin-
zen, Rosen & Company. I11 i860 Mr. Green
withdrew from the firm and began making
pianos for himself. Hinzen & Rosen continued
to make pianos and they took rank as fine-toned,
durable and superior instruments and were popular
wherever sold. In 1872 they took into their firm
Mr. P. G. Bryan and changed the name to Hinzen,
Rosen & Company. Mr. Bryan traveled as sales-
man for their piano and spread their trade exten-
sively. In 1876 he withdrew from the firm, and
Hinzen & Rosen continued under the old name until
1891, when they closed out all the stock and factory.
Mr. Theodore Green, after withdrawing from the
firm of Hinzen, Rosen & Company in i860 began
making pianos under his own name and did well in
the number and quality of his instruments. He se-
cured fine testimonials from the very best judges
as to the quality of tone and finish. He continued
the manufacture of pianos up to the time of his
death, in November, 1895.
There are two piano firms in the city now who
manufacture their own pianos, but as neither fac-
tory is in Louisville we are practically without a
piano factory, for the first time in sixty-five years.
While we are now without a piano factory in our
midst we have a firm of pipe organ builders, Henry
Pilcher’s Sons, who have given
Builders Louisville more fame at home and
abroad than any other instrument
maker we have ever had. At the World’s Fair in
1893 they demonstrated their ability to build grand
organs in the most forcible manner, by carrying off
the highest awards given by the World’s Fair
judges, having exhibited in the Liberal Arts Build-
ing an immense organ, which was pronounced by
organists from all parts of the world to be more re-
plete in modern improvements than any ever be-
fore constructed. The firm have personal letters
from those two high authorities in this line of art —
Alexandre Guilmant of Paris, and Clarence Eddy
of Chicago — which commend the organ in most
enthusiastic terms. At the close of the Fair this
organ was purchased by Trinity Episcopal Church
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Martha B. Adams
of our city has awarded this firm the contract for
building a duplicate of the World’s Fair organ, to
be placed in the St. Paul’s Church, as a memorial of
her daughter, Mrs. Jessie Adams Speed, who was
one of our finest amateur musicians. This organ
was dedicated April 16, 1896. Henry Pilcher, Sr.,
grandfather of the members of the present firm, was
an organ builder in England, removing to this coun-
try in the thirties and establishing his business in
New York City. Upon his retirement, in 1858, the
business was continued by his son, Henry Pilcher,
Jr., in St. Louis and Chicago. After the great Chi-
cago fire in 1871 it was re-established in this city
I
96
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
under the firm name of Henry Pilcher & Sons. At
the death of Henry Pilcher in 1890 his sons, H. W.,
R. E., W. E. and J. V. Pilcher, continued the busi-
ness under the present name, “Henry Pilcher’s
Sons.” The firm is represented by its organs from
New York to San Francisco, and from the lakes to
the gulf, having over three hundred in use in the dif-
ferent cities in this country, manufacturing all
sizes, some costing as high as thirty thousand dol-
lars.
In writing the history of music in Louisville, there
are many who should have special mention, because
of their faithful labor of love in the
Mention' cause, but time and space would fail
to mention them all. Among the
many, however, the following are some of those
who have not only loved the divine art, but have
suffered and worked for the upbuilding of music in
our midst, and to whom is due, in large degree, the
excellence of musical taste among us: Prof. E. W.
Gunter, Messrs. W. C. and Harry Peters, the Zoeller
family, Prof. Louis Hast, Dr. Mason, Prof. Rosen-
plaenter, Parsons Price, Prof. Plato, Prof. George
Whipple, Mesdames Davison, H. Peters and George
D. Prentice; Messrs. D. P. Faulds, C. C. Hull, Otto
Schueler, George B. Selby, William Frese, Henry
Burck, C. H. Shackleton, William Semple, John M.
Byer and Donald Macpherson. It will be noticed
that the two latter names are actively connected
with almost every musical enterprise in the last
thirty years. There are, however, four names which
justice demands shall have special mention, and
no history of music in our city would be at all com-
plete without this credit where credit is due. At
the head of the list stands Prof. Louis Hast. “Born
in a romantic village of the Palatinate, not far from
Mannheim and the Rhine, the youth of Louis Hast
coincided with the storm and stress period, when
every young German was imbued with enthusiasm
for the new ideals in art, religion and politics. He
received a literary as well as a professional musical
education. In the early forties he came to America,
and located for a while in Bardstown, Kentucky.
He settled in Louisville between 1845 and 1848, and
at once became the favorite piano teacher for those
who wanted to make music a thorough artistic study
and not merely a trivial amusement. To him music
was not an accomplishment, an accompaniment to
the dance, or a means of dissipation. It was an
earnest expression of the deepest sentiments of life
and thought. Either it had a divine or moral mean-
ing, or it was naght. In his social relations Mr. Hast
was a polished and cultivated gentleman, a genial
companion, and being well posted by reading on all
the current topics of the day, his opinions consti-
tuted a fountain of fresh, vigorous thought to those
who were favored with his conversation. He was
married in i860 to Miss Emma Wilder, and their
home became the musical center of the city. Nearly
every young musician of prominence in the city
has been under the teaching of Prof. Hast and has
imbibed from him the love for the very best there is
in the art. Nor has his influence been confined to
these alone, for all the profession who came in con-
tact with him, acknowledge his guidance and in-
spiration. When he retired from active teaching
still his presence was felt as a pervading influence.
When he died, February 12, 1890, a large circle of
friends felt his loss as a calamity that had robbed
them of a friendship, the like of which they would
never find again.”
The year i860 brought to Louisville a musician,
Mrs. Emily Davison, who, as a singer, has made
more of an impress upon the Louisville public than
any other who has ever been in our midst. She soon
sang herself into the hearts of all who heard her, and
no musicale was complete without her assistance.
She had many inducements offered her to go on the
operatic stage while in New York, but she preferred
the privacy of her own fireside. The possessor of a
powerful dramatic voice of great sweetness, added
to a fine stage presence, she could have made a great
success. Mrs. Davison’s only appearance in opera
was in New York, in Donizetti’s “L’Elisire
d’Armore,” and Richard Grant White said that she
made the greatest first appearance he had ever seen.
In 1878 she was induced to go abroad, and sang in
Manchester, Liverpool, Exeter, Glasgow, Belfast,
and in London, under the direction of Arthur Sul-
livan. It was a famous London critic who said of
her singing of Rubinstein’s “Thou’rt Like Unto a
Flower”: “A perfect song, perfectly sung.” In these
concerts she was with such singers as Santley, Tre-
belli, Henschel and Jenny Lind. Her first appear-
ance in Louisville was in the “Creation,” in St. Paul’s
Church, under the direction of Prof. Gunter, and it
was in church music and oratorios that she made her
greatest success. No more fitting tribute could be
paid Mrs. Davison than one by her friend and co-
worker, Prof. Hast, who said: “We should seriously
think how much the church in Louisville owes to
Mrs. Emily Davison for her unselfish and untiring
efforts to advance the service of holy song. We
may think of her triumphs in the concert room with
HISTORY OF MUSIC IN LOUISVILLE.
97
great pleasure, but the church is where her magnifi-
cent voice has told to the utmost, and from which
young and old have carried the most lasting mem-
ories.”
Third in the list stands William Frese. William
Frese was born in Hanover and was educated in
music by his father. He came to Louisville in 1873
— a mere boy. In a short time his ability was recog-
nized by Mr. Donald Macpherson, who made him
organist of Warren Memorial Church, and from
that time, by his genius, energy and perseverance,
he made his way, at last taking the front place as
capellmeister and piano teacher. When Prof. Hast’s
health failed and he found it necessary to retire from
active life, he placed Mr. Frese in his seat at the
organ of Christ Church, a place that he filled with
remarkable ability. During his administration there
he gave splendid renditions of the great oratorios,
at which times the church was always crowded to
overflowing. He had gained a long experience in
this work as accompanist to the Oratorio Society.
It is a rare experience to see an accompanist who
could so well hold together a chorus, and, as it were,
supply any shortcomings with his instrument. Dur-
ing his service with the Oratorio he organized the
Frese Choir, which developed into the Musical Club
and finally grew into the present large mixed society
now known by that name and our most capable and
important musical organization. William Frese was
still young when he died at sea, July, 1894. He had
not reached the boundary of middle age. As an
organist and pianist we have never had his equal,
and his loss to this community cannot be estimated
or repaired. No mention of Mr. Frese would be
complete without a reference to his co-laborer,
Henry Burck, who always stood shoulder to shoul-
der with him in every effort to advance the love of
good music in Louisville. Mr. Burck came to
Louisville in 1881, fresh from the tutelage of that
inspiring and enthusiastic violin teacher, S. E.
Jacobson, of Cincinnati, being a favorite pupil.
He and Mr. Frese at once formed a friendship which
lasted until death severed it, and it was a friendship
which went hand in hand with their art. One can-
not think of Mr. Frese at the organ in Christ Church
without the beautiful tone of Mr. Burck’s violin
sounding in his ears at the same time. Their music
together will not soon be forgotten by their many
friends. In 1887 Mr. Burck formed the Burck
String Quartet, with Henry Burck first violin Sol
7
Marcosson second violin, John Surmann viola,
Herman Burck violoncello, which gave some de-
lightful concerts. After Mr. Frese's return to Louis-
ville this string quartet became the Louisville Quin-
tet Club. Mr. Burck also organized the Saturday
Night Orchestra. This organization, consisting of
about fifteen members, was composed of young
musicians and amateurs, and was in existence from
1890 to 1893. Mr. Burck’s ideal in music is singu-
larly high, and music to him is not simply an accom-
plishment, but is the highest expression of the beau-
tiful. His own ideal is always a growing one, con-
sequently he has been studying in Brussels for two
years with the great virtuoso, Ysaye. The influence
of such a musician cannot be estimated, and it is to
be hoped that Mr. Burck will return to Louisville
and continue to lend his inspiring influence to the
upbuilding of a love for music in its highest forms.
Nor should this history be concluded without men-
tioning those musicians, singers and instrumental-
ists who have brought honor upon the city of their
birth by the exercise of the talents which they pos-
sess. There are names omitted, probably, which
should be mentioned here, but it has been deemed
best to mention only those who are native born. The
list is as follows:
Singers— Kate Elliott, Lucy Friedenheimer Mor-
ris, Kate Miller Callahan, Effie Duncan Beilstein,
Katharine Whipple Dobbs, May Shallcross, V. V.
Nicholas Williams, Anita Muldoon, Rosa Green,
Lewis Williams, Douglas Webb.
Pianists — Jessie Cochran, Julia Bottsford Whit-
ney and Hattie Bishop.
Violinists — Sol Marcosson and Currie Duke.
Louisville also lays claim to Mary Louise Clary,
the greatest American contralto of to-day. Miss
Clary was not born in Louisville, but came here at so
early an age that we are constrained to claim her as
our own. Currie Duke and Mary Louise Clary
have won more fame than any musicians who have
ever gone out from our city.
I11 closing I desire to offer my sincere thanks to
Mr. P. G. Bryan, who furnished the paragraph on
piano makers; to Mr. John Byer, who wrote the
tributes to Professors Hast and Frese; and to
Messrs. A. D. Miles, C. II. Shackleton, Donald Mac-
pherson and Colonel R. T. Durrett, for the valu-
able information they have so cheerfully given me in
the compilation of this history.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M’CLOSKEY.
We take it for granted that the object of our
having been requested to write this article is not
simply that people may know what Catholicity has
done for this beautiful city of ours, for that they
know pretty well already; but that in a quiet way
they may be able to get a clearer knowledge of
what precisely that Catholicity is which works so
well and produces such admirable fruit ; and this we
feel quite safe in supposing that they do not know.
It seems well, therefore, to sav a word here about
that distinctive doctrine of the Catholic religion
which is uppermost in men’s minds to-day, “the
one, too, that separates us more radically, perhaps,
than any other from all other de-
Doctrines nominations of Christians, however
near they may approach us in other
respects,” the claim which Rome has on our obedi-
ence as Catholics. What those outside the pale of
the church really want — what, too, they need — are
correct notions about the church’s organization and
government, and notably the Pope’s place in it;
why it is that Catholics so revere and venerate him;
what his origin, his duties; what his rights, preroga-
tives and privileges; what, too, the true ground of
his claim on our obedience; and, as Peter is the key-
stone of the arch of Catholic unity, they of whom we
speak can never understand clearly either the beau-
ty or the massive grandeur of that arch, unless they
study closely the compactness and immovability of
the key-stone which holds the entire fabric together;
and that, by a power which for upward of eighteen
hundred years has remained just as steady and un-
shaken as it was on the day it was first set in its
place by the Divine Architect. These, or such as
these, are the thoughts which we may suppose
occupy the minds of the intelligent reader who may
think it worth his while to spend an hour glancing
over what is set down here. We feel bound, there-
fore, to tell him, first of all, at the very outset (and
we are sure he will thank us for doing so), the story
of the origin of this Papal power, as men call it,
and of its claim upon our obedience.
Able men, we know, have questioned the Pope’s
authority, regarding it as a species of tyranny
rather than a sign of that Christian meekness which
sits so gracefully on the shoulders of him who styles
himself the servant of the servants of God; and like
Mr. Gladstone, they have, perhaps, in a moment of
exasperation or forgetfulness, taunted us with being
mental and moral slaves for acknowledging the
Pope’s supremacy. They have twitted ns with a
want of spirit for recognizing what they call “the
Pope's decisive demand of the absolute obedience,
at the peril of salvation of every member of his
communion.” Happily, there was one at hand to put
even Mr. Gladstone right, and make it plain to the
angry statesman that the successor of the fisherman
had claims upon us to which the able Englishman
had not adverted. Accepting the challenge, his an-
tagonist proceeded at once to examine this large,
direct, religious sovereignty of the Pope, both in
its relation to his subjects and to the civil power;
“But first,” said he, “I beg to be allowed to say just
one word on the principle of obedience itself, that
is, by way of inquiring whether it is or is not a reli-
gious duty.”
“Is there, then, such a duty at all as obedience to
ecclesiastical authority now? or is it one of those
obsolete ideas, which are swept away, as unsightly
cobwebs, by the new civilization? Scripture says,
‘Remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow.’ And, ‘Obey them that have rule over
you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your
souls, as they that must give account, that they may
do it with joy and not with grief; for that is un-
profitable for you.’ The margin jn the Protestant
version reads, ‘Those who are your guides;’ and
98
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH — HISTORICAL REVIEW.
99
the word may be also translated ‘leaders.’ Well, as
rulers, or guides and leaders, whichever word be
right, they are to be obeyed. Now, Mr. Gladstone
dislikes our way of fulfilling this precept, whether
as regards our choice of ruler and leader, or our ‘ab-
solute obedience’ to him; but he does not give ns
his own. Is there any liberalistic reading of the
Scripture passage? Or are the words only for the
benefit of the poor and ignorant, not for the Schola
(as it may be called) of political and periodical writ-
ers, not for individual members of Parliament, not
for statesmen and Cabinet ministers, and people of
progress? Which party, then, is the most ‘Scrip-
tural,’ those who recognize and carry out in their
conduct texts like these, or those who don’t? May
not we Catholics claim some mercy from Mr. Glad-
stone, though we be faulty in the object and the
manner of our obedience, since in a lawless day an
object and a manner of obedience we have? Can
we be blamed, if arguing from those texts which say
that ecclesiastical authority comes from above, we
obey it in that one form in which alone we find it on
earth, in that one person who, of all the notabilities
of this nineteenth century into which we have been
born, alone claims it of us? The Pope has no rival in
his claim upon us; nor is it our doing that his claim
has been made and allowed for centuries upon cen-
turies, and that it was he who made the Vatican
decrees, and not they him. If we give him up, to
whom shall we go? Can we dress up any civil
functionary in the vestments of Divine authority?
Can I, for instance, follow the faith, can I put my
soul into the hands of our gracious sovereign? or of
the Archbishop of Canterbury? or of the Bishop of
Lincoln, albeit he is not broad and low, but high?
Catholics have ‘done what they could,’ all that any
one could; and it should be Mr. Gladstone’s busi-
ness, before telling us that we are slaves, because
we obey the Pope, first of all to tear away those
texts from the Bible.”
For many reasons, then, it is most desirable that
our non-Catholic friends should understand our
position, the standpoint from which we look at this
question of the Pope’s claim on us being very dif-
ferent from theirs. That Christ established a vis-
ible society which we call the church for carrying on
His eternal designs for the salvation of men, and
that into this church all must be gathered together
under its visible head, the successor of Saint Peter,
they don’t believe, but we do; and
Visible Head <• ,
of the Church. ior this very reason we would have
them put themselves in our place
that they may the better understand us and judge
us more fairly. Now, certain it is that the kingdom
which Christ established before His ascension is
still on earth, for He has Himself assured us that it
would never fail; and if so, where is it? One of
two things is as clear as the sun at noonday. Either
we must rudely cast to the winds, and give up alto-
gether, all belief in the church as an institution
established by Christ, with its full claim on our obe-
dience at the peril of salvation, or in all candor ad-
mit that if such a society exists at all, there is but
one organization on earth which, in any sense,
comes up to the full, measure of the idea which an-
tiquity gives us of the church of St. Athanasius and
St. Basil; but one institution that squares with the
historical account that has been handed down to
us by such admitted leaders as St. Jerome and St.
Augustine; the old, unchangeable church, whose
proud motto has ever been “always the same;” she
cannot change, for if she did, she would not be the
truth; that dauntless church, independent as of old,
and just as ready to cry out to-day as she did in the
days of St. Ambrose, “I spoke of thy testimonies be-
fore kings, and I was not ashamed.” Psalm 118:46.
Do we expect a church which is but the creation of
an act of Parliament, the very breath of its nostrils,
to sound this note of independence as one of her
credentials? Would the church which Luther found-
ed risk its existence by such an utterance? Will the
church of the Czar attempt it through its mouth-
piece at Moscow? Or is the Greek patriarch at
Constantinople likely ever to be guilty of so supreme
an act of folly? And yet, it is the prerogative, the
very mission of the minister of Christ to bear testi-
mony of the doctrines of his divine Master even
with his blood, whether the great ones of the world
like it or like it not. No, no; disguise the fact we
cannot. If we would seek a dauntless defender
of ancient Christianity, one who would fearlessly
deliver “that message which the church of Christ
has to all men everywhere, a definite message to
high and low from the world’s Maker,” whether men
will hear and hearken to it or not, it is not to Can-
terbury we would go in search of him; not to Berlin,
or to Moscow, or to Constantinople, but to Rome,
where sits the Supreme Pontiff on the throne of the
fisherman. Nor does it make any difference
whether the Pope be in high estate, as this world
goes, or not; whether he is in good report, or in
evil report; despised as an exile, or honored as a
sovereign in peaceful possession of 1 1 is rightful her-
itage, for he still bears with him that holy independ-
100
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ence which is one of the credentials of the Cath-
olic Church, which bids him say to kings and
princes, and the great ones of the earth, whenever
the occasion demands it, be the consequences
what they may, “We must obey God rather than
man.”
It is then absolutely necessary that we start from
the beginning and explain, however briefly, the
groundwork of Catholic faith regarding him whom
we call Christ’s Vicar on earth; and if he is in fact
the Vicar of Christ, as Catholics say he is, and there-
fore heir to the rights, prerogatives and privileges
of the ancient church, surely it is but the part of that
honorable dealing which men owe, if not to con-
science, at least to their fellow-men, to look into
these claims, so that when they do speak of the
August Head of the Catholic Church we may hope to
find “gravity and measure in language, and calm-
ness in tone,” and not the idle, empty verbiage
which so many indulge in while discussing ques-
tions which it may be fairly presumed they have
never even tried to master, and with which, to say
the least, they can have but a very imperfect ac-
quaintance.
Antiquity is the badge of Catholic faith, and as
it will not be' easy to get an adequate idea of that
faith unless we go back to the
Antchurch°f th<? original sources of things, we will
here state briefly the groundwork of
Catholic belief regarding him whom we call the
Vicar of Christ.
As Catholics, we believe that according to the tes-
timony of the Gospel, “the primacy of jurisdiction
over the universal Church of God was immediately
and directly given to St. Peter, the Apostle of
Christ our Lord. For it was to Simon alone that
Christ, after Peter’s noble profession of faith in His
divinity, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Liv-
ing God,” addressed these solemn words: “Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood
have not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in
heaven. And I say to thee that thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give
to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be
bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”
And it was upon Simon alone that Jesus after His
resurrection bestowed the jurisdiction of chief pas-
tor and ruler over all His fold in the words: “Feed
my lambs, feed my sheep.” No mere empty title
this, but a distinct, well-defined authority, granting j|
power to rule and teach the whole Catholic body,
bishops, priests and laity; and when addressing, cx
cathedra, the universal flock on a question of faith
or morals to speak to them with an infallible au-
thority.
The Council of Florence has defined that “the
Roman Pontiff is the true Vicar of Christ and
the head of the whole church, and the father and
teacher of all Christians; and that to him, in blessed
Peter, was delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ the
full power of feeding, ruling and governing the
whole church, in such manner as also is contained
in the acts of ecumenical councils and in the. sacred
canons.” Defin. S. Aecum. Synod. Flor. Cone.
Gener. t. xiii, p. 515, Labbe.
As Catholics, we also believe that “this power is
perpetual in the church; that what the Prince of
shepherds and the great Shepherd of the sheep, j
Jesus Christ our Lord, established in the person of
the blessed Apostle Peter, to secure the perpetual
welfare and lasting good of the church, must by the
same institution remain unceasingly in the church,
which being founded upon the rock, will stand firm
to the end of the world.” [
We believe, also, “that the gift of truth and never (
failing faith was conferred by heaven upon Peter and ;
his successors in this chair, that they might perform [
their high office for the salvation of all; as witness j
the marvelous declaration of our Savior, ‘Simon, j
Simon, Satan has desired to have you (the Apostolic )
College), that he may sift you as wheat; but I have ,
prayed for thee (Simon), that thy faith fail not; and ;
thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren.’ j
Jesus prays that the faith of Peter may never fail, 1
and the prayer of Christ is always heard by His !
heavenly Father.” >
In these wonderful powers granted to Peter we
have also the groundwork of that magnificent com- ,
mission, the grandest ever given to man, with which |
Christ sent forth Peter and his fellow apostles to j
teach the world — a commission far extending as the
church he had established: “Going, therefore, teach -j
ve all nations, baptizing them in the name of the t
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
have commanded you; and behold, I am with you
all days, even to the consummation of the world,”
another promise that the church which He had
founded on Peter would never fail, because He Him-
self would be with the rulers of that church, coun-
seling, teaching, guiding and shielding them by His
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
101
infinite wisdom and power unto the consummation
of the world. This is the keynote
Keynote of Au- ^ authority sounded by Christ
when he built His church on Peter.
It is taken up by St. Paul when he says to the Gala-
tians, “Though an angel from heaven preach to you
a gospel besides that which we have preached to
you, let him be anathema;” and he makes the truth
still stronger by a repetition of it: “As we said before,
so now I say again, if any one preach to you a gos-
pel besides that which you have received, let him
be accursed.” Cyprian gives it out with no uncer-
tain sound when he bids us remember that he who
has not the church for his mother cannot have God
for his father; -or, as St. Ambrose puts it, “There-
i fore, where Peter is, there is the church; where the
j church is, there death is not, but life eternal.” “As
! Plato,” says Saint Jerome, “was the prince of phil-
osophers, so is Peter the prince of the apostles, on
whom the church of the Lord in enduring massive-
ness was built; a church which neither by the as-
| saulting waves nor by any tempest is shaken.” And
I again, speaking of Peter’s successors, the same St.
| Jerome utters these remarkable words: “I speak
j with the successor of the Fisherman and the dis-
\ ciple of the cross. Following no chief but Christ,
i I am joined in communion with your Holiness, that
is, with the chair of Peter. Upon that rock 1 know
the church is built. Whosoever eats the Lamb out
j of this house is profane. If any be not in the ark of
Noah, he will perish while the deluge prevaileth."
And St. Augustine’s sententious expression has
; passed into a proverb, “Rome has spoken ; the ques-
tion is settled.”
And so Christ’s “Thou art Peter, and on this rock
: I will build my church,” goes on resounding down
through the early centuries till it is caught up by
Leo the Great, who deals with it in his own majestic,
masterly way, and yet with a simplicity of diction
that brings this dominant truth within the grasp of
the simplest intelligence. It is now more than four-
| teen hundred years since Leo, speaking to the as-
j sembled bishops of Italy, thus unfolded the mind
.! of the church in his day regarding the See of
j Peter: “Although our partaking in that gift (of
j unity) be a great subject for common joy, yet it
j were a better and more excellent cause of rejoicing
if you rest not in the consideration of our humility.
More profitable and more worthy far it is to raise
the mind’s eye unto the contemplation of the most
blessed Apostle Peter’s glory, and to celebrate this
day chiefly in honor of him who was watered with
streams so copious from the very fountain of all
graces, that while nothing has passed to others with-
out his participation, yet he received many special
privileges of his own.” The Word made flesh al-
ready was dwelling in us, and Christ had given Him-
self whole to restore the race of man. Nothing was
unordered to His wisdom; nothing difficult to His
power. Elements were obeying, spirits minister-
ing, angels serving; it was impossible that mystery
could fail of its effect, in which the unity and the
trinity of the Godhead itself was at once working.
And yet out of the whole world, Peter alone is
chosen to preside over the calling of all the gentiles,
and over all the apostles and the collected fathers
of the church ; so that, though there be among the
people of God many priests and many shepherds, yet
Peter rules all bv immediate commission, whom
Christ also rules by sovereign power. It is a great
and wonderful participation of His own power
which the divine condescendence gave to this man;
and if he willed that other rulers should enjoy aught
together with him, yet never did He give, save
through him, what he denied not to others. In fine,
the Lord asks all the apostles what men think of
Him ; and they answered in common so long as
they set forth the doubtfulness of human ignorance.
But when what the disciples think is required, he
who is first in apostolic dignity is first also in con-
fession of the Lord. And when he had said, “Thou
art Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus an-
swered him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona,
because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee,
but my Father who is in heaven.” Thou art blessed
because my Father has taught ihee; nor hath opin-
ion of the earth deceived thee, but inspiration from
heaven instructed thee; and not flesh and blood
hath shown Me to thee, but He whose only begot-
ten Son I am. “And I,” said He, “say unto thee;"
that is, as my Father hath manifested to thee my
Godhead, so I, too, make known unto thee tin-
own pre-eminence, "for thou art Peter;” that is,
whilst I am the immutable Rock ; I the cornerstone
who make both one; I the foundation, besides
which no one can lay another; yet thou also art a
rock, because by my virtue thou art firmly planted;
so that whatever is peculiar to me by power, is to
thee, by participation, common with Me, “and upon
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it.” On this strength,
saith He, I will build an eternal temple, and my
church, which in its height shall reach the heaven,
shall rise upon the firmness of this faith. Phis con-
102
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
fession the gates of hell shall not restrain, nor the
chain of death fetter, for that voice is the voice of
life. And as it raises those who confess it unto
heavenly places, so it plunges those who deny it
into hell. Wherefore it is said to most blessed
Peter: “I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The
privilege of this power did indeed pass on to the
other apostles, and the order of this decree spread
out in all the rulers of the church, but net without
purpose; what is intended for all is put into the
hands of one. For therefore is this intrusted to
Peter singularly, because all the rulers of the church
are invested with the figure of Peter. The privilege,
therefore, of Peter remaineth, wheresoever judg-
ment is passed according to his equity. Nor can
severity or indulg'ence be excessive, where nothing
is bound, nothing loosed, save that which blessed
Peter bindeth or looseth. Again, as that passion
drew on which was about to shake the firmness of
his disciples, the Lord saith : “Simon, Simon, behold
Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift
you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy
faith fail not; and when thou art converted con-
firm thy brethren that ye may not enter into temp-
tation.”
The danger of the temptation of fear was common
to all the apostles, and they equally needed the help
of divine protection, since the devil
clU;f o£ the desired to fill them with dismay and
make a wreck of all; and yet the
Lord takes care of Peter in particular, and asks
especially for the faith of Peter, as if the state of the
rest would be more certain if the mind of their chief
were not overcome. So then in Peter the strength
of all is fortified, and the help of divine grace is so
ordered that the stability which through Christ is
given to Peter, is conveyed to the apostles.
Since, then, we see such a protection divinely
granted to us, reasonably and justly do we rejoice
in the merits and dignity of our chief, rendering-
thanks to the eternal King, our Redeemer, the Lord
Jesus Christ, for having given so great a power to
him whom he made chief of the whole church, that
if anything, even in our own time, by us be rightly
done and rightly ordered, it is to be ascribed to his
working, to his guidance, under whom it was said:
“And thou, when thou art converted, confirm thy
brethren;” and to whom the Lord, after His resur-
rection, in answer to the triple profession of eternal
love, thrice said, with mystical intent, “Feed my
sheep.” And this beyond a doubt the pious shep-
herd does even now, and fulfills the charge of his
Lord, confirming us with his exhortations, and not
ceasing to pray for us that we may be overcome
by no temptation. But if, as we must believe, he
everywhere discharges this affectionate guardian-
ship to all the people of God, how much more will
he condescend to grant his help to us, his children,
on the sacred couch of his blessed repose, where he
resteth in the same flesh in which he ruled? To
him, therefore, let us ascribe this anniversary day
of us his servant, and this festival, by whose advo-
cacy we have been thought worthy to share his seat
itself, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ helping
us in all things, who liveth and reigneth with God
the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.”
Thus did this statesman pontiff, Leo the Great, set
forth unhesitatingly from sacred Scripture itself, and
in this public manner, the peculiar privileges of the
See of Peter; nor did he go beyond the mind of his
hearers, for in what he said he but voiced the belief
of Christendom.
Centuries had now rolled bv, when before an as-
sembly, not of Italians, but of French bishops, there
rose up another famous prelate to exhibit the mind
of the church in his day as regarded the See of Pe-
ter. The passage will give those outside the fold
a clearer insight into the light in which Catholics
regard the Holy See, and the reason for their deep
veneration for the successors of the prince of the
apostles: “Listen: this is the mystery of Catholic
unity, and the immortal principle of the church's
beauty. True beauty comes from health; what
makes the church strong makes her fair; her unitv
makes her fair, her unity makes her strong. United
from within by the Holy Spirit, she has, besides, the
common bond of her outward communion, and must
remain united by a government in which the author-
ity of Jesus Christ is represented. Thus one unity
guards the other, and, under the seal of ecclesias-
tical government, the unity of the spirit is pre-
served. What is this government? What is its
form? Let us say nothing of ourselves. Let us
open the Gospel; the Lamb has opened the seals
of that sacred Book, and the tradition of the church
has explained all.
“We shall find in the Gospel that Jesus Christ,
willing to commence the mystery of unity in His
church, among all His disciples chose twelve; but
that, willing to consummate the mystery of unity in
the same church, among the twelve He chose one.
THE CtATHOLIC CHURCH— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
103
'He called His disciples,’ says the Gospel. Here are
all, ‘and among- them He chose twelve.’ Here is a
first separation of the apostles chosen. ‘And these
are the names of the twelve apostles: The first,
Simon, who is called Peter.’ Here, in a second sep-
aration, St. Peter is set at the head, and called for
that reason by the name of Peter, which ‘Jesus
Christ,’ says St. Mark, ‘had given him in order to
prepare, as you will see, the work which He was
proposing, to raise all His building upon that
stone.’
“All this is but a commencement of the mystery
of unity. Jesus Christ in beginning it still spoke of
many. ‘Go ye,’ ‘preach ye,’ ‘I send
The unUy|ry °f y°u;’ but when he put the finishing
touch to the mystery of unity,
he speaks no longer to many: He marks out Peter
personally, and by the new name which He has
given him. It is one who speaks to one: Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, to Simon, son of Jona; Je-
sus Christ, who is the true stone, strong of Himself,
to Simon, who is only the stone by the strength
which Jesus Christ imparts to him. It is to him
that Christ speaks, and in speaking acts on him, and
stamps upon him his own immovableness. ‘And I,’
He says, ‘say unto thee, thou art Peter; and,’ he
adds, ‘upon this rock 1 will build my church, and,’
he concludes, ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.’ To prepare him for that honor, Jesus
Christ, who knows that faith in Himself is the foun-
dation of His church, inspires Peter with a faith
worthy to be the foundation of that admirable build-
ing. ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
God.’ By that bold preaching of the faith he draws
to himself the inviolable promise which makes him
the foundation of the church. The word of fesus
Christ, who out of nothing makes what He pleases,
gives this strength to a mortal. Say not, think not,
that this ministry of St. Peter terminates with him ;
that which is to serve for support to an eternal
church can never have an end. Peter will live in
his successors. Peter will always speak in his
chair. This is what the fathers say. This is what
six hundred and thirty bishops at the Council of
Chalcedon confirmed.
“But consider briefly what follows. Jesus Christ
pursues His design ; and, after having said to Peter,
the eternal preacher of the faith, ‘Thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church,’ He
adds, ‘and I will give to thee the keys of the king-
dom of heaven.’ Thou who hast the prerogative of
preaching the faith, thou shalt have likewise the keys
which mark the authority of government; ‘what
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and what thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven.’ All is subjected to those keys; all, my
brethren, kings and nations, pastors and flocks; we
declare it with joy, for we love unity, and hold obedi-
ence to be our glory. It is Peter who is ordered
first to love more than all the other apostles, and
then ‘to feed’ and govern all, both ‘the lambs and
the sheep,’ the young ones and the mothers and
the pastors themselves; pastors in regard to the
people, and sheep in regard to Peter; in him they
honor Jesus Christ, confessing likewise that with
reason greater love is asked of him, for as much as
he has a greater dignity with a greater charge; and
that among us, under the discipline of a master
such as ours, according to his word it must be,
that the first be, as he was, by charitv the servant
of all.
“Thus St. Peter appears the first in all things; the
first to confess the faith; the first in the obligation
to exercise love; the first of all the apostles who
saw Jesus Christ risen, as he was to be the first
witness of it before all the people; the first when
the number of the apostles was to be filled up; the
first who confirmed the faith by a miracle; the first
to convert the Jews; the first to receive the gentiles;
the first everywhere. You have seen this unity in
the Holy See; would you see it in the whole epis-
copal order and college? Still it is in St. Peter that
it must appear, and still in these words, ‘Whatso-
ever thou shalt bind shall be bound; whatsoever
thou shalt loose shall be loosed.’ All the Popes and
all the holy fathers have taught it with a common
consent. Yea, my brethren, these great words in
which you have seen so clearly the primacy of St.
Peter have set up bishops, since the force of their
ministry consists in binding or loosing those who
believe or believe not their word. Thus this di-
vine power of binding or loosing is a necessary
annexment, and, as it were, the final seal of the
preaching which Jesus Christ has intrusted to them;
and you see, in passing, the whole order of eccles-
iastical jurisdiction. Wherefore, the same who said
to Peter, ‘Whatsoever thou shalt bind shall be
bound; whatsoever thou shalt loose shalt be loosed,’
has said the same thing to all the apostles, and has
said to them moreover, ‘Whatsoever sins you re-
mit, they shall be remitted; and whosesoever sins
you retain, they shall be retained.’ What is to bind,
but to retain? What to loose, but to remit? And
the same who gives to Peter this power gives it
104
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
also with His own mouth to all the apostles: ‘As
My father hath sent Me, so,’ says He, ‘I send you.’
A power better established, or a mission more im-
mediate, cannot be found. So he breathes equally
on all. On all he diffuses the same spirit with that
breath, in saying, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost,’ and
the rest that we have quoted.
“It was, then, clearly the design of Jesus Christ to
put first in one alone what afterward he meant to
put in several; but the sequence does not reverse
the beginning, nor the first lose his place. That
first word, ‘Whatsoever thou shalt bind,’ said to one
alone, has already ranged under his power each one
of those to whom shall be said, ‘Whatsoever ye shall
remit;’ for the promises of Jesus Christ, as well as
His gifts, are without repentance; and what is once
given indefinitely and universally is irrevocable; be-
sides, that power given to several carries its re-
strictions in its division, while power given to one
alone, and over all, and without exception, carries
with it plenitude, and, not having to be divided with
any other, it has no bounds save those which its
terms convey. Thus the mystery is understood;
all received the same power, and all from the same
source; but not all in the same degree, not with the
same extent; for Jesus Christ communicates him-
self in such measure as pleases him, and always in
the manner most suitable to establish the unity of
His church. This is why He begins with the first,
and in that first He forms the whole, and Himself
develops in order what He has put in one. ‘And
Peter,’ says St. Augustine, ‘who in the honor of
his primacy represented the whole church,’ receives
also the first, and the only one at first, the keys
which should afterward be communicated to all the
rest, in order that we may learn, according to the
doctrine of a holy bishop of the Gallican Church,
that the ecclesiastical authority, first established in
the person of one alone, has been diffused only on
the condition of being always brought back to the
principal of its unity, and that all those who shall
have to exercise it ought to hold themselves insep-
arably united to the same chair.
“This is that Roman chair so celebrated by the
fathers, which they have vied with each other in
exalting as ‘the chiefship of the
Thchai°i-man Apostolic See;’ ‘the superior chief-
ship;’ the source of unity; ‘that
most holv throne which has the headship of all the
churches of the world;’ ‘the head of the episco-
pate, the chiefship of the universal church;’ ‘the
head of pastoral honor to the world;’ ‘the head of
the members;’ ‘the single chair in which all seek
unity.’ In these words you hear St. Optatus, St.
Augustine, St. Cyprian, St. Prosper, St. Avitus, St.
Theodoret, the Council of Chalcedon, and the rest;
Africa, Gaul, Greece, Asia, the East and the West
together.”
In view of these repeated declarations of Christ’s
preference for Peter, and of the vast and wonder-
ful powers which our Lord gave him, as distinct
from those conferred on the other apostles; and fin-
ally His building on Peter, as on an immovable
rock, the church which He has established as the
depository and guardian of His doctrines; in view
of all these proofs of the Savior’s fixed purpose to
place the headship of that church in Peter, one
feels the justice of Dr. Newman’s rebuke when he
tells Mr. Gladstone that if ecclesiastical obedience
is a virtue at all, he should, before taunting Cath-
olics with being mental and moral slaves for obey-
ing Peter’s successor, first of all tear away those
texts from the Bible.
Thus much may be said of what we may call the
Scriptural account of Peter, and the place which
Catholics, reasoning from those texts, feel it their
duty to assign him.
And now I must pass from this explanation of
the claims of the ancient church on our love and
obedience to questions nearer home, and yet we feel
that we cannot treat them to the satisfaction of our
readers unless we be allowed to introduce here the
episode of what may be called the
oiic Church. Medieval Catholic Church of Amer-
ica. This episode opens at a period
when a part at least of Northern Europe, and no-
tably that wild region known as Scandinavia, coqld
hardly, except by courtesy, be included in what was
then known as European civilization. We refer to
the discovery and settlement of Greenland in the
tenth century, well nigh five hundred years before
Columbus set foot on San Salvador. The fact that
Catholicity was planted, took root and flourished
there during four long centuries, and was swept
away only by the Reformation, justly entitles it to
the name that has been given it, the Medieval Cath-
olic Church of America.
In plain terms, then, there was established in
Greenland, on this western hemisphere, a distinct
and definite church organization, with all that goes
with it; namely, schools, a seminary for the training
up of young Greenlanders for the work of the mis-
sion, just as isdone today amongourselves;parishes,
monasteries, a parochial clergy, and subsequently a
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
105
bishop whose see was established in Gardar, where
in time was erected one of those noble old medieval
cathedrals in which the beautiful services of the
Catholic Church were carried out in all their mag-
nificence— unmistakable witnesses all — of the gen-
erosity and the faith of the people of those “dark
ages,” about which inexact writers have so much to
say, and yet really know so little.
Incredible and almost startling as at first sight all
this may seem, it is yet as historically true as that
the magnificent cathedrals of Salisbury, Ely, Ches-
ter, Lincoln and York Minster, now sacred to the
memory of glories that have passed away, were built
by Catholics in that middle age when the faith shone
forth in all the gorgeous splendor of its architecture
and the sweet, attractive beauty of its ceremonial.
The church is essentially one; and no consistent,
much less intelligent account of the workings of re-
ligion here can be properly set forth without first
sketching, however briefly and imperfectly, the his-
tory of this first American See of Gardar, born, so
to say, amid the icebergs, on the dreary and inhos-
pitable shores of Greenland.
The story of those terrible Northmen who, dur-
ing the tenth and eleventh centuries, kept Europe
in a state of perpetual dread, is more or less familiar
to all. Their sudden appearance on the coast, out
upon which poured swarms of those hardy adven-
turers; their fierce aspect and terrible weapons;
their bloody battles, followed by the sacking and
burning of towns, the slaughter of men and carrying
off of women and children into captivity; these and
a hundred other scenes of misery and woe are mat-
ters of history. With their swift, tight-built and
powerful boats, these ferocious Vikings swept down
from their northern fastnesses on the English, Irish
and French coasts, and stretching out as far as Ice-
land in the west, spread desolation wherever they
went. Passing through the Straits of Gibraltar,
these adventurers entered the Mediterranean, and,
flushed with victory, pushed their conquests up to
the very shores of Italy and Byzantium. They were
a great, but savage race, needing only the touch of
divine grace to convert them from reckless marau-
ders into that magnificent chivalry which a century
or two later went forth, cross on shoulder, under
■Godfrey de Bouillon and England’s lion-hearted
Richard and St. Louis of France, to rescue Christ’s
tomb from the desecrating grasp of the infidels.
Strange as it may appear, Iceland was a favorite
resort of these wild rovers of the sea, and in spite of
the bleak desolation that seemed ever to hang over
this wild western outpost of these ruthless corsairs,
it soon grew to be a flourishing colony of some fifty
thousand souls; and what to us, when we consider
the character of its first settlers, is the most singular
feature of it all, side by side with an equally rich and
prosperous commerce, there grew up in Iceland a
literature which compared favorably with that of
England, France, Spain, and of Italy itself. They
formed a comrhunity distinct — apart, and their very
success made these hardy Icelanders in some sense
independent of the mother country.
Certain it is, that if in fact they did acknowledge
any lurking allegiance to the mother country at all,
it sat very lightly on the minds and consciences of
these weather-beaten sea dogs of the Northwestern
Ocean.
Sailing in the track of one Gumbiorn, who,
driven by a storm across the deep into far away
western latitudes, had accidentally
Norsemen. fallen in with Greenland, about
which he recounted marvelous
tales on his return home, Eric the Red, rather
through necessity than choice, set out to visit this
newly discovered land. Pleased with what he found
there, Eric returned to Norway, and gathering to-
gether a number of wild spirits as rude and reckless
as himself, and with a considerable fleet of swift
Viking sea boats, he went back to Greenland and
began at once the colonization of the island. Eric’s
first visit to Greenland was made in 983.
In the year 1000 Lief Ericson, the son of Eric the
Red, a still more hardy and adventurous seaman
than his father, sailed from Greenland in search of
a land which one Bjarne claimed to have seen on
one of his voyages; a mere bird’s-eye view, no
doubt, which Bjarne got of it from the ship's deck.
Nor is it at all unlikely that his imagination may
have had something to do with the glowing descrip-
tion which he gave of the country on hjs return to
Greenland. Steering southwest young Ericson
came upon a land to which he gave the name of
Vinland the Good, and which, whatever may have
been its geographical position, lay certainly within
the present territory of the United States. That
the “solid men of Boston” have erected a statue in
honor of Lief Ericson in one of the squares of their
noble city is in itself perhaps the best proof that
the country which young Ericson called \ inland
was situated somewhere in what is now known as
the State of Massachusetts. The climate was evi-
dently milder than the cold, dismal climate of
Greenland. This fact the Sagas state very clearly.
106
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The length of the shortest winter day is set down at
nine hours. The plant known as Indian corn they
describe very minutely, and from the accurate de-
scription which they give us of the natives, one
would almost fancy that he could descry in the dis-
tance Massasoit, or the haughty young Sachem of
the Narraganset (the fiery Conanchet), or even grim
old King Philip himself, peering out cautiously at
the strangers and watching their movements from
the edge of the forest.
About the close of the tenth century Lief Ericson
paid a visit to his father’s native country, and find-
ing that the Norwegian king, Olaf, had abjured
paganism for the Catholic faith, Lief himself be-
came a convert, and on his return home brought
back with him to Greenland a Catholic priest to
instruct his people and baptize such as wished to
abandon paganism and adopt the faith of Rome.
From the year 1044 Greenland, practically speak-
ing, became, and for upward of four hundred years
remained part and parcel of European civilization.
'Flie conversion of the simple Greenlanders must
have been rapid, for in 1350, the palmiest days of
Greenland’s Catholicity, there were on the west
coast, beside the noble cathedral, fifteen other
churches, two hundred and fifty settlements, several
monasteries, and a Catholic population of ten thou-
sand souls. Up to the time of the Reformation,
which swept away the Catholic hierarchy of Nor-
way, eighteen bishops are known to have filled the
See of Gardar. In 1044 and for a hundred years
afterward the Christians of Greenland had been
placed bv Benedict IX under the jurisdiction of the
metropolitan See of Hamburg-Bremen; and the
Bishop of Iceland, as being the prelate nearest to
the new settlement, was specially instructed with the
care of its missions, until in 1154 Eugene III erect-
ed Greenland into a diocese, with the bishop’s see
at Gardar. Much of what is here related may be
news even to some Catholics, but the colonization of
Greenland and its Catholic life for upward of four
hundred years is founded on certainty as absolutely
historical, and as well attested, as is the settlement
of the Maryland colony by Lord Baltimore, and the
subsequent erection of the City of Baltimore into
an episcopal see.
Like the first bishop of New York, Gardar’s first
bishop never set foot in his diocese, but for some
reason or other entered at once upon missionary
work in Vinland, where, like so many of his fellow
missionaries (for such, bishops as well as priests,
they all were) in this our western land he doubtless
offered up his life for the faith, thus winning the
martyr’s crown.
Gardar’s second bishop, Arnold, was a Norwe-
gian and ruled the church in Greenland for twenty
years, and to him is probably due the erection of
the cathedral.
Of the rest of the bishops of Gardar there is noth-
ing very special to note. About the middle of the
thirteenth century we find the Holy See asking the
Greenland Catholics for the Peter’s Pence, and after
that they were taxed just as regularly for funds
to meet the needs of the Sovereign Pontiff as any
other portion of the Catholic world. Then, as now,
the successors of St. Peter would seem to have been
dependent for their support, and for the carrying out
of the works which they undertook, on the noble
generosity of the faithful throughout the world.
Money being a scarce article in a far-off place like
Greenland, the Peter’s Pence, as we learn from a
letter of Martin IV to the Archbishop of Dron-
thein, Gardar’s metropolitan, was paid in kind,
namely in furs, hides, or whatever else of the prod-
ucts of their country the poor Greenlanders had to
offer. The people of Vinland were no doubt also
called on as inhabitants of “the islands and neigh-
boring territories,” for their quota of Peter’s Pence,
paying it partly, it may be, in furs, but chiefly in a
valuable species of timber called mosurr which
grew in their country. Now, although not matters
of any special importance historically, these facts
yet point out to us the close connection between
these distant and inhospitable regions and the See
of Peter, and their recognition of the duty of sup-
porting the Holy Father when called on to do so.
About twenty years before the end of the four-
teenth century the simple Greenland Catholics, little
suspecting danger from a quarter
Greenlanders. so remote, received their first inti-
mation that mischief was brew-
ing among the Skraellings, as the savages of the
southwestern coast were called, and that the peril
which was first to scatter them, and afterward al-
most sweep them from the face of the earth, was im-
minent. Whether the Indians had been stirred up
to strife by their chiefs, who, jealous of the growing
strength of the Europeans of Vinland, felt that if the
red man was to retain his hold on the land of his
fathers he must strike some terrible blow against
the whites, we know not. Be this as it may, these
ferocious savages, during the lifetime of Bishop
Alfus, made an inroad into Greenland. It was car-
rying the war into Africa; for, the Greenland col-
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
107
onies once destroyed, Vinland and the other de-
pendencies along- the coast of the southwest
mainland — as being mere trading posts — were sure
to follow. At one fell blow the savages would thus
rid themselves of their hated foe. The first foray of
the Skraellings was completely successful. The
mother country, which had in some sense been de-
populated by the black death (a terrible scourge
which broke out in Europe in the middle of the
fourteenth century), could do little to aid her col-
onies. The savages burst in upon them with fear-
ful yells, as they did many a time afterward in the
peaceful valleys and hamlets of New England, tom-
ahawking and scalping the men, women and chil-
dren who fell into their hands. Forty years later
these same savages, coming in their canoes, and in
overwhelming numbers, struck another blow more
fierce, and, if possible, more terrible in its effects,
on the peaceful Greenlanders than the preceding
one had been, thus finishing the bloody work which
they had begun in their first attack. Churches and
dwellings were burned to the ground, and the in-
habitants who escaped the tomahawk and scalping-
knife were carried off into captivity. The few who
were lucky enough to escape to the mountains
gathered together, and in fear and trembling prac-
ticed their religion as best they could; and, finding
that the enemy did not return, they went back to
their old homes and set about rebuilding their
churches and dwellings, resuming, as far as that
was possible, their old manner of life. Bishop and
priests — all had been massacred, and the first step
taken by the destitute people was to send a message
to the Supreme Pontiff in Rome, imploring him to
take compassion on them and not to abandon them
in their distress. Moreover, many besought His
Holiness to send them priests that they might be
no longer deprived of the consolations of religion.
The heart of Pope Nicholas V was moved to com-
passion at the forlorn condition of his children, and
in spite of the melancholy state of things in Rome
itself he at once set about the work of restoration,
and commissioned the bishops of Shalholt and
Hola, Icelandic Sees, to look after the spiritual inter-
est of the unfortunate Greenlanders. Although the
bull of Nicholas, from which we gather these details
. of the sad fate of what we may call the first North
American bishopric, and the utter ruin of the church
in Greenland, is somewhat lengthy, still, as it is in-
teresting from an historical point of view, we do
not hesitate to produce it:
"Whereas, my beloved children who are natives
of and dwell in the great island of Greenland, which
is said to lie on the most extreme boundaries of the
ocean, northward of the kingdom of Norway, and
in the district of Trondjem, have by their piteous
complaints greatly moved my ears and awakened
our sympathy; whereas the inhabitants for almost
six hundred years have held the Christian faith,
which by the teaching of their first instructor, King
Olaf, was established among them, firm and immov-
able under the Roman See and the apostolic form ;
and whereas in after years, from the constant and
ardent zeal of the inhabitants of the said island,
many sacred buildings and a handsome cathedral
have been erected on the island, in which the service
of God was diligently performed, until heathen for-
eigners from the neighboring coast, thirty years
since, came with a fleet against them, and fell with
fury upon all the people who dwell there, and laid
waste the land itself, and the holy buildings with fire
and sword, without leaving upon the island of
Greenland other than the few people who are said
to be far off, and which they (the savages) by reason
of high mountains could not reach, and took away
the much to be commiserated inhabitants of both
sexes, particularly those whom they looked upon
as convenient and strong enough for the burden
of slavery, and took home with them those against
whom they could exercise their barbarity; whereas,
moreover, the same complaint further saith that
many in the course of time have come back from
said captivity, and after having here and there re-
built the devastated places, now wish to have the
worship of their God again established and set upon
the former footing; and since they in consequence
of the before mentioned pressing calamity, are
themselves wanting the necessary means to support
their priesthood and superiors'; and have, therefore,
during all that period of thirty years been in want of
the consolation of the bishops and the services of the
priests, except when some one through desire of the
service of God has been willing to undertake tedious
and toilsome journeys to the people whom the fury
of the barbarians has spared; whereas, we have a
complete knowledge of all these things; so do we
now charge and direct you, brethren, who, we are
informed, are the nearest bishops to the said island,
that ye, after first conferring with the chief bishop
of the diocese, to nominate and send them a fit and
proper man as bishop.”
In view of the terribly severe winters and for-
midable ice-packs, to say nothing of the difficulties
which the comparatively infant state of navigation
108
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
in those days interposed between the Holy See and
communications carried on through Iceland with
the distant shores of Greenland, we are not sur-
prised that, for whatever reason, the Pope’s decree
remained unexecuted. Nicholas’ successor, Inno-
cent VIII, continued the effort to have a bishop ap-
pointed to the See of Gardar, as, on Innocent’s
death, did Alexander XI, who in a letter written in
1492 ordered the necessary papers to be drawn up
and forwarded. That very year Columbus sailed
from Palos and landed safely on the shores of San
Salvador.
We have evidence that the last Catholic bishop of
Drontheim did what he could to learn what had
become of the unfortunate See of Gardar. But one
hundred years of privation of bishop and priests
had done its work effectually, mercilessly, and from
that date the Catholicity of Greenland became a
thing of the past. Then came the Reformation, and
Norway itself, with its massive cathedral and its
noble monasteries and parish churches, passed into
other hands.
Of the late history of the Catholic Greenlanders
we know absolutely nothing, except what the ruins
of their handsome cathedral and parish churches
and the fragmentary Catholic inscriptions scattered
up and down throughout the land reveal to us. One
would have hoped that as the blood of martyrs is
the seed of Christians, the death of the Saxon bishop
who in 1050 set out from Europe for Vinland to
evangelize the natives, and that of Eric Gnufson,
Gardar’s first bishop, who went directly to Vinland,
and who also won the crown of martyrdom, would
have obtained for the Vinlanders the happiness of
conversion to the true faith; but in the inscrutable
designs of God the same silence and oblivion that
fell like a pall upon Greenland rests equally on her
southwestern trading post.
The above brief account of the first planting of
the Catholic Church in America was necessary that
the share which Columbus had in a similar work
may be better understood. It is a proper prelude
to the history of the Columbian era of the church
treated in the next chapter.
CHAPTER X.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M'CLOSKEY.
i
1
1
j
If the glory of achievements, in whatever order,
is to be measured by their effects, no event, perhaps,
has taken place during the last four hundred years
which has had greater or more widespread conse-
quences than the discovery of America by Colum-
bus. It has changed the face of the world.
Where, four centuries ago, none but heathens in-
habited the vast extent of country now known as
North and South America, there are to-day upward
of one hundred and twenty-five millions of people,
who, under one form of worship or another, pro-
fess the religion of Jesus Christ; and, singularly
enough, by one of these odd turns in the fortunes
of states and empires, the youngest nation in that
vast territory over which once roamed at will the
savage North American tribes, is to-day in some
sense the most powerful nation on the face of the
globe. I do not wish to say that her fleets are as
large and efficient as even those of Germany or
Italy, much less may we regard them as a match
for the naval armaments of France or England;
neither do we mean to imply that she counts her
soldiers by the hundreds of thousands. I do but
point to the fact that the vast capabilities which
manifested themselves so unmistakably in the late
Civil War are in her still. Before that war began
the American troops, all told, numbered scarcely
twenty-five thousand, and these were distributed in
garrisons all over the land. And yet such was the
matchless energy of the young republic that even
before the country had become thoroughly awakened
to the fact that a terrific war was on her hands, half
a million of soldiers had been mustered into the
service and were already in the field. So vast are
her resources, so immense that reserve power which
in the long run always tells, so fine the temper of
her troops when summoned to the field of battle, as
attested by the pluck and skill displayed on both
sides during our Civil War, that it is quite safe to
say that on which side soever the Americans should
cast their strength in any European struggle, vic-
tory would undeniably rest where the stars and
stripes floated over the field.
The European states are very powerful, it is true,
but singly we fear them not. Nothing but a ques-
tion of national honor from which she could not
escape without fighting would ever induce the na-
tion which is, by all odds, the most powerful of them
all, to measure swords with the young republic,
and as for the combination of any two or three of
them (and nothing more formidable is ever likely
to occur), we would neither shrink from the en-
counter nor fear its issue. Her very position — her
shores washed by two oceans over which is borne
the commerce of the world, added to her vast re-
sources in men and money, is guarantee enough, if
guarantee were needed, that, like the old Roman
empire, the United States is one day destined <-o rule
the world.
And here again it is difficult to deal intelligently
with the subject we have in hand without taking at
least a cursory view of what one
The Columbian ,, . , , . .
Bra may call the Columbian era, a pe-
riod most interesting in itself, and
one, too, very closely connected with the Catholic
Church, the oldest religious organization in the
United States, and we may add, the only one of all
others that has retained the same life, and polity,
and form throughout each succeeding age. The
Catholic Church is a powerful factor in the history
of nations. Gibbon felt this truth keenly when he
began to gather material for his famous work, the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a history
which, strange as at first sight it may appear, is, in
some sense, an ecclesiastical history, though writ-
ten bv an unbeliever who mocked at religion. He
had set out to curse; but as he surveyed the mas-
sive grandeur of the church of Ambrose and Augus-
109
110
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tine, and those other great fathers who through
every age have been at once its ornament and its
strength; as he calmly studied its history and be-
came familiar with its life and polity, its wonderful
strength and duration, its unexampled vigor in the
midst of calamities that would have swept from the
face of the earth any mere human organization,
awed by the truth which confronted him, turn which
way he would, he was forced, like Balaam, to bless
and praise it in that magnificent English of which
he was so complete a master. Utinam noster esses
(would that you were one of us) is the expression
that comes naturally to the lips of one rising up
from the perusal of a work which, but for its covert
sneer at piety, its biting, polished sarcasm for all
that Christianity holds sacred, its contemptuous
scorn for its noble band of martyrs and confessors,
and all this made palatable by epigrammatic Hashes
of savage wit, but for the tone of scoffing unbelief
that runs all through it, might well be regarded as
a master piece of human genius.
And here we may be allowed to introduce as an
offset to this unbeliever’s one-sided view of the
Catholic Church a sketch no less beautiful than true,
from the pen of one of England’s greatest states-
men; no partial witness as we know, but one who
for all that was too honest an Englishman to con-
ceal his admiration for what he felt was really grand
and noble. Fas est ab hoste doceri. He seems a
combination of Leo and Bossuet, a blending to
which, with -but slight modification, the poet’s lines
apply so well :
Three statesmen in three distant ages born
Greece, Italy and England did adorn.
The first in dignity of thought surpassed,
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of nature could no farther go,
To make the third she joined thte other two.
But listen: “There is not,” says Macaulay, “and
there never was on this earth, a work of human
policy so well deserving of examination as the Ro-
man Catholic Church. The history of that church
joins together the two great ages of human civili-
zation. No other institution is left standing which
carries the mind back to the times when the smoke
of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when cam-
elopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphi-
theatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yes-
terday, when compared with the line of the Su-
preme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an un-
broken series from the Pope who crowned Napo-
leon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who
crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the
time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is
lost in the twilight of fable. The Republic of Ven-
ice came next in antiquity. But the Republic of
Venice is modern when compared with the Papacy;
and the Republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy
remains. The Papacy remains; not in decay, not a
mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigor.
The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the
farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous
as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and
still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit
with which she confronted Attila. The number of
her children is greater than m any former age. Her
acquisitions in the New World have more than com-
pensated her for what she has lost in the Old. Her
spiritual ascendancy extends over the vast coun-
tries which lie between the plains of the Missouri
and Cape Horn, countries which a century hence
may not improbably contain a population as large
as that which now inhabits Europe. * * * Nor
do we see any sign which indicates that the term of
her long dominion is approaching. She saw the com-
mencement of all the governments and of all eccle-
siastical establishments that now exist in the world;
and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see
the end of them all. She was great and respected be-
fore the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the
Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian elo-
quence still flourished in Antioch, when idols were
still worshipped in the Temple of Mecca. And she
may still exist in undiminished vigor when some
traveler from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a
vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of
London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s.”
This from a statesman who was no friend of the
Church is surely a high encomium. In one papal
doctrine, at least, he was a firm believer, the perpe-
tuity of the Catholic Church — in her proud boast,
too, of semper eadem — ever the same!
It is clear, then, that the student of American his-
tory cannot ignore the Catholic Church, even if he
would. Its glorious history is in-
The church m terwoven with the whole fabric of
America.
his country’s annals. The trusty
guide of the explorers of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, she has left her mark in the very
names given to the natural features of the land.
The first to raise altars to the living God, it was her
crown and her joy to announce the tidings of salva-
tion to almost every nation and tribe from the
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA.
Ill
shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific slopes. She re-
newed in the New World the days of the early
Christians, not only by the blameless lives and mar-
velous self-denial of her ministers, but by the heroic
death of not a few among them who endured the.
torments of martyrdom. Many of them were men
of noble birth who had left happy homes that they
might become instruments in the hands of God m
making Christ’s precious blood reach and sanctify
more souls. No other motive but the love of God
I and the salvation of souls could have moulded them
into the heroes of the cross they were. Wherever
they went with the colonists, their first work was to
erect a church ; a small and rudely constructed one,
if you will, but a church in which might be offered up
the holy sacrifice of the mass.
The church came first, their own rude dwellings
next, and hence it passed into an adage: The altar
is older than the hearth. Nor, rude and simple as
everything appeared to be, was there any random
, missionary work among these hardy pioneers of the
wilderness. Everything was done on a fixed plan
as old as Christianity; for, as order is the rule of ac-
tion in things ecclesiastical, so authority is the key-
note which brings everything into the most admira-
ble harmony. So, whether we regard her in the
light of politics, or of literature, or of morality, the
Catholic Church plays' an important part in the an-
nals of our country. Take away from the pages of
American history that of the Catholic Church, and
what is left? And do people fancy that we are going
to give up the proud boast that as Catholics we rank
as oldest in the land? There is no other church
that can trace its ancestry back through the various
nationalities which from the very start have con-
tinued to people this vast country which we now
occupy. In this great Republic of ours to-day up-
wards of twelve millions of Catholics look up to this
Church as their spiritual mother; twelve millions
of true men and women of every race, knit together
j by the kinship of a common faith, unchangeable,
because it is divine.
When at Chicago, three years ago, the World’s
Fair opened with such splendor, and so honorably
to ourselves as a nation (for the whole world was,
so to say, a looker on, and when even among our-
selves there were misgivings as to its ultimate suc-
j cess), and when people began to discuss and criticise
the Fair and write it up, as the phrase goes, Ameri-
cans were confronted by a fact which it would seem
had never before presented itself to their minds;
they were startled, stung, it may be, as the truth sud-
denly flashed upon them that, historically, at least,
the World’s Fair was Catholic. How could it be
otherwise? for Europe was Catholic when Columbus
set sail on his first voyage of discovery. Ferdinand
and Isabella of Spain, and Columbus himself, and
the noble old monk who stood by him so bravely
and kept up his courage when the hopes of a 'life-
time seemed doomed to utter disappointment; the
captains of the little fleet, and the sailors as well —
all were Catholic. The very name of the admiral’s
flagship, the Santa Maria, was in itself significant;
and when he set foot on San Salvador, Columbus’
first act, after having unfurled to the breeze the
standard of Spain, was to erect the cross which for
well nigh fifteen hundred years had been, through
good and evil report, in honor and dishonor, the
glorious emblem of Catholic faith. Spain was at
this time, both by sea and land, perhaps the most
powerful nation in Europe. She had just had her
reckoning with the Moors, from whom, by dint of
the most desperate fighting, she had won back everv
foot of Spanish soil which centuries before had been
wrested from her by the infidel invader. She was
Catholic, as were England, France and Germany;
as were Sweden and Denmark, and Norway, too,
which we have seen planting her colonies on the
bleak shores of Greenland, her merchants pushing
their trading voyages to the very coasts of New
England. Italy was Catholic, and so were Portu-
gal and Hungary, and the nations lying along the
classic shores of the Adriatic. All, kings and people
alike, recognized the supreme pontiff, Peter’s suc-
cessor, as the head of the Catholic Church. So
that, in point of fact, viewing Columbus’ magnifi-
cent achievements in the light of history, it is as plain
as the sun at noonday to all who do not care to shut
their eyes to the light of truth that to Catholic skill
and energy, to Catholic genius and indomitable per-
severance, we are indebted, not for the discovery
only, but for the incipient civilization as well of a
country which to-day, whether in the arts of peace
or in the arts of war, ranks second to none on God’s
earth.
Nor was Spain slow to reap the fruits of a dis-
covery made under her own auspices. It was but
just that she should. The tide of European emigra-
tion set in at once, and Catholic Spain, first in the
field, reaped the full benefit of her favorable position
on the Atlantic coast. In some respects she and
her then great maritime rival. Portugal, shared be-
tween them the glory and the gain of the discovery
of the New World, just as France and England
I
112 - ' MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
would have done had they had the shadow of a right
to back their pretensions.
Other adventurous spirits followed in wake of
Columbus, and among them the famous Americus
Vespucci, whose good fortune it
was to give his name to the New
World, an honor not fairly won,
and which all felt would have rested much more
gracefully on the shoulders of the great Genoese
admiral. A Catholic discovers America, another
Catholic navigator gives it his name — both from
sweet, sunny Italy —
Followers of
Columbus.
“Where craggy ridge and mountain bare
Cut keenly through the liquid air,
And in their own pure tints arrayed,
Scorn earth’s green robes which change and fade,
And stand in beauty undecayed,
Guards of the bold and free” —
fellow countrymen of Dante, Michael Angelo,
Raphael, Domenichino, Giotto, Leonardo Da Vinci,
and a host of others whose matchless works of art
have for centuries been the admiration of the world.
In 1497 John Cabot, taking with him his son
Sebastian, an Englishman by birth, sailed from Eng-
land with the king's commission, bringing with him
to the northern shores of our continent the first
colony of English Catholics. Close on Cabot fol-
lowed England’s chivalrous rivals, the French ex-
plorers. Spain took possession of Florida, now our
fashionable winter resort, but her early efforts at
colonization there cost her both blood and money;
and it was only after years of hard fighting and un-
expected reverses that she finally established her do-
minion on a firm basis. In 1523 Cortez had already
completed that marvelous conquest of Mexico,
which, even on the pages of the stately Prescott,
reads more like a romance than true history. And
yet it gives us, better perhaps than any other epi-
sode of the New World’s history, a true notion of
the martial spirit, the indomitable courage and
matchless skill of that heroic Spanish chivalry which,
by a power as irresistible as it was terrible, and fight-
ing under the eye of their beautiful queen, Isabella
of Castile, had swept clean out of Spain, like chaff
before the wind, the high mettled champions of the
Moorish hosts.
The very titles of the various bishoprics give us
an insight into the nationality of those by whom
they were established. These sees
Bishoprics. are useful, moreover, not only in
enabling us to fix dates, but also to
point out the relations — now quite done away with
— which various countries once held to one another.
And yet there are people, and their name is legion,
who still fancy that because English is now the lan-
guage of the country, non-Catholic ministers (and
not French and Spanish priests and bishops, as
was actually the case), must have been its first mis-
sionaries, a supposition as unjust as it is groundless;
one, too, that would deprive Catholics of a glory
peculiarly their own.
In spite of the gorgeous and almost Oriental
splendor of the modern Ponce de Leon and the
neighboring hotels, the quaint old city of Saint Au-
gustine, with its ancient type of architecture and
narrow streets, reminds one of a plain Spanish town.
New Orleans and Mobile, now thoroughly Ameri-
can cities, were in the early days of which we speak
suffragans of San Domingo and Santiago di Cuba;
and California’s first bishop looked up to the Arch-
bishop of the City of Mexico as his metropolitan.
The bishopric of San Domingo was established in
1512, that of Santiago di Cuba six years later, and
in 1529 was founded the See of Carolensis, in Yuca- !
tan, just four years before bluff King Harry, the £
founder of the Anglican Church, married the beau-
tiful but unfortunate Anne Boleyn, thus severing ;
forever his allegiance to the See of Peter. In short,
well nigh one hundred years before the keel of the
Mayflower w^as laid in English dock, Catholic
priests — Seculars, Franciscans, Dominicans and
Jesuits — had, as missionaries, been preaching the i
Gospel of Christ in the New World and attending
to the spiritual wants of their flocks scattered up
and down along our gulf coast from Florida to
Louisiana; in Mexico also, and up along the Pacific
Coast, and on through into the wilds of California.
The crumbling ruins of the old adobe churches and
monasteries in Arizona and New Mexico attest to-
day the heroic self-denial and hardy enterprise in
the cause of religion of those early Catholic mis-
sionaries. Nor had their French companions been i
idle in the Northwest, for, as we learn from Park- ;
man, they were doing a similar work from the f
mouth of the Saint Lawrence to the headwaters of j
the Mississippi. Some of these missionaries pene- ft
trated far into the interior of the State of New York,
where they obtained from the bloody-minded Mo-
hawks, not furs, or peltries, or any earthly gain, but
the glorious crown of martyrdom. All honor to
those brave soldiers of the cross! Although the
memory of their heroic deeds has long since passed
into that oblivion which sooner or later is sure to be
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA.
113
the fate of all things earthly, their names have been
written in the book of life by Him for whose sweet
sake they endured privations of which we can now
form but a very faint conception.
This short digression was necessary for a clear
insight into the position which Catholics have held,
and which, in the minds of fair-minded and schol-
arly men, they must always hold in the history of
these United States into which they were the first
comers; where, too, they were the first to proclaim
and guarantee to their fellow countrymen, of what-
ever creed, the great boon of religious freedom —
the right to worship God according to the dictates
of conscience. And yet, strange to say, the per-
sistent denial of this precious privilege by every
English colony, except the Catholic colony of Mary-
land, and that by men whose chief motive for leaving
the homes of their fathers had been to obtain this
very freedom, forms one of the most melancholy
episodes of our colonial history. Catholics discov-
ered this country and planted here the Catholic
faith when there was no other to plant. They had
their share in colonizing it, in developing its re-
sources, and, when the time came, in pledging their
lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the
maintenance of that Declaration of Independence
to which they had affixed their signature, and in
afterwards sealing with their blood on every battle-
field of the Revolution, from Maine to Georgia, that
love of liberty which they had inherited from their
Catholic ancestors on the field of Runnymede.
On that glorious field, famous in the annals of
Catholic England, it- was the Catholic barons who
wrung from King John, who liked it not, the great
charter of English rights. And who will blame us
if, bearing in mind the history of the past, we now
scorn to accept as a favor what, as first comers, we
feel is our right? Our “foot is on our native heath,”
and, in its best, its truest and its noblest sense, we
are “to the manner born.”
8
CHAPTER XI.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
BY RIGHT REV. W. G. M’CLOSKEY.
The Catholics who first came to Kentucky dur-
ing the latter part of the last century, emigrated
chiefly from Maryland, the colony in which liberty
of conscience had been first proclaimed by the
founder, Lord Baltimore.
In seeking a new home in the West, these emi-
grants were actuated by various motives. Some
were led by the desire of obtaining a better estab-
lishment for themselves and their children than
could be had in the lower counties of Maryland.
Others were attracted, it may be, by the reports of
the splendid game that was to be found in a region
which had already become famous as the common
hunting ground of the Indians of the South and
West. But most of these settlers were no doubt
carried away by that wild spirit of adventure which
contributed so largely to swell the tide of popula-
tion which had set in from the various states lying
along the Atlantic seaboard, and notably from
Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
The first Catholic colony came out in 1787, and
was succeeded by others that started in the two
following years. The colonists pur-
First Catholics ciiaseq land in what are now known
in Kentucky. _
as Scott, Boyle, Mercer, Marion,
Washington and Nelson counties, and later on they
spread themselves through that portion of Ken-
tucky out of which were afterward formed Hardin,
Meade, Hancock, Breckinridge, Daviess and Union
counties; and finally, as time went on, led by
the same spirit of adventure that had swayed
the minds of their fathers, they occupied no incon-
siderable portion of the territory which “Old Hick-
ory” had bought from the last remnants of the Ken-
tucky tribes — “Jackson’s Purchase” — whose chief
towns are Paducah, Hickman, Mayfield and Colum-
bus. As early as 1787 there were in Kentucky about
fifty Catholic families, who as yet had no priest to
administer to their spiritual wants, they being at
this time under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
London, whose Vicar-General in the United States
was the Very Rev. John Carroll, subsequently ap-
pointed first bishop of Baltimore.
The first priest sent out to Kentucky by Vicar-
General Carroll was Father Whelan, who had been
a chaplain in the naval squadron fleet of the Count
de Rochambeau, the commander of the fleet sent
by France to aid us in our struggle for independ- [
ence. Three years afterward Father Whelan was j
succeeded by Father William de Rohan, who built i
Holy Cross, the first Catholic church in Kentucky. ;
The privations which they endured on these rough !
Kentucky missions proved too much for the consti- :
tution of these clergymen who were no longer i j
young, and in 1793 they were replaced by the Rev. j j
Stephen Badin, the first Catholic priest ordained in
the United States. [I
Father Badin was just the man for Kentucky. A 1
cultivated, polished gentleman of the old school, of jfl
courtly bearing and scholarly attainments, young, j
energetic and enthusiastic, he threw himself into the .
work before him with the spirit of a Francis of Sales, j J
The Catholics of to-day may form some idea of what ! |
that work was when we tell them that for nearly j I
three years Father Badin was alone in his mission. 1
Three hundred families scattered up and down the j
length and breadth of the State constituted his spirit- [
ual charge. Comforts of life they had none; and ; i
we are told that they had suffered greatly from
spiritual neglect and were in a wretched state of ;
discipline.
But Father Badin was a born administrator, and
in a few years he had succeeded in bringing order
out of chaos. In 1799 he was joined by the Rev.
Mr. Thayer, a convert from Boston, who stayed
with him four years.
In 1806 four Dominican Fathers came from Bel-
gium under their superior, the Rev. Edward Fen-
114
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
115
wick, a Marylander by birth, and afterward Cincin-
nati’s first bishop. These fathers presented them-
selves to the venerable Bishop Carroll and offered
him their services to labor in his diocese. He sent
them ont to Kentucky, where they purchased a
large farm on Cartwright’s Creek, near Springfield,
built a church under the patronage of Saint Rose
of Lima, the first flower of America, and afterward
erected the spacious monastery which they now
occupy.
As the eye scans the horizon toward the West,
one sees the magnificent pile of buildings erected
by the Sisters of Saint Catherine down in the quiet,
lovely Siena vale, and not far from the spot where
once stood a sweet chapel dedicated to Saint Mary
Magdalen. Saint Catherine’s is the cradle of the
third order of the Sisters of Penance in this country.
The present prioress-general of the convent of Saint
Catherine is Rev. Mother Vincent Ferrer Thomp-
son, a woman of singular prudence and great firm-
ness of character, and yet, strange to say, one who
governs rather by her gentleness than by her au-
thority; one of the brightest minds, too, of an order
that can boast of some of the cleverest women in
Kentucky.
The Trappist Fathers came to Kentucky from
France in 1807, and settled near Rohan's Knob
in Marion, then Washington, Coun-
'rhFathers>1St ty > about one mile from the spot
where that brave Irish missionary,
Father de Rohan, built the first Catholic church ever
erected on the “dark and bloody ground.” The
Trappists remained but three years, and then, gath-
ering their household goods, they bade farewell to
Kentucky and made their way down the Rolling
Fork in a flat-boat bound for St. Louis. In 1813,
after many cruel disasters by sea and by land, they
went back again to La Belle France.
Toward the close of Bishop Flaget’s life the Trap-
pists returned to their “Ancient Mother” under the
gentle Abbot Eutropius, bought near Gethsemane
several hundred acres of land, and on it erected, in
Abbot Benedict Berger’s time, that massive pile of
buildings which now affixes the gaze of the traveler
as he comes suddenly upon it from the west, re-
minding him of the splendid abbeys one meets with
as he journeys through the old countries of Europe.
The Abbot Eutropius died, if memory does not
play me false, at the abbey of the “Three Foun-
tains,” outside of the walls of Rome, and just be-
yond the superb basilica of Saint Paul the Apostle.
His successor, the Abbot Benedict Berger, a man
of untiring energy and indomitable will; a spirit
cast in nature’s sternest mould, and who, if a soldier,
would have led his squadrons against the foe in thd
fiercest charge at Austerlitz, died peacefully amid
the austerities of his Gethsemane home. The pres-
ent abbot, known so well, far and wide, for that
courtly urbanity which sits so gracefully on a still
youthful brow, is the Right Rev. Edward Chaix de
Bourbon.
In 1805 Bishop Carroll sent Father Badin, who
bad again been left alone on his mission, a kindred
spirit in the person of Father Nerincks, a Belgian
priest who worked -hand in hand with his friend,
making the Kentucky missions once more blossom
like the rose.
In point of fact, things had been for some time
hanging somewhat loosely together in these mis-
sions, and there can be little doubt that for want of
priests to break to them the bread of life, many
had already strayed from the church of their fath-
ers. How, indeed, could it be otherwise?
To the untiring missionary labors of these two
celebrated priests, Fathers Badin and Nerincks, we
owe it that the faith was kept alive in the hearts of
the early Catholic settlers. They did their best to
hold together the scattered families whose children
they instructed in the principles of their religion,
thus preparing them for the day of joy that was so
soon to dawn upon their troubled souls. The hour
was full of peril. Badin and Nerincks had done all
that devoted men could do to hold their Catholic
brethren together, and it was plain to all that with-
out aid from a higher quarter, religion must suffer
grievous loss. A leader was needed for the occasion,
and Rome, with that sagacity which has ever char-
acterized the See of Peter, saw clearly that how-
ever gifted or able he might be, ours was a coun-
try of too vast extent and had too grand a future be-
fore it to permit the Catholics of the United States
to remain any longer under the government of a
single bishop. So, from his prison walls, while the
star of Napoleon was still in the ascendant, and to
human eyes things looked gloomy enough for that
church which her divine Master has promised should
never fail, Pius the Seventh erected Baltimore into
an archiepiscopal see with four bishops as its suf-
fragans, and thus laid deep and solid the founda-
tion of that splendid hierarchy which to-day stands
unrivalled in the world.
Thirteen archbishops and seventy-three bishops
now rule that church, which, a little more than four-
score years ago, was governed by a single prelate.
116
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The cities selected for the high honor of being
the first suffragans of Baltimore were New York,
Philadelphia, Boston and Bardstown, and Mgr.
Flaget, who, even at that early day, was no stranger
to his future flock, a princely prelate, whose name
is still honored in Kentucky, whose memory is in
benediction, was chosen by the Holy See as Bards-
town’s first bishop. The Catholic church was thus
placed on a solid basis in Kentucky.
At his consecration Bishop Flaget's diocese held
spiritual jurisdiction over all the States and Terri-
tories of the United States lying between the thirty-
fifth degree of north latitude and the lakes of the
North; and between the States bordering on the
Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, a vast
extent of territory now divided into upward of forty-
three archdioceses and dioceses.
Later on, when it was found that Bardstown had
failed to fulfill its early promise, and had practically
fallen out of line as a place of any
Louisvme special note, Bishop Flaget had the
See transferred to Louisville, which,
owing to its splendid position, had steadily increased
in size and resources, and in consequent import-
ance, and had at length developed into the flourish-
ing city we now behold her — the pride of the State,
and with every assurance of a still more glorious
future. Already a great railway center, with a well
ordered municipal government, schools of law and
medicine that compare favorably with the best in
the land, and a bar which for forensic eloquence
stands unrivalled, there is no reason why Louisville
should not one day take a very high place among
the leading cities of the West.
Nor have Catholics reason to be ashamed of the
presentation which, from a religious standpoint,
Louisville now makes, with her massive cathedral,
its noble spire pointing heavenward, her five and
twenty churches and numerous chapels, her well ap-
pointed colleges and elegant academies, and not-
ably the Presentation Academy, second to none in
a city famous for its fair seats of learning; her suc-
cessful parochial schools and infirmaries, hospitals,
houses for the aged poor and homes of every kind,
the best evidence (if proof were needed) of genuine
Catholic charity; her magnificent asylums and ly-
ing-in-hospital and refuges for the outcast of what-
ever description ; in a word, steadily keeping pace
with her sister cities of the North and East in all
that concerns the welfare of humanity, and fully
justifying the sagacious foresight of the venerable
Flaget, whose keen perception had from the very
outset grasped intuitively the truth that Louisville,
not Bardstowm, was destined to become one day the
dominating city of the State, and was therefore the
true point to establish the Episcopal See.
But Catholicity owes much to those centers of
learning, which one by one grew up into vigor and
usefulness under the fostering care of Louisville's
first bishop — Saint Joseph’s College, patronized
chiefly by Southern students, and which went down
during the Civil War; Saint Mary’s, which still main-
tains her ancient rank as an educator of youth ; Lor-
etto, founded by the devoted Nerincks, who came
to us from Belgium; Saint Catherine of Siena,
nestled in the woody vale, and inferior to none in the
finished religious training which she gives her
pupils; and stately Nazareth, moving on with
queenly grace and splendor, the crown and the joy
of the venerable patriarch of the West ; her former
pupils, ornaments of society in almost every State
of the Union, rising up to call her blessed.
These and other institutions contributed their full
share to place the Catholic Church on the solid basis
on which she now reposes in our noble State.
Great and renowned were the men and women of
Kentucky’s brightest, palmiest days. They did their
work, and they did it well; and it
olic Pioneers. behooves Catholics who have come
after them, and have entered
into their labors, to honor their memories and pour
out no stinted praise on their glorious achievements
for the honor of religion. The names of these heroes
and heroines, our ancestors in the faith, should be
household words in every Catholic home ; de Rohan
and Whelan, Badin and Nerincks, David and
Hazeltine, and young Kenrick, afterward archbishop
of Baltimore; Mothers Catherine Spalding and
Frances Gardiner, two bright jewels in Nazareth’s
glorious crown ; and Mother Columba Carroll,
whose matchless administrative ability placed Naz-
areth on the proud pinnacle of fame on which she
rests to-day — noble Columba! whose sweet mem-
ory is embalmed in the hearts of her pupils every-
where throughout that Sunny South she loved so
well.
And there were George Elder and William
Byrne, both founders of colleges, both “old moun-
taineers,” trained in the school of the saintly Brute,
Vincennes’ first bishop; and good old Father Cham-
bige, with his commanding look and eagle eye,
feared and yet beloved by the young Levites whom
he trained for the sanctuary; and Robert Abell,
whose noble bearing, lofty stature and trumpet tones
i
f:
t
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
117
are still remembered, an orator of the Patrick
Henry type; and the venerable Father Elias Dur-
bin, with a host of other noble spirits. But towering
aloft above them all, like Saul among his brethren,
the keystone of this magnificent arch of Catholic
zeal and devotion to duty, stood Bishop Flaget, the
grand old prelate to whom Pius the Seventh had
entrusted the early fortunes of the Catholic Church
in Kentucky.
“Micat inter omnes
Julium Sidus, velut inter ignes
Luna minores.”
With men and women cast in such heroic mold
looming up before us from the twilight of the past,
in no spirit of criticism, but of sadness rather, one is
tempted to set before the eyes of a frivolous and
pleasure-seeking generation the words of the an-
cient bard:
“Ye have the Pyrrhic dance as yet,
Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone?
Of two such lessons, why forget
The nobler and the manlier one?”
The venerable patriarch of the West died in
Louisville in 1850, and was succeeded by the Rev.
Martin John Spalding, who two years before had
been named his coadjutor with the right of succes-
sion.
To the superficial observer the labor of
laying the foundation of the diocese, estab-
lishing in it the various religious communi-
ties needed for its many wants, and notably
those for the education of the young, and
the building up of its churches, would appear
to have been so thoroughly well done by Bishop
Flaget, that Mgr. Spalding had little else to do but
to continue and keep up the noble work of his ven-
erable predecessor.
But in Louisville, as in all other dioceses, priests
were needed for the missions. Worn out by the
severe and constant toil which they had had to en-
dure under a chief at once so active and so energetic
as Mgr. Flaget, the older clergy were gradually
thinning out, they who remained growing feeble;
and as the home vocations to the holy ministry
were insufficient to recruit his diminished forces, Dr.
Spalding’s first step was to go abroad to obtain mis-
sionaries from the crowded seminaries of Europe.
Three or four bright young French ecclesiastics,
two or three Hollanders, and as many Germans and
Belgians, and two bright and energetic young priests
from Ireland — a band, all told, of some twelve or
thirteen — generously offered themselves for the
rough missions of Kentucky; and although this
was upward of forty years ago, three of these young
gentlemen still survive, their heads somewhat frost-
ed by time and the wear and tear incident to hard
missionary life; the oldest of the three, the honored
rector of one of the city churches, the youngest still
doing noble service for the church, the third, for a
quarter of a century the vicar-general of the diocese
and the trusted friend of the bishop.
It may have been this insight into one of the most
urgent needs of the country that led Bishop Spald-
ing. to take so active a part in the
An American , , ,• , , r » ■ r' i
College establishment of an American Col-
lege in Louvain for the education
of priests for the American missions; a work that
has been successfully carried out, and has already
given many excellent priests to the missions in our
own State, and to the country some of the ablest and
most worthy of her prelates. Had Bishop Spald-
ing done no other work during his long and useful
career his name would be honored as a benefactor of
his country.
His great work was the assembling and carrying
out to a successful close the Second Plenary Coun-
cil of Baltimore, over which he presided as the Dele-
gate of the Holy See.
As a writer and a lecturer, this renowned prelate
held no mean rank. His vigilant eye was ever open
to the interests of that church, of which, for well
nigh a quarter of a century, he was a bright and
shining light; and finally, on the death of Francis
Patrick Kenrick, Rome marked her high apprecia-
tion of the worth of Kentucky’s distinguished son
by appointing Dr. Spalding Archbishop of Balti-
more.
At the \ atican Council in which some eight hun-
dred bishops were gathered together from all parts
of the civilized world, in 1869, Bishop Spalding’s
voice was heard in support of the dogma of Papal
Infallibility, and on his return home no prelate was
more earnest in his efforts to impress upon his flock
that dogma’s full and unreserved acceptance.
Two years afterwards this great churchman calm-
ly breathed his last, mourned by a devoted flock ami
by a host of friends in his native State. He was a
gentle, genial, frank and outspoken prelate; one
whose child-like simplicity was one of the brightest
ornaments of a character peculiarly attractive and
beautiful.
Dr. Spalding was succeeded in the See of Louis-
ville, in 1865, by the Right Rev. Joseph Lavialle, a
118
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
bishop whose soul was filled with zeal for religion
— pious, devoted and self-sacrificing. At no time
a man of hardy fibre, Bishop Lavialle’s delicate con-
stitution slowly gave way under the stern demands
made upon it by one who never spared himself in
the service of the diocese. He lived only long
enough to give token of the great things he would
have done had he been spared to a flock that loved
and venerated him for the virtues that had shone so
brightly in him as a priest.
“Si qua fata aspera rumpas tu Marcellus eris."
Dr. Lavialle’s successor in the Diocese of Louis-
ville was the Right Rev. William George McClos-
key, who came to Kentucky from Rome.
Educated at Mount St. Mary’s College in Mary-
land, he entered the seminary there, and in 1852
was ordained in New York by Archbishop Hughes
in the old cathedral where he had been baptized.
Returning to the “Old Mountain,” he succeeded,
in 1857, Dr. Elder (now Archbishop of Cincinnati)
as director of the Theological Seminary, and two
years later, in 1859, Dr. McCloskey was selected by
Pope Pius the Ninth as the president of the Ameri-
can College which His Holiness had just estab-
lished in the Eternal City. Here he remained nearly
nine years, and in 1868 was appointed Bishop of
Louisville, receiving episcopal consecration at the
hands of Cardinal de Reisach in the Church of the
American College. In October of the same year he
returned to his native land and took up his residence
in Louisville.
Having thus given the history of Catholic settle-
ment of the State which seemed fitting, if only as an
introduction, we now proceed to
lay before our readers an account of
the progress which Catholicity has
made in the City of Louisville. Its lengthened
monotony may require an apology, but it is hard to
make it more brief and give a true statement of
what has been accomplished in the years since
Louisville had its first Catholic Church and pastor.
So, trusting to the patient indulgence of our read-
ers a little longer, the churches will claim our first
mention.
Catholicism in
Louisville.
The Church of Saint Louis was the second Cath-
olic Church built in Louisville. The first Catholic
Church in the city was built by Father Badin, near
the river bank and in the western part of the town.
Saint Louis, the second Catholic Church built,
was erected bv the Rev. Robert Abell and was
opened for divine service in 1832. From the ac-
count we have of it, it must have been an imposing
building, for when, on the transfer of the Bishop’s
see from Bardstown to Louisville, there was ques-
tion of building a Cathedral, much regret was ex-
pressed that so fine a structure as Saint Louis’ Church
should be torn down to make way for the more
important edifice. Old Father Robert Abell, so
well-known to the Catholics of Kentucky, was for
many years the pastor of this church. He it was
who in some sense laid solidly the foundation of
Catholicity in Louisville. A man of sterling sense,
of majestic presence, with a trumpet-toned voice,
and the eloquence of a Patrick Henry; crowds of
all denominations thronged to hear him when he
preached. One of the results of the working of
this church was the building of the orphan asylum,
Bishop Flaget heartily endorsing and encouraging
with his approval the work of a few pious and charit-
able ladies who under Mother Catherine’s guidance
had been looking after some stray waifs whose
fathers and mothers had been carried off by the
cholera or prevalent fevers.
The famous Bishop England, who is said to have
emptied the New Orleans’ theaters by the power of
his eloquence, preached more than once in Saint
Louis’ Church, and it was the ’delight of the vener-
able Flaget to see gathered around him there many
of his countrymen who in that day were in high
estate in Louisville.
Such men as Bishop McGill, of Richmond, Bishop
Reynolds, of Charleston, and Father Ben Spalding,
were successively rectors of Saint Louis’ Church,
and the old memories clung- round it to the last,
for about it stood the old familiar landmarks, the
unpretentious residence of the pastor, the little
school house, Saint Vincent’s Orphan Asylum and
the old Presentation Academy with its many pleasant
recollections of dear old Sister Martha, whom all
knew, and none knew but to love, and of other
noble daughters of Nazareth for whom the figure of
this world has long since passed away.
The Bishop’s see having been transferred from
Bardstown to Louisville in 1841, it was determined
to build a new Cathedral on the site of old Saint
Louis’ Church mentioned above. The old church
was at once torn down and the work on the present
noble edifice, St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Assump-
tion, begun in 1849. The venerable octogenarian
Flaget gave his episcopal blessing to the crowd
that had gathered to witness the ceremony of the
laying of the corner stone — the last time probably
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
119
that the time-honored patriarch of the West ap-
peared in public. Under the energetic action of
Bishop Martin John Spalding, Mgr. Flaget’s co-
adjutor, the work went bravely on, under the arch-
itectural supervision of William Keely, who has
erected so many churches in the West. The
Cathedral was about three years building and cost
about $80,000. Its dimensions are two hundred
feet in length, eighty in breadth and seventy in
height. The spire is a noble one, nearly three hun-
dred feet in height, and would have been built of
iron, as originally intended, but for the uncertainty
as to whether the tower, massive as it was, would
support the weight of the iron superstructure ; a wise
provision doubtless when we take into considera-
tion the sandy character of the soil and the in-
creased frequency and violence of earthquake
shocks occurring in the country. The first rector
of the new Cathedral was Father Ben Spalding,
whose untimely death in August, 1868, deprived
the diocese of the services of a learned and efficient
vicar-general. The Rev. David Russell succeeded
Father Ben Spalding, but his health not being equal
to the strain of the onerous duties of his office, he
offered his resignation, and in 1870 was succeeded
by the Very Rev. Michael Bouchet, who, during
the last twenty-five years as rector of the Cathedral
and vicar-general of the diocese, has been his
Bishop’s right arm. The style in which the Cathedral
is built is pure Gothic, and it is to this day one of
(he finest ecclesiastical edifices of the West.
Connected with it is the parochial school, the
boys being taught by Xaverian Brothers, of Saint
Xavier’s College, and the girls by the Sisters of
Mercy of the Second Street Convent. Attached to
it. there is also a fine hall adapted to lectures, meet-
ings, etc., with an excellent reading room furnished
not only with a suitable library, but also with the
principal papers and magazines of the day. The
Cathedral Rectory is a large and commodious
building containing some seventeen rooms, includ-
ing the Bishop’s apartments.
Presentation Academy, a now famous institution,
had a very humble beginning when in 1831 Mother
Catherine Spalding, with two other Nazareth Sis-
ters, began the first Catholic school in Louisville
next door to Saint Louis’ Church, on the site on
which the Cathedral now stands. In a short time
the Sisters moved to the old Academy next door
to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Here they remained
for fifty years. In this Academy were educated
many of the finest women in Louisville, some of
whom, like Mary Anderson, made their mark in
the world. For many years old Sister Martha
Drury, who was equally at home in the cholera
ward, the Academy, or in the management of an
infirmary, was one of the earliest superiors of this
Academy. The Presentation was a sort of training
school for bright young Sisters who were to go out
on the missions, and many of these Sisters who
taught in the old Presentation Academy are at the
head of other well known schools to-day. It was
with deep regret that the Sisters and the scholars
themselves gave up the old place, but it had be-
come so surrounded with business houses and the
din of street traffic had become so noisy that they
found it necessary to gather together their house-
hold goods and take up their abode in the magnifi-
cent Academy which Mother Helena Tormev had
prepared for them on Fourth avenue, an imposing
edifice even on a street famous for its splendid man-
sions. Four stories high, with upwards of fortv
rooms, a beautiful chapel, its fine altar the gift of
pupils of the Academy’s olden days, and all the
appliances needed in a Catholic high school for
girls; a large and efficient corps of teachers, and
a superior who renews in Louisville the memories
of the queenly Mother Columba Carroll, as bright
and dignified as she was cultured, and with that
wonderful charm of manner which wins all hearts.
The new Presentation Academy is at once the
pride of our Catholic population and an ornament
to the city of Louisville, and we may add, that its
admirable and thoroughly equipped kindergarten,
is the delight of the little ones who attend it.
In 1833 the Rev. James Joseph Ferneding was
ordained by Bishop Flaget and was charged with
the spiritual care of the German Catholics living in
Louisville. The Church of Saint Boniface was be-
gun in 1836 by Father Stahlschmidt, who purchased
a lot 210x60 on Green street, on which in the fol-
lowing year he erected a brick church, 80x45. He
died soon after he built Saint Boniface’s and was
succeeded by Father Blanc, on whose death in 1846
Bishop Flaget invited the Franciscan Provincial of
Cincinnati to take charge of the church. The Fran-
ciscans came in 1849, an^ Saint Boniface's has re-
mained in their care ever since. The Rev. Otho
fair enlarged the building by adding seventy-five
feet to its length and giving it a transept sixty feet
broad, thus making it the roomy, dignified-looking
edifice it is to-dav.
120
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The parochial school is an excellent one, having-
in it some five hundred 'children taught by Francis-
can Brothers, and the girls by the Sisters of Notre
Dame, Milwaukee. The school house itself is a
large, three-storv building, with a hall for meetings
and commencement exercises. Under the pastorate
of the present incumbent, the Very Rev. Lucas Gott-
behoede, Saint Boniface’s congregation continues
to maintain its old reputation for zeal and efficiency
in every department.
The corner stone of the Church of Our Lady
was blessed in 1841. The early members of this
congregation were chiefly natives of France. The
Rev. Napoleon Perche, afterwards Archbishop of
New Orleans, was the first rector. The church
erected by him was a fine building and fully ad-
equate to all the needs of the small congregation
which worshipped in it. Father Perche was suc-
ceeded by the Rev. Vital, who was for many years
pastor of Notre Dame du Port (Our Lady of the
Port — Portland), as it was called in the early days.
On his death in 1861, he was succeeded by Father
Bekkers, who built the school house and pastoral
residence. In 1864 Father Peythieu became pastor
of the Church of Our Lady and the large number
of Catholics who were employed in the building
of the canal, having suggested the idea of the neces-
sity of a larger building, the old church was taken
down and a new one erected in its stead in 1867,
by the Rev. Peythieu. But Father Peythieu was
unfortunate in the selection of his architect, the re-
sult being that a badly constructed “self-supporting-
roof” so pushed out the walls from their perpendic-
ular position that in less than two years after the
church had been built, Mr. Whitestone, the famous
Louisville architect, gave the Bishop a written
opinion to the effect that if the building were not
taken down, there was every reason to fear that
it would one day topple down of itself. The posi-
tion was full of peril to the congregation, nor could
the decision of so eminent air architect be disregard-
ed, and the only course for the Bishop was to order
the Church of Our Lady to be rebuilt. However,
the congregation may have regretted the new bur-
den thus placed upon them, they had all confidence
in Mr. Whitestone’s judgment, and they felt that
after all it was the only sensible course to pursue.
So they courageously set about rebuilding the
Church of Our Lady — number three. The new
church was finished in 1S70, and dedicated to the
service of God by the Bishop, assisted by a large
number of the clergymen of the city.
In 1884 came the famous flood which tried men’s
souls and the souls of Our Lady’s congregation as
well, for the water stood three feet deep in their
handsome new church, the pastor's house being in
pretty much the same condition. Father Peythieu
resigned and the Bishop appointed the Rev. A. T.
McConnell to succeed him. Father McConnell built
the new church, but his health compelled him to
take a long rest.
For very nearly twelve years the Very Rev. Alex-
ander Harnist was pastor. He had succeeded
Father McConnell as pastor of Our Lady’s. It was
his great desire to have the church consecrated,
but this could not be done until the indebtedness
on it was paid. He labored hard to liquidate this
debt, and with the assistance of an energetic debt-
paying society, had brought the amount down to
about two thousand dollars when death cut short
his useful career. During his pastorate the beauti-
ful altar which now adorns the Church of Our
Lady was purchased. The pastoral residence and
school house are plain, substantial buildings and
the number of pupils attending the parochial school,
which is taught by the Sisters of Loretto, is about
one hundred and twenty. The church is one hun-
dred and twenty feet in length by sixty in breadth,
and is on the whole a very presentable building.
The present excellent pastor, the Rev. J. J. Cunniff,
is steadily and successfully carrying out the good
work of his predecessor, and through his exertions
the church is, practically speaking, out of debt.
Saint Vincent’s Orphan Asylum was founded in
1832. While the cholera was epidemic throughout
Kentucky, Mother Catherine took
chanties. into the h°use of the Sisters, near
the old Saint Louis’ Church, on
Fifth street, two little girls. As soon as this was
known many came to ask admittance for similarly
orphaned children, and Mother, whose charity often
exceeded her means, received fifteen additional
orphans, and the crowded rooms could hold no
more. Old Father Robert Abell, the then pastor
of Saint Louis’ Church, seeing that the time had
come for establishing an orphan asylum on a solid
basis, obtained the Bishop's approbation, and called
together the ladies of the congregation for the pur-
pose of considering- what was best to be done.
These pious women responded at once to the call of
the pastor, met together and at once made their
plans for the establishment of an orphan asylum.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
121
A fair was suggested and approved, and it was
opened within a few weeks. By their combined
efforts these devoted women raised eleven hundred
and fifty dollars. Astonished at their unexpected
success, another fair was held in the autumn of 1833,
and in this fair they realized another thousand. The
old orphan asylum adjoining Saint Louis’ Church
having become too small, the Sisters removed, in
1836, to a large, roomy building on Jefferson Street,
which, with an addition built subsequently by the
Bishop, served as the- orphan asylum until in 1891,
when the orphans were removed to the house which
they now occupy on the Newburg Road. The num-
ber of children ranges from one hundred and fifty to
two hundred.
Saint Joseph’s Infirmary grew out of the asylum on
Tefferson Street, in 1837, there having been fortu-
nately more room there than was needed for the
orphans.
The physicians of the city, glad to have the bene-
fit of the Sisters’ skillful nursing, availed themselves
of the opportunity of sending their patients to the
institution; but very soon so crowded did the house
become that more ample accommodations became a
necessity. The large building now occupied by
Saint Joseph’s Infirmary, and which had been vacat-
ed by its former occupants, was obtained, and under
the care of Sister Apollonia McGill the patients were
conveyed to the new house on Fourth Street, which
has been known ever since as Saint Joseph’s In-
firmary.
This noble institution has been several times
added to and enlarged, nor is it yet able to supply the
ever increasing need of more ample room, and
especially for those who are obliged to undergo
surgical operations. The operating room of Saint
Joseph’s Infirmary is most complete and will com-
pare favorably with all similar institutions in
the country.
Some of the Sisters who nurse the sick at the In-
firmary have been there for upward of twenty years.
Twenty-five years ago Sister Aurea, the present Sis-
ter servant, was appointed to duty at the Infirmary.
One need not name those who work so devotedly
and so generously in that institution. The sick and
the suffering have them engraved in their hearts.
The cholera, which in Kentucky was most disas-
trous, began in Louisville in 1832, and caused the
universal panic which goes with such visitations.
People were so much frightened by its suddenness
and at the number who fell sick at the same time
that they were utterly unable to help one another.
The Board of Health, seeing itself powerless to
cope with the disease and consequent widespread
alarm, turned to the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
for help in their distress. The small community,
then only in its beginning, willingly accepted the
wTork among the poor and afflicted, nursing where-
ever called to go, and aiding in every way those
stricken down with the disease. And, as few per-
sons were willing to run the risk of certain contagion
in those last hours, when death did come, it was not
to be expected that they would have courage enough
to bury the unfortunate victims of the plague, so this
duty also fell but too often to the lot of the wearied
Sisters. Mother Catherine worked side by side with
her little community of brave women, who went
from house to house, from bedside to bedside, com-
forting and consoling until the cholera had run its
course. Three of the Sisters fell victims to the dis-
ease.
The following is a memorandum of the agree-
ment entered into between General Robert Ander-
son and Bishop Martin John Spalding:
“Louisville, September 24, 1861.
“1st. The Sisters of Charity will nurse the
wounded under the direction of the army surgeons
without any intermediate authority or interference
whatever.
“2d. Everything necessary for the lodging and
nursing of the wounded and sick will be supplied to
them without putting them to any expense, they giv-
ing their services gratuitously.
“3d. So far as circumstances will allow, they
shall have every facility for attending to their relig-
ious and devotional exercises.
(Signed) “ROBERT ANDERSON,
“Brig.-General U. S. A., Commanding.
“M. J. SPALDING,
“Bishop of Louisville.”
The military hospitals to which the Sisters pro-
ceeded at once were: Hospital No. 1, warehouse
rooms at the corner of Broadway and Ninth streets;
No. 2, Mr. Munn’s plow factory, and No. 3, the
Averv plow factory. The Sisters nursed and cared
for the wounded, aiding the surgeons-in every pos-
sible way.
Many are still living of those who worked in the
hospitals, some at orphanages, others continuing
to care for the sick and dying, one of the band dying
122
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
with fever in the discharge of her duties during the
war.
The House of the Good Shepherd, which has done
so much good here, and which from Louisville
spread throughout the United States, came to the
city in 1842, invited by Bishop Flaget, to extend the
work of the saving of souls in his diocese. The
order was founded in Angers, in France, by the Rev.
Father Eudes, who, realizing that for the outcast
woman there was no mercy in the world, deter-
mined on the beginning of a work which would
help and save them, and, above all, protect the
young from vice and its consequences. Five Sis-
ters were selected for the first mission of the order
in the United States, and after every manner of pri-
vation and suffering on sea, and more especially on
their journey by land from New York, they reached
Louisville on the first day of December, 1842. Wel-
comed most cordially by Bishop Flaget, they at
first accepted the hospitality of the good Sisters at
Loretto, at Cedar Grove. Very soon a large piece
of ground was purchased at the corner of Eighth
and Madison streets, and in the spring of 1843 the
building was begun. By September the convent
was in a measure ready for occupancy and the Sis-
ters took possession. In 1867 the house on Bank
Street was finished, and the Mother Provincial
moved into it with the main body of Sisters and
penitents. The “penitents” are they who, abandon-
ing a life of sin, come to the convent for the pur-
pose of reforming their lives by the kindly aid of the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who themselves in a
long preparation of discipline and prayer have been
fitted for the work which their order has undertaken
to accomplish. Ordinarily the penitent, after two
or three years spent in industrious occupation and
daily devotion to duty, is enabled to forget her past
and live it down. Then she can either go back to
her family or friends, or may, if she so wishes, be
sent away to some other city far from the associa-
tions which have dragged her into sin. Some peni-
tents ask and are permitted to remain longer in the
convent, and if the superior decides it to be best,
and their conduct has given every encouragement
to admit it, they are allowed to become consecrated
penitents. Others again strive for a still higher and
holier life. These are called Magdalens. They
live under the rule of the third order of Mount Car-
mel, make annual vows, and are to be found in
every house of the order wherever established. And
if the world only knew what really beautiful and
blameless lives these young women lead, who have
been so helped, its scoffing would be turned into
devout thankfulness that the good God had raised
up an order of such self-sacrificing women, whose
daily lives are devoted to the reclaiming of all that is
saddest in the life of woman. So may be seen at
a glance what this order has done in its completed
fifty years of work in our city. Thousands of souls I
saved, thousands of the young snatched from the
temptation which would have made them outcasts
of society. Then how many have gone back to
labor in the world wholly and entirely reformed,
willing and ready to help those about them whom
they see in danger of being lost by the same tempta-
tion from which they have themselves happily es-
caped. They cannot, however, be received into the
regular order of the Good Shepherd, but form by
themselves a most excellent and edifying body of
women, their lives hidden with Christ in God.
There is also a preservation class for younger girls,
who, removed from all evil surroundings, by a
course of discipline, study and work, are materially
assisted to live virtuously, and give good example
when they go out into the world to discharge those |
duties which may devolve on them. i
These three institutions support themselves at j
what best suits the capabilities of the young girls. {
Saint Xavier’s laundry has been long established, 1
and the exquisite needlework of the Good Shepherd
Convent has been long known as of the finest and |
best since they first came to us from France. It f
would seem as if the same needlewoman had in-
structed in each house these fifty years, so uniform,
so perfect is the work.
From the Eighth Street mustard seed the results
may be seen, and how it has grown, and been car- f
ried from Louisville throughout the States, until j
nearly every individual diocese has its House of the
Good Shepherd. With what a feeling of laudable
pride can Louisville point to the little sapling of
1842 grown to so mighty and wide spreading a tree.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception was
built under the pastorship of Rev. C. Boeswald, who
began the work in 1845, and finished
Churches. it: in i847- It was, so to say, the
aristocratic church of the German
congregations of the early days of Louisville Ca-
tholicity. Father Boeswald was a good preacher, I
energetic in his work, a clever man of business, and 1
thoroughly interested in the welfare of his country-
men who had cast their fortunes in this portion of the
State. And this old and well-ordered congregation,
althoug'h no longer German, as it once was, still
THE CATHOLIC CHyRCH IN KENTUCKY.
clings to its early traditions, and as being, perhaps,
one of the oldest and wealthiest congregations, is
no doubt entitled in some sense at least to lead the
way.
The Rev. Fathers Vandeutekom and Brandt were
for many years pastors of this congregation. The
church is a fine, solid building, and quite capable
of accommodating its now somewhat diminished
numbers. Business is encroaching on the neigh-
borhood, and in the course of time will lessen still
more the strength of this once compact congrega-
tion. The parochial schools are excellent. The
church is now under the pastorship of the Rev.
Henry Westermann, a gentleman who is beloved bv
his flock and who has done much to advance the
interests of religion during the few years he has
spent in their midst. The splendid parochial school
house, with its magnificent hall, is an ornament to
the city, and an evidence, if evidences were needed,
of the interest which Father Westermann has always
taken in the Christian education of the young. To
him is chiefly due the erection of this noble building,
one hundred and twenty feet in length and fifty-four
in breadth, with its two stories and basement. This
solid building, which has cost $17,000.00, will stand
as a monument of Father Westermann’s earnest zeal
in carrying out to complete success what he felt was
the greatest blessing he could confer on the youth-
ful members of his flock. This noble structure
speaks equally well for the generosity and devoted-
ness of the congregation.
The old Saint Patrick’s Church, a solid but plain
brick building, was put up in 1853 by the Rev.
Thomas Joyce, who was its first pastor. In the
course of nine years it was found necessary to build
a new church, and the present structure was also
erected by Father Joyce and dedicated to the service
of God in 1862. On the death of the Rev. Father
Joyce in 1868, he was succeeded by the Rev. Father
P. Lawler, who made many improvements at Saint
Patrick’s. He painted the church several times,
and enlarged the parochial residence The stained
glass windows are evidence of his good taste, and
finally he added the spire, a most desirable improve-
ment, which gives old Saint Patrick’s quite an im-
posing appearance.
During Father Lawler’s pastorate Saint Patrick’s
was solemnly consecrated by the Bishop, the third
church consecrated in Louisville. The parochial
school connected with Saint Patrick’s has always
been a flourishing one, the boys being taught by four
123
Xaverian Brothers from the college on Broadway,
and the girls by four Sisters of Mercy from Saint
Catherine’s Convent on Second Street. Among the
English-speaking churches Saint Patrick's ranks
next to the Cathedral.
Father Lawler, who died in the autumn of 1893,
was succeeded in the rectorship of Saint Patrick’s bv
the Very Rev. Thomas F. Gambon, who built that
fine specimen of ecclesiastical architecture, Saint
Paul’s Church in Owensboro. On the death of his
predecessor (owing no doubt to Father Lawler’s
failing health, and the long illness which preceded
his death), there was an indebtedness of between
four and five thousand dollars on the many recent
improvements, both of church and school. This
debt the Very Rev. Father Gambon has cancelled
and is in all things else steadily carrying out the
work of his venerable predecessor.
To good old Father Leander, as he was familiarly
known throughout the City of Louisville, Bishop
Martin John Spalding, in 1853, assigned the duty
of building Saint Martin’s Church, on Shelby Street.
On the 1 2th of October the corner stone was
blessed, and on the 20th of August in the following-
year Saint Martin’s was dedicated to the service of
God.
With great foresight had Bishop Spalding selected
the site of this important church, for it was found
necessary in a few years to enlarge the building to
its present noble dimensions of one hundred and
eighty feet in length by eighty in breadth at the tran-
sept, making it one of the largest Catholic churches
in the city. The congregation, though not wealthy,
as the phrase goes, is as large-hearted and gener-
ous as the necessities of such a church demands, and
they are a musical congregation as well, for in Father
Leander’s time a Munich organ, costing some ten
thousand dollars, was bought, and that, too, when
the congregation was considerably in debt. Noth-
ing daunted by this, but having heard of the great
improvement which had taken place in organ build-
ing during the last quarter of a century, their pres-
ent pastor, the Rev. Francis Zabler, was encouraged
to purchase a new and splendid organ, at a cost of
nine thousand dollars. In 1892, new stained glass
windows, real works of art, the donations of various
members of the congregation, were added. In 1893,
two beautiful side altars were erected and expensive
improvements made on the high altar, which, with
a very beautiful and costly communion railing,
completes the adornment of Saint Martin’s sanctu-
124
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ary. Nor must we forget the fourteen superb sta-
tions of the cross, the pious gift of those who do
not let their left hand know what their right hand
doeth.
But it is in the parochial school that this congre-
gation has put forth all its strength. The fine three-
story building originally erected for school purposes,
and with ample room for four hundred pupils, was
purchased as a girls’ school at a cost of eight thou-
sand dollars. This school is taught by the Ursuline
nuns of the Shelby Street Convent. Besides this
school for girls Father Zabler completed three years
ago a three-story school for boys, taught by the
Brothers of Mary of the Dayton Academy, one of
the finest Catholic educational institutions in the
country. Saint Martin’s school for boys is one of
the best appointed in Louisville, has its heating ap-
paratus, its ample hall for commencement exercises,
etc., and cost twenty-two thousand dollars, all paid
the year the school was built.
This shows that there is life and youthful vigor
at St. Martin’s; and perhaps the most efficient help
that Father Zabler has to carry out the important
work which has been given him to do is a body of
young, zealous and hard-working assistant priests,
who have made his own work easy and his burden
light.
The Ursuline Convent, at the corner of Shelby
and Chestnut streets, was founded in 1864 by the
Rev. Leander Streber, then rector
Ursunne f St Martin’s Church. The order
Convent.
has flourished rapidly, and be-
sides the fine convent, church and school, on Shelby
Street, the Ursulines teach several parochial
schools, and notably that of Saint Martin’s, in the
city, besides having a convent ana novitiate near the
Eastern Park, and a fine boarding school in Daviess
County, which has its English-speaking novitiate
and a flourishing academy. The Ursulines have
schools in many other States besides Kentucky.
The first parish work in the present congregation
of Saint John’s began in a small room on Jefferson
Street, which, in 1854, the Rev. Joseph Elder secured
for church purposes. On account of failing health
Father Elder resigned the pastorship of this newly-
formed congregation, and was succeeded by the
Rev. Lawrence Bax, who in 1855 began his prepara-
tions for the building of the noble brick edifice which
now stands at the corner of Clay and Walnut
streets. The untiring efforts of this hard-working-
priest, his skill in collecting, and excellent judgment ,j!
in making his contracts with the parties who under-
took the building, alone enabled him to erect in five j
years a structure of such fine proportions, and to
have it so far free from debt that it was consecrated >'
I
before it was opened for divine worship in i860.
The consecrating prelate was the Archbishop of
Cincinnati; Bishop Spalding, the ordinary of the i
diocese preached the sermon, and a large number of I
priests filled the ample sanctuary at mass on that
auspicious occasion. The congregation was filled
with joy on witnessing the completion of what to '
them had been a work of much toil and anxiety, but
one of love as well. They had sowed in tears, and
now at the splendid scene which presented itself on
the day of the consecration of their new church they
reaped in joy the fruits of their labors; and gladness
filled the soul of the reverend pastor in that he now
saw the work of years crowned with complete sue-
cess. The school came next, and in its way it was
quite as well equipped as the church itself. That of
the boys is taught by the Xaverian Brothers; that
of the girls by the Sisters of Nazareth. Saint John’s
School has always held a high rank among the
Catholic educational institutions of our city, and the
credit of this is due to the untiring efforts of the j
pastor, who was ever alive to the necessities of a !
solid, religious and civil training of the little ones of i
his flock. But the real beauty of Saint John’s i
Church is from within. Besides a noble marble !
altar, Father Bax has added an amount of ecclesi-
astical ornamentation which gives a very graceful
appearance to this well-ordered sanctuary. Every-
thing needed is there; everything in its proper place I
and in good taste. But the crowning glory of Saint
John’s, that which sets it off to most advantage, and j
at once attracts the attention of the visitor as he !
enters the building, are the stained glass windows, j
which rival everything we have in our beautiful j
city, famous as it is for its works of art. We need
not describe them, for they speak for themselves; j
and they, as well as the other decorations of Saint
John’s, are the one consolation, apart from his
spiritual works, which a priest looks for, the crown-
ing glory of his priestly life.
On his ordination the Rev. Father Beyhurst re-
ceived the commission to form a new congregation f
in the southwestern part of the city, then known as
“California.” A fine lot was purchased, on which
in 1 8 S S Father Beyhurst erected old Saint Peter’s
Church, a small brick building, which served at first
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
125
for the purpose of both church and school. After
he had been pastor of Saint Peter’s six years the
Bishop appointed him to Saint John’s Church, in
McCracken County. His successor at Saint Peter’s,
;«:he Rev. Bonaventure Keller, began in 1866 the
building of one-half of the present church, which
was dedicated to divine service in the following year.
The needs of the congregation demanding the en-
largement of the church, the Rev. Vincent Duomo-
! vich, O. M. C., the then pastor of Saint Peter’s,
added a front to it, making it as it now stands, a
noble and well-proportioned building, one hundred
and twenty feet in length and seventy in width. The
cost of the whole structure was thirty-two thousand
dollars. In 1893, Father Vincent, who had pre-
sided for many years over the interests of this con-
gregation, was compelled by failing health to return
to Europe for the purpose of recuperating his
strength. There he was appointed to take the place
of the present Father Provincial of the order as
grand penitentiary at Saint Peter’s in Rome, where
he now resides.
The present pastor, the Rev. Leo Greulich, has
shown his zeal for the education of the young by the
erection in 1894 of a magnificent school house,
three stories high, which beyond all question is one
of the finest Catholic schools in the city of Louis-
ville, a living proof not only of the pastor’s zeal and
energy, but of the open-handed generosity of his
flock, who stood bravely by him in this great under-
taking. The school house is one hundred and
forty-five feet in length, sixty in width, and cost
twenty-three thousand dollars, a splendid showing
for a congregation which is not overburdened by
the good things of this world. Three hundred and
sixty pupils daily attend the school, the teachers
being members of the Ursnline Convent of Shelby
Street in this city.
Attached to this church is the small congregation
of Saint Andrew’s, outside of the city limits, and
beautifully situated among the hills near the South-
ern Park.
The first church was built in 1866 by the Rev.
Father Walterspiel, and like so many of the Catholic
churches was adapted for both school and church
purposes. In 1871 Father Walterspiel died, and
was succeeded by Rev. Wm. Vanderhagan, on
whose appointment to Saint Louis’ Church, Hencler-
. son, the Franciscan Fathers were invited by the
Bishop to take charge of Saint Joseph's. Father
Aloysius Kurz, O. S. F., labored long and zealously
in this congregation, and finding the old church en-
tirely too small for the increased number of his con-
gregation, began in 1883 the erection of the present
spacious building, which the Bishop consecrated in
1885, a joyous day for both Father Kurz and his
devoted flock. Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati,
sang pontifical mass on the occasion, and Bishop
Rademaker of Nashville preached the sermon.
The old church was then converted into a pa-
rochial school, which is now amply sufficient to con-
tain the pupils who attend it. The school is taught
by Ursuline Sisters, who belong to the convent on
Shelby Street. The new rectory is very conveni-
ently situated, and furnished with all things neces-
sary for the health and comfort of the present excel-
lent pastor, the Rev. Gabriel Lipps, O. S. F.
Saint Anthony’s congregation, on Market Street,
in the western part of the city, was first placed in
charge of Rev. Father Vandeutekom by Bishop
Lavialle in 1866. He it was that purchased the lot
and began to gather the people together. In 1867
the Franciscans were placed in charge of Saint
Anthony’s, and in April, 1867, ground was broken
for the erection of the new church, which was dedi-
cated by Very Rev. Ben J. Spalding in November
of the same year. But the needs of the congregation
requiring it, the Rev. Dr. Louis Miller, O. M. C.,
the then pastor of Saint Anthony, began in 1884 the
erection of the magnificent church which now stands
beside the old one, a building one hundred and
eighty-six feet in length and sixty-seven in width,
with a height of sixty feet from floor to ceiling.
On the 22d of May, 1887, this superb church was
consecrated to the service of God with all the im-
posing ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Rev. Dr. Miller has since built an ample three-
story rectory, sixty-four feet front by forty-seven feet
in depth. In 1896 Dr. Miller began his prepara-
tions for the erection of a school house one hundred
and forty-five feet in length and sixty-eight in
breadth and three stories in height. When built
the school house will be in keeping with the church
and rectory. Four hundred pupils attend Saint An-
thony’s School, the teachers of which are Sisters of
the Third Order of Saint Francis from Syracuse,
N. Y. The Church of Saint Anthony cost sixty-eight
thousand dollars, the rectory eleven thousand, and
the cost of the new school house will be, when fin-
ished, seventeen thousand dollars. This is the work
of the last twenty-five years, a splendid showing,
which — honor to whom honor is due — has been
126
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
I
carried to a successful close chiefly by the present
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Miller.
Saint Michael’s Church was purchased in 1866 by
Bishop Laviallc, and was dedicated and placed
under the charge of the Rev. Michael Power as the
first pastor. For twelve years Father Power la-
bored faithfully for the spiritual and temporal inter-
est of this congregation until his death in 1878. In
1879 Father Herman Plaggenborg was appointed
to succeed Father Power. Father Plaggenborg
labored hard and successfully to liquidate the debt
which he found pressing on Saint Michael’s Church.
On his death the Bishop appointed Rev. John Sheri-
dan as his successor. Father Sheridan has labored
faithfully and successfully in the congregation of
Saint Michael, and has since his appointment to the
parish reduced the debt eight thousand dollars. The
pastoral residence and school are both convenient
to the church. The school is admirably taught bv
the Sisters of Charity from Nazareth.
Saint Louis Bertrand’s Church, the old frame
church building which Bishop Lavialle directed the
Dominican Fathers to build in June, 1866, was suffi-
cient for some years for all the needs of the parish.
But in 1869 the building of a new church being
urgent, the Bishop blessed the corner-stone on the
15th of August in that year. Father Rooney
preached the sermon on the occasion from a stand
erected on the ground. The Rev. D. |. Meagher,
O. P., was the pastor of Saint Louis, and to. his exer-
tions in great part is due the noble stone church
which stands there to-day, and which was dedicated
to the service of God with imposing ceremonies on
one of the coldest days in January in 1873. The
Bishop celebrated pontifical mass, and Father
Thomas Burke, O. P., one of the famous pulpit
orators of his day, preached the dedication sermon.
The building is about one hundred and eighty feet
in length by seventy in width, with a seating ca-
pacity of some sixteen hundred. On entering the
building it presents a very noble appearance. The
beautiful stained glass windows add much to the
splendor of an edifice in every way majestic and im-
posing, and the handsome marble altar, a donation
of Mr. John Watts Kearny sets off admirably the
ample sanctuary.
Attached to Saint Louis Bertrand’s is a large and
spacious school house fully capable of containing
the three hundred children who attend it. The
teachers are well trained Dominican Sisters from
the Mother House of Saint Catherine, near Spring-
field, an order which has done much for the educa-
tion of the young in this diocese. The parochial
residence is a fine one, and amply sufficient for the
needs of the religious community which occupies it.
The first Holy Rosary Academy, conducted by
the Dominican Sisters, was, in 1866, a double two-
story brick house on Fifth Street. Finding them-
selves circumscribed in their first location the Rev.
Mother Benven, the Superior, opened negotiations
for the purchase of the old Pennington property at
the corner of Oak and Eighth and Kentucky streets.
In the habitable space in both houses there was
very little difference, and the Bishop strongly ad-
vised Mother Benven not to pay the price asked for
it, which was thirty-five thousand dollars. The
Holy Rosary Academy was carried on at that place
upward of twenty years, when finding themselves
surrounded on all sides by railroad tracks, iron and
lumber yards, and factories, it became a risk for the
children to reach the school, and it was therefore
closed with the hope of opening a similar school at
some other point.
This order which came first to Louisville in 1869
has for its object the taking care of the aged poor.
We are all familiar with these de-
the Poor voted sisters, who, coming strangers
to a strange land, not even speak-
ing our language, or speaking it imperfectly, have,
after their early foundation, built and filled their
large house at Tenth and Magazine streets with
helpless old men and women; have housed, fed and
clothed them comfortably, and how? By begging
from door to door, from shop to shop, from market
to market, taking everything offered to them, or
nothing, with a smile or a gracious word of thanks,
and yet each day finds them pursuing their noiseless
way, each begging expedition helping their old men
and women with some daily comfort; for these in-
defatigable women will accept any thing that is
offered them. Nothing comes amiss, for all can be
worked over to fill some gap, or minister to some
need. With what confidence do they who see help-
less, dreary old age approaching turn to the Little
Sisters of the Poor, who take them into their home
and charitably care for them to the end. Within
their doors may be seen and known what their
daily self-sacrificing lives are. To beg from door to
door has no easy ring even in its sound. To be re-
pelled, perhaps turned away with a rough word, is
not pleasant, but if those who gave the repulse, or
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
127
perhaps ridiculed these humble beggars of Jesus
Christ were some day to ring at the door and ask to
be taken through the house, and with their own eyes
could see the work they do, certain it is that they
would leave the place with an earnest “God bless
them !”
At least one hundred and thirty-five or one hun-
dred and forty of the aged poor, black and white,
for these good sisters know no distinction of color,
are cared for by the sisters, and as death claims its
own the vacant place is filled by some needy one
who has perhaps been waiting; for even the home
of the old men and women must have its limits.
The very expense thus saved to the city is by no
means inconsiderable. The order was founded in
France, and the first house in this country was
established in Brooklyn. That of Louisville was
among the first, and so through the United States.
On their arrival at one of their new homes they ask
but for bedsteads and straw beds for their sisters, sit
on the floor till chairs are begged, and so it goes
until the dormitories are supplied, and the old
people made comfortable in every way, when some
more room is needed and a larger house goes up, to
be in its turn filled with these helpless waifs of aged
humanity.
It certainly argues well for the charity and gener-
osity of the citizens of Louisville when one sees the
home of these destitute old men and women they
have aided the sisters in building, for it is their rule
to beg only in the city in which their house is
located.
Their little black-covered wagon driven by one of
the old men may be daily seen going about gather-
ing up what may not be carried by hand.
The Sisters of Mercy came to Louisville from
Saint Louis in 1869 and established themselves at
the present academy on Second
SlMercy°f Street, which they purchased soon
after their arrival. This academy
has always been a very flourishing one, being at-
tended by the children of the most respectable fam-
ilies in the city. The first Superior was Mother
Ignatius Walker, who had been formerly Mother
Superior in the House of Saint Louis. The present
Superior is Rev. Mother Columba McLaughlin,
who is well known in our city. In 1872 the sisters
established a young ladies' boarding school on the
Newburg Road in the immediate neighborhood of
Preston Park Seminary. This house is still flourish-
ing under the title of Mount Saint Agnes Acad-
emy, receiving its due share of the patronage of the
Catholics of Louisville under its Superior Mother,
Sebastian Mudd. Besides these two academies the
Sisters of Mercy have charge of several parochial
schools, and notably those of the Cathedral and
Saint Patrick’s. We may add, that for many years
after their arrival in Louisville, they had charge of
the Lhfited States Marine Hospital, which they man-
aged with admirable success and fidelity until the
hospital was subsequently transferred by the Gov-
ernment to other hands.
The Sisters of Mercy opened in 1893 a separate
house on College Street known as the Sacred Heart
Home. This home was intended for ladies who
wish to enjoy the privileges and religious advan-
tages afforded by residence in a quiet, religious
house. On hearing of the purpose of this establish-
ment, Mrs. Mary A. Pyne, a lady belonging to one of
the old families of Virginia, but long a resident of
Louisville, took up her abode with the sisters, and
being a lady of means, endowed the Sacred Heart
Home with her own Broadway residence. This
donation enabled the sisters to purchase the beauti-
ful mansion formerly occupied by Col. Kinkead on
College Street, and there they have continued quiet-
ly to carry on the work they have in hand. When
things are more settled it is the intention of these
religious ladies to open a hospital for incurables;
indeed this was the original purpose for which the
Sacred Heart Home was begun, as a means of en-
abling the sisters to carry on so noble an under-
taking as the Hospital for Incurables when their
number and their resources justify it. The sisters
have taken charge of four of the city parochial
schools, the revenues from which are of great
assistance in helping on the main work.
Saint Augustin’s Church for colored people was
built in 1869 by the present learned and eloquent
Bishop of Peoria, when an assistant priest at the
Cathedral. It was a work of predilection, and for
it he gave up his place as assistant at the Cathedral
until his Bishop recalled him when he had finished
Saint Augustin’s.
The building, which is of brick, combines both
church and school house, has a comfortable pa-
rochial residence, and a school which lias always
been well attended. This school is taught by the
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
Adjoining the present church and pastor’s house
is a fine lot on which it is proposed at some future
128
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
day to build a larger and more commodious church.
Fathers Francis Demeulder and Alfred Coenen de-
voted themselves to this noble work in the early days
of Saint Augustin’s. For many years the congrega-
tion was under the care of the Josephite Fathers,
who have since, under the direction of their Su-
periors, given their entire attention to the English
missions in East Indies. The present pastor, who
voluntarily offered his services for this mission, is
the Rev. John Henry Taylor, to whom this simple
flock is devotedly attached.
This hospital, opened in 1872, was the handsome
memorial erected by Mr. William Shakespeare Cald-
well to the memory of his deceased
eh ShtS. Wife’ Mar^ EHzabeth Breckenridge
Caldwell, graduate of Nazareth
Academy. Mr. Caldwell desired to have the sisters
of this institution placed in charge of the hospital
which he endowed in memory of his deceased wife.
It is a large four-story building, eighty feet front
by one hundred and twenty in depth, and furnished
with all the appliances necessary for such an institu-
tion. The lot cost twenty-four thousand dollars,
the hospital itself about sixty thousand dollars. In
addition to this Mr. Caldwell gave fifty thousand
dollars, the interest of which is to be devoted
to the carrying on of the institution. Dr. David
Yandell, one of Louisville’s most eminent sur-
geons, in a very neat address which he made
at the opening of the hospital, remarked, in
allusion to Mr. Caldwell’s generous gift, “I would
rather have founded this hospital than have
been the commander of a victorious army. I would
rather have my pathway to a better land, as Shakes-
peare Caldwell's will be, bedewed by the grateful
tears of the sick, than made luminous by banners
won on a thousand battlefields.” There are twenty-
four sisters in charge of this hospital, who, under
their Superior, Sister Borromeo, devote their lives
to the care of the sick and afflicted.
This institution, founded in 1842, has been long
and favorably known as one of Louisville’s schools
for young ladies, and is admirably
Sain.t Benedlct s adapted by its healthful situation
Academy. 1 J
and beautiful grounds for school
purposes. The play ground is ample and well
shaded by fine old trees.
Easily accessible by the electric cars from almost
any point, it is yet very quiet and retired. Indeed
one seems far away from the din and noise of the
city, although not without the advantages which the
city gives. A very fine garden should not go with-
out its meed of praise, being a much-needed ac- ||
cessdry when the pupils are many in number.
Mount Saint Benedict stands well, and overlook- ij
ing the Ohio it gives a fine view of it and of the boats
going up and down with the traffic of .every kind %
carried by its waters. Under the administration of
Mother Elizabeth Hayden, Mount Saint Benedict I
was a flourishing academy, had a good school at- if
tendance and a promising future. Mother Austin,
the present Superior, is an excellent woman, and is
eminently capable of directing the academy.
.
The corner-stone of the two-story brick building,
which for many years was used for both church and
school house and known as Sacred Heart’s Church, |
was blessed in 1872, but so urgent was the need of
a larger edifice that as early as 1885 the Bishop,
however reluctantly (for there was still some in-
debtedness on the first building), permitted the
corner-stone of a new church to be laid on the site
of the present one. The memorable cyclone of |
1890, which swept over Louisville on the fatal even-
ing of the 27th of March, demolished the Sacred
Heart Church, which lay directly in the line of the
cyclone’s onward course. The new church, the |
school house, the sisters’ house-residence on Broad- •
way, and Father Disney’s came down in a mass of S
ruins under the resistless power of the elements.
One sister lost her life on the occasion, having been l
caught in the debris of the falling house.
Plans were at once drawn up for a new church of
larger dimensions than the one that had been
destroyed, and in 1890 Father Disney began to col-
lect funds for the rebuilding of his ruined church, i
but his health failed and he died in December, 1891,
while the building was still under construction. The ;
Bishop at once appointed the Rev. Patrick Walsh as
the successor of Father Disney at the Sacred Heart. [
Father Walsh continued the work of building, and 1
in 1892 the new Sacred Heart was solemnly blessed.
The school house attached to the Sacred Heart j
Church is admirably conducted by the Sisters of
Charity of Nazareth, the number of pupils in attend- i
ance being about two hundred.
In 1873 a small frame church was built on Baxter
Avenue near Payne Street by the Rev. James P. j
Ryan and named Saint Bridget’s Church. In a short f
time a parish school house was built and the school
begun, and in a few years it was found necessary
to enlarge the church.
In 1890 Father Henry A. Connolly obtained per-
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
129
mission to build at the corner of Baxter and Hep-
burn avenues a two-story brick building, which is
used at present both for church and school purposes.
Near by is a magnificent lot on which at some
, future day it is intended to build a church suitable
! to the wants of this growing congregation. The
parochial school is admirably taught and is under
the charge of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
The lot on which Saint Cecilia's Church is built
was donated by Thomas Slevin, Esq., and the work
of erecting the new church was put into the hands
of the Carmelite Fathers, who had recently been
i invited by the Bishop to labor on the missions of
the diocese.
The present building, which is used both as
j church and school, is a large and solid one, and it is
to be hoped that it will soon be replaced by a much
larger church. The corner stone of Saint Cecilia’s
was blessed in September, 1873, and in the following
year the ceremony of dedication took place. The
Carmelites having been assigned to Paducah, the
Rev. P. M. J. Rock was appointed pastor of Saint
Cecilia’s, and built the first parochial residence
there. Soon after that a neat brick house was built
on Slevin Street as a residence for the Sisters of
Charity, who were to take charge of the parochial
schools. This parish is growing very rapidly both
in size and importance and bids fair to become one
of the finest in the city. Fathers A. T. McConneli
and W. P. Mackin were both pastors of Saint
Cecilia’s, and are well remembered in the congrega-
tion for the good work that was done during their
respective administrations. The present pastor, the
Rev. A. J. Brady, has recently built a new parochial
residence, and is managing the spiritual and tem-
poral affairs of Saint Cecilia’s with admirable zeal
j and prudence.
The Church of the Blessed Sacrament, for-
merly Saint Columba’s, was erected in 1877 by
the Rev. Edmond Breen for the benefit of the
English-speaking Catholics in the northeastern
part of the city. On the same lot a school
house was built and placed in charge of the Sisters
of Charity of Nazareth. The Rev. Father Breen
was succeeded by the present pastor, the Rev. Daniel
O’Sullivan, who built the pastoral residence, and
erected in 1893 the fine brick Church of the Blessed
Sacrament, in which the congregation of the Blessed
Sacrament now worships. It was dedicated on the
1 2th of November, 1893, and stands there a monu-
9
ment of Father O’Sullivan's untiring efforts to erect
with small resources so handsome a church. The
old one was converted into a parochial school for
this distant part of the city. It is taught by Naza-
reth Sisters.
Saint Agnes’ Church on Barrett Avenue was
founded in 1875, aild was for many years under the
pastorship of the V ery Rev. George McCloskey,
then President of Preston Park Seminary. On his
death in 1890 the Bishop placed Saint Agnes’ in
charge of the Very Rev. Superior of the Passionist
Fathers at the Sacred Heart Retreat, authorized the
Very Rev. Pastor Denis Callagee, C. P., to move the
frame church to the adjoining “Retreat,” where
Saint Agnes’ Church now remains. As yet the
congregation is not a large one, but as the city be-
comes more populous in that direction Saint Agnes’
will take rank with the other churches in size and
importance.
In 1877 a large two-story brick structure which
served for the purpose of both church and school
was erected at the corner of Shelby and Milk streets
by the Rev. Herman Plaggenborg, and called Saint
Vincent de Paul’s. In this building the congrega-
tion of Saint Vincent’s worshiped for many years,
until, as usual, the church became entirely too small
for the increasing congregation. Father Plaggen-
borg having been appointed to Saint Michael’s on
Brook Street, the Rev. John Heising became his
successor as pastor of Saint Vincent’s. He at once
began the erection of the large brick church which
now meets the eye as one passes out Shelby Street.
O11 its dedication the old brick building was con-
verted into a school house, which, now that it has
both stories fitted up for a parochial school, pre-
sents quite a fine appearance. Five hundred schol-
ars attend school here daily under the care and in-
struction of the Ursuline Sisters from the Shelby
Street Convent. Father Heising also built a fine
three-story parochial residence adjoining the church
at the cost of five thousand dollars. The church
itself cost twenty thousand, and is an ornament to
that part of the city.
A fine lot for the Church of Saint Francis on the
Bardstown road was purchased by the Rev. Henry
Westermann in 1886, and he began building in the
same year. The dedication followed. A school
house was built at the same time and was opened at
the beginning of the scholastic year. The school is
130
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
taught by the Sisters of Mercy from the Mother
House on Second Street, and is in a flourishing con-
dition.
The parochial residence was erected at the same
time the church and school house were built, thus
making the whole thing complete. Father Wester-
mann did a good work at Saint Francis’, and after
attending that congregation for many years the
bishop appointed him to the pastorship of the
Church of the Immaculate Conception on Eighth
Street, where this year he erected one of the finest
parochial schools in the city.
Father Westermann was succeeded at Saint Fran-
cis’ by Rev. Louis C. Ohle, who had built the Holy
Trinity Church at Saint Matthew's and who is suc-
cessfully carrying out the work of his predecessor
at Saint Francis’.
Sacred Heart
Retreat.
This beautiful retreat on Barrett Avenue is the
home of the Passionist Fathers, who purchased this
lovely villa some fifteen years ago.
The chief occupation of the Pas-
sionist Fathers is to give retreats
to religious communities and missions in the vari-
ous parishes of this and other dioceses. In this
work these Fathers are eminently successful. Be-
sides giving retreats and missions they engage some-
times in parochial work, thus lightening the bur-
den of the other priests of the diocese. Adjoining
the Sacred Heart Retreat was the Church of St.
Agnes, which five years ago the bishop placed under
the spiritual care of the Passionist Fathers, who are
gradually making Saint Agnes’ parish a center of
activity among its neighbors.
The Sisters of Mercy from Mount Saint Agnes’
Academy teach the children of the congregation.
The present rector of the Sacred Heart Retreat is
the Very Rev. Denis Callagee.
At the very start a large and beautiful lot was pur-
chased by the Rev. Louis Ohle for the congregation
of the Holy Trinity. Out of this lot, which contains
six acres of ground and which will in time become
much more valuable than it is now, it is proposed to
build a large brick church to take the place of the
present frame building, which, however, is still quite
large enough to supply the wants of the congrega-
tion. The church was dedicated in 1882.
The pastoral residence is a large and comfort-
able one and beautifully shaded by fine old trees.
The parochial school is doing as well as could be
expected. The teachers are Ursuline Sisters, who
live at the Sacred Heart Academy, not far distant
from the Church of the Holy Trinity. The Rev.
Henry Mertens is now pastor of this church.
The handsome frame church erected just beyond
the Asylum for the Blind by the Rev. Thomas W.
White was christened Church of Saint Frances of
Rome. The congregation rapidly increased in num-
bers and there is even now need of a larger and more
substantial building.
The parochial residence is on Payne Street, very
conveniently placed, and in every respect suited to
the purpose for which it was built.
Saint Frances’ parochial school, which is taught
by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, is getting on
admirably, and in a few years it is quite clear that
this parish will be not only a well equipped, but a
large one.
The pastor and congregation work together in
the interest of their church, and this it is that is the
chief cause of the success which has attended this
congregation from the beginning.
With the bishop’s permission Dr. Ford went to
Nazareth in the name of the mayor and Board of
Health to request the Sisters to take
rtemilTniS" charge of the new hospital, or pest
house, recently opened for those
who were stricken by the smallpox then epi-
demic in the city. Sister Euphemia of Saint Joseph’s
Infirmary was placed at the head of the brave little
band. A few days later a gentleman of Louisville
wrote to Mother Frances: “The disease is raging
as badly as ever, but we have a new pest house now,
and the care and attention of the Sisters you sent
have made a great change in public opinion here.
People do not look on the pest house as certain
death, as was the case under the old arrangement,
and I am told that all classes go now, which is a
great deal in praise of your noble order.’’ The Sis-
ters remained at the pest house and returned to
Nazareth in the following summer.
In 1892, at the request of the mayor, the Nazareth
Sisters took charge of Saint John’s Eruptive Hos-
pital— a noble institution when we consider its bene-
fits to suffering humanity. Later the city authori-
ties desiring a change in the management of this
hospital, the Sisters withdrew.
i
f
Saint Margaret’s was opened in a very modest
way in 1888 under the charge of a charitable and !
pious lady, and gradually grew in favor with the
people. During the years 1888 and 1889 many
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KENTUCKY.
131
handsome donations were made to the institution,
and notably one of three thousand dollars by Mr.
Sylvester Johnson of New Haven, and another by
the late William J. Gordon of Cleveland, Ohio, who
j,n his will left Saint Margaret’s five thousand dol-
lars.
In 1890 the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth took
charge of the institution and in 1891 they moved
into their present house on Portland Avenue, under
the charge of Sister Virginia Page as Superior.
Saint Charles’ Church, a neat frame church at
the corner of Twenty-seventh and Chestnut streets,
was built by its energetic pastor, the Rev. Charles
P. Raffo, in 1888. The rapid growth of the congre-
gation necessitated the enlargement of the church.
This addition, it is hoped, will make the building
amply sufficient for the accommodation of the con-
gregation for many years to come.
The parochial school is an excellent one and is
taught by Sisters of Mercy, whose convent is on
College Street. The parochial residence is neat,
sufficiently large and well furnished.
For many years this orphan’s home for the chil-
dren of German parents was located on Green
Street, opposite Saint Boniface’s
st. Joseph s or- the Sisters of Notre Dame
phan Asylum. ’
from Milwaukee mother house
having charge of the German orphans. A few years
ago the German Catholics of Louisville purchased
several acres of land on the old Lexington Road in
the suburbs of Louisville, and on it they erected the
present noble home, which to-day is the admiration
of the traveler who sweeps by it in the train as it
enters the eastern part of the city. The building is
fully one hundred feet in breadth, presenting a mag-
nificent front, and seventy feet in depth, and is three
stories high. The grounds themselves, with their
noble old trees, form perhaps the chief beauty of this
admirable orphans’ home, which is carefully man-
aged by a board of trustees, of which the bishop is
the head. The orphans, who always look hearty
and healthy, are under the care of the excellent
Sisters of Notre Dame, who spare no pains in their
efforts to make these dear little ones contented and
happy. The chaplain is appointed by the bishop, as
is also the ecclesiastical superior, his representative
in the management, spiritual and temporal, of this
notable institution.
The Xaverian Brothers were introduced into
Louisville by Bishop Spalding in 1861. The work
set for them to do was the establishment of a high
school and the teaching of the boys
xaverian Brothers, in the parochial schools through-
out the city. In 1864 they opened
a high school in the large three-story building on
Fourth Street, adjoining Saint Joseph’s Infirmary,
and now known as St. Helena’s Home. Here these
excellent Brothers labored hard at their vocation
and were in time so successful that in 1892 they
were able to purchase the magnificent building
which they now occupy on Broadway, between First
and Second streets, formerly known as the New-
comb residence, now Saint Xavier’s College. Be-
tween two and three hundred scholars attend this
college annually. The Brothers are well known
among other things for the admirable manner in
which they prepare young men for business.
The grounds on which the college stands are ex-
tensive, fronting two hundred feet on Broadway
and running back to Jacob Street, on which the
Brothers have erected ample buildings for their
school. There are about thirty Brothers at the col-
lege, some of whom are engaged in teaching the
parochial schools. The president, Brother Stanis-
laus, is an admirable manager and has the confi-
dence not only of his brethren living in the college,
but of the pupils and their parents as well. The
Very Rev. Father Dunn, the chaplain of the college,
is also professor of Latin and Greek at Saint
Xavier’s.
Saint Mary Magdalen’s Church, though not as
large as some of our ecclesiastical buildings, all
things considered, is one of the most beautiful as
well as one of the best appointed Catholic churches
in the city. In its fine stained glass windows we
have depicted the twelve apostles; they are simple,
yet artistic; and the large window of the Crucifix-
ion above the choir is really magnificent, and yet,
unlike the king’s daughter, the chief beauty of this
superb window is from without, for when lighted
up at night and seen on the street it gives one a
very good idea of the Crucifixion. One seems to
see what took place on Calvary, and just as it hap-
pened. The altar is a superb piece of work, and of
just such proportions as the eye of taste would have
selected as a fitting offer for so beautiful a church.
The statues around about so correspond with alt
the other decorations that they seem to have stepped
into their places of their own accord. The organ,
too, is a very fine instrument, built in our own city.
Indeed, everything in the sweet church of Saint
132
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
Mary Magdalen is so suited to the place, so indic-
ative of good taste and judgment, and at the same
time inspires such a spirit of devotion and reveren-
tial awe that the words of the Psalmist rise natural-
ly to the lips: “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty
of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwell-
eth.”
Saint Mary Magdalen’s Church was begun by the
Rev. Edward S. Fitzgerald. The building is one
hundred and ten feet in length and forty in width
and was completed in 1892. The Very Rev. Louis
G. Deppen succeeded Rev. Father Fitzgerald in
1893, and the year following he purchased the present
pastoral residence, which is of ample dimensions
and admirably adapted to the purposes for which
ft was secured, and in every way worthy of this beau-
tiful church.
Attached to Saint Mary Magdalen’s is a thorough-
ly well managed parochial school taught by the Sis-
ters of Mercy, whose convent is on College Street.
Having himself a deep sense of the necessity of
training up the young in knowledge and virtue, the
present pastor of Saint Mary Magdalen’s, although
burdened with the onerous duty of the chancelry
and secretaryship, yet manages to find time to look
carefully after the interest of the parochial school,
which, to use a familiar phrase, is in some sense the
apple of his eye.
Saint Paul’s Church on Jackson Street was built
in 1888 by Rev. Thomas York. Five years after-
ward a new frame church was built on the adjoining ij
lot, and it has been found necessary to add an addi-
tion to this church during the past year. The church j!
is now one hundred and ten feet by thirty. The j
parochial school is taught by the Sisters of Mercy >'
from the College Street Convent.
^ " ill
Saint Aloysius’ Church was built on Payne Street,
near Baxter Avenue, in 1891, by the Rev. Joseph j
O’Grady. There is a neat pastor’s residence at-
tached to this church, but as yet n©*parochial school.
The Church of the Holy Name, on the corner of
Fourth Avenue and O Street, was built by the Very
Rev. Louis G. Deppen in 1891. The parochial resi-
dence is a commodious one and is fully equipped.
The parochial school has been in successful opera-
tion from the very start, and is taught by the Sisters
of Nazareth. The present pastor. Rev. John O’Con-
nor, is carrying out the work of his predecessor.
t
fi
The Holy Cross Church, on the corner of Broad- f
way and Thirty-second Street, was built in 1895 by j
the Rev. I. J. Fitzgerald. It has a pastoral resi- j
dence, a well built school house, the teachers of ,j
which are the Sisters of Mercy from the College I
Street Convent. On Father Fitzgerald’s appoint-
ment to the Church of the Annunciation in Shelby- [
ville he was succeeded at Holy Cross by the Rev. j
F. Cunningham.
I
CHAPTER XII.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
BY RIGHT REV. T. U. DUDLEY, D. D., LL. D., BISHOP OP KENTUCKY.
The man who undertakes to write even the most
meager history of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in any State of our Union, or even in any city or
town, must, of necessity, begin with the planting of
this, the historic church of English speaking people,
upon the Continent of America. And we believe
that we can now say that, beyond all controversy,
by the testimony of Roman Catholic and Protestant
alike, this planting was made when John Cabot, on
the 24th day of June, 1497, discovered the North
American Continent, and planted thereon “a great
cross, with the arms of England attached to its base,
in token of the right of the English Crown, the Eng-
lish people, and the English Church fully to occupy
and dominate this portion of the New World."
Doubtless the man who thus set up the English
cross did speak beneath its shadow English prayers
to Him who died thereon. Doubtless, because Eng-
lish ships did then, as now, carry always the English
Church in the person of its official representative,
the prayers which we English speaking folk are
using to-day were heard on that bleak Labrador
coast four hundred years ago.
Certainly we know that in the following century,
in 1579, the English admiral, Sir Francis Drake,
discovered the northern California
PI« the coast, and that for six weeks the
captain and crew of his ship, the
“Golden Hind,” bivouacked on the shore of Drake’s
Ray, and that Francis Fletcher, priest of the English
Church, held service there for sailors and savages
alike. If discovery and priority of occupation give
righteous claim to possession and rule, then did this
North American Continent, from Atlantic to Pa-
cific, belong of right to England’s throne and Eng-
land’s Church.
Rut the English Church in America cannot be
said to have had an organized existence before the
establishment of the first permanent
History. colony at Jamestown, Virginia,
A. D. 1607. There, nearly
three hundred years ago, began in America the or-
ganized life of the church of the English speaking
people, when Robert Hunt, priest, stood by the
rustic altar beneath the awning hung from the trees,
and celebrated the holy communion. I11 the church
at Jamestown, in the year 1619, met the first elec-
tive assembly of tbe new world, and it was opened
with a prayer book collect by one of the church’s
clergy. Thus the foundation of our republican form
of government was laid by English churchmen a
full year before the ‘‘Mayflower” sailed from Eng-
land with the Pilgrim colonists; seven vears before
the Dutch came to New York; eleven years before
the landing of the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay,
and twenty-seven years before Lord Baltimore
brought his first colonv of Romanists to Maryland.
Naturally, the church of the English speaking peo-
ple furnished the leaders and commanders of that
people, and despite the conflict which had gone on
with the Latin Church for the possession of the
continent since the day of its discovery, and not-
withstanding that various forms of dissent had been
introduced and had prospered in different parts of
the country, yet when the time of trial came of the
men who aroused the colonists to know their rights
and dare defend them, of the men who became the
acknowledged leaders of the struggling States, a
large majority were children of the ancient Church
of England. Of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, two-thirds were churchmen; Liv-
ingston, of New York, who, in A. D. 1764, organ-
ized the opposition to the Stamp Act, was a church-
man; Richard Lee, of Virginia, who proposed the
133
134
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
idea of a congress for all the colonies, and who, in
that congress, introduced the resolution for the in-
dependence of the colonies, was a churchman;
George Mason, of Virginia, a churchman, wrote the
Virginia Bill of Rights, which was by Jefferson, a
churchman, embodied in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence; Washington, who led the armies of the
patriots to victory, was a devout churchman, and
time would fail to tell of the churchmen who fol-
lowed him, of every rank, from general to private
soldier. Madison, who framed the constitution;
Hamilton, its mightiest defender; Marshall, its
ablest expounder; and Charles Cotesworth Pinck-
ney, who inserted its provision that no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification for public
office — all these were churchmen. The Rev. Mr.
Douche, a clergyman of the church, offered the first
prayer ever spoken in a session of the Congress of
the United States, invited to do so by special resolu-
tion. And of the two hundred Anglican clergymen
laboring in the colonies at the time of the outbreak-
ing of the Revolution, less than one-fifth, notwith-
standing their oath of allegiance to the Crown, were
active adherents of the royal cause. Fully two-
thirds of them honestly swore their allegiance to the
new government of Independent States, and of
these, the major part were active and ardent sup-
porters of the American cause. More than one of
them exchanged his surplice for the garb of a sol-
dier, and did battle in the field for his country.
W e must remember that during this whole colon-
ial period of the church’s life, no bishop had ever set
foot upon this continent. The Episcopal Church
had lived without the presence and guidance of a
bishop; had been deprived of that element of its
being which its very title declares to be essential.
The churchmen of England rested content with the
oversight of the church in the colonies by the Bishop
of London, though the rite of confirmation was
never administered, and though every candidate for
the sacred ministry must cross the great ocean to
receive his orders. The infant church in the colo-
nies cried out again and again that this supreme
deficiency should be supplied, that a leader and
commander be given to rule the clergy, to adminis-
ter ordinances and to essay the extension of the
church among the natives. But the petition was all
in vain; independence came before a bishop.
Independence gained, religious freedom estab-
lished by the labors and sufferings of churchmen,
soon it became manifest that the church had suf-
fered as grievously as her sons. Churches and rec-
tories had been destroyed or desecrated and allowed
to fall into ruins. In Virginia had been destroyed
ninety-five of the one hundred and sixty-four
churches standing when the war began, and only
twenty-eight of the ninety-one clergymen remained
to serve at these altars. After a time, glebe lands
and endowments were scattered, and worse still,
the church thus impoverished and spoiled was
stripped bare of even the sympathy and affection of
the people, by the suspicion diligently fostered bv
her enemies that she was aristocratic, royal, British,
and not the church for Americans, although she had
nourished and brought up the men who had made
America.
And this slanderous report of the church’s prin-
ciples and character became an added hindrance in
the way of securing from England for the new na-
tion the historic episcopate, for which the colonists
had plead so long in vain. The unhappy subjection
of the church to the state stood in the way of the
consecration of a bishop for America, because, by
statutory provision, every such candidate must take
an oath of allegiance to the sovereign, and to pass
an enabling act to dispense with this oath would, it
was feared, excite the displeasure of the people of
the newly formed republic. But, after many years
had passed and many difficulties been surmounted,
the episcopate was at last obtained, and Samuel Sea-
bury was exercising this office in Connecticut, Wil-
liam White in Pennsylvania, and Benjamin Samuel
Provoost in New York, before the first Roman
bishop — John Carroll — arrived in America.
Indeed, it may well be remembered that the dio-
cese of Maryland of the Protestant Episcopal
Church was organized in 1783, six
years before the setting up of the
'Roman Catholic hierarchy at Bal-
timore. In 1790, fames Madison was consecrated
Bishop of Virginia, and the church in Virginia and
in the United States was fully organized. But nat-
urally the church in Virginia, struggling to pre-
serve the little that was left to her, could hardly
then make effort to extend her influence to the
unsettled regions of her own territory. So low was
the state of the old church in Virginia even as late as
1811 that great surprise was created by the an-
nouncement that a young Virginian was resolved to
enter its ministry. For seven years, 1805-12, there
had been no convention of the church in Virginia;
in the latter year Madison, the first bishop, died,
and soon thereafter a convention was assembled, at
which were present but fourteen of the clergy and
Episcopate
Obtained.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
135
twelve of the laity. Of the convention of the fol-
lowing year — 1813 — William Meade, afterward
Bishop of Virginia, writes: “Our deliberations were
conducted in one of the committee rooms of the
• Capitol, sitting around a table. There was noth-
ing to encourage us to meet again. When I left it,
it was under the impression that it would be our
last.” “I well remember that, having just read
Scott’s ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel,’ I found myself
continually saying, in relation to the church in Vir-
ginia, in the words of the elfish page, ‘Lost, lost,
lost!’ and never expected to cross the mountains
again on such an errand.”
So much we have felt it proper to state as pre-
liminary to the story of the planting and the prog-
ress of the church in Kentucky and
The Church in - t -ii , -
Kentucky. ln Louisville. The sad story of
England’s neglect of her children
in the plantations across the sea is the ample ex-
planation of the failure of the church to have at-
tained vigorous maturity before the separation of
the colonies from the mother country. The further
effect of the union of church and state is seen in
the long-time suspicion of churchmen in free Amer-
ica, and the consequent slow progress of the church
among the people, a progress which the last census
shows to be at present greater than that of any other
religious body.
Of the adventurous men who crossed the moun-
tains as the pioneers of the great army of settlement
to follow, and who settled the State of Kentucky,
no large proportion had been reared under the influ-
ence of the Episcopal Church. This we believe, not-
withstanding the fact that these pioneers came in
general from Virginia and North Carolina, where
this church was by law established. And, alas! of
those who had been so reared, the larger part had
forgotten their early training when they had become
settlers of this fair new region, and brought with them
to Kentucky more of the teachings of the French
Encyclopaedia than the Book of Common Prayer.
Let Humphrey Marshall, in his History of Ken-
tucky, published in 1824, writes of the condition of
affairs in 1792: “There were in the country, and
chiefly from Virginia, many Episcopalians, but who
had formed no church — there being no person to
take charge of it. At the period of separation from
Virginia (1792) it might have been hazarded as a
probable conjecture that no Episcopalian Church
would ever be erected in Kentucky.”
But long before this time, in one of the com-
panies of pioneers which came in largest part from
North Carolina, under the leadership of Colonel
Henderson, came — according to the statement of
Allen, in his history (page 204) — the Rev. Mr. Lisle,
a clergyman of the Church of England. Allen calls
attention to the fact that, in Collins’ History, the
“name is spelled Lithe.” The statement in Collins’
History is contained in the “Journal of an Expedi-
tion to Cantuckey in 1775,” by Colonel Richard
Henderson, of North Carolina. Therein this dis-
tinguished leader writes of his summons to all the
settlers in Kentucky to meet at Boonesborough,
May 23, 1775, to organize the “first Anglo-Ameri-
can government on the west side of the Allegheny
Range of Mountains.” Henderson mentions that,
just behind his camp, “stands one of the finest elms
that perhaps nature has ever produced.” “This
divine tree,” he adds,' “or rather one of the many
proofs of the existence from all eternity of its Divine
Author — is to be our church, our council chamber,
etc. Having many things on our hands, we have
not had time to erect a pulpit, seats, etc., but hope by
Sunday, seven night, to perform divine service in a
public manner, and that to a set of scoundrels who
scarcely believe in God or fear a devil — if we are to
judge from most of their looks, words, or actions.”
His expectations were realized, for, on Sunday, May
.28th, he enters in his journal: “Divine service, for
the first time in Kentucky, was performed by the
Rev. John Lvthe, of the Church of England.” Again,
the historic Church of English speaking people as-
serts, by priority of service, her claim to the con-
tinent. The first religious service ever held in Ken-
tucky was by her representative.
What were the earliest efforts after the estab-
lishment of the government of the LTnited States, to
place the old church in the new land of Kentucky,
whence they came, and by whom, it is hard to de-
termine. Our fathers, busy with making history,
had no time nor thought for the writing of it. We
know that, in 1789, “the Convention of ye Protestant
Episcopal Church” in Maryland sent greeting “to
all and every the Professors of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church inhabiting Kentucky Government, to
whom these Presents shall come," and commended
to them “the Rev. Mr. William Duke, Clerk, who
has notified unto us his laudable intention of emi-
grating into that country,” and assured them "that
he has been regularly and canonically ordained,
and yt lie has behaved himself as a good and faith-
ful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Xt.” This letter
is still in existence and is in the handwriting of
Bishop Clag’gett, who was at that time rector of St.
136
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
James’ Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
There is, however, no evidence that Mr. Duke,
armed with such goodly testimonial, ever assailed
“the Professors of the Protestant Episcopal Church
inhabiting Kentucky Government.’’ On the con-
trary, his journal, still in existence, contains no rec-
ord of his ever reaching Kentucky. But Claggett,
now become Bishop of Maryland, was ever, as he
says, desirous “to be ye humble instrument of
spreading ye principles of our catholic church to ye
westward.” Accordingly, when Duke failed to go,
he sent the Rev. Edward Gantt, Jr., with his “com-
mission to found churches there.” This clergyman
(Gantt) was, according to the statement of the Rev.
Ethan Allen, D. D., of Maryland, the first mission-
ary of the church in Kentucky, in 1798, and re-
turned to that State (Maryland) and died there in
1810.
Bishop Claggett says of Mr. Gantt, in a manu-
script letter now in the archives of the Diocese of
Maryland, that “he failed;” and that then he “gave
ye same commission to the Rev. Mr. S. Keene, who
spent nine months in this mission and effected great
tilings. He organized several small congregations
in ye State, and, by his preaching and good conduct,
raised ye character of our church and converted
some of the most influential Presbyterian characters
there to our faith and practice. He also brought
over a Methodist preacher, the Rev. Mr. Williams
Kavanaugh, who I afterward ordained and for
whom 1 have a great regard.” The ordination of
Mr. Kavanaugh, above mentioned, we know, from
the life of his son. Bishop Kavanaugh, of the Meth-
odist Church, by Redford, to have taken place in
June, 1800, and the fact is of greatest interest to us,
for he is the first clergyman of the Episcopal Church
whom we know to have officiated regularly in Louis-
ville.
In the letter of Bishop Claggett, from which quo-
tation has already been made, dated “April ye 14th,
1803” — and strangely enough, addressed to that
same Rev. William Duke, to whom he gave the first
mission to Kentucky — he speaks of having recently
received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Kavanaugh,
and says: “Among other things, he informs me
that they wanted two able and faithful ministers,
and yt both he, ye Rev. Mr. Moore and some of the
lay members of our church, thought there would
be no difficulty in making up five or six hundred
dollars for each as salary per year.” In this letter,
the good bishop goes on to tell Mr. Duke, now
“Humanity Professor in St. John’s College, Annap-
olis,” that he has “some notion that this information
was directed by Heaven to you (him).” He wishes lj
Duke to go out and take charge of an academy, “of j|
which tli ere were many in ye State well endowed, |
and shut up for want of teachers,” and if he will ,!;
engage in the work, the bishop adds, “I have
thought of arrogating to myself ye power of consti- ;
tuting you my archdeacon there, and, following
the example of good Bp. Seabury, to take ye liberty,
in ye plenitude of my episcopal authority alone, to
confer on you ye decree of D. D., in order to enable
you the better to discharge all the aforementioned
important duties, but especially the two last.”
Ah! if Professor Duke could but have accepted
the offer thus made in the letter sent to him “per
Mr. S. Chew’s negro Phill,” what different history
we had now to write! Had he come thus authorized
by the Bishop of Maryland to oversee the church in
Kentucky, to build up schools and churches, an-
other story had perhaps been that of the last century.
But this letter is interesting also as containing
specific mention of the Rev. James Moore, to whom
tradition has given the credit of
to Kentucky. having been the first missionary of
the church in Kentucky. Allen and
Collins both award him this honor, and state that J
he emigrated to Kentucky from Virginia in 1792; I
tiiat he came as a candidate for the Presbyterian
ministry; that his trial sermons not being satisfac- !
tory to the Transylvania Presbytery, he was dis- (
pleased, and sought refuge in the Episcopal Church; j
that he became the first rector of Christ Church, r
Lexington — which was organized in 1794 — and in *
1798 the president— Collins says, acting president — ;
of Transylvania LTniversity, and professor of moral ff
philosophy, logic, metaphysics and belles-lettres, !
Collins says: “Mr. Moore was distinguished for j
sound learning, devoted piety, courteous manners, j
and liberal hospitality.”
Bishop B. B. Smith, so Allen reports, discovered ji
the names of six clergymen who, in the early day,
went to England for ordination and returned to
serve the church in Virginia and Kentucky. Allen
states that Bishop Smith had seen the Letters of
Orders of Judge Sebastian, Dr. Chambers, of Bards- ij
town, and Dr. Gantt, of Louisville. Others reported
as clergymen were Elliott, of Franklin; Crawford,
of Shelby, and Johnson, of Nelson. But Allen adds j
more truly: “Not one of these took any part in or-
ganizing a parish, or in endeavoring to revive a
church, whose prospects for the future they no
doubt regarded as absolutely hopeless.”
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
137
The first organized church in Kentucky was
Christ Church in Lexington, which, as we have
noted, was founded, though hardly
F'r church"'26^ organized, in 1794, under the min-
istry of the Rev. James Moore,
but there is no record of any vestry having been
chosen there until July 2, 1809. But as Mr. Moore
was officiating regularly for the congregation at
the time of the formal organization — at a salary of
$200 per annum!! — it is wholly improbable that he
had been doing so since 1794.
We know that the Rev. Williams Kavanaugh,
who had been ordained by Bishop Claggett, June,
1800, was officiating regularly at Louisville in 1803.
Mr. R. T. Durrett, the most zealous and most suc-
cessful student of the early history of Kentucky, has
found that the records of the court in the case of
Carroll against Lacassagne, of Hite against March,
and in other suits, show that orders were entered in
1803 requiring notice to non-residents, etc., to be
read “at the Rev. Williams Kavanaugh’s meeting
house in Louisville, on some Sunday immediately
after divine service.” Kavanaugh officiated in this
“meeting house” until 1806, when he removed to
Henderson, Kentucky, and in the same year there
died in charge of the Episcopal Church. But where
this “meeting house” stood it is hard to determine.
Says Mr. Durrett: “There was a pioneer church in
Louisville, near the old Twelfth Street Fort, which
was used by all denominations in early times. It
stood at the northwest corner of Main and Twelfth
streets, on a lot which belonged to Jacob Myers.
Its erection on this lot at an early date involved the
title in a cloud, which was not dispersed for many
years. It was a simple structure, made of unhewed
logs from the adjacent forest. It was thirty feet
long, by twenty feet wide, and had a broad roof and
belfry. The main door was in what would be called
the gable end, which fronted on Twelfth Street,
with one window over it, and two windows on each
of the long sides. A large wooden chimney occu-
pied the other end. * * * * It is possible that
Mr. Kavanaugh, in 1803, got possession of this old
church, and, after putting it in order, officiated in it
while he was in Louisville. There is no known ac-
count, printed or written, of any other church at
this early date, and tradition has handed down noth-
ing relating to another.”
But nearly twenty years must pass away before
we shall find any living organized church at the
Falls of the Ohio. Of that dark period of the
church’s life in Kentucky we have no record. Mr.
Kavanaugh took up his residence in Henderson,
perhaps, we may conjecture, because there he found
loyal churchmen who had come with Colonel Hen-
derson from North Carolina and had not lost in
the wilderness the ancient faith. The Rev. James
Moore had continued in charge of the congregation
at Lexington since 1794; it had been formally or-
ganized in 1809; had agreed to the constitution of
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States, April 29, 1814, and sent John D. Clifford as
a delegate to the general convention of the church,
held in Philadelphia in that year. In 1816 a clergy-
man, sent out by “The Episcopal Missionary Socie-
ty of Philadelphia” to Ohio, visited parts of Ken-
tucky and, in 1819 (Sunday, June 6th), Mr. Ben-
jamin Birge. of Lexington, was ordained deacon
by Bishop Chase at Worthington, Ohio. The
church in Kentucky still lived. There is preserved
in the archives of the Diocese of Maryland a MS.
letter from the Rev. Joseph Jackson to Bishop
Kemp, of Maryland, dated Bardstown, Kentucky,
September 28, 1820. We do not know under what
auspices Mr. Jackson had come to Kentucky, but
evidently he writes to his own bishop to give report
of his doings and of the condition of ecclesiastical
affairs which he has found. His hope had been,
but we do not know for how long, “that a subscrip-
tion would be made up in Louisville for an Epis-
copal clergyman, and authority given me (him) to
write you to forward one without delay; but so
much of caprice and indifference to everything re-
ligious prevails that delay has been added to delay.
* * * * The excessive heat and prevailing-
disease in Louisville has prevented me (him) from
tarrying but an hour or two at a time in town." He
has left “a subscription paper in the hands of two
or three gentlemen, who have promised to attend to
it.” He fears that the time has passed when the
Episcopal Church could have been established with
immediate strength, “but,” he adds, “still there are
nominal adherents in a sufficient number to induce,
I think, a competent provision in several places, and
the general inefficiency of other ministrations, the
evident lukewarmness which prevails, with little or
no exception where I have been, and the known
fruits of Episcopal ministration in some places — for
instance, in certain parts of Maryland and V irginia,
as well as in New England — these considerations
induce with the thinking and serious, even of differ-
ent denominations, a wish for Episcopal clergymen
— that is, of zeal and ardor, fidelity and wisdom.”
Lie concludes Ins letter, October 5: “ Phe subscrip-
138
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
tion in Louisville has not progressed much during
my absence, but I think there is still hope, from the
character of some of the subscriptions. * * * *
My wish is for a minister of the very finest grade
to officiate at Louisville; none other would answer.
His eloquence, especially, must be winning, com-
manding and irresistible. * * * * But,” he
adds finally, “without a bishop, I see no prospect of
a permanent Episcopalian establishment in the
State, nor indeed in any. Ohio now progresses,
because she has a bishop.” Mr. Jackson has evi-
dently learned the first principles of churchmanship.
And just as evidently, the sine qua non for success
with Kentuckians!
He requests the bishop to direct his reply to “any
respectable Marylander (as Richard Barnes, Esq.)
in Louisville.” And so we are not surprised that,
at the first meeting of Episcopalians, to erect a
church in Louisville, held in Washington Hall, on
Friday, the 31st of May, 1822, the name of Richard
Barnes appears as one of the committee of man-
agement then appointed. John Bustard was chair-
man of this meeting, and Samuel Dickinson secre-
tary. The committee of management to erect the
church consisted of Adessrs. Peter B. Ormsby, Den-
nis Fitzhugh, Samuel Churchill, James Hughes,
William L. Thompson, Richard Barnes and William
H. Atkinson.
The Rev. Dr. Craik, in his “Historical Sketches
of Christ Church, Louisville,” informs us that by the
census of Louisville for 1821 the population was
ascertained to be: White persons, 1,886; blacks,
I, 126; total, 3,012. He says; “A large proportion
of the site of Louisville, now covered with houses,
was then covered with water. Besides innumera-
ble smaller bodies of water, there was one large
lake, famous for its water fowl and for its boating
facilities, occupying the space between the present
site of St. Paul’s Church (Sixth and Walnut streets)
and Main Street. Louisville was then dreaded as
a very graveyard. In the summer and fall of 1822
vast numbers were swept off by a fever of a very
malignant type. * * * * This terrible visita-
tion aroused the surviving inhabitants to the neces-
sity of removing the cause of the pestilence, and
their efforts were so successful that the scourge
has never been repeated, and the city, for many
years, has been one of the healthiest in the United
States.” But Dr. Craik calls attention to the fact
that, although this movement to erect an Episcopal
Church “was in the same year with the sickness and
mortality already spoken of, yet it was not,” as has
been by some suggested, “prompted by that terrible
calamity, for the first meeting was in May, and the
second in July. The pestilence began near the
close of the summer, and by its desolations and its
discouraging influence upon the prospects of the
place, retarded the work of making subscriptions
and collections.”
It is proper that we mention the names of those
founders of the church in Louisville who were added
to the committee of management
Founded at that second meeting mentioned
by Dr. Craik as held in July,
They were Hancock Taylor, James S. Bate, Richard
Ferguson, James C. Johnston and William Croghan.
At that same meeting the name of the church was
fixed as Christ Church, and Richard Barnes, the
“respectable Adarylander,” was elected treasurer.
In May (8th), 1823, the plan offered by Graham &
Ferguson was adopted, and Peter B. Ormsby, James
Hughes and Richard Barnes were appointed to con-
tract for materials and the building same church.”
And at the same meeting, the first vestry of Christ
Church, Louisville, was chosen, as follows: Richard
Barnes and G. S. Butler, wardens; P. B. Ormsby,
John Bustard, John T. Gray, Daniel Wilson, Dan-
iel MxCalister, Richard Ferguson, Hancock Taylor
and Samuel Churchill, vestrymen.
Of course, we know that Dr. Craik is mistaken
in his statement that “up to this time it does not
appear that any Episcopal clergyman had visited
Louisville, with a single exception, two years be-
fore.” And we know as well from the letter of the
Rev. Joseph Jackson to Bishop Kemp, given above,
that the movement was by no means “a spon-
taneous one on the part of the people.” Dr. Craik
mentions that the Rev. Asa Baldwin, of Western
New York, preached in Louisville in 1820, “or there-
abouts,” “baptized and probably gave the first im-
pulse to the desire for an Episcopal church.” But in
that very year the Rev. Joseph Jackson was plead-
ing with the people to subscribe a salary for a resi-
dent minister. Again, whether the people did as
Dr. Craik says, “persevere in this well-doing (the
erection of the church) without any aid or encour-
agement from abroad,” is at least doubtful, in view
of the fact that, in the Episcopal Library of Mary-
land, there is a letter dated Louisville, June 20, 1822,
signed “in behalf of the committee, P. B. Ormsby,
chairman,” addressed to Bishop Kemp, of Mary-
land, transmitting to him a copy of the proceedings
of the meeting of May 31, giving “a probable state-
ment of the expense of building the same (Christ
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
139
Church), and the means of meeting that expense.”
The letter concludes: “It is become the duty of the
committee respectfully to ask of you such assistance
toward the completion of the great work as you may
be able to give, by taking up collections for that
purpose, or otherwise.” Whether collections were
taken up in Maryland or not, we have no knowl-
edge, but from the coming of the Rev. Joseph Jack-
son and his report to Bishop Kemp, we may be sure
that the good bishop did not fail to send that “en-
couragement.”
On the nth of March, 1824, it is recorded that
“at a meeting of the congregation of Christ Church
— strange proceeding for the congregation ! — held
this day at the Washington Hall, the Rev. Henry
M. Shaw was elected rector of said church and his
salary fixed at $1,200 per year in Commonwealth
paper, equal to $600 in specie.” On the 1st day of
May, 1824, it is recorded that Mr. Shaw accepted
the appointment and commenced his ministerial
duties in a temporary building provided for that
purpose until Christ Church should be finished.
“This building was,” says Dr. Craik, “a frame house,
on the present courthouse lot, on Fifth Street, near
the corner of Jefferson and Fifth.”
The same loving historian of the church and peo-
ple he. served so long and so faithfully tells us that
“from the first meeting in Washington Hall, May 31,
1822, to this date, May 10, 1824, the enterprise has
been conducted without the presence of a minister,
and without even an occasional service. It is said
that the honest and determined treasurer (Barnes)
never permitted the work to be in advance of his
collections. As soon as these were expended he
covered up the walls and dismissed the workmen
until funds were again in hand to pay for the work
as fast as it was done. A similar honest policy
pursued in all cases would have saved the church in
this country much scandal, disgrace and pecuniary
loss. Besides the moral benefits of this course, it
it undoubtedly one cause, in the present instance, of
the remarkable firmness and solidity of the walls of
Christ Church.” Alas, that the good treasurer did
not go a little bit more slowly and use the money
first collected to survey and fence off the lot donated
to the church by Mr. Ormsby! Dr Craik says “the
land was part of a five-acre lot, and Mr. Ormsby
told the senior warden (Barnes) to survey and fence
off just as much of the lot as might lie desirable,
and he would execute a deed for it. Amid the cares
and perplexities of his numerous duties, the senior
warden neglected this important matter, until, by
one of those financial revulsions so common in
this country, the whole of Mr. Ormsby’s real estate
passed out of his own control; and when the deed
was actually made, on the 1st of May, 1824, no
more land could be secured than the portion actual-
ly occupied by the building. Thus did a little pro-
crastination lose to the church not only a beautiful
yard and ample space for a rectory, but land that
would have proved to be a valuable endowunent.”
The burial ground, which was in rear of the church,
was afterward presented to the church by Mrs.
Mary O. Gray, the daughter of Mr. Ormsby.
The church must have been completed by the
close of the vear 1824, for, on the 21st of February,
1825, it is recorded in the vestry book that “the un-
sold pew's are authorized to be rented subject to
sale, and a sexton appointed to keep the church in
order, etc.” Here Mr. Shaw, the rector, officiated
until August, 1828. His “showy qualities” “in the
desk and pulpit, as a fine reader and an eloquent
preacher,” says Dr. Craik, “were well adapted to
gratify and develop this newly awakened feeling of
religious sensibility, affording to the church the fair-
est promise of deep and extended usefulness.” But
the fair prospect was soon blasted, for, in the sum-
mer of 1828, “grave scandals were in circulation
in regard to the rector,” and on the 14th of August
was held a meeting of the male pewholders “to pass
some whitewashing resolutions, with the under-
standing that Mr. Shaw was then and there to re-
sign, all of which was accordingly done.”
Disastrous to the new? congregation was the fall
of this man they had chosen as their first minister.
For nearly four years there is no entry in the records
of the vestry, not even of the annual election of
vestrymen. We leave the people of Christ Church
in their angry despair to mark the changes which
meantime have taken place in Lexington; the in-
troduction there of a new and powerful agent for
the extension of the church in Kentucky; the or-
ganization of the diocesan life; and thence we shall
note the coming of the influence to revive and rein-
vigorate the life of Christ Church, Louisville.
Allen, in his history, states that “the Rev. John
Ward was really the first who infused an earnest
church life into any parish in Kentucky." We know
that Rev. James Moore was rector of Christ
Church, Lexington, in 1809, and Allen implies,
rather than affirms, that at about that date the Rev.
John Ward succeeded to the rectorship. The records
show that the Rev. John Ward began to officiate
in Christ Church, Lexington, in November, 1814,
140
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and resigned its charge December i, 1819. “In
1820,” he says, “the Rev. George Chapman suc-
ceeded the Rev. John Ward, who had removed to
St. Louis.” The rectorship of Dr. Chapman is the
true beginning of the church’s life in Kentucky. I11
the fall of 1829 appeared his first volume of “Ser-
mons on the Church,” and it immediately produced
a great and beneficial effect. This book awakened
many thinking men to the necessity of examining
the claims of the Episcopal Church upon their alle-
giance, and among these, first and chief, Dr. John
Esten Cooke, then professor of the theory and
practice of medicine in Transylvania University.
Perhaps no one man had more to do with the de-
velopment and progress of the church in Kentucky
than Dr. Cooke. The first fruits of his conversion
to belief in the Apostolic Church was his volume
published to satisfy his former co-religionists as to
the grounds of his change. It is entitled “The In-
validity of Presbyterian Ordination,” and made a
deep impression upon the people and upon the
church, not only in Kentucky, but throughout the
United States. The convictions which found ex-
pression in Dr. Chapman’s sermons as to the na-
ture of the church necessarily compelled the effort
to establish it in full and perfect form in Kentucky.
Dr. Chapman was himself, in 1829, the only rector
in Kentucky, yet is he not dismayed. On the 30th
of May he visits Danville, gathers the Episcopalians,
organizes a church, and bids the members send
delegates to the convention it is proposed to hold
in Lexington in the following July for the organi-
zation of the diocese. On the 7th of June, just a
week later — and railroads in Kentucky are not yet!
— on the 7th of June lie is presiding in Christ
Church, Louisville, and induces the vestry to send
delegates to the convention at Lexington.
On the 8th of July, 1829, the first convention as-
sembles in Christ Church, Lexington, at 8 a. m.
Morning prayer is said by the Rev. John Ward,
who, if he ever removed to St. Louis, is back again
in Lexington, the principal of a female academy.
A sermon — described by the secretary as “appro-
priate”— is delivered by Dr. Chapman. When the
convention assembles for business, but three cler-
gymen are present, Chapman and Ward, and the
Rev. B. O. Peers, a deacon, who, like Moore, had
been educated for the Presbyterian ministry, but
changing his views of church polity, had been or-
dained a deacon by Bishop Moore, of Virginia, in
1826. Mr. Peers is the principal of the Pestalozzi
Academy, in Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Chapman
was elected president of the convention, and the
Rev. Mr. Peers the secretary. It is interesting to
note, in this day of so-called medical unbelief, when
the study of the physical prevents belief in the spir-
itual, that two great physicians, Ephraim McDowell
and John Esten Cooke, are members of the primary
convention of the Diocese of Kentucky. A consti-
tution is adopted, reported by Dr. McDowell; a
standing committee chosen; delegates are elected
to attend the general convention in Philadelphia in
the following August; the standing committee is
instructed to invite Bishop Ravenscroft, of North
Carolina, to visit the diocese; a missionary society
is organized; and the little handful of churchmen
separate, having made ready another diocese to be
added, in August following, to the American Fed-
eration of the Apostolic Church.
In July the Bishop of North Carolina (Ravens-
croft) fulfills his promise and visits Lexington, and
confirms ninety-one persons. Then, in November
of the same year, comes Bishop Brownell, of Con-
necticut, and visits both Lexington and Louisville.
In the latter place he consecrated the new church
and confirmed thirty-one persons. In his journal
the bishop makes mention of the arrival of the new
rector of Christ Church, Louisville, the Rev. David
C. Page, of whose election there is, strange to say,
no record in the vestry book. Dr.
Earltion°snVen" Craik tells us that, in 1827, Mr.
Page, then recently ordained to the
ministry, had married Miss Eliza Ormsby, of Louis-
ville, and that this connection and the stimulus of
Dr. Chapman’s visit to Louisville in the spring of
1829 probably led to his election to the long vacant
rectorship. So when the convention meets in 1830
there are four clergymen present: Chapman, Peers,
Page and McMillan. In 1831 a new name ap-
pears, henceforth to be the most prominent for fifty
years. The Rev. B. B. Smith has come — in No-
vember, 1830 — from New York, where he had been
serving as a secretary of the Missionary Society, to
be the rector of Christ Church, Lexington; it being
understood, so the tradition goes, that he shall be
elected the bishop of the diocese so soon as its
numerical strength will justify an election. Wil-
liam Meade, the great Bishop of Virginia, is present
at this convention, but leaves before adjournment.
At this convention the Rev. Benjamin Bosworth
Smith was elected bishop of the diocese, but tech-
nical objection having been raised
by the standing committee of some
of the dioceses to the validity of
Diocese of
Kentucky.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
141
the election, on account of a supposed deficiency in
the number of presbyters voting, the bishop-elect
declined to accept the election. Accordingly, at the
convention of 1832, Dr. Smith was again unani-
mously elected, and was consecrated to this high
office in St. Paul’s Chapel, New York City, October
3C i832-
When the convention assembled in 1833 the
bishop greeted the little company, less than a dozen
in number, with these words: “We meet this day
under circumstances calculated to call forth our
most grateful feelings to the compassionate and
unchangeable Head of the church. No ecclesias-
tical body has yet met, south of the Ohio and west
of the Alleghenies, completely organized within it-
self, after the model which the Apostles and their
successors bequeathed to the church. Could I hope,
in answer to your prayers, and by the supply of the
Spirit of Christ, to realize the hopes which led you
to perfect this ecclesiastical arrangement, I should
indeed consider this meeting every way auspicious.
Let no lack of effort on our part, or of faithful re-
liance on the promises of God, prove the sinful cause
of the failure of the large expectations which at-
tended the consecration of the first Protestant
bishop for this portion of the Lord’s vineyard.”
One marvelous sign of progress and growth is
the presence at this convention of eight candidates
for holy orders. The bishop reports nine such on
his list, and tells the convention that he has already
inaugurated measures — -“very imperfect,” he calls
them — for the education of these young men, “whose
hearts the Lord hath touched to desire the work of
the ministry.” “A house has been rented, and by
the pious liberality of a few ladies in Louisville and
Lexington, partly furnished for their accommoda-
tion. These students are at present enjoying the
imperfect advantages thus far provided. A fund
of about a thousand dollars has also been sub-
scribed, of which $345 has been paid in, to be
loaned in small sums, without interest, to such stu-
dents as require assistance.”
Before the convention meets in 1834, the bishop
— as he tells us afterward — acting upon the advice
of “The Diocesan Society” — we suppose this means
the Diocesan Missionary Society — has received
from the Legislature of the State a charter for the
theological seminary. “The buildings of the Ec-
lectic Institute, lately owned bv the Rev. Mr. Peers,
of Lexington, have been purchased for the use of
the seminary at $0,000, and one of the three annual
payments made, or satisfactorily arranged to be
made, before possession was taken on April 20
(1834).” The Rev. Henry Caswell has entered upon
his duty as professor of sacred literature, with the
care of seven or eight students.
When the convention met in 1836 — for of that of
1835 no journal exists — the bright and glorious
prospect is all overcast with the clouds of coming
disaster. The bishop reports that he has been
absent from his diocese almost a year, engaged in
securing aid for the theological seminary; “the whole
sum secured to the church in this diocese, amount-
ing in various ways to not less than $14,000." The
distinguished Dr. Thomas W. Coit is president of
Transylvania University, and he, with Mr. Caswell,
and perhaps others, are teaching in the seminary.
There are eighteen students of divinity in the sem-
inary. But the great trouble has begun, which
shall destroy the seminary and set
AllEpisode.Py back the development of the
church in the diocese for many,
many years. Any reference to this most unhappv
episode is, of course, most painful, but justice de-
mands it, because this unfortunate misunderstand-
ing among good men goes far toward explaining the
slow growth of the church in Kentucky. It is not
necessary to indicate the charges made against the
bishop, or the progress of the angry discussion be-
hind closed doors. At the convention of 1837 in
Lexington the bishop demanded “a trial by my (his)
peers.” The formal presentment was then made
and, in accordance with the canons of the general
convention in such cases provided, the charges and
specifications agreed upon, and the Court of Bish-
ops— Mcllvaine, of Ohio; Kemper, of Missouri and
Indiana, and McCo'skry, of Michigan — rendered
judgment upon each charge and specification. As
to the larger part of the charges that the accused
was “guilty without criminality,” and they add: “In
conclusion the court considers that, in the publication
of so much of the sentence as contains an opinion
of guilt and expression of the censure of the court,
the accused has received the merited admonition
and penalty, and are now therefore prepared to re-
invest him with his robes of office, and receive the
Rt. Rev. Benjamin B. Smith as bishop of the Dio-
cese of Kentucky within the rails of the altar and
reinstate him in their affectionate confidence.” But
alas! they could not restore him to the confidence
of the men who had been his co-laborers. There is
of course peace on the surface, but only there; and
the bishop can never regain the enthusiastic follow
ing of his people. When the convention meets in
142
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Louisville in 1838 the little company of brilliant
men who had been gathered at Lexington about
the seminary has been scattered. Coit has resigned
the presidency of Transylvania, and, with Caswell,
the Leacocks, and Bledsoe, has left the diocese.
Dr. Cooke, who had been perhaps the leader of the
opposition to the bishop, has removed to Louisville.
Thither we will return with him to mark the growth
of the church in this city, under the leadership of Mr.
Page, who had, as we remember, entered upon his
duty as rector of Christ Church just as Chapman
had begun to arouse the churchmen of Kentucky to
united action.
Mr. Page had not been very long in charge of
Christ Church before his deep despondency because
of the indifference of the people gave place to great
rejoicing over the evidences of a new spirit in them.
As Dr. Craik says: “The winter was passed. The
spring time had come. The congregation rapidly
increased. * * * * And before the close of
Mr. Page’s ministry in Louisville this house of God,
in its then dimensions, was filled to overflowing.”
His resignation was accepted in April, 1836. Dur-
ing his rectorship was founded the first of the char-
itable institutions which are now the crown and the
pride of the church in Louisville. The Protestant
Episcopal Female Orphan Asylum was begun by
Mrs. Mary O. Gray, who enlisted other loving and
liberal hearts in the Godly enterprise, and was
opened October 1, 1835, in a house on the north
side of Market Street, between Ninth and Tenth
streets. Six orphan children entered the asylum
at its opening. Thereafter, the asylum was for
many years on Fifth, near Chestnut Street; and
now the children have a most beautiful home on
College Street, near Floyd, wherein they are loving-
ly cared for by a devoted matron and a no less de-
voted Board of Lady Managers, representing the
several congregations of the church in the city. The
institution has an endowment sufficient, with the
gifts it can annually expect, to support it most com-
fortably. It is proper to add that, of this endow-
ment, $10,000 was given in 1843 by John Bustard,
Esq., at that time a member of St. Paul's Church,
but who was one of the first vestry of Christ Church,
elected in 1823.
LTpon the acceptance of Dr. Page’s resignation,
the vestry elected as rector the Rev. Mr. Leacock,
of Lexington, who declined the election. Already
we begin to see the fruit of the unhappy controversy
between the bishop and his presbyters. For eight
months of the vacancy the church was under the
charge of the Rev. J. B. Britton, a young clergyman
just ordained, who had been baptized and confirmed j
in Christ Church, and by its people supported dur-
ing the period of his preparation. His ministra-
tions were most acceptable, efficient and successful.
Not until July, 1837, is the chancel of Christ Church I
occupied by a rector, when there stood within its
rails the Rev. William Jackson. His coming marks |
an epoch in our history. He was a man of rare
gifts, one of a family of five brothers, of whom
three were clergymen, all born in England. He
came to Louisville in the very fullness of his pow-
ers and of his reputation. He came to a church
that had been filled to overflowing by his predeces-
sor. At once, the question was presented anew of
providing additional accommodations for the con-
gregation. We say “anew,” “for the same subject
had already been urged upon the vestry by Dr.
Page in 1835.” To understand the action to this
end finally taken, we must go back a little in our
history and recite the beginnings of the movement
for the erection of a second church — St. Paul’s —
in Louisville. # 1
On the 28th day of September, 1834, twelve citi-
zens met, pursuant to a call published in the news-
papers, in the Louisville Hotel, for
StcifurchS the purpose of establishing an Epis- ,
copal Church in the lower sec-
tion of the city. To show that in this movement j
there was no jealousy of, or hostility to, Christ \
Church, we rejoice to note that the rector of Christ j
Church, Dr. Page, was chairman of the meeting. i
Having appointed a committee to solicit subscrip- f
tions for the object they had in view, the meeting
adjourned until October 4, 1834, the following Sat- j
urday. Of this meeting appointed, if it ever was j
held, we have no record. But we have a record of
a meeting on November 1, 1834, at which St. Paul’s
Church was formally organized, and its wardens and
vestry regularly elected. Immediately thereafter a
subscription list was opened for the purchase of a lot
and the erection of a church. The next meeting of
which we have record was held in Christ Church,
December 10, 1835, when it was agreed to make
effort to find at least twenty persons willing to give
their notes for $500 each, to be discounted and
used in the building of the church, and a building-
committee was appointed. At a meeting eight days |
after report was made of some success. The lot, al-
ready purchased, was paid for, but the “amount of
the subscriptions left was so small that many fav-
ored the erection of a small church, only 26 by 60
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
143
feet in dimensions. The building committee had,
fortunately, larger ideas, and perhaps under the in-
fluence of Stirewalt, the architect, decided to erect
a building 80 by ioo feet in size.
Just at this time we find record of a meeting, May
30, 1836, at which, disregarding the action of the
meeting in November, 1834, new articles of agree-
ment were adopted. Perhaps some technical defi-
ciency in the document drawn up in 1834 may have
led to this. This is probable, and the new docu-
ment is interesting, chiefly because it bears the sig-
natures of B. O. Peers and Richard Barnes. The
Rev. B. O. Peers, the deacon, who was secretary of
the first diocesan convention, had removed to
Louisville in 1834, for the coming storm at Lexing-
ton had ere this made itself felt. Richard Barnes,
clarum et venerabile nomen, is the “respectable
Marylander,” the senior warden and treasurer of old
Christ Church from its very beginning. The cor-
ner stone of the new church was laid by Bishop
Smith, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Peers, who seems
from 1836 to have been in charge of the new con-
gregation, on the 29th of April, 1837. Soon came
the terrible financial panic of that year, and neces-
sarily the work upon the building was stopped,
if, indeed, it was ever begun. But the congrega-
| tion did not disband, or cease to be gathered for
: worship. In the Mechanics’ Institute, on Sixth
street, near Walnut, and perhaps in a school house
on the Court House lot, on Fifth street, the Rev.
Mr. Peers ministered to them, although there is no
record of his ever having been formally elected
, rector. Distinguished as an educator, a professor
in Transylvania University at twenty-seven years
of age, and its president before he was thirty-five,
to the work of education he devoted his life. His
report to the Legislature of Kentucky upon the
Common School System of education, in 1829, may
be said to be the foundation on which our Ken-
tucky System of Schools has been erected. Yet
may it not be forgotten that he ever served diligent-
ly as a minister of Christ, and was the leader of the
little band to organize and establish St. Paul’s
Church, Louisville.
Doubtless, the Rev. Dr. Jackson, the new rector
of Christ Church, was the cause of the measures
! being taken by the Vestry of Christ Church, which
resulted in the completion of St. Paul’s Church,
notwithstanding the financial difficulties. His
church was so full that some provision had to be
made for the people. Says Mr. Durrett, in his
j “Historical Sketch of St. Paul’s Church:” “Mr.
Jackson took hold of the matter with his wonted
energy, and so handled the two congregations in
joint action that they progressed as one body, with-
out the jealousies usually attendant upon such
movements. St. Paul's became the work of Christ
Church, as it was the work of St. Paul’s, and the
result was that the building began to rise and did
not stop until the walls were up, the roof on, and
the interior fitted for worship.” The new church
was consecrated on the 6th day of October, 1839,
Dr. Henshaw, of Baltimore, preaching the sermon.
“Then,” says Dr. Craik, “Mr. Jackson and the
greater part of the congregation took possession
of the new building, leaving a few old and attached
members of Christ Church to begin again the strug-
gle of getting a new congregation.” For a little
more than four years, was this good and great man
permitted to break the bread of life to the large
congregation he attracted to St. Paul’s, and then,
“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” as he
sat at his desk writing his sermon — February 16th,
1844 — was he called to Paradise. His works still
follow him. His influence for the church in Louis-
ville was as great as that of anv other man.
We must turn aside for a moment from the prop-
er subject of our sketch, to note the beginning and
the development of an enterprise
Seminary.1 °f ^ie ch irrch in Kentucky, whose
failure and the causes of it must
be told as being another melancholy factor in our
slow conquest of the people. In the Diocesan Con-
vention of 1839, a resolution was adopted to raise
a committee to consider the expediency of establish-
ing a college in the diocese, under the auspices of
the church; and a further resolution that the trus-
tees of the Theological Seminary be requested to
appoint a committee to consider the expediency of
removing the seminary to any point where the said
college shall be established. The next year, the
proposition is made for a committee to make effort
to establish the college in Madison County, and
with power to begin the work when a subscription
in that and neighboring counties shall have reached
the sum of $10,000. In December of that same
year — 1840 — there is held a special convention of
the diocese in the Court House at Shelbyville, at
which the Bishop reminds the members that more
than a year before they had resolved to make effort
to revive the dead seminary bv uniting it with a col-
lege under church auspices, and then presents the
offer of the trustees of Shelby College to surrender
their institution to the Protestant Episcopal Church.
144
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The overture is promptly accepted, application for
charter is ordered, and the new trustees are desig-
nated. The Bishop is authorized to ask for the
proper amendments of the charter of the seminary,
and the convention adjourns, hopeful and thank-
ful. But, in May, 1842, the Bishop reports that all
efforts to find a suitable head for the college have
proved unsuccessful. In 1844, the Rev. Robert B.
Drane appears as president of the college, and the
Rev. J. Sweet as professor of mathematics therein.
In 1845, Dr. Drane and Mr. Sweet have both de-
parted, and the Rev. I. D. Berry, deacon, has be-
come president of the college, and professor of
theology. And more significant perhaps, the prop-
erty in Lexington formerly used as the Theological
Seminary has been sold for $11,500. This money
has been invested in stocks and the income is to be
used for the support of the theological professor
in the college. The years pass by freighted with
earnest, honest effort to upbuild the institution, and
with disappointment to the aged Bishop and those
clergy and laymen who labored with him. Ill suc-
cess causes, perhaps, ill judged experiments bo:h
in men and methods. And naturally, these result
in heart-burnings and hard words, for the unfor-
tunate doth naturally seek to explain his misfor-
tunes by others’ failure. At last comes the end.
The heart of the diocese is sick with the long-de-
ferred hope that the college shall prosper, and with-
in a short time after Bishop Cummins had assumed
virtual control, perhaps by his advice, the property
was surrendered to the trustees of the town of Shel-
byville. But few Kentucky .churchmen of to-day
had any personal knowledge of it or its administra-
tion, but its living death for so many years will be a
warning to the generations to come that they essay
not to build till they have counted the cost and are
ready.
When Dr. Jackson entered the new St. Paul’s
Church in October, 1839, it will be remembered
that he took with him the larger part of the con-
gregation of Christ Church. A few faithful ones
remained to be the nucleus of another congrega-
tion in the old home.
On the 23d of September, 1839, the Rev. H. J.
Leacock was elected rector, but, to the disappoint-
ment of all, declined. Naturally to the disappoint-
ment of all, for Leacock was a most remarkable
man. He came from Barbadoes to the United
States, and joined his brother at Lexington, Ken-
tucky, where he shone even in the brilliancy of that
seminary circle. When that group of remarkable
men was scattered by the unhappy events of which
we have made mention, Leacock had gone from
Lexington to Franklin, Tennessee, where he had
charge of a small parish. Thither went Mr. G. W. jj 1
Anderson, of Louisville, two hundred miles by stage |,j
coach, and seizing him with friendly violence, actual- J
ly brought him with him to Louisville. For six
months, he labored in Christ Church most success- ,
fully, but he would not remain, for he would not
permanently reside in Kentucky. The old wounds
of the seminary battle are unhealed. He returned
to the West Indies in 1847, and there losing his
wife, placed himself at the head of the new African
Mission and died as “the Martyr of the Pongas.”
Christ Church, which had been closed for several
months before Mr. Leacock came, was, after his
departure in July, 1840, again without ministerial
service, and the little congregation well nigh in des- j
pair. The position demanded such a man as they
could with difficulty secure with the means they
had to support him. To Mr. B. O. Davis, says Dr.
Craik, is due the credit of saving the old parish in
that critical time. He, by personal solicitation,
raised a salary sufficient for an unmarried man,
and then by the good providence of God did Bishop
Kemper visit Louisville and being guest at Mr.
Davis’ house, learned of the need and suggested
the supply. |
The Rev. Thomas C. Pitkin was the man ; he was ,
unanimously elected rector on the judgment of j
Bishop Kemper, and in response to the invitation j
came to visit Christ Church. The visit convinced ij:
the modest man of his own unfitness for l!i
the position, and convinced the people that
he was the man they sought. Again elect-
ed unanimously, Mr. Pitkin came and assumed ,
the charge November 1, 1840. The judgment of j
the people proved correct. Mr. Pitkin was the
man they sought, as was proven by the results of
his four years’ ministry. He resigned the rector-
ship May 22, 1844, and five days thereafter the Rev.
James Craik of Kanawha, Virginia, was elected rec-
tor. Before accepting or declining he tells us that
he wished to inspect the field offered him, and so f.
in June he came, arriving by the mail boat at early ;
dawn. “Before sunrise Mr. Craik was traversing
the streets of Louisville with curious interest. It
was Friday morning and the church was opened for
early morning prayer. He entered the sacred courts,
and so the first house which gave him shelter in
Louisville was the House of God” — that very House
of God in which he should plead for God with men
i
I
i
I
S.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
145
for forty years. On August I, 1844, he began the
labors which ceased only when he departed this life,
June 9, 1882.
James Craik was one of the most influential
, churchmen of his time. He speedily took his place
as the leader in the Diocese of Kentucky, and not
long thereafter as a leader in the general council of
the church. Again and again was he called to pre-
side over the House of Deputies of the General Con-
vention, and never was complaint made of either
his ability or his equity in judgment. Of decided
convictions, a loyal servant of principle, he was fear-
less in the utterance of his convictions and the de-
fense of his principles, whether their application were
to the church or to the State. Because he believed
in the union of the States, as indissoluble by any-
one or any number of the States, he was bold to de-
clare this faith and to give reasons for its holding,
when to do so was not most popular in Kentucky.
Because he believed with all his heart in the princi-
ples of the Catholic church of antiquity, therefore
he was outspoken in their assertion, equally against
the corruptions of the medievalists and the ration-
alism of the modern Protestantism. Busy with his
pen in defense of the truth, busy on his little farm
close by the city in the maintenance of his health by
physical exercise, he yet was a diligent pastor of
his flock, which increased with marvelous rapidity
and regularity; he knew his sheep and was known
of them, and therefore they followed him. His word
was law, his opinion was the end of controversy to
the great congregation of Christ Church, because
he had “fed them with a faithful and true heart, and
ruled them prudently with all his power.” In 1870,
when Dr. Craik began to be an old man and need-
ed help in the administration of his great charge,
there came to be his associate a man as rare as lie,
and yet almost his very contradictory.
John Nicholas Norton, D. D., was a native of
Western New York, and came thence as a very
young man to the charge of Ascension Church,
Frankfort, which he built up from the very
ground. During his long service in Frankfort
he gathered together a great flock, which more than
tilled the beautiful church he had builded. When
Bishop Smith, about the year 1866, removed his
residence to the capital, the beautiful church was
enlarged, and, as many think, spoiled in the enlarge-
ment. Why, we know not, but in 1870 Dr. Norton
consented to become the associate rector of Christ
Church, entering upon his charge September 1 of
that year, and having labored as such most assidu-
ously for eight years, he went to his rest before his
senior, Dr. Craik, on July 18, 1881.
We have said he was the contradictory of Dr.
k raik, and yet we mean not in church principles,
for there they were absolutely at one, save that per-
haps Dr. Norton held higher views of the efficacy
of sacraments than Dr. Craik. But they were unlike
in the manner of their address and in the manner
of their thought. Dr. Norton was an even more
voluminous writer than his fellow. He wrote and
published the lives of many of the bishops, some
story books, and several volumes of sermons. In
style they are as nervous and epigrammatic as were
the walk and the conversation of the writer. Thev
are essentially modern — and we had almost said
American — in their mode of thought and of treat-
ment. Short, pointed-, interesting, we know no ser-
mons like them. But it was the man behind them that
gave them their power. He loved God and believed
that He was ever ready to hear and answer praver. He
loved men — all men — and gave himself to them and
for them. He was the Good Samaritan to thou-
sands of poor afflicted ones, and his love and good-
ness helped them to believe the love and goodness
of their Father in Heaven. They believed in Dr.
Norton, and so learned to believe in Him whom
he preached. Christ Church was filled in his time
with those for whose souls no one cared, and often
now, fifteen years after his death, we are approached
by those whose introduction is that they were “con-
firmed by Dr. Norton.” Prayerful, studious, self-
denying, devoted, he served Christ in his genera-
tion. At the death of Dr. Norton the vestry of
Christ Church invited the son of the rector, the Rev.
Charles E. Craik, to become his assistant, and upon
the death of the father the son was elected to the
rectorship. He still serves the congregation in
which he was born and grew up to manhood, albeit
the congregation has, as we shall see, changed its
character.
Upon the death of the Rev. Dr. Jackson, Bishop
Smith was rector pro tempore of St. Paul's Church
until near the end of the year 1844, the Rev. John
B. Gallagher came from Savannah, Georgia, to
become the second rector of that parish. It will be
noted that he and Dr. Craik came to Louisville
about the same time, and we are pleased to be able
to give Dr. Craik’s estimate of this man of God,
his neighbor and his friend. He says: “He was a
man of singularly pure mind, of warm affections, of
cultivated taste and intellect, and of gentle man-
ners, refined to the highest degree of effectiveness
146
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Parish was organized.
St. John’s
Parish.
by foreign travel. His conversational powers and
his whole address were of the most captivating
order. And all these powers and graces he devoted
with full and unreserved consecration to the service
of his Divine Master. Our relations were cordial
and intimate from the beginning to the end of our
brief sojourn together in Louisville. * * * *
During the whole period of Mr. Gallagher’s min-
istry in Louisville the Episcopal church was em-
phatically one in heart and mind, as well as in faith
and discipline.”
During the rectorship of Mr. Gallagher St. John’s
Mr. Durrett says: “An
ample lot was purchased and a suit-
able brick building erected in 1847,
and when it was ready for occu-
pancy, in 1848, a colony of members from St. Paul’s
went there and formed the nucleus of a new congre-
gation.” Dr. Craik says, as an evidence of the per-
fect unity then existing in the church in Louisville,
that "St. John’s Church was organized, and its pres-
ent comely house of worship built by the labors and
contributions of both” (Christ Church and St.
Paul’s); that Mr. I. B. Ramsdell, then a lay mis-
sionary of the church in the city, gathered the first
members of the Parish of St. John’s, but the work
was soon taken hold of and conducted to a success-
ful issue by the Rev. Joseph C. Talbot. This gen-
tleman, afterward the missionary bishop of the
Northwest, and late of Indiana, was confirmed in
Christ Church just before Mr. Jackson removed to
St. Paul’s. He studied divinity while engaged as an
officer in a bank in this city, and for several years
thus maintained himself while serving as rector of
St. John’s. St. John’s Parish was admitted into
union with the Convention of the Diocese in 1847,
and as one of its deputies appears William Corn-
wall, who was to live to be a warden in Christ
Church, a deputy to many general conventions, and
a devoted lay reader and Sunday School teacher.
He built St. James’ Church, Cane Run, Jefferson
County, and ministered to the little flock he had
gathered there for a lifetime. A student, a remark-
able Bible scholar, a churchman who spared him-
self never in serving the church, he is missed in
Louisville and will be for years to come.
Mr. Gallagher died February 9, 1849, ar*d was
succeeded by the Rev. W. Y. Rooker, an English-
man by birth. He was a preacher of most capti-
vating eloquence, but yet, under his administration,
the church did not prosper as aforetime. In March,
1853, he resigned and returned to England. While
St. Andrew’s
Parish.
lie was rector a lot was purchased in Portland, from
which purchase, perhaps, arose long after the
Church of St. Peter, in that region of the city.
In November, 1853, the Rev. Henry M. Denison
came from Williamsburg, Virginia, to the rector-
ship of St. Paul's. Mr. Durrett says of him: “He
was a man of brilliant talents, extensive learning,
and of the highest moral and religious character.
He was a fine reader and an eloquent speaker. He
soon began to bring back to harmony the discords
his predecessor had made. * * * * The loss
of his estimable wife, however, added to bodily af-
flictions, and in May, 1857, he resigned to accept the
rectorship of St. Peter’s, in Charleston, South Caro-
lina.”
During his administration, in the year 1856, the
Parish of St. Andrew’s was organized. It was be-
gun in a church which stands on
Chestnut Street, between Ninth
and Tenth streets, and was sold to
the Baptists in 1865. The parish was admitted to
union with the Convention in 1857. Some time
after the old church had been sold a small church
was erected upon a lot at the corner of Second and
Kentucky streets, the gift of Mr. R. A. Robinson,
who has given so much to upbuild the church in
Louisville. Of its later history we will speak later.
In October, 1857, the Rev. Francis McNeecc
Whittle came from Berryville, Virginia, to be the
rector of St. Paul's, and there labored diligently
and effectively for ten years, until called to be the
assistant bishop of Virginia. He still lives in Vir-
ginia, a blessing to his diocese, although infirm
and almost blind. He still lives in the hearts
of a great multitude in this city, to whom he
was in very deed a father in God. During his rec-
torship the Parish of Zion Church was organized, at
the corner of Eighteenth and Chestnut streets; and
St. Paul's Chapel, which is not now used for wor-
ship, was set up in the northwestern part of the city.
Upon the removal of Dr. Whittle to Virginia
(1867), the Rev. Edmund Taylor Perkins, D. D.,
came thence to be rector of St. Paul’s. We rejoice
that he still lives, a joy and a comfort to us all in
Louisville, although two years ago he resigned the
rectorship, but consented to remain with his people
as rector emeritus. During his rectorship Emman-
uel Church was organized, at Fourteenth and
Broadway. It was admitted into the union with
the Council of the Diocese in 1871. But in 1873
its rector was “carried away with the dissimulation"
of the then assistant bishop (Cummins), and aban-
I
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
147
doned the church in his company. The effort was
made to carry the congregation and the property
with him, but returning reason prevented the exo-
dus of all but two or three of the members, and the
courts protected the title of the trustees of the
Protestant Episcopal Church to the property. Wise-
ly the property was sold and the money invested in
the erection of a new church for Zion Parish at
Eighteenth and Chestnut streets.
Upon Dr. Perkins’ retirement the present rector
of St. Paul’s, the Rev. Reverdy Estill, D. D., was
elected. But a little while after he had entered upon
his duty, on St. Paul’s Day, January 25, 1894, St.
Paul’s Church — at the corner of Sixth and Walnut
streets — was burned to the ground. The services
were maintained for a short time in the chapel ad-
joining the church, which had escaped the fire, and
since have been held in the old Presbyterian Church
at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets. The
vestry, after long and full consideration, decided
that it was not wise to rebuild the church upon the
old site. In spite of sentiment which cried out for
the continued use of the old lot, they came to see
that as Christ Church could not be removed by
reason of a reversionary clause in the deed of gift,
and further, that as Christ Church had just given
its property to be the cathedral of the diocese and
would naturally care for all church people in the
northern part of the city, it was best to place St.
Paul’s in the midst of the new and growing section
in the south. Accordingly, a lot was purchased at
the entrance of St. James’ Court (why shall it not
now be called St. Paul’s Court?), and thereon has
been erected a noble edifice of stone, which was
opened and dedicated on Easter Day, April 5, 1896.
An earnest churchman can but pray that the glory
of this latter house may be as great as that of the
one we have given up.
In i860 the congregation of Methodists, worship-
ing in Sehon Chapel, at the corner of Third and
Guthrie streets, resolved, under the
chureh. leadership of the minister, to enter
the Episcopal Church, if they should
be helped by churchmen to pay the debt resting
upon their church. This help was given by the
members of Christ Church and St. Paul’s, and the
tiansfer of minister, people and property was made.
W e believe that the minister was disappointed and
did not tarry with us long. At any rate, we find that
when Calvary Church was admitted into the Con-
vention, the Rev. George M. Everhart was the rec-
tor. He was succeeded by the Rev. W. M. Platt,
D. D., a most brilliant orator. Under his adminis-
tration the old church was sold, and, strangely
enough, to a congregation of Methodists, who still
occupy it. A lot was purchased on Fourth Street,
near York, and a great church of stone begun. When
the choir and the transepts were finished the money
and the credit of the church were both exhausted,
and a mortgage for $10,000 rested on the prop-
erty, on which 10 per cent interest was paid. Such
was the situation when the present bishoji came to
the diocese in February, 1875. At the request of
the vestry he became the rector, and appointed as
his assistant his friend, the Rev. Fleming James,
D. D. Dr. James remained but a short time, and
as his successor came the Rev. W. P. Kramer, and
upon his resignation came the present rector, the
Rev. James Gibbon " Minnigerode. Since he came
the parish has bought a rectory, has built a beau-
tiful Sunday School room, has finished the great
church and paid for it, and has built a
chapel on “The Point,” in which it carries
on a Sunday school and an industrial school. That
was a great day for rector and people when they
could and did invite Dr. Platt to come and preach
the sermon at the consecration of the church he
had begun twenty years before.
St. John’s Church, which, as we have seen, was
organized in 1847, has had a somewhat checkered
career and many rectors. After the Rev. J. C. Tal-
bot came his namesake, the Rev. J. J. Talbot, the
Rev. G. M. Everhart, the Rev. W. C. Butler, the
Rev. W. Leacock and the Rev. Mr. Maycock. Then
came to the old church, when at the very lowest
point of depression, Stephen Elliott Barnwell. He
came upon a salary of $600 per annum. On Thurs-
day night, March 27, 1890, Louisville was struck
by a whirlwind, which demolished many buildings
and took many lives. Among those most precious
to us was St. John’s Church and its rector with his
baby boy. There was veritable mourning for him
throughout the city, for he was a good man. He
had so endeared himself to his people and to the
community that his congregation, in spite of its
unfavorable location, had so increased that his ves-
try, who were then paying him three times the salary
they had pledged when lie came to them, had de-
signed to increase it that Easter. Upon his death his
cousin, the Rev. R. W. Barnwell, came from St.
Paul’s Church, Henderson, Kentucky, to be his
successor. He at once began the effort to rebuild
the church as a memorial to Stephen Barnwell. Ilis
success was fairly good, but at the end of no long-
148
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
time he resigned and went to Paducah. The brother
of the dead rector then came, William H. Barnwell,
from Columbus, Mississippi, and under his minis-
try the church was completed. It is beautiful and
well appointed, but unfortunately is not yet wholly
free from debt. The Rev. W. H. Barnwell resigned
in 1895, and the Rev. W. H. McGee is now in charge.
Grace Church, on Gray, near Preston Street, was
organized in 1855, as a mission of Christ Church.
The lot on which the church stands
chinch was giyen by Mrs. Mary O. Gray.
The Rev. Mr. Buslmell was its first
rector; after him the Rev. Mr. Thayer, and then the
Rev. L. P. Tschiffely, B. D., and then Rev. George C.
Betts, A. M. The present rector is the Rev. M.
L. Woolsey.
St. Andrew’s Church was, as we have seen, or-
ganized in 1856, but removed to its present site in
1865. The first rector of the church on Second
Street was the Rev. W. O. Hulliken, then Rev. C. H.
Shield, D. D. Then came the Right Rev. C. C.
Penick, D. D., who had resigned his episcopate in
West Africa and come home, as was supposed, to
die. Restored to health, he labored with abundant
success in St. Andrew’s. Thrice did he enlarge the
old building to render it capable of the ever increas-
ing congregation, and finally built the glorious
church in which the congregation now worships.
Dr. Penick, under God, made St. Andrew’s a great
parish. Upon his resignation in 1894 the Rev.
Lewis W. Burton came from Richmond, Virginia,
to St. Andrew’s, and was taken away in January,
1896, against the will of all his people, to be the
bishop of the new Diocese of Lexington. The Rev.
John K. Mason, D. D., of Virginia, assumed charge
of the parish on April 15, 1896.
St. Peter’s, Portland, organized in 1850, but not
admitted into the union until 1868, has had but a
feeble life. The constant migration of Church peo-
ple away from that cpiarter has prevented its at-
taining vigorous maturity.
Trinity Church, on Main, near Wenzel Street,
was a mission of Christ Church, and perhaps may be
said still to be such. The faithful rector, the Rev.
George Grant Smith, cannot be maintained by the
congregation unassisted, and he is, therefore, em-
ployed as a curate at the Cathedral, where, as every-
where else, he is a most devoted and most efficient
servant of the church.
Zion Church, on Eighteenth and Chestnut, after
many ups and downs of experience, has transferred
its property to the bishop and become the Mission
of the Epiphany. Here the Rev. Mr. Waller labored
for many years, and going thence, established the
Church of the Ascension on Twenty-second Street,
near Jefferson. The Mission of the Epiphany is now
served by the Rev. James Kirkpatrick.
The Church of the Advent, once a mis-
sion of Christ Church, was begun in a chapel
on Broadway, near Underhill Street. There for
many years it was conducted most success-
fully by the clergy of Christ Church. Some
fifteen years ago the Rev. M. M. Benton became
the rector, and under his ministry was erected the
beautiful church on Baxter Avenue, near the gate
of the cemetery. The present rector is the Rev.
Thomas P. Jacob.
St. Mark’s African Church was organized in 1867
under the Rev. Mr. Atwell, but it ceased to exist in
not many years, and then the Rev. Dr. Norton built
the Church of Our Merciful Savior for colored peo-
ple, on Madison Street, near Tenth. At the death
of Dr. Norton the present bishop assumed the charge
of the mission, and has had several different assist-
ants in the work. Four years ago he sold the prop-
erty on Madison Street, and with the money re-
ceived therefor and with gifts received from many
good people, lie purchased the Presbyterian Church
on the corner of Eleventh and Walnut streets, which
is commodious and handsome. The present min-
ister is the Rev. T. J. Brown and his service is most
effective.
St. Stephen’s Chapel in Germantown was erected
by Dr. Norton many years ago, on a most ineligible
spot, because, as he told us, a boy threw a stone at
him as he was walking by the place. He decided
he would build a church there, and called it St.
Stephen’s. The service in the chapel is maintained
by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, of St. Andrew’s
Church.
St. Mary’s Mission has been recently begun on
Floyd Street, near Oak Street, by the rector of
Grace Church.
St. Luke’s Mission is at the corner of Eighteenth
and Oak streets, and is conducted by laymen from
the Cathedral.
St. George’s, Parkland, is a mission to which Dr.
Estill ministers with self-denying devotion.
So have we made mention of all the churches and
missions in our city. But, we have said nothing of our
charitable institutions, the pride of our communion,
albeit, by their number and magnitude, they have
perhaps hindered the development of our missionary
work.
Illllllillliiilllllilill
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
149
In 1869 Miss Sarah Clayland of Christ Church,
desiring to serve God more effectively in His church,
went, by the advice of her rector, to
Church Baltimore and spent some time with
the Sisterhood of the Good Shep-
herd in that city. Returning to Louisville, she be-
gan, in a little hired house, an orphanage for boys.
On the 28th of October, 1870, was laid the corner-
stone of the Orphanage of the Good Shepherd, upon
a lot given by Miss Henrietta Preston Johnston.
The large building was erected by the people of
Christ Church in grateful commemoration of their
rector’s having completed a rectorship of twenty-
five years among them. The house is under the
care of the Sisters of St. Martha, as is also the Home
of the Innocents— Broadway, near First Street — a
home for helpless, friendless infancy. This little in-
stitution was begun by the Rev. Dr. Helm, in a
house on Washington Street, chiefly as a creche
where poor women might leave their children while
they were out at work. He soon secured the services
of Sister Emily Cooper to help him, and under her
management the home has become a great agency
for benevolent work. The house now occupied as
the home was given by five noble men, who, we
know, would prefer that their names should not be
written here.
In 1882 the present bishop of the diocese was per-
mitted to lay the corner-stone of the Church Home
and Infirmary, and of the John N. Norton Memorial
Infirmary. The first named was the gift of John
P. Morton, Esq., of this city, and he desired, he said,
that it should be for a memorial of his lifelong friend
and rector, Dr. Craik. It is a great building and a
noble charity. Unfortunately, the means to carry
it on are so limited that it cannot do the good its
generous donor wished it to do. But in no long
time the home will receive, it is believed, the endow-
ment which he gave it, and then will his wishes be
fulfilled.
The John N. Norton Memorial Infirmary — Third
and Oak streets — originated in a society of girls in
St. Paul’s Church. They agreed to work to secure
a fund to build a Protestant hospital in this city.
Years passed by, and by their diligence they had
accumulated such a sum as seemed to the rector to
justify their presenting their cause to the church-
men of the city. This was done at a great mass
meeting. Earnest addresses were made and much
enthusiasm aroused. Dr. Norton had just died.
His widow offered her residence on Broadway for
the hospital, provided it should be called by her hus-
band’s name. This offer was rejected, because the
building was not suitable for hospital use, but the
name was given the institution, and in lieu of the
home Mrs. Norton gave a large subscription. This,
too, is a noble charity, limited only by its means. It
has everything to give to the sick in the way of com-
fort and care, and gives with unsparing hand to all
who need to the extent of its ability.
A bishop must ever have a longing desire to pro-
vide schools for the children of his people, wherein,
with instruction in arts and sciences
Schools equal to the best, they may receive
also instruction in that wisdom
whose beginning is the fear of the Lord. And such
has been the desire of the present bishop since his
episcopate began. Therefore, notwithstanding that
the memory of Shelby College and its failure was
constant warning against the undertaking of such an
enterprise, when the opportunity came it was seized,
and Trinity Hall, located just on the confines of the
city, in rear of Cave Hill Cemetery, is the diocesan
school for boys. It was opened in September,
1886, under Mr. E. L. McClelland as head master,
and for five years was growing in favor and useful-
ness when the head master was compelled by ill-
health to give up the work. Thereafter, for two
years, because of our inability to find a suitable prin-
cipal, the school was closed. Then we were fortu-
nate to secure the services of the Rev. W. T. Elmer,
M. A., under whom the school is now doing good
service.
It will be remembered that the Diocese of Ken-
tucky was organized in 1829, with three resident
clergymen, and only three parishes. In 1831, when
we have the first official reports of those three
churches, we find there were in Louisville sixty
communicants, in Lexington ninety-one, and in
Danville twenty-seven. This year an ineffectual at-
tempt was made to elect a bishop, which effort was
successful in 1832. Then there were five clergy-
men and the deputies of as many parishes. Two
hundred and forty-two communicants are reported,
of whom seventy are in Louisville.
Thirty-four years pass away, and at the Conven-
tion of 1866, at which Dr. Cummins was elected the
assistant bishop, thirty-two clergymen are reported
as members of the diocese, and twenty-seven par-
ishes are represented by their deputies. The num-
ber of the communicants in the diocese is given as
2,190, of whom 1,071 are in Louisville. The Rev.
George David Cummins, D.D., then elected assist-
ant bishop, was rector of Trinity Church, Chicago,
150
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
having previously served as rector in Norfolk, Vir-
ginia; Washington, D. C.; and Baltimore, Mary-
land. He was born in Kent County, Delaware, De-
cember ii, 1822. He was graduated from Dickin-
son College, Pennsylvania, in 1841, and soon after-
ward entered the Methodist ministry. He was or-
dained deacon in the church in 1845. and priest in
1847. He was consecrated bishop upon his election
to be assistant bishop of Kentucky, in Christ
Church, Louisville, November 15, 1866.
The outlook of the church in Kentucky seemed
then to be full of best assured hope. Dr. Cummins
was a most brilliant rhetorician. Crowds ever
thronged the place where he had been announced
to preach, and were held spell-bound by the thrilling
tones, the graceful diction and the vivid word paint-
ing of the orator. More than this, the long Civil
War was just ended, and by reason of the ecclesias-
tical conflicts and separations which it had occa-
sioned in almost all of the Protestant denomina-
tions, the men of Kentucky were somewhat loosened
from their ancient denominational associations. The
Episcopal Church of the nation had been reunited
immediately upon the return of peace. The separ-
ate organizations were maintained only so long as
separate and controlling nationalities made them
necessary. And men were affected by this strange
behavior; they began to look more kindly upon
“the old church,” as they called it, which thus ex-
hibited its belief in unity. At such a time, under
such conditions, came the great preacher to Ken-
tucky. The result at the first was what was to be
expected. Crowds filled the churches, halls or court
houses where he preached, and a larger number
than ever before came seeking admission to the
ancient fold. But ere long began to be manifested
the lack of earnest conviction of church principles
in the new bishop. At first affiliating closely with
one side of the house, and almost rude in his cold-
ness to the men holding other opinions equally legi-
timate, by and by he reversed his conduct and
snubbed those who had been his familiars, while he
drew closest to those from whom he had been
furthest removed. At last, in 1873, he abandoned
the communion of the church, announcing his pur-
pose to transfer the exercise of his office to another
field. The bishop of Kentucky, Rt. Rev. B. B.
Smith, at once revoked the license he had six years
previously given him, as his assistant, to perform
episcopal functions, without which he could do no
espiscopal act anywhere lawfully; and then the senior
bishop of the church, in accordance with the canons
in such cases provided, deposed him from the minis-
try of the church.
Dr. Cummins at once organized the Reformed
Episcopal Church, and proceeded, with certainly
unseemly haste, himself to conse-
Ref0r™hurchPISC°Pal crate others to share his own with-
drawn authority. The schism can
hardly be said to have been prosperous numerically.
One little congregation in Kentucky, as we have
seen, sought to go with him. It lived as a Reformed
Episcopal congregation but very few years, and
to-day is wholly forgotten. We are not aware of
the fact that one single follower of Dr. Cummins
lives in the State in which he once preached the
gospel he afterward sought to destroy. Some years
before his death, which occurred June 26, 1876, he
is reported to have told the General Conference of
the Methodist Church, in an address delivered be-
fore that body, “that he had always been Metho-
dist inside.” Pity that, when the shell in which he
had lived was broken, he must needs go to work
to make another. Pity that he had not returned to
the Methodists whence he came.
On the 1 2th of November, 1874, in a special con-
vention held in Calvary Church, Louisville, the Rev.
Thomas Lmderwood Dudley, D. D., was chosen as-
sistant bishop. He was consecrated in Christ
Church, Baltimore, Maryland, whereof he was rec-
tor, on the 27th of January, 1875. He was born in
Richmond, Virginia, September 26, 1837; was
graduated as M. A. from the University of Virginia
in July, 1858; served as an officer in the Army of
the Confederate States; was graduated from the
Theological Seminary of Virginia in 1867; was or-
dained deacon by Bishop Johns in that year, and
priest bv Bishop Whittle the year following. He
was sent as a deacon to build a church in Harrison-
burg, Virginia, and having completed that task,
went to Christ Church, Baltimore, as rector, in
July, 1869. Upon his coming to Kentucky the ven-
erable Bishop Smith took up his permanent resi-
dence in New York and never came into Kentucky
again. This venerable servant of God survived for
nearly ten years after the present bishop became his
assistant, and died at the great age of ninety years,
in the city of New York, May 31, 1884. He was
born in Bristol, Rhode Island, June 13, 1794, was
graduated from Brown University in 1816, ordained
deacon April 17, 1817, and priest in 1818. He had
served three different parishes in as many States;
had been editor of “The Episcopal Recorder,” and
a secretary of our General Missionary Society before
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
151
he came, in November, 1830, to be rector of Christ
Church, Lexington. We know what he found there.
We know the great difficulties with which he had
to contend. We know some of the peculiarities of
opinion, of temperament, of modes of thought and
action which rendered him most unfit to deal with
and to influence the people among whom his lot
was cast; yet, looked at from the place where we
stand, we can pronounce his lifetime work as good.
By his own request his body was brought to Ken-
tucky for burial, and now rests in the beautiful ceme-
tery at Frankfort, in a grave marked by a simple
stone erected by some of the older laymen of the
diocese, who remember and are thankful for the
labors and sufferings of the first bishop of Kentucky.
At the first convention of the diocese over which
the present bishop presided — 1875 — there were
forty-one clerical members of the diocese, and forty-
six parishes and mission stations represented. There
were reported 4,064 communicants, of whom 2,018
were in Louisville.
In August, 1895, at a special convention held in
Calvary Church, Louisville, it was resolved to peti-
tion the General Convention for
DlV1Diocese tUe leave to divide the Diocese of Ken-
tucky into two dioceses, by a line
running north and south, nearly that of the Ken-
tucky River. The following statistics were fur-
nished to the General Convention as justifying the
proposed action :
“For the purpose of giving more exact informa-
tion it is further certified that in the proposed Dio-
cese of Kentucky there are twenty-six clergymen,
eighteen regularly organized parishes, 4,622 com-
municants reported, and church property to the
value of $633,915, with an endowment fund toward
the support of the episcopate of $20,000, the income
from which, together with the regular contributions
to the contingent fund of the diocese (paid last year
$2,976.26), insures ample provision for the support
of the bishop. It is further certified that in the pro-
posed new diocese there are now seventeen clergy-
men at work within its borders — sixteen qualified
to vote for a bishop — fifteen regularly organized
parishes, 2,748 communicants reported, and church
property to the value of $367,550. With an endow-
ment fund also of $20,000, and with the contribu-
tions toward the contingent fund of the diocese,
based on payments by this portion of the diocese
heretofore to the old diocese (paid last year $1,644),
there is ample provision assured for the support of
the bishop.”
This exhibit of our numbers and our resources
proved satisfactory to the General Convention of
the church which assembled in Minneapolis, Min-
nesota, in October, 1895, and on the sixth day of
its session — October 8th — consent was given to
the erection of a new diocese within the limits of
the existing Diocese of Kentucky. As required by
the canons, the Bishop of Kentucky convened the
members of the new diocese — that is, the clergy
resident and regularly officiating within its limits,
and the deputies from the several parishes and mis-
sions therein — at Lexington, on Wednesday, De-
cember 4th, 1895. The new diocese was on that
day duly organized as the diocese of Lexington,
and on the next day, elected as its first Bishop the
Rev. Lewis William Burton, A. M., rector of St.
Andrew’s Church, Louisville. On Thursday, Jan-
uary 30th, 1896, in the church whereof he was rec-
tor, Dr. Burton was consecrated to his high office
by the Bishops of Kentucky, West Virginia, South
Virginia, Ohio, South Ohio (Coadjutor), Georgia,
and Indiana. Just before the service began, .he
received from his alma mater, Kenyon College,
Ohio, by the hands of Bishop Vincent, the presi-
dent of the Board of Trustees, the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity.
Bishop Burton was born on the 9th of November,
1852, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was the late
Rev. Lewis Burton, D. D., who became rector of
St. John’s Church, Cleveland, in 1847, succeeding
his brother, the Rev. William M. Burton, and min-
istered in Cleveland fifty-seven years. At the time
of his death he was rector-emeritus of St. Mark’s
Church. His mother, Mrs. Jane Wallace Burton,
is a sister of the Rev. John Wallace, the first rec-
tor of St. Andrew’s Church, Louisville, the parish
Mr. Burton lately occupied. Mr. Burton grad-
uated from Kenyon College in the class of 1873,
taking the first honors of his class with the valedic-
tory address and the degree of B. A., and afterward
that of M. A. He graduated from the Philadelphia
Divinity School on the 21st of June, 1877; was
made deacon by the Rt. Rev. G. T. Bedell, D. D.,
Bishop of Ohio, in the Church of the Holy Spirit,
Gambier, Ohio, on the 24th of June, 1877. He was
ordained priest by the same Bishop in St. Paul’s
Church, Cleveland, Ohio, on May 15th, 1878. He
was assistant minister of All Saints’ Church, Cleve-
land, from the 1st of September, 1877, to the 21st
of the following June, when he became rector of the
same parish. He resigned June 7th, 1880, and
spent six months abroad. He became assistant
152
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
minister of St. Mark’s Church, Cleveland, on the
iotli of June, 1881, and became rector of the same
parish on January ist, 1882. He became rector
of St. John’s Church, Richmond, on the 13th of
April, 1884. During nearly all of his stay in Vir-
ginia, he was a member of the Missionary Commit-
tee of the diocese, and during the last year was
Examining Chaplain; was president of the James
River Convocation, Virginia; and vice-president,
under the Bishop, of the Richmond City Missionary
Society. During his rectorship at St. John’s the
Weddell Memorial Chapel and the Chapel of the
Good Shepherd were built, and entirely paid for,
and consecrated. A rectory was bought, and
twenty-eight hundred dollars spent in repairs on it.
The church was beautified and adorned, and con-
siderable stained glass was added, besides the chan-
cel furniture and silver added to the Communion
Service. The chapel of the church proper was en-
larged and thoroughly fitted with modern appli-
ances, and the Sunday School was considered the
best in Richmond. Mr. Burton also had charge of
the Calvary Mission in the poorer and most de-
graded part of the city, which was well organized
with the instrumentalities for such work. When
he left Richmond, St. John’s Parish was entirely
free from debt, and had the largest communicant
list of any parish in Richmond. He represented j1
the Diocese of Virginia in the General Convention :
at Baltimore in 1892. In 1893, he declined a call li
to Holy Trinity Church, Richmond, and soon after j|
accepted a call to St. Andrew’s Church, Louisville, 'i
of which he took charge on the ist of October, 1893. P
Since coming to Louisville, he has occupied a j;
prominent place in church work in this city. St. 1
Andrew’s Church has a very large and efficient
Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, which,
under the rector, has carried on St. Stephen’s Mis- I
sion, a very successful work in the southeastern por- j
tion of the city. The Sunday School is considered a ;
model for effective work, and is the largest in the
diocese. Mr. Burton was one of the trustees of the !
Diocesan Seminary; was the clerical trustee of the
Diocese of Kentucky to Kenyon College; a mem-
ber of the Board of Visitors of Trinity Hall, Louis-
ville, the Diocesan School for Boys; and was chair-
man of the Sunday School Board of the diocese.
He was a representative of the diocese to the last
General Convention at Minneapolis. Mr. Burton
was married to Miss Georgie Hendree Bell, of At-
lanta, Georgia, on January 15th, 1883, and is the
father of two daughters, aged eight and five years.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
BY REY. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D.
The organic life of the Presbyterian Church in
the city of Louisville dates from January, 1816.
Previous to this year, there had settled at the Falls
several families whose names are associated with
the rise and progress of Presbyterianism in this
city. Some of these families, with Presbyterian an-
cestry, coming from the Valley of Virginia, de-
lighted to trace their origin either throng'll Penn-
sylvania, to the hills of Scotland and North of Ire-
land, or through the Huguenot settlements, to
Sunny France. Others, with Presbyterian affinity,
coming from Rocky New England, added to the
establishment of the church an element of perma-
nent value. Thus did the staunch Scotch-Irish, the
earnest Highlander, the cultivated Huguenot, and
the thrifty New Englander contribute each, at this
early period, to the wealth of our local Presbyterian
character and history. In the westward march of
emigration, these various elements converged to-
ward the Falls in two prominent streams, the one
coming directly from Virginia, Maryland, and
North Carolina, the other down the Ohio from
New England, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Among the earlier settlers in Louisville before
the close of the last century were Alexander Pope
and Fortunatus Cosby, from Virginia, and Thomas
Prather and John I. Jacob, from Maryland, whose
wives were members of the Presbyterian Church,
together with their father-in-law, Captain Aaron
Fontaine, that noble Huguenot, whose descendants
have been so prominently connected with the de-
velopment of the Presbyterian Church in this city.
Idie Bullitts, also of Huguenot stock, were from the
Old Dominion, as was Rev. James Vance, who set-
tled on Beargrass, a few miles from the city, and
opened a classical school at Middletown. A num-
ber of Presbyterian families from Pennsylvania,
having formed a settlement in this neighborhood as
early as 1789'''% and built a church near the Run,
which they named after their native state, invited
Mr. Vance to become their pastor. He accepted
the call and was installed November 6th, I799f,
pastor of the churches at Middletown and Pennsyl-
vania Run. To this pastor and teacher was com-
mitted the oversight of the scattered flock in this
village, as appears from his appointment by the
Presbytery of Transylvania, October 7th, 1800, “to
preach to the congregation at Louisville.” We
recognize, still farther, among those who were here
before the organization of the church, the names
of the Scotch and Irish families of the McFarlands,
the McNutts, the Carys, and the Tunstalls.
New England was first represented by William
S. Vernon, a relative of the old admiral, after whom
Mount Vernon was named. Coming to Louisville
in 1807 from Newport, Rhode Island, Mr. Vernon,
although not a professor of religion, valued the in-
fluences of the church and, upon his establishment
in business, took with others an active part in the
erection of a house of worship. The Presbyterian
C hurch in Kentucky, having just passed through
the great revival of 1801 to 1809, had entered upon
a period of decline. The second war with England,
too, had a depressing effect upon the early church.
In the meantime, there had come from Rhode
Island Mr. Charles B. King, Miss Caroline King,
a niece of Mr. Vernon’s, and from Fairfield, Conn.,
Joel and Abner Scribner, who had first settled at
Albany, N. Y., and then coming West, had founded,
in 1813, our neighboring village of New Albany.
After the restoration of peace with England, the
increased immigration westward brought acces-
sions from the older states and the little flock felt
*Minutes of the Transylvania Presbytery, 17S9.
fDavidson’s “History of (he Presbyterian Church in
Kentucky,” p. 122.
153
154
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
encouraged to take steps toward the establishment
of a church. For a number of years before the
church was organized services were held in private
houses. In 1815, Rev. Daniel C. Banks, a Con-
gregational minister from Fairfield, Connecticut,
came as a missionary to Kentucky. There being
no house of worship here convenient, he was in-
vited, as had been Drs. Blackburn, Cleland, and
other passing missionaries before him, to preach in
an amusement hall with all the stage scenery about
him*. A social entertainment was given him at
the house of Messrs. Fetter and Flughes, at which
there were present Messrs. Bullitt, 1 homas Prather,
Robert Steele, and others; and a meeting was held
at the hotel to see what could be done towards se-
curing a settlement of this minister of the Gospel
in Louisville. The population of the place was at
this time less than three thousand.
The history of the Presbyterian Church in the
city naturally divides itself into three periods, 1816-
1836, 1836-1866 and 1866-1896.
The earliest record in the minutes
F,rst Presbytenan £ tjie ^ pirst Church to which we
Church.
have had access through the
courtesy of the clerk of the session, Mr. Flenry V.
Escottf, makes mention of a meeting of a number
of citizens, in January, 1816, who formed them-
selves into what they called a Presbyterian Society
organization, and appointed Cuthbert Bullitt,
Archibald Allen, John Gwathmey, Paul Skidmore,
Joshua Heddington, and Alexander Pope, Esq.,
trustees to prosecute, in their name, a call for the
pastoral services of Rev. Mr. Banks, and also to in-
itiate steps toward the erection of a house of wor-
ship. A call was made out in the language of the
form of government of the Presbyterian Church on
April 23rd, 1816, and Rev. James Vance was ap-
pointed to arrange the details before the Presby-
tery. Flaving accepted the call, Mr. Banks returned
to Louisville, August 15th, bringing a certificate of
dismisson from the association at Fairfield, and
was duly “appointed" by the Presbytery to have
charge of the church at Louisville. The salary
being but $900 per annum for one-half of his time,
Mr. Banks opened a school with his wife’s sister,
*“Letter in the Presbyterian Herald,” 1854.
tl am indebted for information and aid in the prepara-
tion of this narrative to Messrs. Patrick Joyes, George
W. Morris, Dr. John Thruston, W. H. Bulkley, John
Homire, Rev. C. R. Hemphill, Garvin Bell, and E. W. G.
Humphrey; for access to files in his possession to the
editor of the Christian Observer, and to Col. R. T. Dur-
rett’s well-known library.
Miss Mary Ann Silliman, cousin of Prof. Silliman,
of Yale College, as his assistant.
In January, 1817, the following persons met and
adopted a confession and covenant: Mrs. Alex- j
ander Pope, Mrs. Fortunatus Cosby, Mrs. Patrick
McFarland, her sister, Miss McNutt — all from Vir- jA/
ginia; Daniel C. Banks, Mrs. Martha A. Banks, l|
Miss Mary Ann Silliman, Charles B. King, and
Miss Caroline King, from New England; Thomas '
Hill, Jr., from Philadelphia; Stephen Beers, and
Mrs. Lydia Beers, from New Jersey; Mrs. Jane
Cary, from Armagh, Ireland, together with Mrs.
Susanna Fetter, Mrs. Mary Denwood, Mrs. Sarah
Barnes, and Mrs. Lucy R. Tunstall. Charles B.
King and J. M. Tunstall were elected elders, May
17th, 1817, but the latter having declined, a second
election was held, and on August 18th, 1819, Daniel
Wurts, from Philadelphia; Elias Ayers, from Mor-
ristown, N. J.; Charles B. King and Jacob Reinhard
were installed elders. A house of worship was, in
the meantime, erected by the trustees on a lot
100x105 feet, on the west side of Fourth cross
street, 104 feet south of Market street. This lot
was conveyed by that eminently useful citizen,
Thomas Prather, Esq., to the trustees, Daniel Fet-
ter and Cuthbert Bullitt, “to be held in trust for
the use and benefit of the Presbyterian sect and con-
gregation of Christians at Louisville, and as a place
of Christian worship forever, and to and for no j
other use whatever.” This house stood north of \
and adjoining what is now Ivlauber’s gallery, set- j
ting a little back on the lot, with two doors of en- j
trance, reached by two steps. McMurtrie, in his •
“Sketches of Louisville,” published in 1819, says:
“There are but three churches in the city, one for [
tire Methodists, a second for the Catholics, and a ,
third for the Presbyterians, neither of which is re- |
markable for its appearance, with the exception of
the latter, which is a neat, plain and spacious build-
ing, on which a steeple is about to be erected. It
is furnished with galleries and an organ loft, the
interior being divided into pews," intersected by j
three aisles, and upon the whole, though no chef
d’oeuvre of architectural design, reflects much
credit upon the place.”
Mr. Banks pursued the work of building up his i
congregation earnestly, and also took an active part
in the organization of the Presbyterian Church in ;
New Albany, Ind. To this church he dismissed,
December 7, 1817, several valuable members,
among whom were the wife of Joel Scribner, Esq.,
Stephen Beers, who was made an elder, Mrs. Lydia
I
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE. 155
Beers, his wife, and Miss Mary Ann Silliman, who
became afterward Mrs. Elias Ayers. We learn
from the minutes of the First Church that in ac-
cordance with a custom of the times, the names
of those who were present at the Lord’s Supper
Were recorded, and also of those who were absent.
Persons visiting the city and who wished to com-
mune were required to obtain permission before-
hand from the Session of the Church. During Mr.
Bank's fourth year, some question having arisen
as to his relation to the church, the Presbytery
recognized his “appointment” as minister in charge.
An appeal from this decision of the Presbytery hav-
ing been taken to the Synod of Kentucky, the lat-
ter body declared, October, 1820, that Mr. Banks
was not the pastor of the church, as he had not been
installed. Although retiring from the active pas-
torate, Mr. Banks remained in the city until his
death in 1844, a useful minister in the community.
He had officiated at the funeral of General George
Rogers Clark, in 1818, was commissioner to the
General Assembly in 1828, and served as secretary
of the Kentucky Historical Society in 1838, when
James Freeman Clarke was one of its leading
spirits.
The first regular pastor of the First Church was
Rev. Daniel Smith*, from Vermont, who had been
associated with Rev. S. J. Mills, one
Pastors. °f immortal trio, Judson,
Newell and Mills, who began the
modern foreign missionary movement in this
country, Judson and Newell going to India, and
Mills to the American Indiansf. Mr. Smith was
engaged with Mr. Mills in his missionary tours
and in that splendid work in the South and West
which resulted in the formation of the American
Bible Society. He was installed March 4th, 1822,
and was highly esteemed as a minister of refined
taste, cultivated mind and glowing piety. During
his pastorate, the congregation substituted the Con-
fession of Faith for the confession and covenant,
introduced by Mr. Banks, and which had been a
source of controversy from the beginning. Mr.
Smith’s tact tended much to restore harmony in the
church. At this sad period, when the town was al-
most depopulated by a malignant fever, the records
of the church contain several mourning pages,
which mention the names of members of the church,
who had been carried off by the fearful scourge.
*“Bishop’s History of the Church in Kentucky ” 1824,
p. 184.
fNevin’s “Presbyterian Encyclopaedia,” p. 524.
Charles B. King, the leading elder who had just
represented his Presbytery in the General Assem-
bly, at Philadelphia, died in August, 1822. Mr.
Vernon’s life was despaired of, and the beloved
and talented pastor, Mr. Smith, died February 22,
1823. He was buried in Mr. Vernon’s lot in the
Western Cemetery.
The next pastor, Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D.,*
from Tennessee, was called June 9th, 1823, and
beginning his duties the following fall, was installed
January 4th, 1824. This noted divine was a per-
son of commanding appearance, being six feet two
inches tall. Possessed with a benignant counten-
ance, a silvery voice and wonderful descriptive
powers, he brought to the pulpit qualities which
soon made him very popular in the city. He was
elected the fall after his installation Moderator of
the Synod of Kentucky. During his second year,
a revival swept over the place and added to the
church many prominent families. The member-
ship of the church increased during the three years
of his pastorate from fifty to one hundred and thirty,
and the congregation became one of the wealthiest
and most influential in the state. Dr. Blackburn
was called to the presidency of Centre College, Dan-
ville, Kentucky, and the pastoral relation was dis-
solved October, 1827. For several years, the
church was without a pastor, the pulpit, however,
being constantly supplied. In August, 1828, a
work of grace began in this congregation under
the preaching- of Rev. James Gallaharf, Dr. Fred-
erick A. Ross and Rev. Mr. Garrison, and thirty-
six persons were added to the communion of the
church on profession of their faith, among whom
were William Garvin, Abijah Bayless, Joseph Dan-
forth, Heath J. Miller, Jabez Baldwin, and others,
afterwards prominent in the church. This meeting
was one of sixteen protracted services held by these
evangelists in Kentucky and Ohio, during which
more than one thousand persons were received into
the church, including such men as Samuel R. Wil-
son, and J. G. Montfort. In June, 1829, Rev. Eli
N. Sawtell, from New England, laboring as an
evangelist in Kentucky, was invited to take charge
of the church. After supplying the pulpit for eight
months, he yielded to an earnest solicitation to re-
tire, with a small colony, and form a new Presby-
terian Church. Mr. Sawtell married a daughter of
one of Louisville’s well-known citizens, Cornelius
*Sprague's “Annals of the American Pulpit.” Vol. IV.,
p. 43.
fSprague’s “Annals,” Vol. IV., p. 533.
156
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
Van Buskirk. The population of the city was, at
this time, about 12,000. After the withdrawal of
this colony, a second, consisting of twelve persons,
left the First Church, and formed the Presbyterian
Church of Jeffersonville, Ind., to which Rev. Ed-
ward P. Humphrey was afterward called.
In June, 1830, Rev. George C. Ashbridge, of
Tuscumbia, Ala., was called and installed pastor
the following fall. In September of this year, Rev.
Joshua L. Wilson, D. D., and Rev. James Gallahar,
of Cincinnati; Rev. E. N. Sawtell, of the Second
Church, and Rev. S. K. Snead, of New Albany,
formerly a member of the First Church, held a sac-
ramental meeting in a beautiful grove on Corn
Island. A number of persons professed conver-
sion, and united with the First Church. The trus-
tees of the First Church at this time were Patrick
McFarland, Samuel Casseday, William Hart, Will-
iam Garvin, and Dr. Llewellyn Powell. The old
church on Fourth street entertained in October,
1832, for the second time in its history the Synod of
Kentucky, Rev. John T. Edgar, D. D., preaching
the opening sermon, and Rev. John C. Young,
D. D., being elected moderator. Mr. Ashbridge
was highly esteemed by his congregation and
served the church faithfully until his death, May
4th, 1834. He was buried in the Western Ceme-
tery, on Jefferson street. His monument bears
this inscription:
‘‘Rev. George W. Ashbridge,
late pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church.
Born in Philadelphia, in 1800.
Died in Louisville, Kentucky,
May 4th, 1834.
“This memorial of a mourning people’s
love, is erected to his worth by the mem-
bers of the church and congregation over
which he presided, in the ministry of rec ■
onciliation, three and a half years with
great diligence in his high calling, holi-
ness of life and much usefulness.”
An invitation was extended to Rev. R. J. Breck-
inridge, D. D., who had just issued his celebrated
“Act and Testimony” in the new school controversy,
to become the pastor, and upon his declining a call
was issued, November 8th, 1835, for the services
of his brother, Rev. William L. Breckinridge, D. D.,
who began his ministry January 8th, 1836. An
event of no small interest to the congregation oc-
curred at the close of an evening service on October
29th, 1836, when the house of worship took fin [
from the frame building adjoining and was totalb ^
destroyed. The bell is said to have rung its owr j
requiem as it fell into the ruins. Mr. Casseday, in!
his valuable “History of Louisville,” describes tht|
interest taken by the citizens in that old bell in the J
clock tower. He says: “This splendid instrit-j
ment, the first large bell in the city, was esteemed j|v
and venerated to a degree far beyond that which
is usually felt for an inanimate object. It had a i
hold upon the affections of all ages, sexes and j
classes of the people, as well the inhabitants as those i
who visited the city periodically. It was used to j
announce all public tidings, whether of meetings, \
fires or deaths. Its clear and silvery notes were
heard for miles around, and brought joy or terror, j
or woe to a thousand hearts.” The day after the I
fire, the bell was exhumed from the debris and car- j
ried off piecemeal, to be kept as relics. The cus- i
tom, peculiar to our city, of ringing the fire-bells
at ten o’clock at night, dates from the ringing at
that hour of the old bell on. the First Church, j
Steps were taken at once to rebuild the house of [
worship. The ruling elders of the First Church I
during this period — from 1816 to 1836— were: !
Charles B. King, 1819-22; Jacob Reinhard, 1819-31 ; [
Daniel Wurts, 1819-31; Elias Ayers, 1819-23; Abi- j
jah Bayless, 1829-46; W. W. Laws, 1829-42; Isaac ?
Stewart, 1829-32; Dr. John P. Harrison, 1834-36; '
James Wiley, 1834-40; Hugh Foster, 1834-36, and t
Henry E. Thomas, 1834-52.
The Second Presbyterian Church was organized >
April 17, 1830. The records of the church previous }
to 1866 have been lost, and we are I
church indebted to Mr. George W. Morris j,
for his admirable history of this «
church. The organization took place at the resi- !
dence of Marvin D. Averill, Rev. Daniel C. Banks j
presiding. Letters of dismission from the First )
Church were presented by the following persons:
Dr. B. H. Hall, Miss Lucy Hall, William S. Ver-
non, Mrs. America Vernon, M. D. Averill, Mrs. Re- [
becca Averill, Heath J. Miller, Mrs. Sarah Cocke, j
Mrs. Martha Price, Mrs. Henrietta Wilson, Mrs. |
Sarah M. Barnes and Mrs. Mary Denwood. Four ;
members were received from Frankfort: Dr. J. J. j
Miles, his wife and two daughters. William S. Ver- |
non, J. J. Miles and M. D. Averill were elected eld- j
ers. Mr. Sawtell, entering upon his pastoral work
earnestly, was installed April 9, 1831. In the mean-
time efforts were put forth to secure a place of wor-
ship. A building committee was appointed, con-
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
157
«l|
its
e»
y
«j
I
'
sisting of Daniel Fetter, W. S. Vernon, Thomas
Jones and M. D. Averill. A lot on the east side of
Third cross street, 297 feet south of Green, 85x115
feet, was procured for $1,000, there being reserved
in the deed the io-foot court on the south side of the
Jot. Mr. Sawtell went East and visited Rev. Albert
Barnes and other ministers in Philadelphia, New
York and New England, from whose congrega-
tions he received $2,227 m money, besides much
building material to aid the struggling church. The
sanctuary was completed, and with appropriate ser-
vices dedicated to God September 28, 1832, Rev.
• John C. Young, D.D., President of Centre College,
preaching the sermon. The Sunday-school and
church services were held on Green Street, between
Fourth and Fifth, and then in a plain one-story
building, about the center of the Court House
ground, on the west side of Fifth Street. Here ser-
vices were held until the basement of the church
was completed. In speaking of the organization of
the Second Church, Dr. Sawtell says: “The im-
portance of this step soon became apparent to all.
The First Church called immediately another pas-
tor, thus strengthening our hands and adding great-
ly to the efficiency and power of the church efforts
throughout the city. We both found ample field
1 and mutually rejoiced in the success with which it
pleased God to crown our labors. Instead of weak-
; ening, the First Church increased in strength and
vigor, while our little band of twelve soon became a
host. Instead of the school house, in which we be-
! gan to worship, the Lord enabled us within three
years to build a commodious brick church, with a
regular congregation of hearers of from seven to
I eight hundred, and increasing the church member-
ship from twelve to a hundred and sixty, with week-
day schools for little children, and Sunday-schools
so prosperous and vigorous as to attract the atten-
tion of passing strangers.” Owing to his impaired
health, Mr. Sawtell resigned in the spring of 1836.
Mr. L. L. Warren, writing to his wife, under date of
May 1, 1836, says: “This morning attended the
Second Presbyterian Church. Rev. E. N. Sawtell
preached his farewell sermon, which was very af-
fecting. He pointed out the dangers that beset the
church in this city, first, the difficulty of private devo-
tion; second, the want of time to study the Scrip-
tures; third, the neglect of the Sabbath observance;
fourth, the desire to gain riches. As his society are
many of them merchants, his admonitions were
mostly for them. He is spoken of as being an ex-
cellent man, and leaves his society to regain his
health. He expects to leave for Havre, France,
next Tuesday.”
Rev. Edward P. Humphrey, having served the
church at Jeffersonville from December, 1833, to
August, 1835, on a salary of $300, in addition to
what he received from teaching, returned to New
England. During Mr. Sawtell's ministry a series
of lectures on Christian Evidences had been deliv-
ered in town. Upon the failure of one of the speak-
ers, the name of the young pastor in Jeffersonville
was mentioned as a supply. Mr. Humphrey was
secured, and his lecture left such an impression on
the community that an urgent appeal was made to
the congregation upon Mr. Sawtell’s resignation to
call him to the pastorate. Mr. W. S. Vernon took
a trip to New England, and by personal presenta-
tion secured a favorable consideration of the call.
A son of Rev. Heman Humphrey, President of Am-
herst College, Mr. Humphrey brought to this city
attainments as a teacher and minister of the Word
which stamped him as a man of future usefulness and
influence. He had been associated in Amherst Col-
lege as a tutor with such men as Governor A. H.
Bullock, of Massachusetts; Henry Ward Beecher,
Dr. B. M. Palmer, of New Orleans, and Rev. Stuart
Robinson. He began his ministry here early in
1836. The ruling elders during this period were
W. S. Vernon, 1830-1847; Jas. J. Miles, 1830-1832;
M. D. Averill, 1830-1839; Daniel Wurts, 1832-1838;
Jacob M. Weaver, 1832-1838, and Heath J. Miller,
1832-1838.
The Third Presbyterian Church was organized
on the Saturday before the last Sabbath in May,
1832, by a commission of Presbytery
The Third Presby- consJsting- of Rev. D. C. Banks,
terian Church. «=> ’
Rev. G. W. Ashbridge and Rev. E.
N. Sawtell, together with Ruling Elders J. J. Miles,
W. W. Laws and M. D. Averill. A petition had
been sent to Presbytery April 5, 1832, signed by A.
S. Smith, Thomas Cowan, James Grubb, Julian
Grubb, James T. Gamble and Anna Lintner, asking
that they be organized into a church in the eastern
section of the City of Louisville. Elder J. J. Miles,
together with his wife, Chloe J., and two daughters,
Anna B. and Maria R., presented letters of dismis-
sion from the Second Church,* and Dr. Miles was
elected elder of the Third Church. The congrega-
tion worshipped on Hancock Street, in a frame
building, seventy feet by forty-five, which had been
erected for religious services. The pastor, Rev. Ja-
*Sawtell’s “Manual of the Second Presbyterian
Church,” 1833.
158
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
cob F. Price,* and Dr. Miles purchased lotsf adjoin-
ing the church, with the intention of forming a
Presbyterian settlement. On October 14, 1833,
Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D. D., conveyed to
Garnett Duncan, Edward D. Hobbs, A. Bayless and
William Garvin, of the First Church, one hundred
feet by one hundred and five, on the east side of
Hancock Street, between Main and Market, south
of and adjoining a twelve-foot alley, “being the lot
on which a small church, called the Third Presby-
terian Church, now stands, in trust, that the con-
gregation of the Third Presbyterian Church, or any
other Presbyterian Church and congregation that
may be built or organized on said lot, shall be al-
lowed to use and occupy this lot as the site for a
Presbyterian Church forever, and in trust, that they
may convey the site hereby vested in them under
certain conditions, of which the Presbytery of Louis-
ville is constituted perpetual arbitrator.”
One of the conditions made in the deed, pledging
this church to soundness in the faith, was “that it is
to be a Presbyterian Church, under the care of and
in connection with the Synod of Kentucky, and the
doctrines taught and held in this church are to be
those contained in the Word of God, as expounded
by the present standards of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States; that is to say, the Westminster
Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, as now pub-
lished.The removal of some of the leading mem-
bers from the city and of Rev. Mr. Price to West
Lexington Presbytery, April, 1834, discouraged this
hopeful project, and the church, as an organization,
gradually became scattered by 1836. Elder W. J.
Dinwiddie, however, of the First Church, who had
secured funds for the erection of the frame building,
threw his enthusiasm into the mission, and, as super-
intendent, built up the Sunday school until it be-
came the largest in the city.
In the meantime a project, popularly called the
Fourth Presbyterian Church, had been started as
early as 1832, in the western part of the city, on
Chapel Street, between Market and Main. Services
were then held in a frame dwelling on the south
side of Market, between Tenth and Eleventh. Rev.
John G. Simrall was pastor.§ In 1835 a house of
worship was built on the east side of Tenth Street,
between Market and Jefferson, adjoining the resi-
*Louisville City Directory, 1832.
tJefferS'On County Court Records, Deed Book LL., p.
339.
IJefferson County Court Records, Deed Book LL., p.
341.
§Louisville City Directory, 1832.
dence of Mr. Jabez Baldwin, the well-known foun ij
dryman. This congregation asked to be organize! 1
as the Fourth Church, but since the up-town churcl |j
had become scattered, was reorganized April 19 j!
1836, as the Third Presbyterian Church. The orig-J
inal members were: H. R. Tunstall, Mrs. Lucy R ^
Tunstall, Jabez Baldwin, Mrs. Frances Baldwin, Ja-|
cob Marcell, Mrs. Sarah Marcell, Joseph Day, Mrs.)
Phoebe Day, Thomas J. Hackney, Mrs. Elizabeth ij
Hackney, H. H. Young, Rachael Lusk, L. Tracey, j
Mrs. Anna Tracey, Margaret Tracey, Sarah Jane)
Wisner, Louisa Culver, Mrs. Bellricharcls, Anna Lint- j
ner and J. T. Gamble, the last two being in the origin- j
al up-town church. H. R. Tunstall, Jacob Marcell, i
Jabez Baldwin and H. H. Young were elected eld- j,
ers. Rev. Joseph T. Russell, formerly pastor of the j
Third Presbyterian Church, Newark, N. J., was the j
first pastor. We are thus brought to the close of
the first period of our narrative, with three organ- \
ized churches and one mission in the city, these
churches having received into their communion over [
six hundred members.
The absorbing event of this notable year was the
culmination of what is known as the “New School
Controversy.’’* Two schools of
Controversy. thought and policy had grown up
in the church, which may be desig-
nated as conservative and progressive. The con-
troversy which resulted in the division of 1837 had
its root in the Plan of Union, formed in 1801 be-
tween the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church and the Congregational Association of Con-
necticut. This plan, projected by some of the best
men in the church, airped at harmony in new set-
tlements between two denominations, Congrega-
tional and Presbyterian, agreeing in doctrine but
differing in church government. By this plan,
Presbyterian Churches were allowed to call Con-
gregational ministers, who still remained in connec-
tion with some Association, and Congregational
Churches could call Presbyterian ministers who still
held their membership in some Presbytery. In the
practical working of the plan it was found that
“committeemen” claimed seats in Presbyterian
Church courts with regularly installed elders. This
the New School allowed. The Old School felt that
the committeemen, not having subscribed to the
Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church,
ought not to be allowed to sit in church courts with
*Wood’s “History of the Presbyterian Controversy,”
1843.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
159
elders and vote on measures involving the admin-
istration of the Presbyterian Church. They did not
object to Congregationalism itself, but did object to
Congregationalism in the Presbyterian Church. Re-
peated protests were made against the presence of
these committeemen until 1832, when the General
Assembly passed a resolution declaring that the
Plan of Union, rightly construed, does not author-
ize any committeeman to sit in any case in Synod
or the General Assembly. It is evident that the plan
was but temporary, as it blended two distinct forms
of church government and must necessarily prove
ultimately ineffectual. A second source of disturb-
ance* was the question of ecclesiastical control of
educational and missionary operations. As the
church grew and pushed the cause of evangeliza-
tion, to meet the demands of the great West, two
antagonistic theories developed, one seeking to
work through voluntary societies, undenominational
in character, the other aiming to multiply benevo-
lent agencies under church control. The Presby-
terian Church contributed its funds through socie-
ties established by the Congregational Church.
Many Presbyterians, it is true, both ministers and
elders, were directors in these societies, still the feel-
ing grew that the Presbyterian Church ought to
control its own agencies, and so there were estab-
lished, in 1816, the Board of Home Missions, in
1819 the Board of Education, and at the time of the
division in 1837 the Board of Foreign Missions.
As these measures gradually unfolded, the New
School party advocated the cause of the voluntary
societies, and the Old School desired organizations
under the control of the General Assembly, sup-
ported by contributions from the churches and that
sent out Presbyterian ministers. These questions
were debated for years, and would, perhaps, not have
led to a separation, inasmuch as they would naturally
have adjusted themselves in time. In addition,
however, to these differences in regard to the policy
and polity of the church, there arose anotherf of a
more serious nature. There had appeared in New
England certain so-called “improvements” on Cal-
vinism. These were withstood by prominent con-
servative ministers in the Congregational Church.
In 1828 they made their appearance in the Presby-
terian Church, and were, as the Old School claimed,
allowed among the New School party. The more
conservative element were unwilling to admit the
idea of improvement in the generally received sys-
*Baird’s “History of the New School,” p. 283.
t“The Reunion Memorial Volume,” 1837-1870, p.
12.
tern of Gospel truth. Progress in Biblical criticism
and exegesis were fully recognized, and it was also
admitted that, from time to time, a fuller statement
of Christian doctrine might be made, and yet the
assumption that any part of essential Gospel truth
awaited the discovery of modern times, or that the
system of truth, as held, could be improved upon,
was rejected. It was claimed that the doctrines of
the standards were the doctrines of the Word of
God. Rev. Albert Barnes, Rev. George Duffield
and Rev. Lyman Beecher were placed on trial and
ultimately acquitted. Still the relations between
these two schools on these doctrinal questions be-
came strained. About the same time there arose a
fourth cause of disturbance, namely: certain new
measures in conducting revivals, which were intro-
duced in Western New York by Mr. G. C. Finney.
Some of these measures were carried to excess by
his followers. As opposed to these innovations, the
Old School party upheld the means of grace, espe-
cially sacramental meetings, long communion ta-
bles, seasons of preparation for the Lord's Supper,
fencing the table, and objected to the order of re-
vival preachers, artificial revivals, the anxious seat,
rising for prayer, inquiry meetings, pointed address-
es to the impenitent with a view to conversion, and
hasty admissions to the church. The lines became
well drawn and the probability of a division was in-
creased by the fact that the leaders were found on
the same side of most questions involved. In a
word, the New School party upheld the Plan of
Union of 1801 between the Congregational and the
Presbyterian Churches as a contract, the voluntary
societies, especially the American Board of Foreign
Missions, allowed, to a certain extent, the New Eng-
land theology, the new measures in revivals, advo-
cated the “elective affinity” Presbyteries rather than
those formed by geographical bounds, favored the
abolishment of slavery, and claimed a freer con-
struction of the constitution of the church. The
Old School party opposed the Plan of Union as un-
constitutional, and therefore void, desired denomina-
tional control of educational and missionary inter-
ests, withstood the alleged errors in doctrine vital to
the Calvinistic system, rejected the new measures
in revivals, favored gradual emancipation, and re-
fused to give up the right to examine intrant min-
isters. The crisis came in 1837, and was followed
by a year of intense excitement in the land. In
both bodies were men eminent for ability, scholar-
ship, spirituality and devotion to the system of doc-
trine which was held in common. The denomina-
160
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tional property question was decided by the Su-
preme Court of Pennsylvania in favor of the Old
School body. In Kentucky the division occurred
two years later, in 1840, when a New School Synod
was formed. In 1846 they reported three Presby-
teries, fourteen churches and eleven ministers, and
in 1858 the entire Synod returned on honorable
terms to the Old School body. In Louisville a New
School church was formed at the house of Rev. D.
C. Banks, southeast corner of Third and Walnut,
by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Cleland, the leader of the
New School body in Kentucky, and is mentioned in
the city directory of 1843 as worshiping in the city
school house. With this exception, there was no
division in Louisville, beyond the general affinity of
New School sympathizers with the Second Church,
and that of the Old School with the First Church.
Mr. Banks, Mr. Blackburn, Mr. S. K. Snead and (
Mr. Sawtell all united with the New School body. I
The credit of an undivided church in this city is, per- ,
haps, due to the two leading pastors, Drs. Humph-
rey and Breckinridge, who unitedly upheld the Old *
School fidelity to doctrine. Their plea for denom-
inational control of educational and missionary in-
terests, and their claim as to a necessity of abolish-
ing the Plan of Union was successfully prosecuted,
while, at the same time, they adopted the New
School revival measures and sought to imbibe some-
thing of their broad missionary spirit. This is the
position of the reunited church of to-day. One
phase of this old controversy, that of church con-
trol of educational institutions, has recently reap-
peared in the relations of the General Assembly to
Union Theological Seminary, New York City.
<32 Of , ,
CHAPTER XIV.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
BY REV. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D.
The second period of our history extends from
1836 to 1866. After the destruction of the First
Church by fire the congregation worshiped for
three years in a building at the northwest corner of
Fourth and Green streets. The Fourth Street lot
was sold and another, 180x201 feet, on the south-
east corner of Sixth and Green streets, purchased
for $25,000. A handsome church was erected, cost-
ing, with the lot, $66,516, and was dedicated July
21, 1839, the other Presbyterian Churches joining
in the interesting services. Dr. Breckinridge
preached in the forenoon from the text, “Beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mt. Zion,’’
and at the evening service Dr. Humphrey preached
from 1 Cor. 1:24. In May, 1844, the General As-
sembly met in the First Presbyterian Church. Rev.
Gardner Spring, D. D., of New York City, preached
the opening sermon, before a large audience, and
Rev. George Junkin, D. D., was elected Moderator.
As a result of this meeting there was established in
Louisville the Executive Committee of Home Mis-
sions, as auxiliary to the Board of Domestic Mis-
sions, which conducted the missionary operations
of the church in the South and West for nearly
twenty years. Rev. Sylvester Scovel, D. D., agent
of the board, made his headquarters here. In 1848
the First Church had enrolled over three hundred
members. Dr. Breckinridge’s health became im-
paired in 1851, when he was granted leave of ab-
sence for several months, during which the pulpit
was supplied by Rev. Jno. A. McClung. After a
pastorate of twenty-two years, he resigned in 1858,
greatly beloved and honored. His Presbytery had
sent him to the General Assembly eight times, an
honor conferred on no other member in its history,
and the Assembly itself, in 1859, elected him Mod-
erator. After a year the congregation elected Rev.
Thomas A. Hoyt, D. D., of Abbeyville, S. C., who
began his pastoral labors November 5th, 1859.
11
The war came on, and Dr. Hoyt, whose whole pas-
torate was disturbed by the political troubles of the
country, resigned December, 1864. Rev. Samuel R.
Wilson, D. D., was installed March, 1865. This
eminent divine had been associated with his father,
Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, D. D., in the old historic
First Church of Cincinnati from 1842 to 1846, and
then served as pastor for fifteen years until 1861.
Having, for two years, a charge in New York City,
he returned to Kentucky in 1864, took charge of
the Mulberry Church, in Shelby County, and, com-
ing to the First Church, Louisville, viewed with
deep solicitude the approach of the ecclesiastical
storm in which he was to take such a prominent
part. The ruling elders, during this period — 1836
to 1866 — were: John C. Bayless, 1837-41: Robert
Steele, 1837-46; W. J. Dinwiddie, 1839-46; Dr.
John R. Moore, 1839-42; Samuel Casseday, 1841-
76; Dr. S. B. Richardson, 1841-59; John W. Ander-
son, 1841-61; David B. Allen, 1843-49; Lloyd Har-
ris, 1843-73; George Gillis, 1848-57; A. A. Casse-
day, 1854-72; Curran Pope, 1854-62; S. R. Will-
iams, 1855-1859; William Garvin, 1859-68; R. I.
Crawford, 1859-74, and J. V. Escott, 1859-92. The
Deacons were: R. I. Crawford, 1855-59; J- V. Es-
cott, 1855-59; R- K- White, 1855-67; Diodate Holt.
1855-66; Patrick Joyes, 1855-67.
The Second Church grew rapidly under the minis-
try of Dr. Humphrey. A missionary spirit pervaded
the congregation, which was made
Church UP lar£ely New England people.
Mr. William Mix and Miss Martha
Bliss conducted, in 1840, an interesting work among
the colored children, in the basement of the Second
Church, and William H. Bulkley, aided by John
Homire and Clark Bradley, conducted another
Sunday-school, in 1841, at Fifth and York streets.
This school developed under the Rev. Mr. Adams,
a colored minister, into the flourishing Baptist
161
162
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
School on Fifth Street, between Center and Walnut.
In 1842, the Second Church conducted a Bethel
Sunday-school, superintended by Mr. L. L. Warren,
on the east side of Fifth Street, between Main and the
river. This school, in 1846, reported eighty-five
scholars and fourteen teachers.
In the midst of the activities of church life, during
the fall of 1844, the pastor of the Second Church sus-
tained a severe affliction in the death of his beloved
wife, the daughter of Thomas Prather, Esq. Early
in 1846 the Session of the Church granted Mr.
Humphrey leave of absence for eight months to
visit Europe and seek to restore his impaired health.
Mr. Warren, writing under date of March 22d,
1846, says: “Our pastor preached this forenoon
and afternoon. At the latter service there was a
larger attendance than at the morning, and a solemn
service it was. This was his farewell discourse be-
fore leaving the church and congregation. To part
with our beloved pastor, even for a few months,
brought sorrow to many hearts. He remarked that
this is the tenth year he has been pastor of the
church. He carries with him the good wishes of
many friends, and many prayers will be offered for
God’s blessing to rest upon him, that he may be
preserved, his health restored, and that he may be
returned, in God’s time, to his flock.” During Dr.
Humphrey’s absence, the pulpit was filled, at his re-
quest, by Rev. Stuart Robinson, of Kanawha, Va.
On November 28th, Dr. Humphrey returned, great-
ly improved in health, and entered with renewed
zeal upon his pastoral duties. On April 7th, 1847,
he married his second wife, Mrs. Martha Pope. In
the fall of this year, a most serious difficulty arose
in the Second Church, which marks an epoch in the
progress of the Presbyterian Church in this city.
The entire session and sixty-one communicants, in-
cluding many of the wealthiest and most influential
of its members, withdrew and formed the Chestnut
Street Church. The pastor and his people entered
with courage and fidelity upon the work of strength-
ening the things that remained. Jabez Baldwin and
William Warner were elected elders, and immediate
steps were taken to pay off the remaining indebted-
ness, incurred two years before in enlarging and re-
modeling the church.
The following summer, July 25th, 1848, occurred
an event of unusual interest to the whole city, the
dedication of our Cave Hill Cemetery, on which
occasion Dr. Humphrey was selected as the orator
of the day. So long as a grateful public shall cher-
ish affection for our beautiful “City of the Dead,”
so long will this address of Dr. Humphrey’s rank 1
as one of the most classic productions in the litera- 1
ture of our city. In 1851, the Second Church was ij
honored by having its pastor elected Moderator of
the General Assembly at St. Louis. His sermon,
entitled “Our Theology,” preached at Charleston,
S. C., the next year at the opening of the Assembly, !|
was so highly esteemed that it was published by our J
Board of Publication at Philadelphia, and is con-
sidered a splendid presentation of the fruits of
Calvinistic theology. It secured Dr. Humphrey’s
election as successor of Dr. Archibald Alexander in :
the Theological Seminary at Princeton. This honor
he declined, but upon the establishment of the
Theological Seminary at Danville, Ivy., in 1853, he j,
accepted a call to the Chair of Church history in 1
that institution, and the pastoral relation that had ,
existed for seventeen years was dissolved. During ;
his ministry there had been received into the church
four hundred and fifty p^-sons. Rev. J. J. Bullock, i
D. D., from Lexington, Ky., was called in Septem- j
ber, 1853, and served the church two years and a [
half. Resigning in 1856, he resumed charge of his f
classical school at Walnut Hills, near Lexington, j
and the church was left without a pastor for over |
two years. Several distinguished ministers were |
called but declined the pastorate. In the spring of J
1858, Rev. Stuart Robinson, D. D., of the Theo- ;
logical Seminary at Danville, Ky., accepted the ,
charge and was installed pastor. The marked abil- ■
ity of Dr. Robinson put life into the church, and 1
steps were taken at once to remodel the basement ’
and put galleries in the audience room. In the 1
meantime a lot two hundred by two hundred feet, >
at the northeast corner of Second and College '
streets, was purchased, on which to erect a new ■
building. It was intended to use the corner lot for '
the church and reserve one hundred feet for a |
college, to be a companion to the Female School on j
Sixth Street. The war came on soon after, and Dr. j
Robinson retired to Canada. Rev. John C. Young, j
a licentiate of the Presbytery of Transylvania, sup- '
plied the pulpit, and was, in 1863, ordained and in-
stalled as co-pastor, in which capacity he served the I
church until Dr. Robinson’s return in 1866.
The Ruling Elders elected during this period j
were: William Richardson, 1839-47; L. P. Yan- i
dell, 1839-47; J. Y. Love, 1839-47; John Milton, I
1839-47; Jabez Baldwin, 1847-55 ; William Warner,
1847-49; J. P. Curtis, 1848-63; Dr. Price, 1848-51;
James A. Taylor, 1848-51; William Prather, 1848-
66; Andrew Davidson, 1852-82; John Hardin, M.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
163
D., 1852-64; R. Knott, 1852-66; J. F. Huber, 1852-
56; Dr. J. A. Moore, 1865-78; John Homire, 1865-
66, and J. B. Kinkead, 1865-66. The Deacons
were: Geo. H. Cary, 1865; R. A. Watts, 1865-82;
J. K. Lemon, 1865-81, and D. R. Young, 1865-75.
The Third Church, known as the First Free
Church, on account of the free pew system, called, in
1836, the Rev. Joseph T. Russell,
The Third Presby- who seryed tp church faithfully tWO
terian Church. _ J
years, and subsequently died at
Jackson, Miss. He had just made an address at an
annual meeting of the Bible Society and was at-
tacked with apoplexy, after speaking earnestly for
forty minutes. Uttering the words, “Mr. President,
I am done,” he sat down and died. In 1838 a call
was extended to Rev. Joseph Huber, a minister of
fine personal appearance and an excellent preacher.
The chapel on Tenth Street was removed to the east
side of Ninth Street, between Jefiferson and Green,
and there occupied for five years. Rev. Francis
Thornton served the church as a supply in 184.1, and
was succeeded by the beloved Rev. David S. Tod.
A new brick house of worship was built on the south
side of Jefferson Street, fifty feet east of Eighth, and
was dedicated to God June 18th, 1843, the sermon
being preached by Rev. Nathan N. Hall, of Lexing-
ton. The pastor of this church was aboard the ill-
fated “Lucy Walker,”* October 31st, 1844, when
she was blown up four miles below New Albany
and sixty persons were killed. Mr. Tod had made
arrangements at the Theological Seminary in
New Albany to have his pulpit supplied, and was on
his way to Owensboro to organize a Presbyterian
Church when the disaster occurred. The boat had
left Louisville on her way to New Orleans, crowded
with a gay throng of passengers. Among the
killed was the Rev. James McCreary, of Wilcox
County, Alabama, and among the wounded were
Rev. D. Priesley, of Starkville, Miss., and Rev.
James Young, of Dallas, Ala. Rev. Mr. Tod was
uninjured. The Third Church, under Mr. Tod’s
ministry prospered, about one hundred being added
to its membership. After his retirement, Rev. W.
W. Hill, D. D., supplied the pulpit for a short time,
as did Rev. Thomas Bracken, now of Lebanon, Ky.,
when Rev. Benjamin M. Hobson was installed April
5th, 1847. At the installation service, Rev. James
Smith preached the sermon, Rev. W. L. Breckin-
ridge, D. D., delivered the charge to the pastor, and
Rev. E. P. Humphrey, D. D., the charge to the
people. Successful as a pastor, Mr. Hobson re-
*“The Presbyterian Herald,” October, 1844.
ceived into the church over one hundred members
during his ministry of six years. Rev. H. H. Cam-
bern, of Charleston, Inch, supplied the pulpit from
September 13th, 1852, to November 21st, 1853.
During this year plans developed for the removal
of the church to a better location. The ground rent
being regarded as burdensome, the building on
Jefferson Street was sold and a new house of wor-
ship erected on a lot sixty-five by one hundred feet,
at the northeast corner of Walnut and Eleventh
streets, conveyed to the trustees October 8, 1853,
by Rev. Edward P. Humphrey and wife. The name
of the church was changed to the Third, or Walnut
Street Presbyterian Church. The congregation en-
tered the basement for worship in June, 1854, the
upper room being unfinished. On Sunday, August
27th, 1854, a day memorable in the history of this
church, a severe cyclone passed over the city, blow-
ing down two large warehouses, injuring over fifty
residents and demolishing the new church building.
Rev. Robert Morrison,* the temporary supply, was
preaching in the basement to a congregation of
about eighty people, when suddenly the door was
blown open and the room was filled with dust. The
roof was blown off, and a crash was heard as the
western wall fell inward, crushing the girders which
upheld the basement ceiling, and the fearful work
of destruction was soon completed. The following
fifteen persons were killed and twenty-three badly
injured: Mrs. Jane Martin, wife of Elder John N.
Martin; Mrs. Janet Wicks, wife of Captain Wm.
Wicks; Holmes C. Sweeny, John Godfrey, Mrs.
Adaline Vilderbee, her two daughters and a son;
Mrs. Sarah Marcell, wdfe of Elder Jacob Marcell;
John C. Broadford and Miss Headley, of the First
Church; Mrs. Salisbury, of the Second Church;
Mr. Taylor, of the Chestnut Street Church; Mr
Royce Davis, of the Second Church, New Albany,
and Alexander McClelland, of New York City.
The Session adopted the following, in view of the
dreadful calamity that had befallen them: “Re-
solved, That we cherish the names of the departed
as precious and sacred. They were found in the
sanctuary of God, in the act of praise and prayer,
the most holy acts of obedience to God. Resolved,
That we consider this affliction a call of God to
greater devotion, zeal and activity in the service of
Christ. Resolved, That we return thanks to the
other churches and to the whole community for
their warm sympathy in our affliction and for sub-
stantial assistance rendered in many ways." Elder
*“The Presbyterian Herald,” August, 1854.
164
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
B. F. Avery, of the Second Church, and Elder W. C.
Brooks, of the Chestnut Street Church, took their
membership to the Walnut Street Church, to
strengthen their hands. A mass meeting was held
in the First Church yard, the city was canvassed, and
six thousand dollars were subscribed by a generous
public toward rebuilding the ruined sanctuary.
Rev. M. R. Miller, D. D., supplied the pulpit from
September 22d, 1854, to June 6th, 1855, and was
succeeded by the Rev. John H. Rice. The installa-
tion took place May 3d, 1856, Rev. W. W. Hill,
D. D., preaching the sermon, Rev. J. Leroy Halsey,
D. D., delivering the charge to the pastor, and Rev.
F. L. Senour the charge to the people. After a
pastorate of six years, in which he doubled the
membership of the church, Mr. Rice resigned
August 29th, 1861, and became a chaplain in the
Confederate Army. His household furniture and
library were confiscated by the United States Mar-
shal. Rev. William T. McElroy, D. D., a son-in-
law of Mr. Samuel Cassedav, became pastor in 1862,
and remained in charge throughout the war.
The Ruling Elders during this period were: T. J.
Hackney, 1842-1892; John Martin, 1843-66; War-
wick Miller, 1851; J. H. Hewitt, 1851-54; Dr. J. R.
Todd, 1849-51; W. C. Brooks, 1855-56; D. Mc-
Naughton, 1854-56; Joseph Gault, 1856; John
Watson, 1856-68; B. F. Avery, 1866, and James A.
Leech, 1866.
The Fourth Presbyterian Church was organized
March 8, 1846. The Dinwiddie Mission, on Han-
cock Street, prospered until 1841,
church when the frame building was de-
stroyed by fire. For several years
the lot lay vacant, but as the city grew there was felt
a need for a Presbyterian church in the eastern
section of the city. At the time of the organization,
in 1846, a beautiful custom prevailed of referring
questions connected with the progress of the church
to a joint meeting of representatives from the Ses-
sions of the then existing churches. In accordance
with this custom, a committee consisting of Elders
W. J. Dinwiddie, L. L. Warren, Jabez Baldwin,
Chapman Warner, W. H. Bulkley, I. F. Stone, R.
Steele, H. E. Thomas, and John Milton, met and
passed favorably on the question as to a new organ-
ization. Under the appointment of Presbytery, a
commission met March 8th, 1846, in the old Second
Church on Third Street. Rev. E. P. Humphrey,
D. D., preached the sermon from 1 Tim., 3:13:
“The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground
of the truth.” The original members were twelve
from the First Church: W. J. Dinwiddie, Mrs. Anna
Dinwiddie, Mrs. Mary J. Oviatt, Henry E. Mc-
Clelland, Mrs. Jane A. McClelland, Mrs. Martha
Eubank, Miss Nancy Woolfolk, Robert Steel, Mrs.
Arabella Steel, Massena Fontaine, Mrs. Maletta
Fontaine, and Miss Elizabeth Dally; eleven from
the Second Church: Chapman Warner, Mrs. War-
ner, Benjamin Warner, Otis Patten, Isaac F. Stone,
Mrs. Laura E. Stone, Lemuel Powell, Mrs. Emily S.
Powell, William H. Bulkley, Mrs. Bulkley, and W.
A. Hawley; four from the Third Church: Jabez
Baldwin, Mrs. Francis Baldwin, Miss Harriet Jose-
phine Baldwin, and Mrs. Elizabeth Draper. W. J.
Dinwiddie, Robert Steel, and Jabez Baldwin were
elected elders and installed. The vacant lot on
Hancock Street, formerly occupied by the Din-
widdie Church, was available, and accepted as a
location.* Efforts were put forth at once to build
a house of worship. Rev. A. E. Thom and Rev. W.
W. Hill, D. D., each served the church a short time,
and services were held in Hayes & Cooper’s wagon
shop, Main and Hancock streets. On August 22d,
1847, Rev. Mason D. Williams was called, and, on
June 14th, 1848, ordained and installed pastor. The
new church building was completed and dedicated
June 16th, 1848, Rev. W. W. Hill, D. D., preaching
the sermon. The following summer Mrs. Eubank
was engaged to have charge of the parochial school
in the congregation. Mr. Williams was a faithful
minister, going about, like his Master, doing good,
visiting the people in their homes and workshops.
In April, 1852, Mr. Williams died in office and was
buried in New Albany, where he had married his
wife. During his pastorate the church sustained
March 22, 1849, a great loss in the death of Elder
Massena Fontaine, a grandson of old Captain Aaron
Fontaine, to whose memory is recorded a beautiful
tribute in the Session’s minutes. Rev. Adam Harris
was pastor in 1853 and died in office. He was suc-
ceeded by Rev. J. F. Coons in 1854, and shortly after
by Rev. Robert Morrison. Rev. F. Leroy Senour,
a genial spirit, became pastor in May, 1855. The
church work prospered under his seven years’ minis-
try, and the Sunday-school increased from one hun-
dred to two hundred and thirty. The war coming
on, Mr. Senour, finding the church divided in senti-
ment, retired from the field. He was elected chap-
lain of Colonel Boone’s regiment, to whom he
preached a sermon at Muldraugh’s Hill, entitled
*The title to this property was traced through the
courtesy of the Kentucky Title Company.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
165
“The Christian Soldier,” which was published by
the Board of Publication and circulated in the army
and navy. The church was vacant until 1865, when
Rev. D. C. Crow supplied the pulpit for a short time,
.and was succeeded by Rev. Robert Morrison.
Prominent in this congregation were J. P. Young,
Trustee; Hugh and Edward Hays, and S. M. Mer-
win. The Elders since the organization have been
W. J. Dinwiddie, 1846; Robert Steele, 1846-52;
jabez Baldwin, 1846-47; Massena Fontaine, 1848-
49; Isaac F. Stone, 1848-61; W. B. Beatty, 1848;
Otis Patten, 1851-61; William Lackey, 1851; Mat-
thew Hunter, 1851; M. Sturges, 1857; Clark Brad-
ley, 1854-67; J. F. Dryden, 1854; W. A. Porter,
1856; W. H. Robinson, 1856; J. J. Harbison,
1858; and the Deacons: John D. Taggart, 1858-63;
Benjamin Rankin, 1858; Thomas B. Hays, J. F.
Huber, and Jos. Watson.
The Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church was or-
ganized October 31st, 1847. There were sixty-five
Chestnut street members enrolled, consisting of the
Presbyterian following persons and their wives:
’ William Richardson, W. A. Rich-
ardson, L. P. Yandell, J. Y. Love, A. A. Gordon,
John Milton, W. H. Bulkley, Willis Ranney, E. G.
McGinnis, A. B. Semple, John Semple, John Muir,
A. P. Starbird, James M. Lincoln, Alexander Harbi-
son, and L. L. Warren, together with W. S. Vernon,
D. S. Vernon, G. Talbot Vernon, D. Fetter, Newton
Milton, J. N. Carter, James Todd, Lewis Ruffner,
Mr. Miller, Mrs. A. Lintner, Mrs. M. Belknap, Mrs.
G. Merryweather, Mrs. M. O. Fry, Mrs. R. Hughes,
Mr. Butler, Miss C. Richardson, Miss Ann Milton,
Miss A. N. Vernon, Miss M. Ruffner, Miss S. A.
Ruffner, Miss Julia Ruffner, Miss F. B. Fry, Miss
Mary Lintner, Miss Margaret Lintner, Miss Nancy
S. Snead, Mrs. M. A. Dewolf, Miss McComb, Miss
Dawing-, Mr. Catterry, Mrs. A. H. Wallace, Miss
Caroline Wallace, and Mr. Harbison. William
Richardson, W. S. Vernon and L. P. Yandell were
installed elders. A lot, one hundred and five feet
by one hundred and eighty, on the southwest cor-
ner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, was purchased
for six thousand two hundred and seventy-five dol-
lars. Through the courtesy of the Sessions of the
First Church, services were held at Sixth and Green
streets, on Sabbath afternoon, until December 26th,
1847, when the lecture room on “Fourth Cross
Street, between Chestnut and Prather,” was dedi-
cated. The latter street, afterward called Broad-
way, was the southern limit of the city, there being
at this time but few houses beyond Chestnut Street.
The Sunday-school was held in the school building
of Rev. H. H. Young, on the south side of Green
Street, between Third and Fourth, on the present
site of the old Custom House.
Rev. Leroy J. Halsey, of Jackson, Miss., was
elected pastor January 2d, 1848, and, taking charge
of the church the following summer, was in-
stalled November 2d. The church building, on the
corner of Fourth and Chestnut, was completed and
dedicated February 17th, 1850. Dr. Halsey preached
in the forenoon from the text: “One thing have 1
desired of the Lord, that I might dwell in the House
of the Lord forever,” and elaborated with his
peculiar fervor, pathos and imagery the theme,
“The House of God an object of affection to be-
lievers.” In the afternoon, Rev. W. C. Matthews,
D. D., preached from Psalm 84:1, and in the even-
ing, Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, D. D., gave a
clear, logical and masterly presentation of the great
benefit derived by mankind from the establishment
of a Christian church. The main building was
built of brick, in the Grecian style of architecture,
with a portico projecting from the front wall eight
feet, supported by six large columns, their bases
resting on a platform which extended, with the
steps, across the entire front. The vestibule was six~
teen feet square, and the gallery extended across the
whole north end of the building, sixteen feet wide.
The pulpit was a platform recessed five feet in the
back wall, and was furnished with columns and
entablature representing the entrance to a temple.
The main room was eighty-eight feet by fifty-eight,
with three aisles and one hundred and thirty-eight
pews, furnishing comfortable seats for six hundred
and fifty persons, besides those in the gallery. The
steeple had four sections above the roof, surmounted
by a spire sixty feet high, making the height from
the ground one hundred and eighty feet, and was
the only part of the building uncompleted. Dr. Hal-
sey’s pastorate extended over eleven years, and was
marked by earnest, faithful and efficient work. The
number of families increased from forty to one hun-
dred and twenty, and the membership from sixty to
two hundred. Early in Mr. Halsey’s ministry, the
use of instrumental music in public worship was
commenced after much controversy. A lady mem-
ber of the church, writing to her husband in the East,
says: “An organ has been placed in the church.
They say it will not be used during service, but is
intended only for choir practice.” There was also
a discussion, at this time, as to a bell for the tower
on the church, but the steeple having been injured
166
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE:
by the cyclone which demolished the Walnut Street
Church was taken down and the subject of the bell
was indefinitely postponed. ■ The missionary spirit
that had marked the Second Church pervaded the
Chestnut Street Church. On March 26th, 1848, a
mission Sunday-school, called the Wayside Sunday-
school, was opened on Fifth Street, between Main
and the river, conducted by Messrs. Harbison, Bulk-
ley, Homire, Fonda, Warren and others. This use-
ful school continued in operation for six years, and
was succeeded by the Duffield School at Sixth and
the river. In 1854, a work of grace followed the
preaching of Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, of Lexington,
in the Chestnut Street Church, and some forty per-
sons confessed Christ and were received into the
church. During the latter part of Dr. Halsey’s min-
istry, his health failed, and he resigned the pastoral
charge April 8th, 1859. As a pastor, Dr. Halsey
was faithful, and as a preacher always instructive.
He brought to the pulpit literary culture and a re-
fined taste, which enabled him to present the truth
in attractive form. The substance of such works as
his “Life Pictures” and “Literary Attractions of the
Bible” was first heard by his congregation at the old
Chestnut Street Church. He was elected, May,
1859, Professor of Pastoral Theology in the North-
western Theological Seminary at Chicago, which
position he has now occupied for thirty-seven years.
Rev. John L. McKee, of Columbia, Ky., was
called in the summer of 1859, and installed Septem-
ber 5th, i860. His pastorate extended over a
period of eleven years, and his ministry left an im-
pression on the church that is felt to this day. His
settlement was soon followed by the opening of the
war, and during these trying times, the Chestnut
Street Church, under his administration, attained a
position of commanding influence in the city. On
January 23d, 1863, the Presbyterian Church in this
city lost one of its most valued and honored mem-
bers, Mr. William Richardson. This useful man
was one of the first elders of the Chestnut Street
Church, and had served in this office with promin-
ence for twenty-four years. He came to the city
from Lexington, Ivy., although originally from Bos-
ton, Mass. His second wife was the widow of Dr.
Lindsey, of Nashville, formerly Miss Silliman, and
one of the original members of the First Church.
In his death the church courts lost a wise and ju-
dicious member, and the Bible Society, the Mission-
ary Boards, the cause of education, and the Sabbath
schools lost a staunch friend. Occupying a position
as President of the Northern Bank, he was well
known in financial circles and highly esteemed
among business men, as he was honored and re-
spected in the church. Mr. Richardson originated
in this section the New Year Sunrise Prayer Meet-
ing, now popular in all our Presbyterian churches.
The elders elected since the organization were
John Milton, 1853; W. H. Bulkley, 1853; W. C.
Brooks, 1853-54; John W. G. Simrall, 1853; L. L.
Warren, 1859-84; A. Harbison, 1859; John G. Bar-
ret, 1859, and John A. Miller, 1863. The deacons
were: R. M. Cunningham, 1861; John A. Miller,
1861-63; George Harbison, 1861; Lawrence Rich- [
ardson, 1861-67. The trustees were: Willis Ran-
ney, 1847; Lewis Ruffner, 1847; A. P. Starbird,
1847-59; John Muir, 1847; John B. Semple, 1847- f
53; A. A. Gordon, 1853; L. L. Warren, 1854; J. M. j
Carter, 1854; S. S. Moody, 1854; R. Montgomery, |
1854; A. B. Semple, 1859; Thomas L. Carter, i860; j
A. Craig, 1862; R. H. Woolfolk, 1862; Henry Burk- j
hardt, 1864; Robert Murrell, 1864.
The Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church* was j
organized September 1, 1855, by a committee ap- ?
pointed by the Presbytery of Louis-
Portland ... • ,• r , ,
Church vine, consisting of representatives
from the various sessions in the
city. The committee were: Rev. W. L. Breckin-
ridge, D.D., Rev. W. W. Hill, D.D., Rev. F. L. j
Senour, and Elders Curran Pope, William Prather, i
J. W. G. Simrall, H. E. Tunstall and Otis Patten. |
The committee met at Plumer’s storeroom in Port- ;
land, and after a sermon by Rev. Dr. Hill from Psalm ■
137, the following persons presented letters: Mrs.
Jane McCulloch, Miss Mary McCulloch, Miss Hec-
torina McCulloch, from the First Church; Mrs.
Elizabeth Dick, from the Walnut Street Church;
Mrs. Duckwall, from the First Church, New Albany;
and Mr. Boles, from Springfield, Ohio. Mr. W. A. j
Boles and Mrs. M. McKnight were received on pro- '
fession of faith. These eight persons were then or-
ganized into the Portland Avenue Presbyterian ;
Church. Subsequently, March 30, 1857, Mr. Joseph
Irwin was elected elder, and Mr. Newton Boles dea-
con. Steps were taken at once to erect a house of
worship at Thirty-third Street and Portland Avenue.
Rev. R. Morrison preached for the congregation
some time, when the first pastor, Rev. A. A. E. Tay-
lor, took charge September, 1857, and was ordained
and installed May 6, 1858. Rev. Stuart Robinson,
D. D., preached the sermon; Rev. Dr. Hill delivered
the charge to the pastor, and Rev. Moses G. Knight
*Rev. J. H. Morrison’s “Sketch of the Portland Avenue
Church.”
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
167
the charge to the people. The church had acces-
sions constantly during Mr. Taylor’s ministry. On
September 19, 1859, the pastoral relation was re-
solved, and Rev. Edward Wurts, son of Mr. Daniel
Wurts, one of the original elders in the First Church,
became pastor in December, 1859, and remained
during the unsettled period of the war. Rev. W.
W. Duncan became stated supply in August, 1865.
The ruling elders were: Joseph Irwin, 1857-1884;
Daniel McCulloch, 1861; Prof. Hiram Roberts,
1861-69. The deacons were: N. Boles, 1855-57;
W. H. Troxell, 1861-69; Joseph P. Gheens, ]86i-
67. The trustees were Daniel McCulloch, 1855;
John Graham, 1855; Joseph Irwin, 1855-84; Dr. G.
H. Walling, 1855; N. Boles, 1855-57.
Thus are we brought to the close of the second
period of our narrative, with six churches and a
total membership of twelve hundred and seventy-
nine, distributed as follows: Second Church, 356;
Chestnut Street Church, 334; First Church, 285;
Fourth Church, 140; Walnut Street Church, m;
Portland Avenue Church, 83.
These churches had together received into their
communion during these formative years 3,555
members.
Before entering the third period of our history
we desire to take a brief survey of the prominent
characteristics of the denomination
Characteristics. and the constituent elements of our
local organization. During the past
fifty years of its growth the Presbyterian Church of
Louisville has been true to the historic interests of
that branch of the Christian church with which it
stands connected. Upholding the headship of Christ
and declaring the Word of God to be its “only rule
of faith and practice,” the Presbyterian church has
been marked, first, by its doctrinal teachings. It
maintains the Calvinistic system of revealed truth,
known as the Augustinian, or Pauline theology.
This system, most clearly and comprehensively set
forth in the Westminster standards, has been held
prominently before the religious republic in the
preaching of an able ministry. Second, it has been
marked by its polity, that of the government of the
eldership, which gives distinctive names to the de-
nomination. The government of the church is com-
mitted to presbyters, or elders, consisting of teach-
ing and ruling elders. The ministry of the Word
is sustained by an eminently useful lay element, as
seen in the long line of prominent ruling ciders who
have served the church. Third, it recognizes but
two orders of church officers, the first consisting of
elders, which embrace teaching and ruling elders,
the second of deacons, having charge, in accordance
with Acts vi., 1-8, of the poor fund, and also of the
temporal affairs of the church. These officers are
required to subscribe to the confession of faith.
Membership in the church is based, not on sub-
scription to the standards, but on a credible faith
in the Lord Jesus .Christ. Fourth, it maintains a
parity of the clergy and recognizes the ruling elder
as holding an office designated by the very terms
which the Scriptures apply to the teaching elders,
and that both are entitled to equal authority in all
the courts of the church, the words bishop and elder
being used interchangeably. This is a distinctive
principle of Presbyterianism, and one that is gain-
ing favor in other communions. Fifth, it has a rep-
resentative government. Its courts are composed of
presbyters, elders who “rule only, and those who
rule and also labor in word and doctrine.” This co-
ordinate jurisdiction affords the best security against
ministerial domination, on the one hand, and popu-
lar prejudice on the other. Sixth, it is marked by
the unity of its representative assemblies, its ses-
sions, presbyteries, synods and general assemblies.
These constitute a bond which brings all its parts
together and gives to the church a property of in-
definite expansion. Collateral with these character-
istics, the church has maintained, thirdly, an edu-
cated ministry, and has been the friend of higher
education. It is an interesting fact that the Presby-
terian Church of Louisville, previous to 1866, sent
to the presidency of Center College, Danville, Ken-
tucky, Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D.D.; to the presi-
dency of Oakland College, Mississippi, Rev. W. L.
Breckinridge, D.D.; to the Theological Seminary,
Danville, Kentucky, the Rev. E. P. Humphrey, D.
I). ; and called from that institution Rev. Stuart Rob-
inson, D. D. It sent to the presidency of Austin
College, Texas, Rev. A. E. Thom; to the presidency
of Hanover College, Indiana, Rev. Sylvester Scovel,
D.D.; and to a professorship in the same institu-
tion, Rev. H. H. Young; to the presidency of Wor-
cester University, Ohio, Rev. A. A. E. Taylor; to
the presidency of Sayre Female Institute of Lex-
ington, Kentucky, Prof. S. R. Williams; to the
Theological Seminary of the Northwest at Chicago,
Rev. J. Leroy Halsey, D.D.; and called from the
Theological Seminary of New Albany, Rev. M. R.
Miller, D.D. Rev. E. N. Sawtell, D.D., on his re-
turn from France, became principal of the Cleve-
land Female Seminary, and Rev. W. W. Hill, D.D.,
168
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
became principal of Bellewood Female Seminary
at Anchorage, Kentucky. In the early period of our
history, Rev. James Vance conducted an academy
on Beargrass, in which Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, D.D.,
of Cincinnati, received his classical education, as
did Rev. J. J. Bullock, D.D., who became superin-
tendent of public instruction in Kentucky and chap-
lain of the United States Senate. Of special inter-
est to the Presbyterians of this city was the estab-
lishment here of two prominent institutions, both
of which were destroyed by the war, namely, the
Presbyterian Female School, on Sixth Street, so
ably conducted by Professors Williams and Barton ;
and the Presbyterian University, established in 1859,
of which Dr. Robinson was president and Dr. Mc-
Kee and Dr. Hoyt were vice-presidents. Professors
Schenck, Hamilton and Harney, together with Drs.
Robinson, Hoyt and J. L. McKee, taught for two
years, and the institution had progressed so far as to
have laid the foundation of its buildings on Second
and College streets. Among the students sent out
were Rev. Robert Holland of St. Louis; Rev. Albert
Iveigwin of Wilmington, Delaware, and Rev.
Thomas Tracy of India. Fourth, it has been
marked by an evangelistic spirit. The Presbyterian
church emphasizes the headship of Christ, and main-
tains the Bible as its constitution. It seeks to lead
men to the Savior of mankind, and brings every
doctrine and practice to the test of His written Word.
The spirit with which these cardinal teachings is
sustained is thoroughly evangelistic in character.
The first Presbyterian minister in this city was a
missionary, Rev. Mr. Banks, as were Drs. Black-
burn, Smith and Sawtell. The establishment of the
Executive Committee of Domestic Missions in this
city for twenty years evidences this spirit, and the
frequency of revivals in all our churches attests the
readiness of pastors and people to co-operate in
evangelistic efforts. Fifth. It has been public spirit-
ed and charitable. Side by side with our Episcopal,
Methodist, Baptist and other brethren, the Presby-
terian church has, with a liberal hand, promoted the
interests of the Bible Society, the Tract Society, the
American Sunday School Union and the various
public institutions of the city.
As we survey the past fifty years there have ap-
peared several elements molding the character of
the church and gradually blending into the forma-
tion of the church of to-day. We are first indebted
to the Scotch and Irish, who laid the foundation of
the church in this city, many of whom were from
Virginia. That uncompromising, liberty-loving
people are represented in the McFarlands, McNutts, !
Carys, Tunstalls, Fetters and Hughes of the origi-
nal organization, together with their successors, the
families of Samuel Casseday, William Garvin, Alex-
ander Harbison, W. J. Dinwiddie, Rev. H. H.
Young, J. Gault, J. W. Anderson, J. Watson, Rev.
Stuart Robinson, John Graham, D. McNaughton,
Rev. W. C. and John D. Matthews, Daniel McCul-
lough, Andrew and James Davidson, Donald Mac-
Pherson, John D. Taggart and others. Nor are we
less indebted to our New England Presbyterians,
that splendid church and school-loving people,
whose thrift and energy have entered so largely into
our commercial prosperity. Rhode Island sent us
the Vernons and Kings, Vermont the talented Dan-
iel Smith, New Hampshire E. N. Sawtell and Joseph
Danforth, Massachusetts L. L. Warren, J. P. Curtis
and William Richardson, Maine Chapman Warner,
Otis Patten and A. B. Starbird, and Connecticut
Daniel C. Banks, Edward P. Humphrey, Isaac F.
Stone, Clark Bradley, W. H. Bulkley, A. A. Wheel-
er, W. C. Nones and others.
To these elements should be added another that
has entered largely into our church life, namely, the
German, represented by such men as Jacob and
Paul Reinhard, Stephen Beers, Jacob Birkenmire,
Dr. Charles Fishback, Dr. Henry Miller, Rev.
Joseph and James F. Huber, and John Homire, a
-native Prussian. The English contributed those
noble specimens of manly elders, Edgar Needham,
J. V. Escott and George W. Morris; the Dutch are
recognized in the Van Buskirks, the Welsh in the
Allens and the Gwathmeys, and the French in the
Fontaines, Bullitts, Marcells, Rev. E. N. Sawtell,
and Rev. F. Leroy Senour. Grafting these into our
native stock, the Popes, Prestons, Breckinridges,
Joyes, Wilsons, Thurstons, Prices, Speeds, Mc-
Dowells, Ballards, Lemons, Miltons, Butlers, Shorts,
Ivinkeads, Harlans, Boyles, Bristows, Barretts and
others, we obtained true-born Kentucky Presby-
terians. An English writer says:
t
i \
I
“A true-born Englishman’s a contradiction;
In speech, an irony; in fact, a fiction;
A metaphor invented to express
A man aikin to all the world.”
And so we have produced in our church in this city
“true-born” Presbyterians, who love our institutions,
our doctrines, our polity, and who unite us to the
great Pan-Presbyterian family of the Reformed
churches throughout the world, holding the Calvin-
istic system.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
169
As we enter the last period of our history we must
briefly consider the causes that led to the division of
1886. The Civil War with its
Division political animosities, proved a bane-
fill source of disturbance to our be-
loved church in this city. It was hoped by
many, both North and South, that the great re-
ligious body with which this church stood con-
nected might be able to maintain its integrity not-
withstanding the serious issue raised by the war.
But political separations usually involve eccle-
siastical divisions, and so it proved here. The
immediate occasion of the disruption in the Synod
of Kentucky in 1866 was the action taken by the
General Assembly of St. Louis with reference to the
Presbytery of Louisville, which had adopted Sep-
tember 2, 1865, a paper styled “The Declaration and
Testimony against the erroneous and heretical doc-
trines and practices which have obtained and been
propagated in the Presbyterian Church in the United
States during the last five years.” This celebrated
document, the original of which is now in the library
of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio,
was written by Rev. Samuel R. Wilson, D.D., pas-
tor of the First Church in this city, and was issued
after the example of the equally celebrated “Act
and Testimony,” published by Rev. Robert J. Breck-
inridge, D.D., in 1835, during the new school con-
troversy. It is a lengthy document of twenty-seven
octavo pages, and can only be appreciated by a
brief consideration of the heated discussion which
resulted in its publication. During the summer of
1861, the old school Presbyterian church was divid-
ed into two branches, popularly known as the North-
ern and Southern. The causes which led to this
division were deep seated and had their root in the
great questions that led up to the Civil War. States
rights and slavery had agitated the country from
the beginning, and now the moral and religious as-
pects of these great questions seriously disturbed the
church. The relation of the church to the institu-
tion of slavery had always been a vexed question,
and the relation of the church to the State involved
the question of the allegiance of the Christian citi-
zens to the Federal Government. The introduc-
tion of these questions into the church was brought
about by what were known as “Deliverances," is-
sued, from time to time, by the General Assembly.
The Presbyterian church has always recognized its
duty to mold public sentiment on moral questions,
to witness against evil in every and any form, while
at the same time it maintains, as one of its cardinal
principles, the right of private judgment. Steadfast-
ly withstanding any terms of communion, not found
in the Word of God, it yet seeks to formulate the
Christian consciousness of the age. By reason of
this unique pastoral care the Assembly, as the high-
est court of the church, is accustomed to issue, from
time to time, deliverances on the great moral ques-
tions of the day. Such deliverances as those against
duelling, gambling, intemperance, and kindred sub-
jects, are found on all the pages of its history.
In 1861 the subject of loyalty to the Government
was presented to the General Assembly at Philadel-
phia in the celebrated Spring resolutions. It was a
time of great excitement. Fort Sumter had just
been fired upon and men were aroused to an intense
state of excitement. These resolutions, introduced
by one of the most conservative of men, Rev. Gard-
ner Spring, D.D., of New York City, provided for a
day of fasting and prayer to God that he would avert
the calamity of war, and in a spirit of Christian
patriotism pledged the church with loyalty to the
Federal Government. After a heated discussion the
resolutions were adopted by a vote of 156 to 66, the
Southern members having but a small representa-
tion. A protest was offered by Dr. Charles Hodge,
signed by fifty-eight persons, among whom were
L. L. Warren, the representative of the Presbytery
of Louisville, and all the commissioners of the State
of Kentucky. The protest acknowledged loyalty to
the Government to be a moral and religious duty,
according to the Word of God, which requires us
to be subject to the powers that be, as ordained of
God, and admitted the right of the Assembly to re-
quire this and all like duties of the ministers and
members under its charge, but they said “we deny
the right of the General Assembly to decide the po-
litical question to what government the allegiance
of Presbyterians as citizens is due, and its right to
make that decision a condition of membership in
the church.” They claimed that many of their breth-
ren, living in the Southern States, conscientiously
believed that the allegiance of the citizen was pri-
marily due to the State. “The Assembly,” they said,
“in deciding a political question, has, in our judg-
ment, violated the constitution of the church and
usurped the prerogative of the Divine Master." The
Assembly replied: “Strictly speaking, we have not
decided to what government the allegiance of Pres-
byterians as citizens is due. Our organization, as a
General Assembly, was contemporaneous with that
of the Federal Government. In the seventy-four
years of our existence Presbyterians have known but
170
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
one supreme government, and we know no other
now. No nation on earth recognizes the existence
of two independent sovereigns within these United
States.” With reference to the terms of communion,
the Assembly replied: “The terms of Christian fel-
lowship are laid down in the Word of God and are
embodied in our standards. It is competent to this
court to interpret and apply the doctrines of the
Word, to warn men against prevailing sins, and
urge the performance of neglected duties. We re-
gard the action against which these protests are
levelled simply as a faithful declaration of the Assem-
bly of Christian duty toward those in authority over
us, which adds nothing to the terms of communion,
already recognized. Surely the idea of the obligation
of loyalty to our Federal Government is no new
thing to Presbyterians.” There was no question
between the Protestants and the Assembly as to the
church’s intermeddling with political affairs, the
only issue being one of fact as to whether the act
in question was political. Nor was there a question
as to the judgment of the Assembly, but simply
whether the Assembly, as a spiritual court, had a
right to pronounce any judgment at all on the sub-
ject. The Southern Presbyterians generally denied
this right. In fact, they protested against the intro-
duction into the discussions of the Assembly of any
of the questions connected with slavery and loyalty,
or of the relations of the church to the civil govern-
ment. During the summer and autumn of 1861
many of the Presbyteries in the Southern States
adopted resolutions renouncing the authority of the
General Assembly, and a convention met Decem-
ber 4, 1861, at Augusta, Ga., and formed “The Pres-
byterian Church in the Confederate States of Amer-
ica.”
With reference to the burning question of slavery
two facts stand out conspicuously in all the history;
first, the General Assembly uniformly condemned
the system, and, secondly, it uniformly allowed the
institution a place in its communion. These facts
are brought out in the two prominent deliverances
of 1818 and 1845. The seeming contradiction be-
tween these two deliverances disappears when we
consider that the one paper affirms that the system
of slavery, with its laws and usages and abuses, which
had grown up, was an evil which should be abol-
ished, and the other holds that the relation of master
and slave was not necessarily sinful.
Perhaps the most objectionable of the Assembly’s
deliverances during this trying period was that of
1865. Previous to this all of these deliverances had
been of a declarative nature. The law of the Pres-
byterian church recognizes two broadly distin-
guished functions, those of instruction and of gov-
ernment. As a teacher, the highest court of the
church interprets revealed truth, but does not claim
infallibility, for the Confession of Faith expressly
says “all synods and councils may err and have
erred.” Nor does it bind the conscience. Every
member of the church is bound to exercise private
judgment and decide for himself, whether the deliv-
erance is in accordance with the Word of God. This
is a fundamental principle of Presbyterianism.
But there is another function equally well recog-
nized, that of government. In 1865 the Assembly
felt called upon to exercise this
Tipi ivPT'flTlf'A
of lg65 function. The war was over, slav-
ery had been abolished, the sover-
eignty of the Federal Government maintained, and
the Sun of Peace had resumed his genial reign over
our undivided land. But in the border States
an unexpected emergency arose. Persons absent
during the war were returning in large numbers to
their homes, and the question of church control be-
came one of absorbing and anxious concern. To
meet this emergency the Assembly was called upon
to exercise the power of government and require
Church Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods to exam-
ine applicants for admission from the South into
bodies under their care upon the subject of loyalty
and freedom. If the several deliverances of the As-
sembly on slavery and loyalty had given offense to
the Presbyterians of the South this was peculiarly
exasperating. Having protested against these de-
liverances from year to year, the Presbytery of
Louisville adopted at Bardstown September 2, 1865, 1
the celebrated Declaration and Testimony. With
all the ability of its learned author, this paper pleads
eloquently for the Crown Rights of Zion’s King, !
but the severity of its language, its charge of apos-
tasy against the church, its condemnation of prin- j
ciples and practices, coeval with the origin of the {
Presbyterian church, especially its avowed purpose
to reform or withdraw, aroused the church to grave
apprehensions. So great was the alarm a step was
resorted to that could be justified only by an extra-
ordinary emergency, a convention was called by
those approving the acts of the Assembly to meet
at St. Louis and sit side by side with the constitu-
tional assembly of the church, with the avowed pur-
pose of influencing its course of action. The pres-
ence of over one hundred ministers and elders at
this convention evinced the fact that there was great
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1836-1866.
171
anxiety throughout the church as to the effect of
the Declaration and Testimony. It was felt by the
church generally that the question had passed be-
yond an issue in which men equally honest differed,
and had become one of vital discipline. It was
feared that the movement might be widespread, and
therefore heroic measures were adopted. The As-
sembly, at St. Louis, in 1866, condemned the Decla-
ration and Testimony “as a slander against the
church, schismatical in its character and aims, and
its adoption by any of our church courts as an act
of rebellion against the authority of the General
Assembly.”* It has been claimed that the author
and signers of this document did not contemplate
separation, but this their language seemed to imply:
“We will not abandon the effort until we shall either
have succeeded in reforming the church and restor-
ing her tarnished glory, or, failing in this, necessity
shall be laid upon us, in obedience to the Apostolic
commands, to withdraw from those who have de-
parted from the truth.”
Notwithstanding the earnest protest of such men
as Dr. Boardman of Philadelphia, and Dr. Van Dyke
of New York, the Assembly dealt summarily with
the Presbytery of Louisville, dissolving the body
and summoning the signers of the Declaration and
Testimony to appear before the court. It forbade
them to sit in any court above the Session, and de-
clared that any Presbytery or Synod which ad-
mitted them to sit to be, ipso facto, dissolved. Those
who, in such cases, obeyed the authority of the As-
sembly were declared to be the true Presbytery and
Synod. Whatever may be said as to the character of
previous acts and deliverances of the General As-
sembly, the judgment pronounced against the Pres-
bytery of Louisville, as a court, was strictly ecclesias-
tical, and condemned and dealt with what the As-
sembly declared to be insubordination on the part
of the lower court against the lawful authority of
the highest court of the church. During the discus-
sion the commissioners from the Presbytery of
Louisville, Dr. Stuart Robinson, Dr. Samuel R. Wil-
son, Hon. Charles A. Wickliffe and Mark Hardin,
Esq., were suspended from their privilege as mem-
bers of the body, under the following resolution :
“That until the Assembly shall have examined and
decided upon the conduct of said Presbytery, the
commissioners therefrom shall not be entitled to
seats in this body,” and upon the adoption of the
report of the committee appointed to examine into
the facts connected with the proceedings of the
♦General Assembly Minutes, 1866, p. 60
Louisville Presbytery, their recommendation was
adopted, “That, on the hearing of the matter pre-
sented by this report, the commissioners from the
Presbytery of Louisville to this Assembly be heard,
subject to the rules of order which govern the
house.”* The members of the Presbytery thus sus-
pended withdrew from the court and returned to
their homes.
At the meeting of the Synod of Kentucky at Hen-
derson, in October, 1866, this issue ran the plow-
share of division through our beloved church in
Kentucky, part maintaining, for a while, an inde-
pendent position, -and then uniting with the South-
ern General Assembly, and part remaining with the
old Assembly.
The property question in this city, at first local in
its nature, was taken to the civil courts in the cele-
brated Walnut Street Church case.
Pi °pei ty ma:orjty Df qie members of this
Question. J J
church concurred with the Assem-
bly, while Messrs. Watson and Gault, as ruling eld-
ers, and Messrs. Farley and Fulton, as trustees, con-
stituting in each case a majority of the Session
and trustees, desired to retain Mr. McElroy as pas-
tor, whose sympathy was with the party of the Decla-
ration and Testimony. This led to efforts by each
party to gain control of the property. The case was
brought before the Synod of Kentucky, and that
body, by a commission, called a congregational
meeting-, at which there were elected three addi-
tional elders. Messrs. Gault and Watson and
Messrs. Farley and Fulton refused to recognize them
as members of the Session, and hence the suit. The
decision of the Louisville chancellor, which turned
exclusively on this question, was that “Messrs.
Avery, McNaughton and Leech, together with
Messrs. Hackney, Watson and Gault, were ruling
elders, constituting the Session of said church, and
that the management of the property of said church,
for the purpose of worship and other religious ser-
vices, was committed to their care, under the regula-
tions of the Presbyterian Church.” This decree of
the chancellor was reversed by the Court of Ap-
peals of Kentucky in the case of Watson vs. Avery,
2 Bush’s Reports, 332. But in the case of Watson vs.
Jones, 15 Wallace’s Reports, 679, the Supreme Court
of the United States sustained the decision. One of
the questions involved in the litigation was whether
it is competent for the courts of law in this country
to set aside or reverse a decision of our church courts
in matters that are purely ecclesiastical. The Supreme
♦General Assembly Minutes, 1S66, p. 40.
172
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Court at Washington upheld the rights of property
asserted by the Walnut Street Church and sustained
the General Assembly in its claim “that courts of
law must accept as final and conclusive the decisions
of the General Assembly on questions purely
ecclesiastical, and must give full effect to these deci-
sions in settling the property rights of parties liti-
gant.’’*
Repeated efforts had been made to reunite the
two branches of the Presbyterian church. They
have each declared that “the deliverances made in
peculiar times and under excitement are null and
void,” and have each expressed confidence in the
*Moore’s “Presbyterian Digest,” p. 251.
soundness of doctrine and Christian character of the
other. They have each said “in order to show our
disposition to remove on our part all real or seeming
hindrances to friendly feeling, the Assembly ex-
plicitly declares that, while condemning certain acts
and deliverances of the other Assembly, no act or
deliverance of our Assembly, or of the historic bod-
ies of which this Assembly is the successor, are to
be construed as impugning, in any way, the Chris-
tian character of the other Assembly.” Many in
both branches of the church long to see the day
when these two great bodies, with a common herit-
age, shall be united on the basis of the common
standards, and, together, seek the advancement of
the Redeemer’s Kingdom.
CHAPTER XV
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
BY REV. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D.
After the division of 1866 the history naturally
divides itself into two branches, the Northern and
Southern.
The following churches, popularly known as
Southern churches, are connected ecclesiastically
with the Presbytery of Louisville, the Synod of
Kentucky and the General Assembly of the Presby-
terian Church in the United States.*
The First Church, with Dr. Wilson, after the
division of 1866, remained with the Synod in an
independent position until 1868,
First church, when they united with the Southern
General Assembly. In connection
with a member of the session of this church there
occurred during this year, on the night of the
4th of December, one of those mysterious
providences which occasionally shock an entire
community, the collision and destruction by fire of
the “America” and the “United States,” on the Ohio
River, a few miles above Warsaw, Kentucky.
Among those who were lost on the “United States”
was William Garvin, an elder in the First Church
and one of Louisville’s noblest citizens. He had
been, for forty years, a consistent member of this
church and a liberal contributor toward its support.
His body was found in the hull of the steamer, and,
though it had been touched by fire, his counten-
ance bore its usual serene expression. The funeral
took place in the First Church, before a vast gath-
ering of mourning citizens. Dr. Samuel R. Wil-
son’s discourse was a masterpiece of its kind. It
was deeply impressive as with glowing imagination
the speaker described the scene of that ill-starred
*The nine Southern churches belong to the Presbytery
of Louisville, with 37 ministers, 45 churches, 4,966 com-
municants; to the Synod of Kentucky, with 109 min-
isters, 181 churches, 19,302 communicants; and to the
General Assembly, with 1,337 ministers, 2,776 churches,
203,999 communicants, contributing last year the sum
total of $1,880,126.
night and, delineating the character of the well-
known, white-haired servant of God, sought
“To assert eternal Providence,
And jusify the ways of God to men.”
In 1870 the First Church established a mission
on the south side of Chestnut Street, near Sixteenth,
where they erected a church building at a cost of
$9,000. Here they carried on the work for three
years, under the care of Rev. D. A. Plank, now of
Mobile, and Rev. Charles L. Hogue, now of Mem-
phis, Tenn. At the request of the session, the Pres-
bytery of Louisville organized, August 4, 1873, the
West Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church, the
commission consisting of Dr. Yandell, Rev. ). J.
Cook, and Messrs. J. V. Escott and J. Gault. There
were thirteen communicants enrolled. Messrs. J.
Steele and D. H. Mathis were elected elders, and
Messrs. J. Breeding and George Crawford deacons.
In the summer of 1874 certain differences arose be-
tween the pastor of the First Church and seven of
the ten elders, which was carried to the Presbytery
of Louisville, thence to the Southern General As-
sembly of the Presbyterian Church, and finally re-
sulted in a division into two bodies, each claiming-
to be the First Presbyterian Church. This led to
a suit for the property, which was decided by Special
Chancellor Judge Duvall in favor of Dr. Wilson’s
party. The elders adhering to Dr. Wilson were
R. I. Crawford, L. L. Anderson and William Lind-
sey. This decision was reversed by the Court of
Appeals, October 19, 1878, the court maintaining
“that the title to the property of a divided church
is in that part of it which is acting in harmony with
its own fundamental laws.” It seems that the seven
elders, Samuel Casseday, Patrick Joyes, N. D. Hun-
ter, J. C. Allen, W. L. Clarke, R. K. White and J. V.
Escott, and their families, had received letters of
dismission, which were soon after returned. The
remaining session, refusing to receive these letters,
173
174
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
were directed, by Presbytery, to receive them, and
the seven elders were directed to resume their offices
in the session. The court held that the seven eld-
ers and their families were, by returning their let-
ters, restored to membership, and the elders to their
office. In the meantime, some difference between
Dr. Wilson and his Presbytery led the former to
renounce the authority of the latter. The court
held in this connection that Dr. Wilson and his
friends, having renounced the authority of the
Presbytery, had thereby made themselves a new and
independent organization, and having no connec-
tion with a Presbytery, were not, according to the
laws of the church, entitled under the deed to nold
the property, and, therefore, the title was vested in
the party with the seven elders. After the division
of 1874 the Seventh and Chestnut Street Associate
Reform Church and the First Church congregations
worshipped together until their union. Rev. W. J.
Lowrie, D. D., from Selma, Alabama, was called
to the pastorate of both churches, and began his
ministry November 9, 1875. After the installation
of Mr. Lowrie, the congregation worshipped in Li-
brary Hall, and their pastor gained a place in the
affections of the church and of the whole communi-
ty. He died November 11, 1877.
On July 6, 1876, Mr. Samuel Casseday, who had
been identified with this church for fifty-four years,
thirty-five as an elder, passed away. He was born
August 6, 1795, at Lexington, Virginia, and was
a son of Peter and Mary (McClung) Casseday. His
father died when he was seven years of age, and he
came with his mother to Kentucky in 1813. In 1822
Mr. Casseday came to Louisville, and, uniting with
the First Church, entered a business career, from
which he retired in 1870. After this date he was
occupied with public charities, the Blind Asylum,
the Orphanage and the Cook Benevolent Institu-
tion. Mr. Casseday married Miss Eliza McFar-
land, a daughter of one of the original members of
the First Church. He came from the celebrated
Tinkling Springs Presbyterian Church of Virginia,
and spent here a long, useful and honored life.
After the decision of the Court of Appeals at
Frankfort, the First Church received the keys of the
building at Sixth and Green, and elected Rev. Ed-
ward O. Guerrant pastor, who began his ministry
January 5, 1879. By petition to Presbytery, the
two churches, the First Church and the Associated
Reform Church, were united in April, 1879. In
September, 1881, the church was repaired and rc-
dedicated, and the membership increased from two
hundred and fifty to six hundred and thirty-five. j|
Dr. Guerrant, after an active pastorate, resigned in
the winter of 1881-82, and entered upon evangelistic
work in this State. After a year Rev. T. D. With-
erspoon, D. D., was elected pastor. The old his-
toric site on Sixth and Green was sold, and a new
lot secured in a more desirable locality. The hand-
some new church, erected on the west side of
Fourth Street, between Broadway and York, was
dedicated April 13, 1891, the sermon being'preaclied
by Rev. Moses D. Hoge, D. D., of Virginia. Dr.
Witherspoon being called to a chair in the Central
LTniversity, Richmond, Kentucky, resigned the pas-
toral charge, and, after a year, the present incum-
bent, Rev. J. S. Lyons, D. D., was installed. The
present membership is 580. The elders elected dur-
ing this period, 1866-96, are: R. K. White, 1867-81 ;
Patrick Joyes, 1867-94; L. L. Anderson, 1869-74;
W. L. Clark, 1869-83; J. W. Nourse, 1869-72; N.
D. Hunter, 1872-89; J. C. Allin, 1872-89; William
Lindsey, 1872-74; J. M. Gordon, 1879 — 5 David
Baird, 1879 — > S. C. Walker, 1879 — ; M. J. Mc-
Bride, 1879-91; Douglas Morton, 1886-92; Henry
V. Escott, 1886 — ; Andrew M. Sea, 1886 — ; John
W. Houston, 1886-94; Charles A. McGuire, 1886 — ;
R. T. Jacob, 1892 — ; William Boa, 1893 — , and
Shackleford Miller, 1893 — . The deacons were:
J. M. Duncan, 1867-74; W. L. Clark, 1867-69; L.
L. Anderson, 1867-69; Henry V. Escott, 1867-86;
John C. Benedict, 1870-74; George Nicholas, 1870-
74; Douglas Morton, 1880-86; Shackleford Mil-
ler, 1880-93; F. E. Long, 1880-82; M. K. Allen,
1886 — ; Joseph Shaw, 1886 — ; Thomas P. Smith,
Jr., 1886-87; H. T. Pollard, 1886 — ; George W.
Constance, 1886 — ; T. M. Hawes, 1888-93; Wade
Sheltman, 1888 — ; W. L. Gowan, 1888 — ; A. E.
Walesby, 1888-92; Angus W. Gordon, 1893 — ;
Charles C. Fuller, 1893 — ; L. L. Anderson, Jr.,
1:893 — 1 J- A. Vandiver, 1893 — .
The Second Presbyterian Church was divided, in
18 66, two-thirds of the congregation remaining with
Dr. Robinson, and uniting, in 1868,
Church with the Southern Assembly. The j
property question was amicably set- j
tied. A commission was appointed, consisting of
Hamilton Pope, George W. Morris and R. A. Watts,
representing the Second Church, and William Pra-
ther, W. W. Morris and J. B. Ivinkead, representing
the College Street Church, to arrange the details.
The property was valued at $30,000, including the
Third Street building and the lot at Second and Col-
lege, and was, by agreement, divided in the propor-
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
175
tion of nineteen-thirtieths for the Second Church and
eleven-thirtieths for the College Street Church, this
I ratio being determined by the membership. The
building on Third Street, valued at $20,000, was
sold at private auction, and secured by the Second
Church. The College Street Church received in
the distribution the lot on Second and College, and
$5,000 in money.
New officers were elected and steps taken to build
in a more desirable location. In 1869 a lot was
bought at the corner of Second and Broadway, 112
by 400 feet, at a cost of $36,000, one-third of which
was sold for $10,000. A building was erected for
lecture and Sabbath school rooms, and temporarily
for the congregation, costing $22,000, and was ded-
icated in May, 1870. The General Assembly of the
Southern Church held its sessions in this building
soon after. On September 13, 1874, a day memor-
able in the annals of the Second Church, the hand-
some stone structure was completed and dedicated
to the service of God. The sermon was preached
by Rev. D. M. Palmer, D. D., of New Orleans, and
the historic sketch of the enterprise was read by Dr.
Robinson. The main building, including the furni-
ture and organ, cost $90,000. On the 29th of De-
cember, 1879, Mr. A. A. Gordon, one of the elders,
i died. He was a nephew of Dr. Archibald Alex-
ander, of Princeton, after whom he was named.
1 For forty years he was conspicuous as a Christian
before this community. His intelligence, modesty,
and fidelity were universally admired. For fifteen
1 years he had been a ruling elder, and always com-
! manded the confidence and high regard of his breth-
ren in all the church courts. Dr. Robinson's
health failed in 1880, and in consequence he re-
signed his charge and was elected by the congrega-
tion pastor emeritus. On October 5, 1881, after a
protracted illness, Dr. Robinson died, in the sixty-
' seventh year of his age. Dr. Palmer, his life-long
friend, preached the funeral sermon. This church
was indebted to Dr. Robinson for its remarkable
growth and development from a membership of two
hundred in 1866 to over six hundred. A beautiful
marble tablet has been placed behind the pulpit
and bears the inscription:
Stuart Robinson, D. D.
Died October 5, 1881.
Pastor of this church twenty-three years.
A profound teacher,
A faithful pastor,
And a true friend.
Dr. Robinson was a truly great man. His work
in this city was but a part of his achievement in the
State and whole church. His reputation was in-
ternational. He was an able preacher, a vigorous
debater and influential leader, and has left an hon-
ored name.
Rev. John W. Pratt, formerly president of Central
University, Richmond, Kentucky, was installed
pastor December 4, 1881. He was a strong preacher
and skillful sermonizer, and it was a source of great
disappointment to the people when he was com-
pelled by ill health two years later to give up his
pastoral charge. The relations as pastor were dis-
solved November 3, 1883. The pulpit was supplied
by Dr. J. T. Hendrick, D. D., a few months, when
a call was extended to the present incumbent, Rev.
Charles R. Hemphill, D. D., a professor in the Theo-
logical Seminary at Columbia, South Carolina. Dr.
Hemphill was installed June 14th, 1885. The pres-
ent membership is 623. The elders elected during
the period (1866-96) are A. A. Gordon, 1866-79;
Dr. William Nock, 1866-76; D. C. Heiskell, 1866-67;
George W. Morris, 1866 — ; William S. Macrea,
1868—; A. B. Dean, 1866-81; Dr. J. W. Akin,
1868 — ; G. H. Mourning, 1868 — ; £. L. Samuel,
1868-73; John J. Harbison, 1868; Thomas W. Bul-
litt, 1881-—; Dr. Vincent Davis, 1881 — ; James K.
Lemon, 1881- — ; Dr. John G. Cecil, 1891 — ; Howard
W. Hunter, 1891 — ; Dr. Frank C. Wilson, 1891 — ;
and Randolph H. Blain, 1891 — . The deacons were
Rowland Whitney, 1866; J. A. Edmunds, 1866;
D. A. Kean, 1866; J. F. Weller, 1866; W. J. Wilson,
1866; Thomas W. Bullitt, 1866-81; John H. Leath-
ers, 1881; John Stites, 1881; William F. Booker,
1890; B. K. Marshall, 1891, and Embry L. Swear-
ingen, 1891. Shelby Gillespie has been sexton for
thirty years.
The Walnut Street Presbyterian Church was di-
vided in 1866, and the congregation, with Mr. Mc-
Elroy as supply and Messrs. Gault
cTiurch and Watson as elders, worshipped in
the Male High School, on Chestnut
Street, under the name of the Third Church. After
Mr. McElroy’s resignation. Dr. Yandell took charge
of the church. In 1874 they were invited by the
West Chestnut Street Church to worship in the
building at Sixteenth and Chestnut, still owned by
the First Church. A portion of this congregation,
with Rev. W. H. Claggett, the minister in charge,
ceased to use this building June 28, 1874, and wor-
shipped at Eclipse Hall, Thirteenth and Walnut.
This congregation was recognized by the Presbytery
as the West Chestnut Street Church, and on July 26,
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
17G
1874, called Rev. W. H. Claggett. The remnant of
the congregation, with Messrs. H. D.Mathes as elder,
and George Crawford as deacon, retained the build-
ing at Sixteenth and Chestnut. The West Chestnut
Street Church worshipped at Thirteenth and Wal-
nut a year, when they purchased a lot, 75 by 200
feet, on the north side of Walnut Street, near Nine-
teenth, and built a brick church, with an audience
room 40 feet by 64, having a seating capacity of
four hundred, and costing, with the furniture,
$8,000. The new house of worship was dedicated
November 18, 1874, Dr. Robinson preaching the
sermon, and the name of the church was changed
from the West Chestnut Street Church to the Fifth
Presbyterian Church. On February 14, 1875, the
Presbytery dissolved the remnant of the West Chest-
nut Street Church and placed their letters in the
Third Presbyterian Church, and the following
April the First Presbyterian Church granted the
Third Church the use of the Sixteenth and Chestnut
streets property, and Rev. J. J. Cook became pastor.
On July 8, 1875, Dr. Wilson and his congregation
united with the Louisville Presbytery in connection
with the Northern Assembly. The Third Church,
therefore, left the Sixteenth and Chestnut streets
property, which was claimed by the party with Dr.
Wilson, and went over to worship at Seventeenth
and Main. On September 8th, 1875, Mu Claggett
resigned his pastoral charge of the Fifth Church,
and, on April 5, 1876, the Fifth Church and the
Third Church were united under the name of the
Third Church, and worshipped at Nineteenth and
Walnut. This congregation, in April, 1876, called
Rev. J. De Witt Duncan, who was installed pastor
April 9, 1876. After worshipping here about a year
a mortgage on the building at Nineteenth and Wal-
nut was foreclosed and the property was sold to the
Second English Lutheran Church. Mr. Duncan
resigned the charge and became principal of Bell-
wood Seminary at Anchorage. The Third Presby-
terian Church then worshipped in the hall at Seven-
teenth and Main, and Rev. J. Id. Moore became
pastor in September, 1878.
On February 4, 1878, Dr. Lunsford P. Yandell,
a former pastor and friend of this church, died in
the seventy-third year of his age. He was by birth
a Tennessean and had studied medicine with his
father at the Transylvania University, Lexington,
Kentucky, and at the Maryland University, at Bal-
timore. Elected to a chair in the Transylvania Uni-
versity to succeed his old teacher, Dr. Blythe, in
1837, Dr. Yandell moved to Louisville and assisted
in the organization of the Louisville Medical Insti-
tute, in which he occupied the chair of chemistry
for twenty-two years. In 1839 he was elected an
elder in the Second Church, and served for eight
years, until the formation of the Chestnut Street
Church in 1847. I11 1846 he was elected a professor
in the University of Louisville; in 1858 he moved
to Memphis. A deeply religious man, he devoted
himself to the Christian ministry, and being licensed
by the Presbytery of Memphis, was in 1864 ordained
pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Dancyville,
Tenn. In 1867 he returned to Louisville and be-
came supply of the Third Presbyterian Church. Dr.
Yandell was a prolific writer, a successful teacher
and a man highly honored in the church and the
community.
In the meantime, the First Church had won their
suit and had gained, with their property at Sixth
and Green, that at Sixteenth and Chestnut. By an
agreement with the Presbytery, $3,957.50 from the
old Westminster Church fund, known as the hospi-
tal fund, was granted to the Third Presbyterian
Church, with which to purchase from the First
Church the property at Sixteenth and Chestnut.
Rev. J. H. Moore was installed pastor of the
Third Church, March, 1879. During his ministry
the mission at Parkland was established. The
pastoral relation was dissolved May 5, 1885. Rev.
B. F. Beddinger was called August 15, 1886, and
was installed in the spring of 1887. During this
ministry the pastor lived at Parkland, and the re-
moval to the Parkland church of a number of mem-
bers crippled the Third Church. The pastoral rela-
tion was dissolved December, 1889. Rev. Thomas
Carey Johnson took charge of the church Novem-
ber 9, 1890, and after remaining about a year was
called, in September, 1891, to the Union Theological
Seminary, in Virginia. Mr. Thomas Converse sup-
plied the church for a short period, when Rev. D. P.
Junkin became pastor, and remaining two years and
a half, was called to Mt. Hebron, Virginia. Mr.
Junkin resigned in June, 1895, and Rev. Mr. Mcll-
vaine, from North Carolina, was elected pastor. The
present membership is 101. The elders during this
period (1866-96) were: George M. Crawford,
1875-86; J. D. H. Mitchell, 1885; Albert H. Ford,
1886-93; Dr. W. H. Anderson, 1890, and James
Lindenberger, 1895. The deacons were W. O.
Watts, John Strubel, C. E. Loveland, 1885-93; J110.
T. Lenn, 1885; J. J. McDonald, 1890-95; O. H.
German, 1890, and Charles L. Piper. Dr. William
Terrell is trustee.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 18G6-1896.
177
The Fourth Church was divided in 1866, twenty-
five members going with Rev. Mr. Carson to form
the Westminster Church. The
Fourth. °h“rch property was divided amicably, be-
ing adjusted on a basis ot the mem-
bership, the party with the pastor receiving a lot
64x200 feet on the south side of Chestnut Street,
between Floyd and Preston, which had been pur-
chased by the Fourth Church before the division.
The deed, of August 23, 1865, was made by Wil-
liam L. Gray for the consideration of $3,300. This
church, in connection with the Synod of Kentucky,
united with the Southern Assembly in 1868. Mr.
Carson soon after retired from the pastorate. In
the meantime the congregation had built a church
on the rear of the lot. Services were held from time
to time by Dr. Yandell and others, until 1873, when
Rev. Homer Hendee became stated supply. In
1881 this church was dissolved by the Presbytery.
The funds procured from the sale of the property,
sometimes called the Hospital fund, were held in
trust by a commission appointed by the Presbytery.
Under the management of Col. Thomas Bullitt, the
receiver, they were subsequently appropriated to
help other churches, $4,000 being given to the
Third Church, and $2,000 to the Highland Presby-
terian Church.*
The Portland Avenue Church, in 1866, went with
the Synod of Kentucky into the Southern Assembly.
Rev. W. W. Duncan was succeed-
Fortland Avenue j b R Q g Davidson, who
served the church a year. Rev.
Philip H. Thompson began his labors on the
first Sabbath in June, 1868, and was called
to Mulberry Church, Shelby County, June,
1870. Rev. John D. Matthews, D. D., form-
erly superintendent of public instruction in Ken-
tucky, was installed November 25, 1870, Dr. Robin-
son preaching the sermon, Dr. Wilson the charge
to the pastor, and Rev. Mr. Thornton the charge
to the people. In 1871 the congregation built a
commodious nine-room parsonage, at Thirty-first
and Bank streets, at a cost of $3,000. Dr. Mat-
thews served the church ably until October 4, 1877,
when he was succeeded the following November by
Rev. J. IT. Moore, of Washington, Kentucky. On
May 4, 1879, Rev. J. FI. Morrison took charge of
the church, and was installed the following October.
After an active and useful pastorate, he resigned in
1888. Rev. G. L. Bitzer was installed September,
1889, and served the church until May 1 5, 1892.
'Louisville Chancery Court, Case 27,2G7.
12
Rev. J. N. Lyle ministered to the congregation from
his installation, June 26, 1892, to October 15, 1893.
A new brick church was built at a cost of $11,000,
and dedicated to God December 3, 1893. The pul-
pit was ably supplied, for almost a year, by Dr. Beat-
tie, of the Theological Seminary, when the present
incumbent, Rev. David M. Sweets, was installed
July 1, 1894. The present membership is 227. The
elders during this period (1866-96) were William
Hallidav, 1868-71; W. H. Troxell, 1868-69; Simon
Caye, Jr., 1877; Thomas Semple, 1880-90; William
H. McKown, 1885-90; William A. Snodgrass,
1885; Edward C. H. Sieboldt, 1885; F. L. Watson,
1895, and F. A. Newhall, 1895. The deacons have
been David Duckwall, 1868; Joseph Irwin, jr.,
1868; S. Caye, Jr., 1868-77; Henry Crutcher, 1874-
80; J. S. O. Casler, 1877-95; Joseph Shaw, 1877-
82; Alexander Duckwall, 1883; John E. Compton,
1883-90; F. L. Watson, 1885-95; John H. Good,
1895, and George A. Munz, 1895.
The Highland Church* was organized May 15,
1882, by a committee of Presbytery, consisting of J.
The Highland H- Morrisoib T. E. Converse and
Presbyterian A. Davidson. The following per-
sons presented certificates of mem-
bership: Mrs. A. A. Wheeler, Mrs. Sallie R. Carter,
Mrs. Mary Crawford and Miss Ella J. Crawford,
from the Second Church; Mrs. Moffit, Mrs. Amer-
ica Perry, Miss Mollie Harbough, Miss Lillie Har-
bough, George Brockie, Mrs. A. Brockie, Mr.
Charles Ross, Miss Anna Ross, William Nickol,
Mrs. Jesse Nickol, William Gould, Mrs. Julia Gould,
Miss Eliza A. Moffit, Mr. W. B. Fleming and Mrs.
Susan Fleming, from the First Church; Dr. J. A.
Larrabee and Mrs. Hattie N. Larrabee, from Col-
lege Street Church; Mrs. D. T. McGill, Mr. W. C.
Nones, and Mrs. Lida Nones, from the Warren
Memorial Church, and were constituted the High-
land Presbyterian Church. Mr. W. B. Fleming
was elected elder, but having declined, the election
was postponed. Mr. Nones was elected deacon,
and having been ordained in the Fourth Church,
was duly installed. Rev. T. E. Converse, D. I ).,
preached for the congregation for some months,
when Rev. A. D. McClure was unanimously elected
pastor and entered upon his work October 1, 1882.
On June 19th, 1882, Mr. Hugh L. Barret was
elected elder, and, having been ordained in the Col-
lege Street Church, was installed. The delightful
spirit of unity and kind feeling which has marked
*W. C. Nones’ “Sketch of the Highland Presbyterian
Church.”
178
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
this church is clue largely to the fact that the early
members were enabled to lay aside the dififerences
which existed between the two branches of the
church arising out of the separation of 1866. Mr.
McClure continued to serve the church acceptably
until his call to Baltimore in 1888. In the last year
of Mr. McClure’s ministry the frame building was
removed to the rear of the lot to make room for the
new church edifice. This new building was nearly
completed at the time of the dissolution of the pas-
toral relations, and to Mr. McClure’s zeal and activ-
ity in prosecuting the building of the church the
congregation was largely indebted. In this con-
nection, the history of the frame building is of in-
terest. In May, 1874, Mr. W. H. Bulkley organ-
ized the Highland Presbyterian Sunday School in
a cottage known as the “Graycroft House,” on Bax-
ter Avenue, opposite Christie, at the former en-
trance of the Hanover Garden. Mr. J. P. Gheens,
a member of the College Street Church, was the first
superintendent, and was assisted by Mrs. Dr. Larra-
bee and others from the same church. In
May, 1876, the building in which the Sun-
day School was held was sold, and Mr.
Gheens bought a lot at the corner of Broadway and
Highland, 90 feet front, and gave his notes at ten
years’ time. The College Street Church assumed
the payment of the interest, and contributed $500
toward the erection of the frame building. Mr.
Gheens’ brother gave $500, and the remaining $300
was raised by friends of the Sunday School. The
house was completed by the first Sabbath in No-
vember, 1876, and dedicated by Dr. Humphrey. In
1880 the holders of the notes given by Mr. Gheens,
desirous of having their money, and College Street
Church having a debt of $15,000 on their new
church, an arrangement was made by which the
notes, amounting to $1,800 and interest, were paid
out of a trust fund under the control of the Presby-
tery of Louisville derived from the sale of the prop-
erty of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Un-
der this arrangement the Highland Presbyterian
Sunday School came under the care of the First
Church. Mr. W. B. Fleming was superintendent
of the school at the time of the organization of the
Highland Church. The new church building, cost-
ing $14,000, was commenced in May, 1887, and
dedicated July 12, 1888. The pastoral relation with
Mr. McClure was dissolved March 25, 1888, and the
Rev. Robert E. Caldwell, from North Carolina, was
installed July 3, 1888. Mr. Caldwell was a faithful
pastor, and the church grew under his four years’
ministry. He resigned April 12, 1892. Rev. T. M.
Hawes was installed May 7, 1893. The present
membership is three hundred and seventy. The
elders were Hugh L. Barret, 1882-90; Daniel Til-
ley, 1885; Austin A. Wheeler, 1888; W. C. Nones,
1888; James L. Howe, 1891-95; George Straeffer,
Sr., 1891. The deacons were W. C. Nones, 1882-
88; Horace T. Hanford, 1885-91; Joshua F.
Speed, 1885-94; William Walker, 1888; Alexander
T. Barr, 1888-92; Fred Gernert, Jr., 1888; Robert
Wallace, 1888; William J. Rubel, 1891; H. P. Rea-
ger, 1891 ; J. G. Allen Boyd, 1894; Percy B. Kramm,
1894; John B. Hutchings, 1894; Edward C. New-
bold, 1894.
The Woodland Church at Parkland was organ-
ized December 2, 1886, by a commission of the
Louisville Presbytery, consisting
Woodland church, of Rev. T. D. Witherspoon, D.
D., Rev. J. H. Morrison, and
Ruling Elder A. H. Ford. The original mem-
bers were Robert I. Crawford, Mrs. A. T.
Crawford, Mrs. Margaret C. Crawford, George M.
Crawford, Browne C. Crawford, John H. Duesing,
Mrs. Mary B. Duesing, Mrs. Nannie B. Brown,
Mrs. Lulie Brownfield, George H. Kice, Mrs.
Maria G. Kice, Mrs. Carrie Stancliffe, Thomas S.
Redman, Mrs. Mary S. Redman, Miss Eva David-
son, W. Frank Gregory, Mrs. Alice D. Bowie, Miss
Mary Duncanson, Miss Kate Duncanson, W. B.
Tate, J. E. Bruce, Mrs. J. E. Bruce, and Mrs. Helen
C. Evans. Robert I. Crawford, George M. Craw-
ford and John H. Duesing were elected elders, and
Browne C. Crawford and W. B. Tate deacons. In
1881 Dr. Stuart Robinson gave the lot, 50 feet by
150, at the northwest corner of Amber and Wood-
land streets, for the use of the Presbyterian Church.
Rev. J. H. Moore, pastor of the Third Church, had
charge of the mission, and the frame building was
erected for church services. Rev. B. F. Beddinger
preached at the mission from May 1, 1887, to Janu-
ary 1, 1888, and Rev. B. L. Hobson, from January,
1888, to the following May. On September 9th,
1888, Rev. James A. Vance was installed pastor,
and served the church until July 28, 1891. Rev.
T. S. Clyce, from Alabama, was installed December
6, 1891. The membership is 137.
The Westminster Presbyterian Church was
organized May 2, 1888, in a chapel which
had been erected by the mem-
WChur”h.ter hers of the Second Church, at
the southwest corner of Floyd
and Oak streets. The original members were
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
179
Calvin N. Caldwell, W. W. Hill, Miss Pattie
S. Hill, Dr. D. D. Thomson, Mrs. E. A. Thomp-
son, Mrs. Rose Converse, Miss Mary F. Converse,
E. A. Grant, Jr., Mrs. Elonise Grant, Charles Belli-
can, Mrs. Fannie B. Bellican, Miss Adelaide Bulk-
ley, Albert Bulkley, Mrs. Annie Kershaw, Isaac
Kershaw, George W. Hirst, Mrs. H. Alice Hibbs,
Mrs. Zerelda R. Borie, William Birgman, Mrs.
Margaret Birgman, Miss Mamie Hikes, Miss Emily
Brashear, Mrs. Alice M. Shaffaree, George Solo-
mon, Arthur Baxter, Miss Nellie Randolph, Miss
Lillie Tabb, Miss Mattie B. Hays, Charles F. Belli-
can, Miss Fannie W. Bellican, Miss Helen B. Low-
ry, Miss Grey Maxwell, and Mrs. Elizabeth A. Max-
well. Calvin N. Caldwell was elected elder and E.
A. Grant, Jr., deacon. Rev. Frank T. McFaden, a
student in the Union Theological Seminary, filled
the pulpit acceptably during the summer. In Sep-
tember, 1888, Rev. Dr. Muller was installed pastor.
The congregation worshipped in the building at the
corner of Floyd and Oak. This building had been
erected for the use of a Sabbath School, established
by the Young Men’s Association of the Second
Presbyterian Church, March 18, 1886. The pres-
ent handsome stone chapel at the southwest corner
of First and Ormsby, costing $21,000, was com-
pleted and dedicated November 15, 1891. The
present membership is one hundred and fifty-
seven. The elders are Dr. D. D. Thomson, George
C. Albaugh, Calvin N. Caldwell and W. W. Hill.
The deacons are E. A. Grant, Jr., J. Dudley Smith,
Robert A. Tabb, W. S. Forrister, Charles F. Huh-
lein, Thomas A. Courtenay. The trustees are Geo.
C. Albaugh, W. Boyd Wilson, Charles F. Huhlein,
William D. Reed and Thomas A. Courtenay.
The Stuart Robinson Memorial Church was
organized May 7, 1888, - by a commission of
Presbytery, consisting of J. II.
Memorial Church. Mori'lSOll, C. R. Hemphill, B.
F. Beddinger, and Elder Vin-
cent Davis. This work had grown out of
a little Sunday School, organized in 1857 by
Mrs. Alethea Brigham, mother of Mrs. Robinson,
in the gardener’s cottage of Central Park, the home
of Dr. Robinson. For twenty years this mission
was carried on by the Second Church. I11 1881 Dr.
Robinson gave the property at the corner of Mag-
nolia and Sixth Street, now St. James’ Court, for
the use of the Presbyterian Church. Rev. J. H.
Morrison had charge of the mission, in addition to
his work in Portland, and, in 1888, steps were taken
toward the organization of the church. There were
one hundred and sixty-eig'ht members at the time of
the organization. J. P. Sonne and R. W. Hopkins
were elected elders, and J. L. Cully, J. Barfield and
Henry R. Lord deacons. Mr. Morrison continued
until October, when he entered the evangelistic
work. Rev. W. T. Overstreet was ordained and
installed pastor, April 25, 1889. In 1891 the cor-
ner-stone of the new church was laid. The build-
ing is of brick, with stone trimming, and has a seat-
ing capacity of three hundred and fifty, with two
hundred additional seats in the lecture room. Col-
onel Bennett H. Young, to whom the writer is in-
debted for this sketch, read a brief history of the
church at the laying of the corner-stone. Mr. Over-
street resigned May, 1892, and the following July
Rev. Joseph Rennie, of Oxford, N. C., was installed,
and continued the pastorate until his call to the
Madison Street Presbyterian Church, Covington,
December, 1895. Mrs. Stuart Robinson has taught
in the Sunday School, with few interruptions, for
nearly forty years. Rev. J. E. Thacker is pastor-
elect of this church.
The Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church was
organized January 5, 1890. The names of the
original members were Theodore
Crescent Hill -i-p r-p -n ,r -i\ r- -p» r-p
Church. F- Tracy, Mrs. Mary B. Iracy,
Miss Maud Tracy, Mrs. S. S.
Moody,. Mrs. Laura B. Williams, Mrs. Eliza
Speed, Miss Jennie Ewing Speed, Mrs. Helen M.
Chenowith, Miss Fannie Chenowith, Henry M. Bul-
litt, Mrs. Henry M. Bullitt, J. S. Gray, Mrs. Fannie
B. Gray, Miss Annie Gray, Mrs. Sue M. Field, Miss
Annie Field, J. T. Gaines, Russell Gaines, Mrs. J.
T. Gaines, Misses Maggie, Mariam and Annie
Gaines, and Mrs. Alice Fenley. Services were held
in the district school house until February 1, 1891,
when the first services were held in the new church
building, and Rev. B. L. Hobson was installed
pastor. The new church was dedicated April 12,
1891, Rev. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, Virginia,
preaching the sermon, and Rev. T. E. Converse, D.
D., offering" the dedication prayer. Rev. B. L.
Hobson was called to a chair in McCormick Theo-
logical Seminary, Chicago, in 1893. The member-
ship of the church is seventy-two. The present elders
are John T. Gaines, 1890; J. S. Gray, 1890, and
Hugh L. Barret, 1890, and the deacons, Emmett
Field, 1895; Samuel S. Eastwood, 1895; Robert
A. Lee, 1895, and Georg'e Straefer, Jr., 1895. Few
William PI. Marquess, D. D., of the Louisville
Theological Seminary, is at present serving the
church as stated supply.
180
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
The Chestnut
Street Church.
The following churches, popularly known as
Northern churches, are connected ecclesiastically
with the Presbytery of Louisville, the Synod of Ken-
tucky, and the General Assembly of the Presby-
terian Church in the United States of America:1'
The Chestnut Street Church was the only
church in this city that remained undisturbed
in its ecclesiastical relations dur-
ing the war and at the un-
happy period of the division of
1866. This fact is probably due to the strong,
cohesive social force which has always marked
this church. In 1868 the McKee Mission build-
ing, at the southeast corner Fourth and Ken-
tucky streets, was dedicated, Drs. Breckinridge,
Humphrey, Hays and Cleland taking part in the
service. This mission had been started in 1861 by
Dr. McKee, after whom it was named, and was
held, for several years, in a frame building at 461
Third Avenue. A lot 100 feet by 188 feet, at the
southeast corner of Fourth and Kentucky streets,
was purchased-}- April 19, 1868, for $10,000, on
which was erected a building, now used as the lec-
ture room of the Central Presbyterian Church. Dr.
McKee was an ardent Sunday School worker and
held, in 1867, a Sunday School institute in the
Chestnut Street Church, which attracted wide at-
tention, both in the city and neighboring towns.
This institute was conducted by Mr. Pardee, au-
thor of the “Sunday School Index,” and Ralph
Wells, of New York City. Perhaps the most
noted feature of Dr. McKee’s pastorate was his
children’s church, held on Sabbath afternoons, for
about seven years. In his preparation for this in-
teresting service he was assisted by Mr. and Mrs.
John A. Miller (Faith Latimer), and his amanuensis,
Mrs. Sallie McKee. The service was attended by
several hundred children, many of whom look back
with delight to this Sabbath afternoon hour. Dr.
McKee was also active in missionary work, helping
to establish the Green Street Colored Church, and
the church at Peewee Valley. After a useful pas-
torate he resigned in November, 1870, and became
vice president of Center College, Danville, Ken-
tucky.
*The eight Northern churches belong to the Presby-
tery of Louisville, with 21 ministers, 27 churches, 2,897
communicants; to the Synod of Kentucky, with 36 min-
isters, 8i churches, 7,787 communicants; and to the Gen-
eral Assembly, with 6,797 ministers, 7,496 churches, 922,-
904 communicants, contributing last year a sum total of
$13,647,579.
tJefferson County Court deed book 137, p. 236. Book
167, p. 473.
Rev. Gilbert H. Robertson was called, June 25,
1871, and, commencing his pastorate July 1st, was
installed November 15, 1871. He occupied the pul-
pit about ten months and ceased to be pastor No-
vember, 1872. During this year the church was
repaired at a cost of $10,000, a recess being built
back of the pulpit for the organ, and the old gal-
lery, at the north end of the building, being re-
moved. On May 12, 1873, Mr. William S. Vernon,
one of the oldest residents in the city and one of the
original members of the congregation at the or-
ganization of the first Presbyterian church in the
city, died at the ripe age of ninety-one. Mr. Ver-
non had married, on January 16, 1809, at the resi-
dence of Mr. Thomas Prather, America, daughter
of Captain Aaron Fontaine. He was a public spir-
ited and useful man. In manner, he was naturally
austere, carrying himself erect, and having, to
strangers, somewhat the appearance of haughtiness,
but was a man of strong faith and genuine humility.
Gifted in prayer, marked by firmness, conscientious-
ness and consecration, he was fitted, by nature and
grace, for the office of the eldership.
A short time before March 11, 1873, there had
died another prominent elder of this church in the
person of Edgar Needham. He was born in Kent,
England, came to America at the age of sixteen,
and was apprenticed at Cincinnati, Ohio, as a stone-
cutter. He subsequently went to New Orleans,
and returned to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he en-
countered the misfortune by which he was dismem-
bered and became a life-long sufferer. He settled
in Louisville in 1834, and soon after united with
the Third Presbyterian Church. His marble works
were well known in the city for many years. Like
Hugh Miller, the author of “Footsteps of the Cre-
ator,” Mr. Needham exhibited the dignity of manual
labor and the value of self-culture. He was an
earnest student of the Bible, and excelled as a
teacher. He was active in the Lyceum and in the
Mechanics' Institute. In 1853 he became the first
and only assessor of internal revenue in this dis-
trict. Mr. Needham was a man of integrity, of
strong convictions, and had the courage of his con-
victions. He was an able writer on important ques-
tions of church and state, and will be remembered
as one of the brainiest men among the elders of the
Presbyterian Church in this city.
After a year and a half, the congregation called
Rev. A. B. Simpson, D. D., who was installed Janu-
ary 2, 1874. At the first of this year, the lecture
room and pastor’s study were renovated at a cost of
t
|
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
181
$3,000. The following- year a work of grace be-
gan in the city, following a convention of Christian
workers held under the auspices of the Synod of
Kentucky. Union meetings were held by Major
Whittle and Mr. Bliss. Following these meetings,
a series of services were held in Library Hall, and
resumed in the autumn at Macauley’s Theater.
There arose out of this movement a plan to build a
house suitable to accommodate two thousand peo-
ple. A lot on the southwest corner of Fourth Ave-
nue and Broadway, 105 feet by 212 feet, was pur-
chased, at a cost of $32,000, from Mrs. Van Buskirk.
The name of the church was changed to the Broad-
way Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in February,
1876. A building committee, consisting of John
Graham, H. Burkhardt, U. B. Evarts, George Hull
and H. C. Warren, was appointed. The committee
adopted a plan similar to that of Dr. Talmage's Tab-
ernacle, Brooklyn, and engaged the services of Mr.
Welch, the architect of that building. The edifice
was one hundred and twenty feet by ninety-seven
in the clear, the interior being semi-octagonal in
form, with a gallery twenty-four feet wide, sup-
ported by cast-iron columns, extending around the
entire building, except the west wall. Behind and
above the pulpit platform on the west wall there
was a recess gallery for the organ and the choir,
eleven feet wide by fifty-one feet long. Under the
organ gallery was a consulting room, the size of the
gallery. The seats were arranged in an amphi-
theater style, the floor having an inclination of seven
feet from the door toward the pulpit. The ceiling
of the audience room was vaulted and ceiled in
spruce pine, the ribs being heavily molded and
ornamented. The building was entered through
ample doorways, filled with stained glass of rich
design. The interior was furnished tastily and
presented an imposing appearance. The church
was of Gothic design, built of Ohio Valley pressed
brick, with stone trimming. On Broadway and
Fourth Avenue the gables were pierced by large
six-light windows. The roof was covered with
slate. The design was under the supervision of C.
J. Clarke, of this city. At the laying- of the corner-
stone Mrs. Lapsley and Miss McNutt, the only sur-
viving members of the old First Church, were pres-
ent. After the completion of this beautiful and
commodious house of worship it was dedicated to
God, Dr. Samuel J. Niccolls, of St. Louis, preaching
the sermon. Mr. Simpson resigned his pastoral
charge November 10, 1879.
Rev. William Adams was elected pastor, January
3, 1881, and installed April 12, 1881. The burden
of debt resting heavily upon the congregation was
a source of anxiety, and upon its removal by Mr.
Warren, the Board of Trustees adopted the follow-
ing resolutions, offered by R. J. Menefee.
“Resolved, That in view of the princely liberality
of L. L. Warren, in canceling the bonds, notes, and
all other evidence of indebtedness held by him
against the Broadway Tabernacle Presbyterian
Warren Church, acknowledging the incalcu-
Memoriai lable assistance he has in many
Church. f
ways, through a long series of years,
rendered the church, and desiring to make recogni-
tion of the great service and wise counsel, and,
above all, by way of connecting indissolubly the
name of L. L. Warren with the building on the
southwest corner of Fourth and Broadway, we
hereby, as far as in our power lies, change the name
of the Broadway Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
to that of the Warren Memorial Presbyterian
Church, and request that the congregation, at an
early date, shall pass a similar resolution.” By a
vote of the congregation, the Legislature changed
the name, January 2, 1882. This handsome church
edifice was burned on the night of October 29, 1881,
the origin of the fire being unknown. The follow-
ing Sabbath Mr. Adams preached in the College
Street Church, from Isaiah 64:11, “Our holy and
our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee,
is burned up with fire, and all our pleasant things are
laid waste.” At the time of the disastrous fire it
was thought that there were but fifty thousand dol-
lars insurance upon the building. It seems that
when Mr. Warren paid the debt on the church, of
$43,000, he took out in his own name insurance
policies to the amount of $30,000, to protect his
gift. These were promptly paid by the insurance
companies, and steps were taken at once to rebuild.
With the retirement of Dr. Adams, May 14, 1882,
Rev. A. A. Willetts, D. D., was elected pastor and
entered upon his labor January 7, 1883. Noted for
his genial temperament, catholic spirit and
hopeful views of life, Dr. Willetts soon became
popular in the city. His celebrated lecture, “Sun-
shine,” has been a benediction to thousands of
hearts throughout the land. The new church edi-
fice, patterned after the Crescent Street Presbyterian
Church, Montreal, was dedicated November 23,
1884.
Dr. Willetts resigned the pastoral charge January
14, 1890, and Rev. S. M. Hamilton, D. D., from
New York City, was called the following November
1S2
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and was installed February 15, 1891. The elders
during this period (1866-96) have been Edgar Need-
ham, 1867-73; L. Richardson, 1867; James David-
son, 1867; William Muir, 1867; Robert Atwood,
1871; O. G. Holt, 1871; S. B. Barton, 1874; D.
Macpherson, 1874; R. M. Ingalls, 1874; Hector V.
Loving, 1874; W. H. Robinson, 1881; LI. C. War-
ren, 1891; R. J. Menefee, 1891; Samuel L. Avery,
1891; S. P. Walker, 1895; B. K. Marsh, 1895;
George F. Meldrum, 1895; W. I. McNair, 1895.
The deacons have been E. H. Vernon, 1867; H. C.
Warren, 1867-91 ; R. Atwood, 1867-71 ; W. Richard-
son, 1867; F. H. Pope, 1867; John Graham, 1871;
S. P. Dick, 1871; F. E. Williams, 1871; S. E.
Jones, 1878; James A. Leech, 1878; S. J. Look,
1878; B. K. Marsh, 1881-95; R. J. Menefee, 1881-
91; W. R. Belknap, 1881; Henry Strater, 1885;
George F. Meldrum, 1885; L. G. Wells, 1891; S. P.
Walker, 1891-95; M. B. Belknap, 1895; David IT
Wilson, 1895; J. C. Parker, 1895, and O. S. Mel-
drum, 1895. The present trustees are M. B. Belk-
nap, Louis T. Davidson, Edward T. Halsey, J. T.
Cooper, and J. W. Davis. The membership of the
church is 570. Addison Evans has served as sexton
for twenty-four years.
The Second Church was divided June 29, 1866,
one-third forming the College Street Church, and the
following persons constituting the
Col';Re Smet original members: William Prather,
R. Knott and wife, J. B. Kinkead
and wife, John Homire and wife, Mrs. E. N. Quig-
ley, Mrs. John C. Young, Mrs. Mary O. Morton,
Miss Belle Quigley, Miss Hallie Quigley, Miss
Ellen Quigley, James W. Prather and wife, Mrs. L.
P. Griffith, Mrs. U. P. Gilbert, Mrs. M. A. Roberts,
Miss Wallie Knott, Mrs. Hannah Tracey, Miss
M. Alice Tracey, Miss Amelia C. Tracey, Mrs.
Nannie Flint, Miss Mary W. Scott, Mrs. Kate Win-
ston, Miss Matilda N. Prather, Mrs. E. S. Cooper,
Mrs. Annie M. Parker, J. T. Cooper, Miss Lucy
Homire, Mrs. Sarah Parkhill, Mrs. Cornelia Bush.
Mrs. Mary Bessee, Andrew Monroe, Mrs. Fannie
Quigley, Mrs. Penelope E. Shotwell, Mrs. Sarah
Watson, John Daton and wife, Mrs. Sarah Beeler,
R. T. Logan and wife, John A. Benseman and wife,
Mrs. Julia C. Suman, John Anderson, John R.
Thompson and wife, George W. Smith, Ferguson
Smith, Mrs. H. B. Henry, Mrs. E. Draper, Mrs. J.
D. Osborne, Mrs. Naomi Marshall, Miss Ellen F.
Courtney, Miss H. Logan, Mrs. Lucy Jerome, W.
W. Morris, E. Cook and wife, T. Parsons, S. F.
Dawes, W. G. Timberlake and wife, Miss Pauline J.
Ethell, Joseph P. Barnum and wife, Mrs. Isabella
McMullen, E. H. Guilford and wife, W. H. Hervey,
Mrs. Louisa W. Prather, Mrs. Jane Iveigwin, Charles
B. Cotton and wife, N. D. Gerhart and wife, John
Mason and wife, Mrs. M. E. Bennett, Hugh L. Bar-
rett, E. J. Daumont and wife, Thomas 0. Roberts
and wife, Charles K. Jones, A. G. Anderson and
wife, Mrs. Mary E. Nelson, Miss Josephine E. Bald-
win, Mrs. J. Hall, Fred Bauer, Thomas Tracey, Mrs.
Margaret Raymond, James I. Lemon and wife, Mrs.
Sarah Moore, and Mrs. Mary Churchill.
William Prather, Richard Knott, J. B. Kinkead
and John Homire having been elders in the Second
Church, were continued in office. The congrega-
tion, under the ministry of Rev. John C. Young,
worshipped for four months in the Chestnut Street
Church, until November 1, 1866, when they pur-
chased the frame building standing on the lot
known as the “Little Pine Cathedral.” This build-
ing had been erected several years before by Mr.
A. B. Dean for a mission Sunday School. The
brick lecture room was erected in the summer of
1867. Rev. Edward P. Humphrey, D. D., was
called December 7, 1866, from the theological sem-
inary at Danville, and the name of the church
changed by the Presbytery from the Second Pres-
byterian Church to the College Street Presbyterian
Church. In January, 1869, the Caldwell Mission
was established, Dr. Humphrey giving the lot,
65x100 feet, on Caldwell Street, west of
Preston Street. The handsome new church on
the corner of Second and College streets, costing
$52,000, was completed and dedicated to the ser-
vice of God, March 21, 1875, Dr. J. M. Worrall
preaching the sermon. Dr. Humphrey remained as
pastor for thirteen years, and upon his resignation,
May 17, 1879, was elected pastor emeritus. Rev.
Robert Christie, D. D., was called October 25, 1879,
and served the church ably and faithfully until he
was called to St. Paul, and the pastoral relation
was dissolved September 1st, 1885. Rev. J. L. Mc-
Nair was elected pastor November 1st, 1887. Dr.
Humphrey died December 9th, 1887. A beauti-
ful marble and lacquered brass tablet adorns the
walls of the church, with the inscription:
Edward Porter Humphrey, D.D., LL.D.,
1809-1887.
Founded this church in 1866.
Our pastor for thirteen years.
“I have declared thy faithfulness and thy
salvation.”
Dr. Humphrey belonged to that illustrious
!
I
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
183
triumvirate which adorned the Louisville pulpit at
the time of the division of 1866. Dr. Wilson fig-
ured as the keen debater, fearless as a lion, brook-
ing no opposition; Dr. Robinson, as a great leader,
with ready wit and good humor interspersing his
irresistible argument, while Dr. Humphrey, as
equally clear and forcible, was yet marked by a
gentler manner. Perhaps no minister in the his-
tory of the Presbyterian Church in Louisville has
exerted such a far-reaching influence, when we con-
sider his long period of service and the number of
prominent members of the church who were con-
verted under his ministry. These three noted men
have entered their reward, and each will hold a
unique place in the admiration and esteem of the
church and the community.
Rev. J. L. McNair resigned April 14, 1892, and
Rev. J. H. Herbener was installed the following Oc-
tober. He resigned the charge and the pastoral re-
lation was dissolved May 1, 1895. The membership
of the church is 260. The following have served
as elders during this period: William Prather,
i 1866-76; R. Knott, 1866-90; J. B. Kinkead, 1866-
92; John Homire, 1866; John W. Anderson, 1870-
74; Isaac F. Stone, 1870; J. B. Temple, 1870-86;
T. T. Alexander, 1875-83; L. H. Noble, 1875-88;
John D. Taggart, 1875; J. M. Barnes, 1875-83; E.
W. C. Humphrey, 1875; Hugh L. Barret, 1875-82;
, Thomas Speed, 1888; Charles D. Gates, 1888; J-.
F. Lewis, 1888. The deacons were: Richard S.
Moxley, 1870 — ; E. W. C. Humphrey, 1870-75; R.
H. Courtney, 1870-74; R. M. Cunningham, 1870-78;
J. T. Cooper, 1870-92; H. L. Barret, 1875; Thomas
Speed, 1875-88; S. S. Eastwood, 1875-92; William
Griffith, 1875; Lucien G. Quigley, 1875; W. H.
Mundy, 1880; Edward D. Southgate, 1880-88; John
J. Barret, 1880-89; Garvin Bell, 1888; Austin Speed,
1888; R. C. Kinkead, 1888; T. W. Spindle, 1888;
J. E. Ervine, 1888-96; R. Coleman Price, 1888; Lor-
enzo Beeler, 1888-95; J. G. A. Boyd, 1888-95; J.
Cooper Parker, 1888-92.
The Rev. J. Ivensey Smith is pastor-elect of this
church.
The Walnut Street Church, after the division of
1866, was disturbed by the property litigation for
The Walnut Street Several years- Rev- John S- Hays,
Presbyterian D. D., was called March 13, 1867,
and after an earnest and successful
pastorate resigned August 21, 1874, to accept a call
to the Danville Theological Seminary. The mem-
bership of the church increased to 255. The next
pastor, Rev. J. J. Jones, D. D., from New York State,
was installed September 17, 1874, and resigned the
charge December 1, 1882. Rev. J. R. Collier, D. D.,
the present incumbent, was installed April 9, 1883.
During his ministry the property at Eleventh and
Walnut streets has been sold to the colored Episco-
palians, and the congregation moved to Nineteenth
and Jefferson streets.
On April 14, 1891, the Walnut Street Church was
united with the Jefferson Street Church by the Pres-
bytery of Louisville and the name
by terj an" c ifurch . changed to the Covenant Presby-
terian Church, the succession of
both churches beiirg recognized in the new organ-
ization. A handsome new church, built of pressed
brick, with terra cotta trimmings, costing $31,000,
was dedicated September 18, 1894. The building is
so arranged that all the rooms can be thrown into
one, giving a seating capacity of eight hundred. The
seats are arranged in semicircular form, with the
floor sloping toward the pulpit. The pulpit faces a
large circular stained-glass window, the gift of Mrs.
K. W. Smith. The general effect of the exterior is
that of the Romanesque style. This church, under
the efficient guidance of its earnest pastor, has be-
come a busy and successful center of Christian in-
fluence. The elders during this period were: H. S.
Irwin, 1870; H. C. Gage, 1876; W. A. Latimer,
1883; K. W. Smith, 1883; S. L. Avery, John Ryans
and W. J. Gardner. The deacons are: H. M. Nes-
bitt, Leonidas Spindle, W. J. Fulton, E. B. Dau-
mont, V. T. Magee, Joseph P. McBride and S. B.
Richardson. The membership is 488.
The Warren Church was organized by the Pres-
bytery of Louisville, October 11, 1869. During the
summer of 1869 Mr. I.. L. Warren
(1869-1891) had purchased a lot, 100x135 feet,
on the northwest corner of Nine-
teenth and Jefferson streets, “in consideration of the
public good,” and erected thereon a church build-
ing, Jhe entire property costing $7,000. The build-
ing was dedicated July 19, 1868, by Drs. Humphrey
and Hays. This mission was committed to the en-
tire control of the Walnut Street Church until such
time as a Presbyterian church should be organized.
The Session of the Walnut Street Church accepted
the trust and appointed Mr. J. B. Gheens as super-
intendent, and Mr. D. McNaughton as assistant.
After the organization of the church Rev. Robert
W. Cleland, an ardent and much beloved pastor,
took charge of the church and served until 1874.
The Sunday School, under the enthusiastic manage-
ment of Mr. Gheens, reached a membership of over
284
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
six hundred. Mr. J. T. Gathright and Mr. Young
were elected elders. Mr. Cleland was succeeded by
Rev. S. W. Elliott, who served the church from
1875 to 1876, and Rev. John B. Worrall, from 1877
to 1878. Where this church had occupied an open
field, the upbuilding of several churches of other
denominations and the consequent subdivision of
the field, together with unfortunate internal dissen-
sions, tended to dissipate this hopeful work. Rev.
A. Thomas, pastor about a year, was succeeded by
Rev. R. E. Campbell on November 14, 1880. The
pastoral relations were dissolved December 12,1881.
For several years little was done to support the
means of grace, and, finally, on April 10, 1889, this
church was dissolved and later united with the Wal-
nut Street Church to form the Covenant Presbyter-
ian Church. The elders, since the organization, have
been Walworth W. Jenkins, J. P, Gheens, D. B.
Kline, J. D. H. Mitchell and W. J. Fulton. The
deacons were D. B. Sperry, J. Allen Porter and I.
W. Gardner.
The Twenty-second Street Church was organized
May 14, 1880. David Ferguson and Mrs. Naomi
Twenty-second
Street Qhurch
(1880-1883).
Marshall, of the College Street
Church, had given together a lot,
60x200 feet, at the southwest cor-
ner of Twenty-second and Madison streets, for the
use of the Presbyterian church. A chapel was built
and dedicated October 3d, 1870, and committed by
the College Street Church to the care of the Walnut
Street Church. The latter accepted the trust and
appointed J. M. Carson superintendent of the Sun-
day School. Here a mission was maintained until
the Presbytery of Louisville organized the new
church, consisting of twenty-four members. J. P.
Gheens, I. W. Gardner and Thomas Farrell were
elected elders, and Rev. John Barbour, a son of
Hon. James Barbour of Maysville, Kentucky, was
installed pastor. May 5, 1881. Rev. Henry Keigwin
propounded the constitutional questions, Rev. R.
Christie preached the sermon, Rev. J. Jones deliv-
ered the charge to the pastor and Rev. E. L. War-
ren the charge to the congregation. Mr. Barbour
continued his pastorate until November 6, 1882, and
the church was disorganized by the Presbytery of
Louisville October 8, 1883, owing to the pre-occupa-
tion of the field by another denomination.
On June 9, 1866, an adjourned meeting of the
Presbytery of Louisville was held at the Fourth
Church, at which the division of the
Church church took place. Ninety-four
members remained with the Assem-
bly, and twenty-five went with the pastor, Rev. R.
Carson, to form the W estminster Church. The prop-
erty question was settled amicably, being adjusted
on a basis of the membership, the Assembly party
receiving the building on Hancock Street, and the
party with the pastor receiving the Chestnut Street
property. With the cash paid in this transfer the
church purchased the parsonage on Washington
Street. Rev. John C. Young was installed pastor
September 28, 1867, and ceased to serve in 1869.
Rev. Henry W. Paynter was pastor in 1870, and
was succeeded by Rev. W. C. Matthews, D. D. This
pastorate extended from 1871 to 1879, an(l was the
most prosperous in the history of the church. Mr.
James Huber was the efficient Sabbath School
superintendent during this period. Rev. Harry
Keigwin served the church from April 21, 1880, to
1882. Rev. James H. Burlison was installed 1885,
and remained in the pastorate until January 14, 1890.
After a brief service by Rev. W. E. Bryce the Rev.
Samuel L. Hamilton, the present pastor, took charge
of the church. In the winter of 1894-95 the church
was practically rebuilt, and dedicated on February
3, 1895, Drs. Hemphill, S. M. Hamilton, T. E. Con-
verse and E. L. Warren delivering addresses on the j
occasion. The present membership is 125. The
elders during this period were: W. A. Porter, J. O.
Campbell, 1856; T. P. Barclay, 1873; B. Rankin,
1873; George Seibert, and Colonel D. W. Hilton.
The deacons were: S. Snodgrass, L. Monheimer,
Henry Smith, George Diefenbach, Albert Hopkins
and S. B. Curry.
That portion of the First Church adhering to Dr.
Wilson received the name of the Central Presby-
terian Church December 9, 1878.
church This congregation had united with
the northern branch of the Presby-
terian Church July 8, 1875. After the decision of
the suit concerning the First Church property in
1878, Dr. Wilson resigned his charge, and his con-
gregation accepted an invitation from the trustees of
the McKee Mission to occupy their building at
Fourth and Kentucky streets. The relations between
Dr. Wilson and the First Church were dissolved
December 9, 1878, and at the same meeting the
name of the church was changed. The elders con-
tinuing in office were W. Lindsey and R. I. Crawford.
Rev. William C. Young, D. D., was called Febru-
ary 9, 1879, and served the church with marked
ability until September 17, 1888. During his pas-
torate the new church, on the corner of Fourth and
Kentucky, was built, at a cost of $30,000. Rev.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
185
J. M. Richmond was installed March 3, 1889, and
served the church until June 25, 1894. Elder John
G. Barret died May 14, 1890. Mr. Barret was reared
in Greensburg, Kentucky, and on his removal to
this city united with the Chestnut Street Church,
where he was elected an elder August 29, 1859.
Having removed his membership to the Central
Church he became a liberal supporter of that work,
taking a marked interest in the building of the new
church at Fourth and Kentucky streets. Mr. Bar-
ret also built a handsome church for the congrega-
tion of the Presbyterian church at Greensburg, his
former home. Rev. W. B. Jennings, the present in-
cumbent, was installed February 10, 1894. The
present membership is 309. The elders during this
period have been R. I. Crawford, 1879-86; W. Lind-
sey, 1872-88; George Nicholas, 1879-85; George
Harbison, 1880; J. G. Barret, 1880-90; Clarke
Bradley, 1886; C. M. Garth, 1886; Jacob S. Bockee,
1890; F. C. Nunemacher, 1896; |. C. Benedict, 1890.
The deacons were George Nicholas, 1870-79; J. C.
Benedict, 1870-90; James M. Duncan, 1867; David
H. Allen, 1877-90; Edward E. Porter, 1879-82;
John B. Huntley, 1879 — ! C. M. Garth, 1884-86;
Vernon D. Price, 1884-92; J. A. Zimmerman, 1890;
A. L. Gould, 1890-93; I. Merwin, 1890 — ; C. M.
Bullitt, 1892 — , and William M. Charlton, 1892 — .
The Green Street Colored Presbyterian Church
was organized May 29, 1870, at Ninth and Green
streets, by a committee of Presby-
cimrch tery, consisting of E. P. Humphrey,
J. L. McKee, J. S. Hays and
Elder James Davidson. The original members
were Benjamin Tinker, formerly owned in Dr. Mc-
Kee’s family, and for many years sexton of the
Chestnut Street Church; Mrs. Hannah Cobb, Ben-
jamin P. Ferguson, Mrs. P. B. Ferguson, Andrew
Ferguson, Mrs. Harriet Butler, Miss Mary Jane
Butler, Mrs. M. A. Pointer, Calvin Threlkeld, James
Jones, Mrs. Mahala Jones, Mrs. Dorcas Harris and
Mrs. Mildred Crawford. A call was extended to
Rev. J. R. Riley, who, with the aid of the Board of
Freedmen, entered with zeal upon his pastoral work.
The congregation worshiped in the building on the
south side of Green Street, near Ninth, until June
29, 1879, when Andrew Ferguson, out of his hard-
earned accumulations, purchased for his people a
building on Madison Street, between Eleventh and
Twelfth, at a cost of $4,880. Rev. J. R. Riley, hav-
ing served the church for sixteen and a half years,
resigned the pastoral charge December 27, 1886,
and Rev. W. M. Hargraves was installed June 26,
1887. After a pastorate of four years and a half he
resigned the charge September 8, 1891, to accept
the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy and
Christian Evidences in Biddle University, Charlotte,
N. C. Rev. George S. Turner was pastor for three
years and was succeeded by Rev. S. W. Parr, the
present incumbent. This church has sent two young
men into the gospel ministry, and ordained twelve
elders. The elders were Benjamin P. Ferguson,
who served the church twenty-one years; Calvin
Threlkeld, James Jones, B. F. Briggs, Clarence Mil-
ler, who served the church sixteen years; John
Walker, A. S. Hundley, John Sweeny, W. H. Grif-
fith, William Johnson, W. B. Ellis and J. R. Clark.
Jesse Merriwether, so long interested in the pub-
lic schools for colored youth, was a member of this
church. The present membership is 60. Andrew
Ferguson died February 2, 1896, in the seventy-
sixth year of his age, respected by all who knew
him and beloved by the congregation to whom he
had been a true benefactor. A tablet adorns the
church wall, with the inscription:
To the Memory of
Andrew Ferguson,
Born October 3, 1820,
Died February 2, 1896.
“He was worthy, for he loveth our people
And hath built us a synagogue.”
The Olivet Presbyterian Church was organized at
Twenty-fourth Street and Portland Avenue by a
committee of Presbytery, consisting
of Revs. A. B. Simpson, J. Jones
and C. F. Beach, May 7, 1878. D.
B. Kline was elected elder, and George PI. Weber
deacon. This enterprise grew out of a Sabbath
School established in the Montgomery Street school
house by Rev. J. M. Sadd, the city missionary, and
superintended successively by Messrs. Hallidav,
Gheens and Gathright. D. B. Kline became super-
intendent in May, 1875, and built with the aid of
the Board of Church Erection a chapel at Twenty-
fourth and Portland Avenue, costing $2,100. In
the fall of 1877 this chapel was dedicated, and Rev.
E. L. Warren took charge of the congregation until
the organization of the church the following May.
Elder L. L. Warren gave the lot, eighty-five feet by
two hundred, valued at $2,500. Immediately after
the organization a month’s service, conducted by
the pastor in charge, aided by Dr. Samuel R. \\ il-
son, E. P. Humphrey and A. B. Simpson, result-
ed in the addition of twenty-seven members. Mr.
Warren was abroad a year and on his return in-
Calvary
Church.
186
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
stalled pastor the last Sabbath in November, 1879.
During his ministry, two hundred and seventy-four
members were received into the church. A hand-
some new church, costing $18,000, was dedicated
November 25, 1885. This edifice is built of brick,
with stone trimmings, and seats five hundred people.
Mr. Warren resigned the charge in November, 1888,
to accept a call to the Clifton Presbyterian Church,
Cincinnati, O. Rev. J. W. Boyer served the church
from February 23, 1890, to March 8, 1892, and was
succeeded the following May by Rev. J. P. Dawson.
The name of the church was changed by Presbytery
April 12, 1893, to the Calvary Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Dawson resigned June 25, 1894, and was suc-
ceeded by the present incumbent, Rev. L. J. Adams,
who was installed December 16, 1894. 1 he pres-
ent membership is 147. The elders during this
period were : David B. Kline, 1878-91 ; Robert Flat-
ten, 1879-80; J. W. Fleeter, 1882-84; Thomas Far-
rell, 1885-86; C. J. Comstock, 1887 — ; H. T. Cook,
1887-96; John N. Marion, 1891-92; E. P. Philpott,
1891-92; -Samuel Stites, 1891-95, and George FI.
Weber, 1896 — . The deacons were: George Ft.
Weber, 1878-86; Frank W. Grossman, 1879-82;
Charles J. Comstock, 1882-87; C. J. Dornan, 1883-
89; John Renwick, 1884 — ; Richard Roberts,
1887-88; F. E. MacKenzie, 1887; E. T. Tobern,
1890-93; E. P. Philpott, 1890-91; George A. Munz,
1890-91; Joseph Best, 1891; J. F. Haddon, 1891-95;
F. S. Cook, 1891-94; W. FI. Flart, 1893 — ; J. A.
Moore, 1893 — ; F. S. Moses, 1893-94; G. W. Solo-
mon, 1893 — ; J. S. S. Casler, 1896 — , and Wil-
lis D. Nuttall, 1896 — .
The Alliance Presbyterian Church was organized
April 10, 1892. This project grew out of the Presby-
terian Alliance, which was organ-
ized in the fall of 1889. Services
were held at Luesing’s Hall, corner
of Third and B streets. Mr. T. H. Paden, a student
of Danville Theological Seminary, conducted ser-
vices during the summer of 1890, and was succeed-
ed by a lay evangelist, W. E. Hall. On July 20,
1891, a lot, at the northwest corner of Second and
C streets, 54x180 feet, was purchased by the Alli-
ance for $1,620. A new building was erected and
opened December 6th, 1891, Rev. T. E. Montgom-
ery taking charge of the work. The building was
dedicated January 31, 1892, and the church organ-
ized the following April, with, thirty-eight mem-
bers, as follows: Mrs. J. R. Anderson, Stanley H.
Anderson, Alexander T. Barr, Mrs. Sara C. Barr,
Miss Paralee Barr, Mrs. Kate Bender, James Brock-
Alliance
Church.
ie, Mrs. Jennie Brockie, Peter Caldwell, Mrs. Mary
T. Caldwell, Miss Nettie A. Caldwell, Miss Carrie
M. Caldwell, William E. Caldwell, Mrs. Addie C.
Campbell, Charles Gould, Lawrence Hooping, Lan-
nie Lannom, Mrs. Sallie Lannom, Miss Amelia
Luesing, Miss Rose Helm Luesing, Mrs. Barbara
Meyers, Miss Avena Meyers, Dr. Charles M. Thrus-
ton, Frederick Bender, Miss Mary Caldwell, Mrs.
Emma Cummings, Miss Maud Decker, William
James, Mrs. Eleanor Robinson, Mrs. Sue Shober,
Mrs. Ollie Thruston, Henry Brewer, Thomas Cum-
mings, Miss Maggie Deitchman, Miss Helen Far-
nam, Miss Lillian Farnam, Ohther Raizor and Miss
Mollie Walla. Peter Caldwell and A. T. Barr were
elected elders, Dr. Charles M. Thruston and James
Brockie deacons. David Bennett, W. R. Hite, F.
Bender, A. Campbell and W. T. Straw were elected
trustees. Rev. E. C. Trimble took charge of the
work and was installed pastor June 16, 1895, Rev.
W. B. Jennings, D. D., preaching the sermon, Rev. E.
L. Warren, D.D.,deliveringthe charge to the pastor,
and Rev. J. R. Collier, D.D., the charge to the con-
gregation. The present membership is m.
The Louisville Orphan Home Society was or-
ganized January 30, 1849. Mrs. Samuel Casseday
may be regarded as the mother of
°Home! this institution. As early as 1834
she had engaged in an effort to
found a Protestant Orphan Home, which subse-
quently became the Protestant Episcopal Orphans’
Home. Having set aside private funds, she urged
the Presbyterians of the city to found a Presbyterian
institution, and at her death left $1,700 for that pur-
pose. At a meeting held January 30, 1849, a board
of managers was appointed, consisting of three from
each Presbyterian Church in the city, to whom the
whole subject was referred. Mr. William Richard-
son presided at this meeting, a constitution was
adopted, and Mr. Samuel Casseday was elected the
first president of the board of managers. The Legis-
lature chartered the society February 26, 1849, lin“
der the name of “The Louisville Orphan Home So-
ciety.” In 1853 the Booth property, situated on the
west side of Preston Street plank road, south of
Campbell, now Kentucky Street, and containing
ten acres, was purchased from George L. Douglass,
Esq., for $13,000. Mr. Otis Patten devoted himself
to the raising of funds, and Mrs. Eubank, who had
been associated with Mrs. Casseday in the earlier
efforts, became teacher, and subsequently matron
of the home. The institution depended for sup-
port on subscriptions from the churches. At dif-
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1866-1896.
187
ferent times large donations were made, one of
$5,000 by bequest of James Garvin, Esq., and a do-
nation from Mr. George Douglass of $5,000. At
the death of Isaac Cromie, Esq., a large estate, partly
; located on Portland Avenue, between Nineteenth
l and Twenty-first streets, was bequeathed to the so-
ciety. This bequest, together with the Preston
Street property, constituted an endowment of $120,-
000, though a large part of this was unproductive.
At the time of the division of the church in 1866 the
property was equally divided, and each society was
incorporated by the Legislature as the successor of
the Orphan Home Society, each having the rights
i and franchises conferred by the original charter.
By agreement, the Assembly Church retained
the Preston Street property, and the Southern
Church after occupying for a time the Nicholas resi-
dence established the Louisville Presbyterian Or-
phanage at Anchorage.
This School of the Prophets, under the control of
the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri, in connec-
tion with the Southern Assembly,
seminary. was organized m the spring of 1893.
The first session there were enrolled
thirty-one students, the second year fifty-two stu-
dents, and the third year sixty. The board of direc-
tors are Rev. J. G. Hunter, D.D., Rev. J. S. Lyons,
D.D., Rev. William Irvine, D.D., Rev. L. H. Blan-
ton, D.D., and Rev. W. L. Nourse, D.D., W. T.
Grant, Esq., Bennett H. Young, Esq., Judge J. K.
Sumrall, T. W. Bullitt and R. S. Veech, Esq., repre-
senting the Synod of Kentucky, and an equal num-
ber from the Synod of Missouri.
The present faculty consists of Rev. William IToge
Marquess, D.D., Professor in the School of Old
Testament Exegesis and the School of the English
Bible and of Biblical Theology; Rev. Charles R.
Hemphill, D.D., Professor in the School of New
Testament Exegesis; Rev. T. D. Witherspoon, D.D.,
LL.D., Professor in the School of Homiletics and
Pastoral Theology, and the School of Biblical In-
troduction; Rev. Francis R. Beattie, Ph.D., D.D.,
j Professor in the School of Systematic Theology and
j the School of Apologetics; Prof. T. M. Hawes, Pro-
\ fessor in the School of Elocution; Rev. Edwin Mul-
I ler, D.D., Professor in the School of Church His-
| tory and Church Polity.
In reviewing the history of the church during
j the past eighty years, there is much of earnest con-
secration to Sabbath School, mis-
Resume of . . . , ,
i church History. slonary and charitable work not
found in the official records, and yet
a potential factor in the success of the church. The
splendid work and influence of Godlv women is seen
in the lives of such members as Mrs. Rosanna
Hughes, Miss McNutt, and Mrs. W. C. Bullitt, Miss
Martha Bliss, and Mrs. Eubank; Mrs. Patrick Pope,
and Mrs. Owsley; Mrs. Samuel Casseday, with the
Orphans’ Home; Mrs. Sadd, with her city mis-
sion work; Miss Jennie Casseday and Mrs. James
Buchanan, with their Flower Mission and Rest Cot-
tage; Mrs. M. E. Crutcher and Mrs. Albert Day,
with the Women’s Christian Association; Mrs.
Cowan and Mrs. Ingalls, with the Colored Indus-
trial School; Miss Lafon and Miss Quigley, with
the Children’s Free Hospital; Mrs. Theobold, with
her Sunday School work; and Mrs. John A. Mil-
ler (Faith Latimer), known and loved throughout
the land on account of her primary class writings in
the “Sunday School Times.” In connection with this
public spirit, we note the labors of Mr. A. A. Hoge-
land, the founder of the work among the newsboys,
and W. H. Bulkley, agent of the American S. S.
Union, who established in this city many Sunday
Schools that are now flourishing churches in the
various denominations; of Rev. J. M. Sadd, city
missionary, the predecessor of the Holcombe Mis-
sion work; and of the lamented James Huber, with
his splendid success in the Young Men’s Christian
Association.
Had we space, we would gladly dwell on the
religious press, in connection with our history.
Rev. J. G. Monfort, D.D., the senior member of the
“Herald and Presbyter,” of Cincinnati, began his
editorial career in this city, in 1836, as associate
with Rev. W. L. Breckinridge, D. D., in the publi-
cation of the “Presbyterian Herald.” This paper was
carried to Bardstown, and edited by Rev. Nathan
L. Rice, and thence to Frankfort, and was brought
back to Louisville in 1844. From that time to 1861,
the “Presbyterian Herald,” so ably edited by Rev.
W. W. Hill, D. D., exerted a positive influence in
the upbuilding of the church in this city. In 1862,
Drs. Robinson and Morrison published "The True
Presbyterian.” Drs. Clelland and McKee pub-
lished, in 1864, “The Western Presbyterian.” Tins
paper was edited from 1866 to 1870 by Rev. Heman
IT. Allen, D. D. On Dr. Robinson's return to
Louisville after the war, he edited “The Free Chris-
tian Commonwealth,” which was edited by Rev.
J. Y. Logan, D. D., in 1868, and in 1869 was
merged into “The Christian Observer," now one of
the best religious papers in the Southern Church.
The literature of the church has been rich and
188
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
varied. Dr. Halsey’s chaste pen produced “The
Life of President Green,” of Danville; “The Life
of President Lindsey,” of Nashville; “Literary At-
tractions of The Bible,” “Scottish Influence in Civil-
ization,” and half a score of similar works. Dr.
Sawtell wrote of the early church in his “Treasured
Moments.” Dr. Robinson published his “Church
of God,” and his life work, “Discourses of Re-
demption.” Dr. Humphrey published “The Life of
Dr. Clelland,” and his great work “Sacred History."
Dr. Willetts published “The Miracles of Jesus;”
Rev. Henry M. Painter, “The Life of Christ;" and
Dr. Pratt, his “Given to Christ.” Mrs. John A.
Miller published several volumes, the best known
being her popular “Dear Old Stories Told Once
More.” Dr. T. Cary Johnston has just issued his
“History of The Southern Presbyterian Church.”
Time would fail to tell of the numerous reviews and
newspaper articles written by Louisville Presbyter-
ians during the great controversies through which
they have passed.
The following Louisville ministers have presided
over the deliberations of the highest court of the
church, the General Assembly: Edward P. Hum-
phrey, at St. Louis, in 1851 ; W. L. Breckinridge, at
Indianapolis, in 1859; Stuart Robinson, at Mobile,
in 1869; T. A. Hoyt, at Charleston, in 1880; T. D.
Witherspoon, at Vicksburg, in 1884; J. J. Bullock,
at Baltimore, in 1888; W. C. Young, at Portland,
in 1891; and Charles R. Hemphill, at Dallas, in
1895. The Old School General Assembly met in
this city in 1844, and the Southern Assembly in
1870 and again in 1879.
Thus are we brought to the close of the review
of the planting and growth of the Presbyterian
Church in Louisville. We have assumed that the
intelligent reader knows the relationship of the
Presbyterian Church, as an integral part of the uni-
versal church, to the cause of Christianity, and also
knows the relationship of the local church to the
denominational.
As a denomination, the Presbyterian Church
stands for much that is valuable and noble. We
will not forget our history; we will not forget what
our existence means and what it cost. We will not
forget
“What anvils rang, what hammers heat,
In what a forge and what a heat
Was shaped the anchors of our hope.”
We have a free constitutional polity. We hold
to that body of doctrine which we believe is taught
in the Holy Scriptures. We confess a faith, inspir-
ing, formative, dominating. A republican church
in a republic, animated and controlled by a pure
and heroic faith, must be a mighty power for good.
“That which we have known and our fathers
have told us, we will not hide from our children,
showing to the generations to come the praises of
the Lord and His strength, and His wonderful works
that He hath done; for He established His testi-
mony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which
He commanded our fathers that they should make
known to their children, that the generations to
come might know them, even the children that
should be born; who should arise and declare them
to their children, that they might set their hope in
God, and not forget the works of God, and keep
His commandments.”
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHU RCH.
BY REV. JOHN A. McKAMY.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is one of
the junior American churches. Its centennial will
not be reached until the end of the first decade of
the twentieth century. It narrowly misses being
a Kentucky institution. Pioneer Kentuckians had
a large part in its organization and early history,
for it had its beginning in the heart of that new
Western settlement in which pioneer Kentuckians
and pioneer Tennesseans had a common interest.
This nucleus of the future commonwealths had a
place on the map before much was made of state
lines. The new West and Southwest opened to the
white man well on to the close of the last century.
One of the sections that became attractive to the
home-seeker and also to the adventurer lay west of
the Cumberland Mountains and east of the Tennes-
see river, and was bisected by the Cumberland
river. Nashville, then a struggling village, was not
far from the center. The territory lying north of
Nashville extended to Green river in Kentucky,
while that on the south reached Duck river, in
Tennessee. This haven for the emigrant from the
Carolinas and Virginia was given, informally, the
name of Cumberland.
The ministers who first entered this new coun-
try were Presbyterians. They organized the first
churches and opened the first schools. The emi-
grants were for the most part, so far as they had
religious preferences, favorably disposed toward
the Presbyterian Church. However, the greater
number were without any definite religious attach-
ment. For here, as in many other parts of the
United States, at this time, various phases of French
infidelity were popular. The presence, too, of ad-
venturers, who had left the older states east of the
Alleghenies for the good of the community, did not
strengthen the general moral and religious senti-
ment of the new country. The religious life of the
people, as a whole, was languid. This general re-
ligious condition made this an inviting field for
evangelistic effort.
In the summer of 1797, a Presbyterian evangelist
from North Carolina, Rev. James McGready, came
to Cumberland and entered upon
active evang-elistic work. He was
Revival. °
a man of deep piety, pronounced
convictions, and a preacher of unusual power. He
prosecuted his work with great earnestness. After
a time, his preaching aroused the people. The in-
terest grew with gathering power until 1800, when
the memorable revival of that year began. This
revival is one of the notable events in American
religious history. All of this section of which we
are writing felt its power. It was attended by most
unusual circumstances. Hundreds were converted
and brought into the church. The work left its im-
press upon the society and life of the Southwest to
a remarkable degree. Its impulse is noted to-day,
in the strong characteristically evangelical Chris-
tianity of this same section. It furnished a stand-
ard in religious things, for the states adjoining and
for the Trans-Mississippi communities that received
their most considerable formative influences from
this center of early Western civilization.
A great revival supplies the conditions for the
free exercise of the religious spirit, and for the con-
sequent initiation of religious enterprise. This is
the witness of history. The revival in question did
prove an exception. From the beginning, it had
not commanded the sympathy and support of some
of the leading ministers of the church to which its
chief promoters belonged. At the first, there was
indifference, then criticism, and finally opposition,
at first mild, afterwards intense. The work had as-
sumed the proportions of a movement. When men
came out squarely against it, its friends took a
189
190
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
in the
Presbytery.
clearly defined attitude favorable to it. The ques-
cieavage tion became a line of cleavage in
the Presbytery, which at that time
bore the name that had been given
informally to the country which contained the new
settlements. Ecclesiastical politics took its bearing,
to a considerable extent, from this line. The pro-
gressive, or revival, party, in its awakened zeal and
enthusiasm born of the far-reaching success of the
great work, faced the exigencies of the hour with
propositions which were resisted by the conserva-
tive, or anti-revival, party.
Events led on until the dividing line between
these parties in the Presbyterian Churches and
Presbytery presented four distinct issues. The
first of these was that of the revival itself. Its pro-
moters were charged with using extreme methods
quite unfamiliar to the usages and customs of the
church. The attendant excitement was specially
open to objection. Numerous other charges found
expression in the warmth of the controversy. The
friends of the revival met these charges by counter-
charges, in which it was made to appear that the
opposition had its root in the coldness and clearness
of mere formal profession of religion. It was held
that the revival was a genuine work of Grace, thor-
oughly Scriptural, and attended by the power and
demonstration of the Holy Spirit.
The second issue grew out of the effort that was
made to follow up the far-reaching results of the
revival. There was a great call for preaching and
pastoral work. The preaching force of the Presby-
tery was not adequate to the demands. The source
of supply was remote. Facilities were not at hand
for providing the full training for the work of the
ministry required by a strict construction of the
standards of the church. The seminaries were east
of the Alleghenies. On the other hand, there were
certain young men of approved character and piety,
who had fair English educations and some knowl-
edge of the classics. They professed to have the
required inward call to the ministry. They had
been specially active in promoting the revival.
Some of them had been converted in it. For them,
the progressive party saw a solution for the em-
barrassing question of an adequate supply of minis-
ters. Propositions to advance them to licensure
and ordination, after such further preparation as the
circumstances of the times afforded, were resisted
by the conservatives. The progressives beim
the majority in the Presbytery, the proposition was
sustained and, in due course of time, several of
these young men were advanced to the full func-
tions of the ministerial office. They entered active-
ly upon their work and were, for the most part, wide-
ly useful. They preached the Gospel effectively
and powerfully among the plain people of the fron-
tier.
The third issue came into definite form when these
same young men came up for licensure and ordina-
tion. There had been before this a recoil in Pres-
byterian thought and sentiment from the extreme
Calvinism set out in those parts of the Westmin-
ster Confession of Faith which covered the mys-
terious doctrines of unconditional predestination
and reprobation, with its cognate doctrines of lim-
ited atonement and salvation for elect infants only.
The progressives were experiencing more or less
of this recoil. The common people were in sym-
pathy with the progressive ministers. The preach-
ing in the revival had not squared with the creed
just here. So, when the candidates for orders
came to adopt the doctrinal standards of the church,
they took exceptions to these sections of the con-
fession. They alleged that they taught fatalism.
The same thing had been charged before, and has
frequently been charged since. They, therefore,
took refuge in the time-honored expedient of mak-
ing a mental reservation as to these objectionable
sections. While this course had been acceptable
in numerous instances before, as it has been since
then, yet it did not satisfy the conservatives in that
Presbytery. This came to be a great doctrinal
issue.
The fourth issue was evolved out of an effort that
was made by the Synod of Kentucky to adjust the
differences between the parties in the Presbytery.
Appeal had been taken to the Synod by the con-
servatives. The Synod appointed an extraordin-
ary commission, clothed with unusual powers and
charged with the matter of investigating and passing
upon the question at issue. The progressives took
the position that the commission, as constituted,
did not have the sanction of Presbyterian law and
that, in the exercise of its functions, it invaded the
autonomy of the Presbytery. The authority of
the commission was denied, and its work was
repudiated. Thus this fourth issue involved a great
question of Presbyterian law.
These issues were made the subject of contro-
versy for several years, both inside and outside the
Cumberland courts of the Presbyterian Church,
presbytery from the Presbytery to the General
Assembly. Among other things
Dissolved.
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
191
that were done, first and last, was the dissolution
of Cumberland Presbytery. This was done by the
Synod upon recommendation of the commission
referred to above. The progressives refused
to attach themselves to any other Presbytery. In
the meantime, however, they formed a council
clothed only with the advisory functions. In this
way, they sought to provide for the prosecution of
the work which they held to be committed to them
providentially. The churches and the greater num-
ber of the people who had been the subjects of the
revival put themselves in touch with the council.
The relative status of affairs continued very much
in this order until 1810.
On the fourth day of February of that year, three
ministers belonging to the progressive party met
at the home of one of their number, in Dixon Coun-
ty, Tennessee, and organized an independent Pres-
bytery, which they called by the name of the old
Presbytery that had been dissolved several years
before. These ministers were Rev. Samuel Mc-
Adow, Rev. Samuel King, and Rev. Finis Ewing.
It was their thought in organizing the Presbytery
to secure recognition ultimately at the hands of
the Presbyterian Church, not, however, by sur-
rendering the principles contained in the issue
which led to the position that they then occupied.
In this they were not successful. It, therefore, re-
mained for them and for those of like mind to take
formal position before the world as an independent
Presbyterian body. The name which was given
to this first Presbytery came to be the name of
the denomination. The standards of the new
church were set out in a revision of the Westmin-
ster Standards, in which such elimination of the
objectionable doctrines that had constituted one of
the great issues in the controversy was made as
would conform to a more evangelical interpreta-
tion of the Scriptures, and to a broader philosophic
conception of the work of Christ in human salva-
tion.
In its policy in the matter of ministerial educa-
tion, the new church refused to bind itself by the
rigorous exactions of the old
Formed. church. While strongly insisting
on thorough preparation for this
great office, yet it did not bind itself by such rigid
standards as to compel it to exclude from its service
men who, for sufficient providential reasons, were
not in full possession of the highest educational
qualifications. Adequate constitutional provision
was made to preserve the autonomy of the Pres-
bytery. In its extension policy, revival and evan-
gelistic work were given a large place.
The young church grew very rapidly. In 1812,
Logan Presbytery, in Kentucky, and Elk Presby-
tery, in Tennessee, were formed. These, together
with the original Presbytery, constituted the Gen-,
eral Synod of the church. In sixteen years, the
three Presbyteries grew to eighteen. In 1829, the
General Assembly was formed. The church, by
this time, had obtained a respectable foothold in
all the new states. In 1896 it has fifteen synods, 126
Presbyteries, 1,704 ordained ministers, 281 licenti-
ates, 268 candidates, 2,884 congregations, and a
total membership of 193,393. There are churches
in twenty-five states, and also in the foreign mis-
sion field. The church owns a splendidly equipped
publishing house, located at Nashville. It is also
supplied with boards, societies, and educational in-
stitutions, quite adequate for the larger service
which it seeks in this day and generation.
It is matter of historical congratulation upon the '
part of the church that it was delivered from the
calamity of organic disruption during the civil war.'
It was well represented on both sides of the great
conflict and, though it keenly felt the heat of the
great controversy, yet North and South stood to-
gether in this one church organization. It has
been its fortune never to know North or South
in its life and work. Its national body — the Gen-
eral Assembly — brings together
Body. representative ministers and lay-
men from the North and South, as
well as from the East and West. There has always
been the freest interchange between the sections
upon the part of ministry and laity, without pre-
judice. In 1884, at Belfast, Ireland, the Pan-Pres-
byterian Council, representing the Presbyterian
Churches of the world, received the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church into full fellowship and in-
vested it -with all the dignities of a member of the
great Presbyterian household.
The church has always been well represented in
Kentucky. There are now two hundred churches
iu the state, with a membership of twenty thousand.
These churches are located principally in the western
half of the state. This state has also furnished
many of the leading ministers and laymen.
The history of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in Louisville extends over a period of fiftv
years. It is the record of two dis-
tinct attempts to found a church.
Owing to the strength of the
The Church
in Louisville.
192
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
church in the state, it has always been highly desir-
able to have a church in the metropolis. It has
been the policy of the church, almost from the
first, to press into the centers of population and
build up congregations, thereby bearing its part in
promoting religion where the difficulties are fre-
quently greatest. In the reports of half a century
ago, relating to the entension work of the church,
the field presented by this city was always the oc-
casion of notice and comment. Churches were built
up in Jefferson County before a definite attempt was
made to undertake such an enterprise in the city.
During these years, a number of Cumberland Pres-
byterian families had taken up their residence here.
The work, though, was not formally initiated un-
til 1849. Tn that Year, tlie Rev- N- Davis was ap-
pointed by the Board of Missions to the work of
gathering a congregation and building a house of
worship. Mr. Davis continued in the work a few
months and then relinquished it. Very little, if
anything, was accomplished by him. A year or
more elapsed before his successor was secured. In
the meantime, the resident Cumberland Presbyter-
ians were urging the board to immediate action.
With the view to preparing the way for some person
to prosecute the work permanently, the Rev. Leroy
Woods, the field agent of the board, came to the
city and took charge of the enterprise. A nucleus
for a congregation was brought together, and oc-
casional public worship was held. The Rev. E. C.
Trimble, a young minister just recently graduated
from the seminary, accepted the board's call and
entered upon the work. This was in 1852. Late
in that year, he succeeded in effecting an organiza-
tion. Some twenty or twenty-five persons became
charter members, James Banks, Charles Miller, and
j. Iv. Fessler were chosen to the offices of ruling
elders. Stated public worship was held in the chapel
of Prof. Butler’s school, on Chestnut street, near
First. The affairs of the young church moved
along at an encouraging rate of progress. Immedi-
ately after its organization, the congregation be-
gan the work of building a church. An elig-
ible location was secured at the southwest corner
of Floyd and Chestnut streets, upon which a well
appointed brick church was erected. On the nth
of May, 1856, the new church was dedicated. The
sermon was preached by the Rev. H. A. Hunter,
D.D., then of Philadelphia. On the 15th of the
same month, the General Assembly convened in
this church. The sessions continued for a week,
and the meeting as a whole was quite an event in
the history of the church. Many of the most dis-
tinguished men in the denomination were members
of this assembly. The impression produced upon
the general public was most favorable.
For several years preceding this, the denomina-
tional publishing house had been located in this
city. Thus events combined to give the city a
larger place in the eye of the whole church; the
church, in turn, was given a favorable place in the
mind of the city.
Shortly after the dedication of the church, the
pastor, Rev. E. C. Trimble, resigned. He was suc-
ceeded by the Rev. Jesse Anderson, a minister wide-
ly known in Kentucky, who was at this time con-
nected with the publishing house. He continued
to serve both interests until April, 1857, when Rev.
H. A. Hunter, D.D., accepted a call to the pastor-
ate. He was a preacher of marked ability and a
pastor of wide experience. He served this church
until the last of March, i860. Politics was getting
into many of the churches, at this time, and this
work was not to be an exception. The pastor re-
signed, war came on, the congregation divided on
politics, and a complete suspension of work en-
sued. The congregation, at this time, had a rep-
resentative membership of some two hundred per-
sons. The church building was appropriated by
the army for military purposes. At the close of the
war, the remnant of the congregation gathered
itself together and decided to sell the property, with
a view to relocating in some other part of the city.
The sale was effected at a fair price, and the pro-
ceeds were put into the hands of a prominent mem-
ber of the church, as trustee. He had the misfor-
tune to fail in business soon after, and, in this mis-
fortune, the church shared, as the money which he
held as trustee was also lost. Following this, a
small effort was made to revive the work, but that
was given up and an interregnum of nearly twenty
years followed.
The second effort to establish a church in this
city was begun in 1882, by the Rev. Thomas Penick,
a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, then residing
in the city. He found a few persons who had been
members of the old church and also a number of
persons who had been identified with the church
elsewhere, and who were now residents of the city.
Just about this time, the Board of Missions had de-
cided to foster the enterprise. Mr. Penick soon
gathered a Sunday School, which met in the
Library Hall, at Fifth and Walnut streets. He,
together with others, set about the work of secur-
,
I
;
t
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
193
ing a building fund. In order to secure this, it was
necessary to make a general canvass of the
churches of the state. The canvass was quite suc-
cessful, though it extended over a period of some
years. In 1885, work was commenced on a church
located at the southeast corner of Second and Oak
streets. In December of that year, the Rev. B. O.
Cockrill was appointed missionary pastor. In
May, 1887, the congregation was organized with a
membership of twenty-five. M. W. Neal, D. W.
Smith and P. M. Collier were chosen ruling elders,
and A. J. Marks and J. M. Gilbert were elected
deacons. The congregation held its services in the
chapel of the old Chestnut Street Presbyterian
Church, at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut
streets, until the autumn of 1887, when the new
church was ready for use. The new church was
dedicated on the 6th of May, 1888. The sermon
was preached by the Rev. D. E. Bushnell, D.D., of
Waynesburgh, Pennsylvania. The church is a con-
venient, modern structure, located in the best resi-
dent portion of the city. The property is valued at
$20,000. Rev. Mr. Cockrill resigned the pastorate
of the church, August 1st, 1890. He was succeeded
by the present pastor, the Rev. J. A. McKamy, who
entered upon the work March 1st, 1892. Under
his able and vigorous ministration the church has
enjoyed a reasonable degree of prosperity and has
a present membership of 125. It is active, and
freely identified with all the religious movements of
this city. It has an excellent Sunday School and
a prosperous Young People’s Work. The present
officers are as follows: Ruling elders, L. M. Rice,
P. M. Collier, M. W. Neal, J. F. Groene, John W.
Jean; deacons, L. W. Lindley, C. M. Lasater, A. J.
Dunn.
*3
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE.
BY T. T. BATON, D. D., LL. D.
It appears that the first sermon ever preached in
Louisville was by a Baptist preacher, Sauire Boone,
a brother of Daniel Boone. The first Baptist Church
organized in Jefferson County was located a little
south of what is now called “Eight Mile,” on the
Shelby ville turnpike, in January, 1784, by the Rev.
John Whitaker. Louisville had been settled in 1778,
and in 1784 it contained “63 houses finished, 37
partly finished, 22 raised, but not covered, and more
than 100 cabins.” Rev. John Whitaker’s church
was known as the “Baptist Church of Beargrass.”
In the house of Mark Lampton, a little east of the
United States Marine Hospital, in 1815, the Rev.
First ana Hinson Hobbs organized the First
Second Baptist Baptist Church of Louisville, with
Churches. fourteen members. He served as
pastor until August 14, 1821, when he was succeeded
by the Rev. Philip S. Fall, who served the church
for three years. Then the pulpit was supplied by
the Revs. Benjamin Allen and John B. Curl in con-
junction, and this lasted until 1830, when the church
had 294 members. Both of these ministers accepted
the views of the Rev. Alexander Campbell, and car-
ried with them all the church except 85, who still
clung to the old faith. The Rev. George Waller
then became pastor and served until 1834, when he
was succeeded by the Rev. John S. Wilson, whose
pastorate terminated with his death, August 28, 1835.
The Rev. Dr. W. C. Buck, a man of commanding
presence and of great power, who had served as an
officer in the war of 1812, then became pastor. In
1840 he gave up his charge to become agent of the
General Association of the Baptists of the State.
The church was then served by the Rev. John Fin-
ley, who, after a year’s pastorate, removed to Ten-
nessee. At this time the church numbered 697
members, white and colored, and in 1842 ^q col-
ored members were organized into a church, leav-
ing 279 white members. In 1843 the Rev. Dr. A. D.
Sears, whose recent death in Iris green old age in
Clarksville, Tenn., is so vividly remembered, be-
came pastor. His work was greatly blessed. He
baptized 136 converts the first year, and he served
until 1849, being the last pastor of the First Church
as a separate organization. After his resignation,
as hereinbefore stated, the First and Second Church-
es united to form the Walnut Street Baptist Church.
In 1838 nineteen members of the First Baptist
Church took their letters and organized a church,
which they called the Second Baptist Church of
Louisville. They leased a lot on Green Street, be-
tween First and Second streets, and erected a house
of worship, costing about $3,000. Rev. Reuben
Morey was the first pastor. He served but a short
time, and was succeeded by Rev. F. Augustus Wil-
lard, who was in turn succeeded by Rev. Thomas
Malcolm, a young and prominent evangelist. The
next and last pastor of the church was Rev. T. S.
Keene, who resigned after a short service.
In 1849 the First and Second Churches being pas-
torless at the same time, each one separately called
the Rev. Thomas Smith, Jr. He accepted both
calls, and his efforts being heartily seconded by the
leading members of both churches, he led to a
union of the two into one. A meeting of both
bodies was held in the house of worship of the First
Church, southwest corner Fifth and Green streets,
and the following resolution was adopted:
“Resolved, by the First and Second Baptist
Churches of the City of Louisville, Ky., now in ses-
sion, that the said churches do unite together and
form one church, and that the entire list of members
now in fellowship in both churches be considered
members of the church so formed; and from and
after the adoption of this resolution, the First and
Second Baptist Churches of Louisville cease to ex-
ist as separate organizations.”
The united body bought the lot on the northwest
194
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE.
195
corner of Walnut and Fourth streets, and took the
name of Walnut Street Baptist Church, with the
Rev. Thomas Smith, Jr., as pastor. The fine gothic
house of worship, which has ever since been used
by the church, was begun, although the members
altogether at that time did not own as much prop-
erty as the church building was expected to cost;
and the man who was the largest property owner in
the church opposed the enterprise and vowed he
would not contribute a cent to it. They went for-
ward in faith, building when they could get money,
and stopping when their funds were exhausted, un-
til in March, 1851, they began to worship in the
lecture room. The beloved pastor died in that
month, and the first meeting held in the building
was his funeral. A neat marble slab in the west
wall of the main audience room commemorates this
able man of God. It bears the simple inscription:
“To the memory of Thomas Smith, Jr. Died
March 6, 1851, aged 23 years and 11 months. First
pastor of Walnut Street Baptist Church. ‘A good
minister of Jesus Christ: ”
It is interesting to note that as the building ap-
proached completion it listed so much enthusiasm
and admiration from both the
^Church1^1 church and the entire community
that the well-to-do brother who had
refused to contribute a cent toward it relented. His
vow, however, was in his way, but he went to the
building committee and told them he wished to
make a contribution, but could not, on account of
his vow, make it for the building. He therefore
asked the privilege of putting a handsome fence
around the lot, which he did at an expense of $2,500.
The building cost, in round numbers, $100,000, in-
cluding an addition that was made of 20 feet to the
first plan. After the death of the Rev. Thomas
Smith, Jr., the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Sid-
ney Dyer, Ph. D., who afterwards became a noted
author. In November, 1852, Dr. W. W. Evarts be-
came pastor, and his fame soon spread through the
land. He served with signal ability and success
until July, 1859, and was succeeded November,
1859, by the Rev. L. W. Allen, whose brief but faith-
ful pastorate lasted only nine months. Dr. George
C. Lorimer was then called to supply the pulpit, and
in December, 1861, he became pastor. This fa-
mous minister, now pastor of Tremont Temple, Bos-
ton, was converted in this church while filling an en-
gagement in a theater as an actor. Mrs. Dr. Evarts,
in company with another lady, whose name the writ-
er does not know, went around among the hotels
and boarding houses distributing religious tracts
and inviting the young men to come to the pro-
tracted meeting, in which Dr. Evarts was being as-
sisted by the Rev. Dr. Teasdale. The young Lori-
mer was thus induced to attend the meeting. He
made a profession of religion at once, entered upon
a course of study, and after a brief pastorate in Pa-
ducah took charge of Walnut Street Church. He
filled with great and brilliant success the pulpit
during the trying times of the war, and the church
grew in numbers and wealth, so that it was decided
to colonize and build a splendid house of worship
on Broadway for another strong church. This plan
was afterwards carried out. It is worthy of note
that many of the largest subscriptions to the new
church were from those who did not expect to leave
the old church. It was also during Dr. Lorimer’s
pastorate that it was decided to establish the Louis-
ville Baptist Orphans’ Home, as hereafter detailed
Dr. Lorimer served the church until April, 1868,
and Dr. A. T. Spalding became pastor in the June
following. He served the church most acceptably
until October, 1871. During his pastorate the
Broadway Church was colonized and the Orphans’
Home was established. Dr. W. M. Pratt was en-
gaged as a supply for the pulpit until a pastor could
be secured. Dr. Pratt was a classmate of the writ-
er's father in the institution which is now known
as the Colgate University, and a man of such marked
personality as to justify a full sketch of him, even in
so brief an article as this, but I venture to tell only
one characteristic anecdote. The choir had select-
ed the hymn:
“How beauteous are their feet
Who stand on Zion’s hill,
Who bring salvation on their tongues
And words of peace reveal.”
Dr. Pratt read this stanza aloud in the pulpit, and.
pausing suddenly, he looked down at his own nether
extremities, and then raising his eyes, said: “Breth-
ren, we will not sing that hymn. Let us take
another.”
It is believed that some of the young people in
the congregation that Sunday morning did not get
much good from the sermon.
Dr. M. B. Wharton became pastor in January,
1872. He labored with signal success until October,
1874, when, on account of failing health, he re-
signed. The pulpit was then supplied by Dr. James
P. Boyce, President of the Southern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary, and one of the greatest men of this
century, until June, 1875, when Dr. J. W. Warder
196
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
became pastor, who served the church with marked
faithfulness and efficiency until July, 1880, when his
field was enlarged, including the whole State, and
he became corresponding secretary of the General
Association of the Baptists of Kentucky, which po-
sition he still holds (January, 1896). For some ten
months the pulpit was supplied by Drs. John A.
Broadus and Basil Manly, of the Theological Semin-
ary, whose greatness and goodness stand confessed
in the people’s tears at their decease, and in the
world-wide sorrow which followed the announce-
ments of their deaths.
In May, 1881, the writer became pastor, and how
long he will be the last the future will determine.
During his pastorate several colonies have gone
out from the church. At one time 71 1 members
were granted letters to form the church at Twenty-
second and Walnut streets. Yet, despite these and
other losses, the number of members has increased
during the present pastorate from 750 to 1,650. The
entire number of additions to the church during the
period reaches some 3,600, and the money raised
for benevolent objects during the same time is more
than $500,000.
Walnut Street Baptist Church is the mother
church of the denomination in Louisville.
The first colony sent out was the German Baptist
Church, in 1853.
In 1854 a colony was planted on Jefferson Street,
which afterward became the Chestnut Street Bap-
tist Church, and in the same year the Portland Ave-
nue Baptist Church was colonized.
In 1869 a colony was planted on Cable Street,
which has since removed to Franklin Street, and is
so named.
In 1870 Broadway Baptist Church was colonized,
and it has since become one of the most prominent
and powerful churches in the land.
In 1887 Twenty-second and Walnut Street Church
was sent out, and in 1890 a strong colony was
planted at the southeast corner Fourth and Oak
streets, which took the name of McFerran Memorial
Baptist Church, in memory of James C. McFerran,
senior, and Menefee McFerran, his grandson, who
died shortly before; the larger part of the money
and the lot having been contributed by John B. Mc-
Ferran, Esq., the son of the one and the father of the
other.
At the beginning of 1895 some 200 more members
of Walnut Street Church were colonized into the
Third Avenue Baptist Church.
It was in Walnut Street Church that the South-
ern Baptist Theological Seminary was born. It was
here also that the modern movement for revising
the Scriptures first found a home. The American
Revision Association was organized in Louisville,
with James Edmunds, Esq., as corresponding sec-
retary, and the office was the room now used as the
study of the pastor of Walnut Street Church.
The East Baptist Church was organized in 1842
by the Rev. Dr. W. C. Buck, with only seven mem-
East and bers. He furnished a house for the
Chestnut Street use of the church, at his own ex-
Churches. pense, until one could be secured,
and he served them as pastor until the church be-
came able to support a pastor.
This church has had a number of distinguished
pastors — Dr. S. H. Ford, Dr. S. L. Helm, President
R. M. Dudley, President J. P. Greene, Dr. Thos.
Rambaut, Dr. B. D. Gray, Dr. M. D. Jeffries and
Dr. J. T. Christian, who is now in charge.
For many years the congregation occupied a
house on the south side of Jefferson Street, between
Floyd and Preston, but for the past ten years they
have worshiped at their present location, on East
Chestnut Street, above Preston. They have an ele-
gant house of worship, worth $50,000, and the
church has 870 members.
Dr. Christian has made a wide reputation as an
author as well as a preacher.
On March 12, 1854, a council, composed of the
Revs. W. W. Evarts, S. L. Helm, S. M. Remington,
S. A. Beauchamp and S. H. Ford, organized the
Jefferson Street Baptist Church, on Jefferson Street,
near Eighth. It was a colony from Walnut Street.
The Rev. S. M. Remington was the first pastor, and
Isaac Russell the first superintendent of Sunday
school. The next year the Rev. J. D. Schofield be-
came pastor. He was followed on September 29,
1858, by the Rev. A. C. Osborne, who resigned on
December 10, 1862, and was succeeded March 3,
1863, by the Rev. A. C. Graves. Dr. Graves re-
mained pastor until February 21, 1864, and on the
29th of January, 1865, Dr. J. M. Weaver became
pastor, and he has served faithfully ever since.
Having lost their house of worship on Jefferson
Street, they held their religious services for several
rears in a Universalist house of worship, which was
on Market Street, near Eighth, after which they met
in the Law School Building, at the corner of Jeffer-
son and Ninth streets. In 1866 the present location
was purchased, and they worshiped until 1886 in
the lecture room, which they had enlarged at an
expense of about $12,000. In 1886 the present hand-
-
l
*
ft
I
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE;
197
some house of worship was dedicated at a cost of
$30,000.
During the long and successful pastorate of Dr.
Weaver more than 3,000 persons have been received
into the fellowship of the church.
One hundred and ten of the leading members of
Walnut Street Church, on May 17, 1870, were or-
Broadway and ffanized into the Broadway Baptist
Twenty-second Church. The handsome house of
Street Churches. worsJ1ip was built before the church
was organized.
For nearly a year the Rev. Dr. W. M. Pratt sup-
plied the pulpit most acceptably, and then Dr. J. B.
Hawthorne became pastor.
The main audience room, however, was not com-
pleted until May, 1872. The cost of the grand
building with the organ was $100,500. This was in-
creased to $125,000 by the necessity, in 1874, of
taking down the side walls and rebuilding them. In
the fall of 1874 Dr. J. L. Burrows succeeded Dr.
Hawthorne as pastor. Dr. Hawthorne, one of the
most famous pulpit orators of his generation, is now
pastor in Nashville.
In 1875 a fire destroyed the wood work of the
church, involving a cost of $28,000.
Dr. Burrows remained pastor until in the fall of
1881, when he resigned to go to Norfolk, Va., where
he recently died. He was one of the most brilliant
and gifted men of the century.
In May, 1882, Dr. T. H. Pritchard, of North
Carolina, became pastor, and during his brief pas-
torate, of less than a year and three months, a heavy
debt on the church was paid off, and the church
was put in a condition for the highest service.
In March, 1884, the Rev. Dr. Allen H. Tupper, Jr.,
became pastor, and served with signal success. He
was succeeded in December, 1893, by the Rev. Dr.
W. L. Pickard, the present pastor.
Broadway Baptist Church lias from the begin-
ning been in the very front rank of the Evangelical
churches of the land. They have been specially
prominent in the contributions to missions and edu-
cation. More than once this church has led all the
churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in con-
tributions to Foreign Missions, and the members
of this church, chiefly, however, those of one noble
family, the Nortons, have contributed to the Theo-
logical Seminary more than one-quarter of a mil-
lion dollars. The church has also contributed very
largely to the Orphans’ Home and other good ob-
jects have not been slighted.
This church has erected houses of worship for the
Southgate Street Church, which was its colony; the
Logan Street (_ hurch, and the Highland Baptist
Church.
It was on the 27th of February, 1868, that a mis-
sion Sunday school was organized on Jefferson, be-
tween Eighteenth and Nineteenth, by the Walnut
Street Baptist Church. This was moved in No-
vember, 1875, to Twenty-second and Walnut, and
preaching was kept up by ministers pursuing
studies' in the Theological Seminary. Among those
who served the mission were the Revs. Tupper, Row-
an, Derieaux, George Manly, McManaway and
Wright. It was decided in the beginning of 1883
to have a regular pastor there and to press the
work with a view of establishing a strong church.
In pursuance of this idea the Rev. Green Clay
Smith was secured, and he served efficiently for two
years and a half.
On June 10th, 1885, the Rev. Fred D. Hale began
his work, and the growth was wonderful.
The elegant house of worship was built largelv
by the mother church, and was dedicated July 24,
1887. On October 16, of that same year, the Twen-
ty-second and Walnut Street Baptist Church was
organized, with 71 1, all of whom had been lettered
from Walnut Street Church for the purpose.
Rev. Fred D. Hale served as pastor until Sep-
tember 28, 1890, and in this period the church grew
to more than 1,100 members.
On October 19, 1890, Rev. J. G. Bow began his
work as pastor, and he did good and solid service
for two years, when he was succeeded by the Rev.
W. H. Hubbard, who, on account of his health, re-
mained only nine months.
The present pastor, Rev. M. B. Hunt, entered
upon his service for this church January 1, 1894.
and he has labored with zeal and efficiency. There
has been during his pastorate 250 additions, of
whom 1 50 were by baptism.
On the 1st of January, 1891, Twenty-second and
Walnut Street Church sent out a colony of 48 mem-
bers, who organized the Twenty-sixth and Market
Street Church.
At present the number of members is about 900,
the roll having recently been revised.
McFerran Memorial Church was organized Sep-
tember, 1890, as a colony from Walnut Street
McFerran Memo- Church. The magnificent lecture
rial and room had been previously erected
Othei Churches. ^ an expense Qf $44,000, Oil a lot
which had been given by John B. McFerran, Esq.
198
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Mr. McFerran added $25,000 toward the erection
of the house, and the name of McFerran Memorial
Church was given it in memory of James C. McFer-
ran, senior, Esq., and Mr. Menefee McFerran, who
had recently died, the one the father and the other
the son of the generous donor.
From the beginning this church has occupied an
honored place in the front rank of the churches of
Louisville. The pulpit was supplied for awhile be-
fore the pastor was secured, when the Rev. bred
D. Flale, D. D., became pastor. After his removal
to Owensboro, the present pastor, the Rev. Carter
Helm Jones, D. D., took charge. His labors have
been signally blessed, and the church has steadily
grown in all the elements of strength. There are
now 450 members, and their church property is
valued at $64,000.
Franklin Street Church, corner Franklin and
Wenzel, was organized in 1869. The Rev. H. C.
Roberts* is now pastor, with over 600 members, and
the congregation is in a remarkably flourishing con-
dition. Their church property is worth $4,000.
The German Baptist Church, corner Broadway
and Hancock, was organized in 1853. It has 100
members, and the church property is valued at
$20,000.
Highland Baptist Church, corner East Broadway
and Transit Avenue, was organized in 1893, and
has 130 members. The Rev. B. A. Dawes is the
efficient pastor. The church property is worth
$15,000.
Logan Street Baptist Church, on Logan Street,
near St. Catherine, was constituted in 1895 by
Broadway Baptist Church, and has now 125 mem-
bers. Rev. D. L. Ewing is the pastor. Their church
property is valued at $5,000.
Portland Avenue Baptist Church was organized
in 1854, and now has over 300 members. The Rev.
H. S. Irvine is pastor. The church property is
worth $6,000.
Southgate Street Church, on Southgate, near Fif-
teenth, was colonized by the Broadway Church in
1888, the Revs. A. B. Sizemore, J. L. Sproles, J. W.
Bruner, T. J. Davenport and J. E. Wolford have
been pastors. The Rev. J. M. McFarland is now
the pastor, and there are 325 members. Their
church property is worth $5,000.
Third Avenue Church, on Third, near B, was or-
ganized January, 1895, by Walnut Street Church.
The Rev. F. W. Taylor is the pastor, and there are
*Mr. Roberts removed to Mayfield July 1st and the
Rev. Edwards became pastor.
some 250 members. They have church property
valued at $13,000.
Twenty-sixth and Market Street Church was col-
onized from Twenty-second and Walnut Street
Church in 1893, and now has 220 members. The
Rev. C. M. Thompson is the pastor. They have
church property valued at $10,000.
Parkland Church was organized in 1887. The
Rev. John Adams was the first pastor. He was
succeeded by the Rev. I. M. Wise, and under his ad-
ministration a house of worship was secured. A
location was purchased and the lecture room and
the house building paid for during the pastorate of
D. Y. Bagby, Ph. D. The Rev. W. D. Nowlin is
now the pastor, and the church has 207 members,
and is in a prosperous condition.
Beside all these churches, there are flourishing
Baptist Mission stations on Ash Street, Clay Street,
Jefferson Street, West Market, West Main, Twenty-
Eighth Street, Pearl Avenue, at the Point, at Ship-
pingport, at Highland Park, at Glenview and at
Eight Mile.
In the years 1866 and 1867 there were a number
of orphans who looked to the Walnut Street Church
for care. Dr. Lorimer, the pastor,
Orphans’ ,
Home. and some °f the choice spirits of the
church felt that a permanent home
should be provided, where orphans could be
cared for and where their best interests could be
fostered. The matter was laid before a meeting of
ladies, and it was decided to make a beginning. The
building of the splendid house of worship on Broad-
way, to be occupied by a colony to be sent out, was
before the church, but these choice spirits felt that
in the cry of these orphans there was a call of God.
Both enterprises, therefore, were pushed forward to-
gether. A dwelling was rented on Walnut Street,
No. 338, a matron was secured, Miss Mary Hollings-
worth, who has served ever since, and a beginning
was made. A great impulse was given to the cause
when, December 5, 1869, Mrs. Dr. J. Lawrence
Smith wrote a letter to Dr. A. T. Spalding, who had
succeeded Dr. Lorimer, proposing to give the lot,
200 feet square, on the northwest corner First and
St. Catherine streets, and $5,000 in money for the
Home. This rallied the other friends, and from that
day the institution was an assured fact. An organi-
zation had been effected on the 30th of June pre-
vious.
A charter was secured in January, 1870, with the
following list of incorporators: Joseph D. Allen,
Arthur Peter, William B. Caldwell, G. W. Burton,
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE.
199
W. H. Yeager, William H. Dix, H. G. Phillips,
Theodore Harris, William L. Weller and J. Law-
rence Smith. These were the first board of man-
agers, Dr. Smith, the great man of science, who
“loved God and little children,” was made presi-
dent. The following board of lady managers was
chosen: Mrs. E. A. Allen, Mrs. Margaret Maurey,
Mrs. Charles Hull, Mrs. Helen R. Davies, Mrs. S. J.
Evans, Mrs. J. D. Allen, Mrs. Mary Biggert, Mrs.
H. G. Phillips, Mrs. W. L. Weller. Mrs. Arthur
Peter was president; Mrs. Creighton, Mrs. Burton,
Mrs. Tryon and Mrs. Bennett, vice-presidents;
Miss Belle McDougall, recording, and Miss Mary
Hegan corresponding secretary, with Mrs. Shar-
rard as treasurer. The men’s board of managers
have had three presidents, Dr. J. Lawrence Smith,
Dr. W. B. Caldwell and Dr. J. B. Marvin. The first
two died in the service. May Dr. Marvin long be
the last. The women’s board, however, have never
had but the one president, Mrs. Arthur Peter.
An elegant three-story brick structure was erect-
ed on the lot at First and St. Catherine streets, which
was designed to be one wing of the entire building.
P'or nearly twenty-five years this building was all.
The work of the Home so enlarged, however, that
larger quarters became imperative, so that the cen-
tral part of the proposed structure was erected and
it was opened October 2, 1894, with appropriate
exercises. Dr. Lorimer was present and made the
principal speech. Dr. Marvin presided and made
the introductory address; Dr. Broadus read the
37th Psalm, the very Psalm which was read at the
first opening of the Home; Pastors Weaver and
Eaton also took part. There remains to erect only
the north wing, and the building, as originally de-
signed, will be complete.
The Home, has many friends both in Louisville
and throughout the State. It has been peculiarly
fortunate in having on its board of managers such
men as Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, W. B. Caldwell, Wil-
liam F. Norton and others, who have gone to their
reward, as well as others who remain.
The Home is not a children’s boarding house. It
takes legal control of all the children committed to
its care; and with proper guarantees, places them
in Christian homes to be educated and trained for
useful and happy lives. Most of the children are
adopted. More than 700 have been provided for.
Each child is kept track of, after leaving the Home,
and it is seen that the interests of no child shall suf-
fer. The managers are elected by the Baptist
Churches of Louisville, in numbers proportionate
to the contributions from each church. The prop-
erty of the Home is now valued at $76,000.
The Western Recorder, now in the front rank of
the religious weeklies, had a very humble beginning
on the 1 2th of May, 1812. It was
Western
Recorder. then that the “Kentucky Mission-
ary and Theologian,” edited bv the
Rev. James Dupuy, made its appearance at Shelby-
ville, Kentucky, but the effort failed. It was re-
newed by the Rev. Silas M. Noel, D. D., on August
13, 1813, with the Gospel Herald. This paper also
failed after several years of feeble existence. The
Rev. Stephen Ray, in April, 1823, started the “Bap-
tist Monitor and Political Compiler,” rather a curi-
ous name for a religious paper. The journal was
short-lived, and was succeeded in March, 1826, by
the “Baptist Register,” edited by the Revs. Spencer
Clark and George Waller. The name was soon
changed to the “Baptist Recorder,” but it did not
receive proper support. The next effort was the
“Baptist Herald and Georgetown Literary Regis-
ter,” issued at Georgetown, Ky. This was soon
changed to the “Chronicle and Literary Register,”
but partly on account of its name, though mainly
on account of lack of support, it gave up the strug-
gle after three years. Next came the “Cross,” a
Baptist journal edited by W. B. Chambers, in Octo-
ber, 1832, which maintained a flickering life for two
years; when the “Baptist Banner” was established
in Shelbyville, Ky., James Wilson, M. D., being
editor. In 1835 the famous Dr. John L. Waller be-
came editor, and moved the paper to Louisville, Ivy.,
consolidating with it the “Banner,” published at
Nashville, Tenn., and the “Western Pioneer,” pub-
lished at Alton, 111. The paper then took the name
of the “Baptist Banner and Western Pioneer.” Dr.
William C. Buck became editor in 1849, though in
1850 Dr. John L. Waller resumed the position, and
in 1851 changed the name of the paper to the “West-
ern Recorder.” Dr. Waller died in 1854, and after
him came Dr. S. H. Ford, LL. D., Joseph Ottis,
Professor Norman Robinson, C. Y. Duncan and J.
C. Waller, all of whom were editors for brief periods.
The Thurman brothers were for a time editors and
proprietors, and they were followed by the Rev. A.
C. Graves, Sherrill & Shuttleworth, when, in 1871,
Dr. R. M. Dudley and Professor J. W. Rust took
charge. Then came in succession Drs. A. S. Wor-
rell, J. S. Coleman and A. C. Caperton. In October,
1887, the McFerran & Harvey Company bought the
“Recorder” and installed the present editor (T. T.
Eaton). In February, 1890, the paper was sold to
202
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
resigning their professorships. Dr. Boyce was for
some months chaplain to a Confederate regiment,
and afterward an active and influential member of the
South Carolina Legislature. Drs. Manly and Wil-
liams established themselves as country pastors in
Abbeville District, South Carolina. Dr. Broadus
became pastor of country churches in reach of
Greenville; in the summer of 1863 preached several
months as missionary in Lee's army, and afterward
to the end of the war was corresponding secretary
of a Sunday School board, which the Southern Bap-
tist Convention had established (at its meeting in
Augusta, May, 1863), and located at Greenville, of
which board Dr. Manly was president.
When the war had closed and the professors as-
sembled in Greenville in the summer of 1865, it
was a grave question whether the seminary could
venture to open its doors for another session. Much
of the subscribed endowment had been paid during
the war in Confederate money; the rest remained
in bonds of planters, as good as gold before the war,
but now practically worthless. The only available
property was five thousand dollars in bonds of the
Georgia Railroad, which could be sold for nearly
par. Dr. Boyce volunteered to add a thousand dol-
lars for the new session, though his own affairs had
been of course greatly deranged by the war, and the
financial future was utterly uncertain. Fortunately
there was no debt, such as an opening attempt to
erect the buildings would have entailed.
For the first session, 1865-6, there were seven stu-
dents in all, but any subject that any one of them
wished to study was regularly taught. The profes-
sor of homiletics, it is remembered, gave a pretty
full course of instruction and entirely in the form
of lectures to one student, who was blind. We were
working for the future; and by God’s merciful bless-
ing the future came. The number of students slow*'
ly increased every year, till in our last session at
Greenville, 1876-7, it reached sixty-five, perhaps
one or two more. As to the finances, there was a
long period of struggle and suffering, darkened by
the frequently recurring fear of ultimate failure. At
one time the salaries were a whole year in arrears,
with no certainty that they could ever be paid. Sev-
eral of the professors made long trips to serve coun-
try churches, frequently bringing back part of their
compensation in food for the family. But many of
the students had passed through the stern school of
war ; and even where they were lacking in literary at-
tainment and exact knowledge, they were often true
men, full of noble impulses and kindling aspirations,
and it was delightful to teach them, to supplement
their various deficiences and sympathize with their
higher aims.
As the South revived Dr. Boyce was able twice
over to organize a general subscription of so much
a year for five years, to meet the current expenses.
But when this had a second time been secured, and
it became evident that efforts must be made to ob-
tain a permanent endowment, the conclusion was
slowly and reluctantly reached that it would be
necessary to remove the seminary to some other
point in the South. The State feeling was in all
cases so strong that we could not hope to obtain
any large general contribution for endowment unless
half or more than half could be drawn from the State
in which the seminary was situated, as had been the
case at its foundation. In South Carolina this was
not now possible; or at any rate the effort to secure
it would have hopelessly interfered with similar
efforts then pressingly needed in behalf of Furman
University.
For several years the question of removal was
earnestly considered; and propositions were made
by friends in several Southern cities. It was finally
decided to remove to Louisville, Kentucky,, where
Dr. Boyce had already been residing for several
years, devoting himself to the work of endowment.
The necessity of removal was a grief to all the pro-
fessors, especially to Dr. Boyce, who was leaving
the State he loved so well. It was accepted by the
South Carolina brethren only after long considera-
tion, but at length with that chivalrous generosity
which characterizes the Carolina people. The breth-
ren in Kentucky gradually rose to the occasion in
a very remarkable manner, their personal pledges
at length reaching the sum of three hundred thou-
sand dollars, out of the half a million that it was
thought would be needed for endowment and build-
ings. So in the autumn of 1877 the seminary was
removed to Louisville. The number of students in-
creased somewhat the first year, and has gone on
increasing till it has reached 164. A considerable
part of the endowment subscribed in Kentucky and
elsewhere not having been collected, and the ex-
penses being necessarily increased by removal to a
large city, the income from endowment has never
sufficed to support the institution, and several years
after the removal there was serious danger that after
all it might perish. But a new movement was be-
gun by an extraordinary and unexpected gift from
Hon. Joseph E. Brown of Georgia, seconded by var-
ious friends in Louisville, New York city and else-
THE BAPTISTS OF LOUISVILLE.
203
where, which at length gave a permanent endow-
ment such as to furnish assurance that the institu-
tion could not perish; and at this writing it is hoped
that the income will within another year become suf-
ficient to meet the expenses of the seminary as at
present organized. It is hoped that thoughtful
friends will continue to make special contributions
and bequests such as to meet the ever-growing needs
of a rapidly growing institution.
A part of the existing endowment consists of fif-
teen thousand dollars bequeathed by D. A. Che-
nault, Esq., and ten thousand bequeathed by W. F.
Norton, Esq., the income from which is applied to
aid such students as need it in paying their board.
Ever since 1867 annual collections have been made
for this purpose by one or another of the profes-
sors, and such collections have to be still made on a
large scale, in addition to the income from the fund.
The same policy as to buildings which had proved
so wise and fortunate in Greenville was pursued in
Louisville also, rooms being rented for the lec-
tures and library, and a hotel rented as a home for
the students. In the spring of 1886 an extraordinary
contribution was made by generous friends in New
York City and vicinity for the erection of a semi-
nary building, which is known as New York Hall,
about an equal amount having been given by friends
in Louisville to pay for the centrally located and
admirable grounds on which it is situated, and which
will afford space for other important buildings in
the future. A separate and beautiful library build-
ing is in progress of erection as the gift of Mrs. J.
Lawrence Smith, of Louisville. Two friends from
among the seminary’s most generous friends in the
city have promised a large sum to erect a hall for
lecture rooms, etc., so soon as the general endow-
ment reaches a certain necessary figure. The con-
tinued increase in the number of students will not
probably for several years surpass the capacity of
New York Hall as a dormitory, and when another
such hall shall become necessary the ground is wait-
ing to give it a front upon one of the noblest streets
in the city.
When Dr. Broadus died in March, 1895, the num-
ber of students had increased to 268. During the
Present Condi- session of 1 895-6 the number rose
tion of the to 3 1 6, by far the largest body of
students to be found in any theo-
logical seminary in America. The institution now
has three handsome buildings: New York Hall, a
large dormitory erected at a cost of $80,000; Me-
morial Library Hall, which cost $50,000, and Nor-
ton Hall, erected by the friends whose name it bears,
at a cost of $60,000. Mr. Joshua Levering of Bal-
timore has given $10,000 for the purpose of erect-
ing a gymnasium with modern equipments for ath-
letics and bathing. Strangers in the city will find it
worth their while to visit the magnificent group of
buildings at Fifth and Broadway.
The invested funds of the seminary for the main-
tenance of gratuitous instruction are now little short
of $500,000.
Dr. William H. Whitsitt is the president of the
seminary, aided by a faculty of ten instructors.
♦Written by Professor John R. Sampey.
CHAPTER XVIII.
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
BY REV. JOHN W. CUNNINGHAM.
John and Charles Wesley, the founders of that
form of Christianity known as Methodism, were
sons of Samuel and Susannah Wesley of Epworth,
Lincolnshire, England, a hundred and forty miles
west of north from London. The father was rector
of Epworth Church, and the mother mistress of the
rectory or parsonage, where the sons were born June
1 7, 1703, and March 29, 1708. They became
graduates of the University of Oxford and ordained
clergymen of the Church of England. John became
the organizer, theologian and director-general of
Methodism and wrote some of its hymns. Charles
was a co-worker with his brother in itinerant preach-
ing and excelled him as a composer of sacred songs.
He wrote more hymns than any man of his time,
many of which are found in denominational hymn
books of to-day, notably “Jesus Lover of My Soul."
Late in 1735 John and Charles Wesley accom-
panied Governor Oglethorpe to Georgia, John as
missionary to Georgia Indians and Charles as secre-
tary to the Governor. They reached Savannah in
February, 1736. John soon turned from the Indi-
ans to the people of Savannah ; Charles after several
months returned to England, and John, within two
years, was in London.
On the voyage to Georgia the Wesleys had inter-
views with missionaries from Moravia of a church
then called “Unitus Fratrum,” or
Conversion of the «United Brethren,” now known as
Wesleys.
the Moravian Church, who professed
a religious experience to which the brothers were
strangers, leading them to the conclusion that they
were “unconverted.” In February, 1738, they met
in London other Moravian missionaries destined to
America, one of whom was Peter Boehler, who
manifested special interest in the religious welfare of
the brothers.
They became earnest seekers after the Moravian
experience, and in May, 1838, both professed it,
Charles first, in the home of a Moravian mechanic,
John in a “society meeting,” when he felt his “heart
strangely warmed” and that his sins were forgiven.
John Wesley visited the Moravians at Herrnhut,
Germany, and returned to London with a favorable
impression of them. He and his brother preached
their experience in London churches as they had
opportunity till churches were closed against them.
George Whitefield, a former college mate, from
Bristol, returned from America, whither he went as
John Wesley was returning home. He was rejoic.- f
ing in a like experience and preached it in London
and Bristol. In the latter place he preached in the :
Bowling Green and wrote to John Wesley to join
him there. Wesley went, Whitefield was gone, but
John imitated his example by preaching in the park
and to the miners at Kingswood colliery. Except
an occasional short visit to London he spent more
than a year in the west of England preaching to
crowds in many places.
There had long been in London, Oxford and
Bristol “religious societies” resembling the Chris-
tian Association of to-day. The Wesley Brothers
were accustomed to visiting them before and after
their conversion, and it was in such a “society” in
Aldersgate Street that John Wesley was converted,
and not in a Moravian Society. He found two
“societies” in Bristol, and preached to both. In
May, 1739, the two united and commenced a chapel.
Wesley’s help was invoked and given, and he finally
took chief control of its construction. But it was
not then a Methodist Society or Chapel, for the
first Methodist Society had not been formed. The
chapel, however, became prominently connected
with Methodism.
Before the conversion of the Wesleys and four
days before the departure of Peter Boehler and his
companions for America he organized the Wesleys
and some of their friends into a society in Fetter
204
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
205
Lane, modeled and conducted after Moravian meth-
ods. The Wesleys took much interest in “Fetter
Lane,” but while John was in West England false
teachers came among them and created dissension.
Wesley went more than twice to London to heal
the troubles, but after a last unsuccessful effort he
gave it up and it came to naught, except a portion
who connected themselves with the first Wesleyan
Methodist Society.
Adjacent to Moorfields Park, where Wesley some-
times preached in the open air, was an abandoned
government cannon foundry which
FirSsocietty0dlSt ^wo previously unknown men
leased, with his consent, and fitted
up with rude seats as a preaching place. Wesley
preached his first sermon in the foundry at 5 o’clock
p. m., November 11, 1739, and the next day went
to the west. During that visit to London, or at a
later period, several persons called on Mr. W esley
for religious counsel and prayer. He requested
them to meet him at a given time and place. A
dozen met him, and at other meetings of like charac-
ter many others attended. Out of those meetings
grew “The United Society,” which proved to be
the foundation of Methodism.
The first meeting made so little impression on the
mind of Wesley that he did not mention it in his
journal. The time and place are not given, and it
was not till 1743 that the “general rules,” to be
found in every Methodist discipline, were perfected,
as helps to the moral and religious improvement of
the members.
It became the meeting place of “The United
Society” and in time was variously improved, and
became the headquarters of English
Methodism. It contained a chapel
for preaching, a smaller room for
other services, a school room for poor children, a
free medical dispensary, a loan office for distressed
poor, a book depository and printing house, a rest-
ing place for visiting preachers and a home for John
Wesley and his mother, where she died in 1742, and
found burial where John Bunyan’s body rests.
The Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church in
Washington City, where Congressmen, Senators,
Supreme Judges, Generals, Cabinet officers and
Presidents have attended services, was named in
honor of John Wesley's London Foundry. Centen-
ary Methodist Church in St. Louis, the largest and
finest Protestant church in the city, is the successor
of the original “Centenary,” erected and named in
honor of the first centenary of Methodism in 1839,
The
Foundry.
dating from John Wesley’s first sermon in the Moor-
fields foundry of London, and the origin of the first
Methodist society that worshiped therein.
The foundry was occupied by John Wesley and
his adherents nearly forty years. In 1779 it was
abandoned for “City Road Chapel,” which had been
erected under the direction of John Wesley and dedi-
cated by him. In connection with it were several de-
partments for various uses, including a home for
John Wesley, where he died March 2, 1791. In
the chapel grounds are buried John Wesley and
some of his principal preachers. Charles Wesley
declared his unwillingness to be buried there, be-
cause it had not been consecrated by a bishop, and
in 1788 he found burial in Marleybone churchyard.
Representatives of the Methodism of the world
from Europe, Asia, Africa and America met in gen-
eral council in “City Road Chapel” in 1881. It had
undergone many improvements and the name had
been changed to “Wesley Chapel,” which is now, as
it was before, the headquarters of English Meth-
odism.
When the Wesleys were at Oxford University they
and several others formed an association for mutual
religious improvement and doing
Methodist'1 ffood to others- They were derisive-
ly called by some of the students
“The Holy Club” and “Methodists,” because of their
special methods in religious and charitable work.
The term Methodist continued to be applied to the
Wesleys in their outdoor ministries and methods of
preaching, and to those who became their converts
and adherents. It was accepted by John Wesley and
given to the societies organized by him and his co-
workers.
One of the Oxford “Holy Club” was George
Whitefield, who entered into the religious experi-
ence which distinguished the Wesleys. Though
younger than the younger of the brothers, he was in
advance of them in his conversion. He went to
Georgia as a missionary and passed John Wesley as
he was returning home. He founded an orphanage
in Georgia and twelve times crossed the Atlantic in
its behalf. He was a greater orator than either of
the Wesleys, and for thirty years drew multitudes to
his ministry in England, Scotland and America.
Pie died in 1770 at Newburyport, Mass., a few hours
after preaching his last sermon, and his body rests
beneath a Presbyterian Church pulpit in that town.
Whitefield was a Calvinist in his theology and never
was connected with the Wesleyan Methodist So-
ciety. The wealthy Countess of Huntingdon was his
206
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
adherent and liberal supporter, building Calvinistic
chapels and supporting their preachers. Whitefield
built a large Tabernacle in London and there was
some “cross-firing” between the “Foundry” and the
“Tabernacle” as to Arminianism and Calvinicism,
but Whitefield requested in his “Last Will and Testa-
ment” that his “dear friend, John Wesley,” should
receive a cherished ring from his finger and that
Wesley should preach his funeral in the Whitefield
Tabernacle in London, and his requests were com-
plied with.
The increase of converts and societies under the
Wesleys, created the necessity for local and itinerant
preachers from the ranks of the societies. The
former served home societies without compensation,
the latter traveled over defined territories called cir-
cuits and preached to societies therein for a small
compensation.
Wesley met his preachers in an annual convoca-
tion which he called a conference, borrowing the
term from St. Paul, who applied it to a meeting of
Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem. The first con-
ference was held in the Foundry Chapel, June 15,
1744. Six sympathizing clergymen and four Wes-
leyan preachers were present. From each confer-
ence Wesley sent out preachers to supply his cir-
cuits— sometimes requiring them to change accord-
ing to a written plan every four or six months.
John Wesley wrote and published fourteen large
volumes, revised and printed one hundred and seven-
teen publications, built and kept alive a school for
preachers’ sons, established and supported an or-
phan asylum. He made much money, which he
devoted to benevolence, beyond his necessities, and
died poor.
Wesley was a small man and dressed in keeping
with the custom of the times. A picture of him in
old age with two of his preachers, represents him
and them with long skirted coats, with side pockets
and “straight breasts,” with short breeches, long
stockings and knee buckles. Heads were sur-
mounted by three cornered hats and cues hanging
behind. Feet incased in low shoes with bright
buckles. His marriage was unfortunate and his
married life short and not happy. He never de-
signed in his Methodist labors to organize a church.
His preachers were unordained and they and the
people were directed to go to the church clergy for
the sacraments. His wish was that the societies
should always be connected with the Church of Eng-
land. After his death they gradually grew into a
separate organization with the sacraments from their
own preachers, and known as “The Wesleyan
Methodist Connection,” which is a recognized relig-
ious power in England with a respectable showing y
in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. They have no
bishop and annually elect a conference president
who, with a “stationing committee,” fixes the sta-
tions of the preachers for the ensuing year. The 1
“Connection” has a conference in France, confer-
ences in Australia and missions in many lands.
There are other bodies of English Methodists, the
largest being the “Primitives,” an offshoot from
the Wesleyans.
After more than a hundred years “the Kingswood
school for preachers’ sons” gave place to “New [
Kingswood,” near Bath. Other large schools and
colleges have been established, one being a train-
ing college for candidates for foreign missionary
work. Ireland belongs to the Wesleyan Conference, [
and Belfast has eleven Wesleyan churches and a j
large college.
Joseph Benson became a Methodist in his youth j
and joined Wesley’s Conference in 1771. He be- j
came “A sound scholar, a powerful and able ;
preacher and profound theologian” was the testi- j
mony of a learned man who knew him well. :
He wrote a Commentary of six large volumes :
on the Old and New Testaments. Adam Clarke \
became a great preacher and extraordinary scholar. ;
No man of his time equalled him in a knowledge
of Oriental languages and he was employed by the j
British Government to edit the old state papers in >
the Archives. He was twelve years the junior of i
Benson and like him wrote a Commentary on the 1
Bible. He was honored with the degree of “Doctor
of Laws” by a Scotch University. He was born in
Ireland of Irish and Scotch parents. Others be-
came noted in Wesley’s time as preachers, scholars
and authors.
Phillip Embury was a German carpenter in Ire-
land, Robert Strawbridge was an Irish farmer on
his native soil, both were converted
In* ^America. ^ tmder John Wesley’s preaching,
were by him licensed to preach and
both found their way to America prior to 1766,
Embury to New York City and Strawbridge to a
pioneer settlement in Maryland. Being a timid man
Embury failed to preach until moved to it by his
cousin, Barbary Heck. He first preached to six in
his own home. There he organized a society and
when enlarged he moved it to a rigging loft on a
front street, next he leased a lot, raised funds and
built a chapel on John Street where the Third John
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
207
Street Church now stands. In the lower room is
the “altar railing” made by Embury’s hands, and a
clock, given by John Wesley in 1768, ticks the
passing seconds. In the upper room hanging where
the people can see them are the portraits of “Phillip”
and “Barbary.”
In 1768 Phillip Embury dedicated the Chapel,
in 1771 he moved up the Hudson above Albany
where he organized the first society in Northern
New York. He became a justice of the peace and
a farmer and died in 1775, from an injury received
while working in his field. A monument marks his
resting place dedicated by John N. Maffitt.
Strawbridge settled in what is now Carroll Co.,
south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1766 he or-
ganized a society in his own cabin, afterwards built
a log meeting house from which grew a strong
church on “Sam’s Creek.” He traveled over many
counties and went into Pennsylvania, organized
many societies, lived later in Baltimore County and
died near Baltimore, away from his home whence he
went to preach in 1781.
Thomas Webb was a British military officer who
was with the army at Braddock’s defeat near Pitts-
burg, lost an eye at the storming and taking of
Quebec under General Wolfe. In 1764 when at
Bristol, England, he became a Methodist under John
Wesley and was licensed to preach. He returned to
America and was the largest subscriber for the build-
ing of Embury’s Chapel in New York. In 1769 he
organized a society in Philadelphia and was instru-
mental in the purchase of St. George’s German Re-
form Church, only partially finished, which is yet in
use and is the oldest Methodist Church in the world.
In it the first American Methodist Conference was
held. Webb preached in his regimental garb. He
died in 1796 at Bristol, England, where he had built
a chapel at his own expense, and his remains rest
beneath its pulpit.
In 1769 a call was made from Embury’s Chapel in
New York upon John Wesley for one of his preach-
ers. Wesley read it before his conference at Bristol.
R. Boardman and J. Pilmoor volunteered to go. A
collection of $300 was raised to aid the missionaries.
In due time they were in America and divided their
time between New York and Philadelphia, but some-
times going into regions beyond.
In 1771 Francis Asbury was sent to America.
Thomas Rankin, a Scotchman, came two years later
and was made superintendent; others also came.
The first Conference was held in Philadelphia July
!4) !773> Rankin presiding. There were six circuits,
ten preachers and eleven hundred and sixty mem-
bers. On account of the Revolutionary War all the
foreign preachers returned to England or went with-
in British lines except Asbury. Conference was
held every year, membership increased more or less
and native preachers or Americanized foreigners
were found to supply circuits lying between New
York and North Carolina, and at the close of the
war there were fourscore preachers and about fifteen
thousand members.
William Watters, a Baltimore County man, was
at the first Conference, took an appointment and
rendered long service. He was one
Eapre^hers.can ot" ^ie early preachers at Washing-
ton City, lived many years at Alex-
andria, Va., and died in 1833. Phillip Gatch, also of
Baltimore County, was at the first Conference and at
the next session was enrolled a member and served
m Eastern States. He removed to Ohio in pioneer
times, made himself valuable to Methodism by his
labors as a local preacher and died in 1835. Judge
McLean, of the United States Supreme Court, es-
teemed him highly and wrote and published his
biography in book form.
Prior to 1784 the minutes of the American Con-
ferences were headed “Minutes of some Conversa-
tions between the preachers in connection with the
Rev. Mr. John Wesley.” At the first Conference all
the preachers agreed to “strictly avoid administering
the Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper"
and “all the people” were expected to attend ‘‘the
church” and receive the ordinances there. Septem-
ber 10th, 1784, Wesley wrote for the benefit of “the
American Brethren,” “As they are now totally dis-
entangled both from the State and from the English
hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again, either
with the one or the other.” He prepared twenty-
five articles of religion as a basis of church organiza-
tion and took other steps to organize the societies
into a church. He had concluded that he had as
much right to ordain a deacon, elder or bishop as
the Bishop of London, and called to his aid three of
his preachers.
Wesley’s ambassadors were Thomas Coke, Rich-
ard Whatcoat and Thomas Yassev. Coke was born
in Wales, educated at Oxford, received the degree
of “Doctor of Laws” and became an ordained minis-
ter in the Church of England. After some service as a
curate, he took a position in Wesley’s Conference
and rendered valuable service as a preacher in Lon-
don. The other two were prominent young preach-
ers in the Conference. Wesley and Coke ordained
208
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the young preachers first, “deacons” and then “eld-
ers,” and they in turn aided Wesley in ordaining
Coke General Superintendent for the American So-
cieties. The three with abundant instructions started
to America, and in due time arrived in Philadelphia.
November 14th they met Asbury at Barrett’s Chapel
in Delaware, where Coke preached and administered
the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
It was the first regular Methodistic service of that
kind in America.
Of eighty-three preachers in the United States,
sixty-three met Dr. Coke in Lovely Lane Chapel in
Baltimore December 25, 1784. Within a week en-
suing, the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Lhiited
States was organized on the basis of the twenty-five
articles of religion presented by Dr. Coke. Asbury
was elected “superintendent” and was ordained by
Dr. Coke “Superintendent or Bishop.” In time the
term Bishop became generally used. Coke and As-
bury visited General Washington and tendered the
congratulations of themselves and the church they
represented to the American Republic. He divided
his time between Atlantic States, the West Indies
and England and was greatly interested in the re-
ligious welfare of the African slaves in the islands.
He also became interested in East India and started
there with six missionaries, whose expenses he per-
sonally paid; he died on the way and was buried in
the Indian Ocean — the missionaries entering upon
the work contemplated. Whatcoat became bishop
in 1800 and died in 1806 at Dover, Del., aged 70
years. Vassey, after some years, returned to Eng-
land and died in the work there.
In the second year of Strawbridge in Maryland
a twelve-year-old girl named “Sarah” was con-
verted ; also, a youth named
Christianity. 1 homas. About ten years later
Sarah became the wife of Thomas
Stevenson, and in 1786 they emigrated to Kentucky
by the river route from Pittsburg to the mouth of
Limestone, now Maysville, and found a refuge in-
Kenton’s Station, a few miles distant.
Francis Clark, a local preacher, came in advance
of the first itinerant preachers, and organized a so-
ciety in Mercer County, about six
in Kentucky. miles from Danville, as early as
1784. It was the privilege of this
writer to personally know Mrs. Mary Davis in 1848,
who was an original member — in girlhood — of
Clark’s society and a grandmother of Governor Pow-
ell. He has known descendants of other members —
Durhams and Curds. Haiden T. Curd, a prominent
Methodist merchant in Louisville fifty years ago,
was a grandson of the original Mercer County Curd,
and Mr. Durham of Lexington is a descendant of
the man first named.
James Haw and Benjamin Ogden were sent from
a conference in Virginia, April, 1786, to Kentucky
circuit. Haw traveled the lower route via Bean’s
Station and Crab Orchard to the Kentucky River
Settlements. Ogden traveled over the mountains to
Pittsburg and floated down the Ohio on an emi-
grant boat to the mouth of Limestone, and went
thence to Kenton’s Station. There he found Thom-
as and Sarah Stevenson, Strawbridge’s converts from
Maryland, spent his first night in Kentucky in their
cabin and to the inmates of the station preached his
first sermon on the “dark and bloody ground.”
When Ogden left for the Kentucky River region
he was escorted by Stevenson and others with
guns in hands as a protection from savages that
might be in the land, and for a few years this was a
common occurrence for preachers who journeyed
from station to station.
In the spring of 1787 the Stevensons and several
other families left Kenton’s Station and established
themselves in log cabin homes a few miles away, con-
venient to ever-flowing streams of water. There
were enough Methodists in the settlement to form a
small society, and that was done by Ogden in the
Stevenson cabin. For forty years it was a regular
preaching place, until the death of Mrs. Stevenson,
in 1828. It was the writer’s privilege to preach to
members of the society in 1845-6, in a farmhouse —
Duryea’s — a mile away, and the older people talked
of “Aunt Sally” and “Uncle Tommy,” who had died
about sixteen years before, and talked of “Neddie,”
as their son Edward was called, who was converted
in his childhood home, preached his first sermon
there and became a prominent preacher in Kentucky.
In 1855, when the writer visited the old home of
the Stevensons, the buildings were all gone, but a
lone chimney was standing — a large and enduring
structure of stone, which had stood in connection with
a large log house of later years. The chimney was
built by Thomas Metcalfe, who became a Congress-
man, a Governor and a United States Senator and
was largely known as “Old Stone Hammer.” That
piece of his early handicraft was a monument of his
skill and a memorial of the pioneer Methodist so-
ciety that so long flourished there.
In the garden were the graves of the pioneers.
From the headstone of one was then transcribed an
inscription importing that Sarah Stevenson was born
1
1
I
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METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
209
in 1756, embraced religion and joined the Metho-
dists in 1768, “lived the Gospel” more than sixty
years and died in peace in 1828. These facts were
written upon a fragment broken from the stone and
sent to her son, Edward, at Nash-
Record. ville, I enn., who responded with a
narrative of the facts recited con-
cerning his parents and their long-time home.
The first joined the Presbyterians and died with
them. Ogden located and for a few years prior to
1812 lived in Elizabethtown and carried the keys of
the county jail and fed, watered and preached to the
prisoners. He bought the first lot in Leitchfield,
built the first frame house there, probably yet stand-
ing, established a nail factory and gave his daughter
in marriage at the first wedding in the town. In
that house the writer looked upon the first dead
body he remembers to have seen. The mistress of
the place then, and sister-in-law of the dead man,
was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln. Ogden put on
record the first deed of gradual emancipation of
slaves recorded in the clerk’s office there. He left
in 1816, afterward returned to the Conference, and
died in it. His body rests in the Cumberland River
country, over which is a monument erected by the
Louisville Conference. In 1863-5, at Owensboro,
the writer was pastor of descendants of Ogden and
of Judge John H., a son of Barnabas McHenry, who
came as a preacher to Kentucky two years after
Ogden and Haw.
Names of Circuits appeared in the Conference
minutes as follows: Kentucky, 1786; Lexington
and Danville, 1788. The first Conference in Ken-
tucky was held by Bishop Asbury May 15, 1790, at
Masterson’s Station, five miles northwest of Lexing-
ton, where the first “meeting house,” a log one, was
built and is yet standing. Six preachers were pres-
ent, viz.: Francis Poythress, who spent many years
in arduous service as a presiding elder; James Haw,
already mentioned; Wilson Lee, who came from
Delaware, and after years of service in Kentucky
and Tennessee returned to the East and served in
New York and Philadelphia and as Presiding Elder
of Baltimore district; Peter Massie, who died sud-
denly in Tennessee a year and a half later, and Bar-
nabas McHenry, who will be mentioned later. At
that Conference Madison and Limestone Circuits
were formed, Salt River in 1791, Hinkstone 1793,
Shelby 1796, Barren 1802, Wayne 1803, Livingston
1804, Licking 1806. Logan appeared once and then
disappeared. That section was for years included in
Cumberland, Tenn., Circuit. In 1806 there were
eleven Circuits, two presiding elders’ districts, six-
teen preachers, 2,278 white and sixty-eight colored
members in Kentucky.
It is possible that some preachers entered Louis-
ville and preached occasionally before a Methodist
society was formed there in 1806.
in Louisville. Asa Shmn was 111 charge of Shelby
and Salt River Circuits, with two as-
sistants, 1805-6, and may have introduced Method-
ism into Louisville prior to September, 1806. He
was an enterprising man, an able preacher and
strong writer, who became a leader in the East in
the movement which led to the formation of the
Methodist Protestant Church. Joseph Oglesby
was on Shelby Circuit 1806-7, and may have organ-
ized in Louisville in the latter part of 1806. He had
been on Illinois Circuit, went from Shelby Circuit
to Nashville, Tenn., next to Mississippi, then to In-
diana and thence to Ohio. He was some years a
local preacher and physician in Indiana. His last
years were spent in Jefferson County, Kentucky.
The first Methodist place of worship was probably
a private house, next a log building where the court
house now is. Bishop Asbury, in his journal Octo-
ber 22, 1812, says: “I preached in Louisville at 11
o’clock in our neat brick house thirty-four by thirty-
eight feet. I had a sickly, serious congregation.
This is a growing town and handsome place, but the
falls or ponds make it unhealthy.” When that house
was built is not definitely known; it was probably
under the pastorate of Charles Holliday in 1812, who
was on the Shelby Circuit, to which Louisville then
belonged, and who was noted for financiering abili-
ties in church matters. It stood on the north side of
Market street, above Eighth, and was used more
than fifty years later for two small family homes.
Fourth Street Church stood where the New York
Store now stands, was a large brick, tall enough for
a wide gallery on each side, with pastor's office, used
also for class room, on the front gallery floor. There
was an entrance hall below with class room on each
side. In 1814-15 William McMahon was on Shelby
Circuit, including Frankfort, Carrollton, Louisville
and intervening towns and country societies. He
preached in the Market Street Chapel and raised
money to start the Fourth street enterprise. In
1815-16 William Adams was on Jefferson Circuit, to
which Louisville had been transferred, and under his
pastorate the new church was built, the Market
Street Church being sold in 1816 to aid in the work.
Louisville then belonged, with half of the State, to
the Ohio Conference, whose session in September.
210
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
1816, was held in the Fourth Street Church, which
was probably dedicated by Bishop McKendree the
Sunday before Conference. September, 1816, Wil-
liam Adams and Andrew Monroe were appointed to
Tefferson Circuit, but Monroe, a young man, was
put in charge of Louisville, while Adams served the
balance of the circuit. The membership in Louis-
ville was reported with that of the circuit in 1817,
and that year the city was made part of the circuit
again. Monroe went from Louisville to Franklin,
Tenn. He became prominent in Kentucky, was
transferred to Missouri and became a leader there.
He died after forty-six years in that State. McMa-
hon became a leading man in North Mississippi and
West Tennessee. He and Monroe were often in
general conferences together. In 1868, when a feeble
old man, he attended a bishops’ meeting in Louis-
ville. The writer saw him meet Father Hibbett, a
Market street member in 1815 and an original mem-
ber of Brook Street Church. McMahon closed his
career in Mississippi. Adams was one of the solid
men of Kentucky and finished his course at his rural
home in Shelby County.
Francis Asbury was born in England in I745>
came to America in 1771, was a preacher in this
country forty-five years and thirty-
Ja*he.rs of one years a Bishop. He traveled
eleven times the circumference of the
•globe. In twenty-five years he visited Kentucky
thirteen times. He preached more sermons, en-
dured more hardships and received less compensa-
tion than any man in Methodism. He died in Vir-
ginia just before the General Conference of 1816,
having preached his last sermon at Richmond. His
body rested for years under a church pulpit in Balti-
more, but is now in a Baltimore cemetery.
William McKendree was with Washington at
Yorktown, became a preacher in 1787, traveled Ken-
tucky district 1801-5, and was serving Cumberland
district, including lower Kentucky, Tennessee and
the settlements of Illinois and Missouri, when elected
Bishop at Baltimore in 1808. For twenty-seven
years he filled the office and died in Tennessee in
1835, aged seventy-seven. His remains rest in Van-
derbilt University grounds. R. R. Roberts and
Enoch George were of the Baltimore conference,
and were made bishops the year Asbury died. Rob-
erts was the first married man in the office and made
his home on a farm in White River valley, Indiana.
He visited more conferences in Kentucky than any
other bishop except Asbury, He died at his home
in 1843, having been twenty-seven years a bishop.
His age was sixty-five. George died at Staunton,
Va., after twelve years’ service as a bishop, aged
sixty years.
At the conference of 1818 Louisville was detached
from Jefferson circuit, which then belonged to Salt
River district and to the Tennessee conference.
Henry B. Bascom was appointed pastor; he served
two years and reported, in 1820, one hundred white
and thirty-seven colored members. Until 1835 there
was but the one church in the city, which was sup-
plied with the best pulpit talent available for pastors
in charge, and a few years with assistant pastors.
Most of them served a single year; a few served two
years. Henry B. Bascom began preaching at six-
teen with but little education, but he came to be rec-
ognized as an orator of the highest order and a
scholar and educator worthy of high positions. He
was twenty-two to twenty-four years old when in
Louisville, was chaplain to Congress at twenty-
seven and college president at thirty-one. He was
leader with his pen of the Southern delegation in the
general conference of 1844. He died in Louisville
September, 1850, aged fifty-four, at the home of E.
Stevenson, on First Street, south of Walnut, four
months after he was made bishop, and was buried in
Wesleyan Cemetery after a funeral sermon by E. W.
Sehon in Fourth Street Church. He was a man of
majestic appearance and always neatly dressed. Few
men of prominence spoke so rarely in conference as
Bascom. At the conference of 1820 Louisville was
left without a supply. Barnabas McHenry was next
mentioned as left without a station. It is probable
that it was understood that he would supply the
church as long as it might be his pleasure to do so
during the year following.
The next five pastors were H. McDaniel, R. Cor-
wine, William Adams, John Johnson and John Tevis,
all strong men of high character. Tevis went the
next year to Shelbyville, and out of that appointment
grew Science Hill Female Academy, of which Miss
Julia A. Tevis was the honored principal from young
womanhood to old age. She educated three gen-
erations in some families.
Then came George C. Light, a great preacher,
who served principal places in Kentucky and Mis-
souri and died in Mississippi after some service
there. Thomas A. Morris was thirty-eight years a
bishop of the M. E. Church. Peter Akers and Burr
H. McCown were long time preachers and educators
in Kentucky and Illinois. H. H. Kavanaugh and
Littleton Fowler: The first was thirty years a bishop
of the Southern Church, died at Columbus, Miss.,
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
211
1884, and is buried at Cave Hill, at Louisville.
Fowler was one of the first three missionaries to the
; Republic of Texas. E. Stevenson and J. Stamper:
The first was a son of the pioneers heretofore men-
tioned. After much service as a preacher and eight
years in the Book Agency, he became president of
Logan Female College, at Russellville, where he
died in 1864. Stamper divided his time between
Kentucky and Illinois in prominent positions and
died at Decatur, 111. William Holman and Richard
Deering, both of whom long lived and did much
service in Louisville as pastors and presiding elders
died there in old age. Deering was also con-
nected with other conferences and served in Cincin-
nati and New Orleans. The word “and” coupling-
two names indicates they were associate pastors.
Those who served prior to its becoming a station
! in 1818 were William Burke, James Ward, Charles
Holliday and Marcus Lindsay.
Loulsv^1I1®eJ5sresiding Burke and Ward were pioneer
preachers in 1791-2 in East Tennes-
see from Virginia and Maryland. Burke was tall
! and imposing, Ward small in stature. Both en-
dured great hardships on large circuits and districts.
Burke went to Ohio and formed the first “station”
in Cincinnati. For twenty-eight years, while out of
the itinerancy, he was postmaster of Cincinnati,
where he died in 1855. He connected himself with
1 the M. E. Church South in 1846 and died a member
of the Kentucky Conference. Ward died the same
year in Jefferson County, Kentucky, a member of
the Baltimore conference, with which he connected
himself after the division of the church. Holliday
went to Illinois. He built the Market Street Chapel
in Louisville in 1812 and displayed so much financial
ability on various lines in Illinois that his brethren
put him forward for book agent at Cincinnati, Ohio.
He was elected and served from 1828 to 1836.
Lindsay was of Irish ancestry, but was reared near
Newport, Ky., He was well educated and an able
and popular preacher. Barnabas McHenry came to
I Kentucky in 1788, was ordained deacon at the first
conference, in 1790, served in Kentucky and Tennes-
j see amid perils by savages, traveled a district in-
cluding half of Kentucky, half of Tennessee and a
few counties in Southwest Virginia, and was presid-
ing elder for two years after Louisville became a
“station.” He married a daughter of Colonel John
Hardin and became head of a family of note.
Stamper, who succeeded McHenry, was an eloquent
and popular preacher already mentioned. William
Adams, the Fourth Street Church builder, and Mar-
New Congre-
gations.
eus Lindsay are elsewhere mentioned. B. T.
Crouch, after many years of service, died alone on
his knees at Lagrange, Ky., where he had his home.
The first session was held at Lexington Septem-
ber 25, 1821, Bishops George and Roberts present,
William Adams secretary. He held
PiSn“y the office until 1834 except one year.
For twenty-four years ensuing the
conference included all the territory in the State
above the Tennessee River. T. F. Vanmeter, whose
ministry began in Louisville as a licentiate fifty-two
years ago, served the present Kentucky conference
as secretary twenty-two years.
Prior to the conference of 1835, the preachers,
Holman and Deering, and the presiding elder,
Crouch, with the consent of the peo-
ple, determined to divide the Louis-
ville membership into three congre-
gations with membership as follows: Fourth Street,
ioi whites and 483 colored; Brook Street, 170
whites; Eighth Street, 105 whites, making a total
membership of 376 whites and 483 colored.
This was the first time — September, 1835 — that
this name appeared in the list of appointments: H.
H. Ivavanaugh, pastor. If his mem-
bership had all attended there would
have been nearly five colored hear-
ers to one white. The wffiites occupied the body of
the church and the others the long, wide and well-
lighted and ventilated galleries. Many negroes were
good singers and joined heartily in singing familiar
hymns and, with the preacher, repeated every two
lines, as was the custom with the opening hymns.
Ivavanaugh then, in the twelfth year of his ministry,
remained but a year. In 1836-7 B. T. Crouch and
J. C. Harrison were pastors. Tydings entered the
Baltimore conference twenty-six years before; Har-
rison was younger and became a prominent man in
the conference. In 1838-9 Tydings was alone at
Fourth Street. In November and December J. N.
Maffitt, an eloquent Irish revivalist, held a meeting
at Fourth Street during which 178 members were
added to the church and in January following — 1839
— a heavy church debt was paid. In 1839-40 T. N.
Ralston and H. N. Vandyke were pastors. Ralston
became prominent, was an accomplished conference
and general conference secretary, and published a
valuable book entitled “Elements of Divinity. He
died when enfeebled by age near Newport, Ky.
When two pastors were at Fourth Street one gave
attention to services conducted in a fire engine hall
on Eighth street and one also gave special services
Fourth Street
Church.
212
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
Brook Street
Church.
to the colored people Sunday afternoons and week
nights at the church. John H. Linn was pastor in
1840-41. He was a rising man and was transferred
in 1841 to St. Louis to serve Centenary Church, just
built. G. C. Light succeeded Linn. From 1842
to 1844 G. W. Brush, and John Miller from 1844 to
1845. Both will be mentioned hereafter. This com-
pletes the history of Fourth Street Church as a
Methodist Episcopal Church.
William Holman, with 170 members previously
belonging to Fourth Street congregation, assigned
him at the conference of 1835, soon
had a large two-story brick church
under way on the west side of Brook
street, next the alley between Market and Jefferson.
He held services in a market house on Market street
in pleasant weather and in the large dining room of
Elliott’s tavern, on Main street, at other times until
the lower room of the church was ready for use. He
served for two years, and was succeeded for two
years by G. W. Brush, 1837-9. He was a Jefferson
County (Kentucky) man of Baptist parentage, and
became long and favorably known in Louisville and
other places in upper Kentucky. The main audi-
ence room was not ready for dedication until Janu-
ary, 1839, which occurred in connection with ser-
mons by T- S. Tomlinson, of Augusta College, and
L. L. Hamline, of the Western Advocate at Cincin-
nati, who became bishop in 1844. From 1839 to
1845 the pastors were J. Marsee, William Holman,
J. C. Harrison and Z. M. Taylor.
In 1835 Bradford Frazee, with 105 members, was
assigned to Eighth Street. His preaching place was
a hall in an engine house on Eighth,
near Main. During the next three
years the membership was re-
ported in connection with Fourth Street. The first
two years of the time preaching was done by one of
the two Fourth Street preachers. In the midst of
the year 1839-40 Thomas Bottomley, an Englishman
with a transfer from the Baltimore to the Arkansas
conference, was detained at Louisville by affliction
in his family. He improved the time by services in
the Eighth street engine hall, and concluded to re-
main in Kentucky. He joined the conference in
1840 and was appointed to Eighth Street. Within
two years he procured the erection of a one-story
brick church, with Sunday school room in the rear,
on the east side of Eighth street, north of Market.
He spent many years in Louisville as pastor and
presiding elder. He was a small and delicate ap-
pearing man, but lived to reach the verge of his nine-
Eighth Street
Church.
Wesley
Chapel.
tieth year, and died in Hopkinsville September 27,
1894, having been nearly seventy-two years a
preacher. His successors at Eighth Street prior to
1845 were William Holman and G. W. Merritt. The
latter, after long service in the two conferences in
Kentucky, died at his home at Anchorage.
Drummond Welburn was sent to “Upper Station”
September, 1843, to form a congregation and build a
chapel. For more than a year ser-
vices were held in a store room on
the north side of Main, above Shel-
by. In the meantime money was raised and work
was progressing on a two-story brick building on the
west side of Shelby, on the alley south of Market.
In September, 1844, the walls were up; in the early
spring of 1845 the work was completed and Mr. Wel-
burn had his place well filled with hearers. The
house was dedicated in May, 1845, during the Lou-
isville convention. George F. Pierce, of Georgia,
preached the morning sermon. A. B. Longstreet
preached at night. The latter had been a “Georgia
Judge” and was noted as the author of a humorous
book entitled "Georgia Scenes.” The house was first
called “Wesley Chapel,” but came to be known as
“Shelby Street Church.” Welburn’s pastorate ended
in September, 1845. He spent many years in vari-
ous positions in the Kentucky and Louisville confer-
ences. Served in Louisville as presiding elder and
in mission work. He alone, of all the preachers
named, is living in May, 1896. He is an old, white-
haired man, full of poetry, and has, by his volume,
“The American Epic,” won fame as a poet historian.
The presiding elders at Louisville from 1835 to 1845
have been named elsewhere except William Gunn,
who was prominent in district work and noted for
his wonderful singing powers. Few strong voices
had so much melody as his, wherewith he charmed
quarterly meetings and annual conferences.
It becomes necessary to return to an early period
in American Methodist history and trace its progress
on other lines. The Methodist so-
steward. cieties in America were supplied
with John Wesley’s publications by
circuit preachers, who obtained supplies in New
York. In 1789 John Dickens, stationed in Phila-
delphia, was made “book steward.” He held the
place until 1798, when he died of yellow fever.
Ezekiel Cooper succeeded Dickens, and in 1804
the book interest was moved to New York. In 1836,
when the publishing house was on
Mulberry street, it was destroyed by
Church.
Publications.
fire, involving a loss of $250,000.
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
213
The churches in the several States gave $90,000 to
rebuild, and with insurance a larger establishment
was erected. The Book Concern is now at Fifth
avenue and Twentieth streets in a large and elegant
building owned by the church.
The Western Book Concern was established in
Cincinnati in 1820, with Martin Ruter as agent the
first eight years, and Charles Holliday, who built the
first chapel in Louisville, was agent the next eight
years.
In 1816 a Monthly Methodist Magazine was
commenced by the Book Concern at New York for
the whole church. In 1828 it gave place to the
Quarterly Review. In September, 1826, the Chris-
tian Advocate, a weekly paper, began at New York.
In advance of it was Zion’s Herald at Boston and
soon after the Missionary Journal at Charleston,
S. C. After a few years the three combined with all
the names in use. The Herald was renewed again
in Boston and the New York paper was called the
Christian Advocate and Journal. Now it is the
Christian Advocate. The Western Christian Advo-
cate was started at Cincinnati in 1836, the Richmond
(Va.) Advocate in 1832, the Southern at Charleston
in 1837 and the Southwestern at Nashville in 1836.
At the general conference of 1844 an editor was
elected for each.
A monthly magazine at Cincinnati began in 1840
and was continued for thirty-six years. The Apolo-
gist, a German paper, began at Cincinnati in 1840.
Since the last date numerous papers North and
South have been started and continued; others have
failed.
Francis Asbury had a fair English education
when he came to America. He learned while trav-
eling and preaching on circuits to
Educational. read Latin, Greek and Hebrew. As-
bury planted Methodism in Balti-
more and procured the building of two churches
there. In Delaware and Maryland he made Meth-
odists of many people of high character and consid-
erable means. He awakened an interest in educa-
tion, and when the conference met to organize the
church he had $5,000 pledged for a seminary.
The conference determined to establish Cokes-
bury College, in honor of the two superintendents
or bishops. A three-story brick building was erect-
ed in Baltimore County eighteen miles north of the
city. It was forty by eighty feet, and was opened
for the education of sons in September, 1787. It
was fairly successful until December, 1795, when the
premises were destroyed by fire and were never re-
built. An effort was made to revive Cokesbury in
Baltimore, but in a year the building was burned.
In 1818 there was an “Asbury College” in Baltimore
with power to confer degrees. Martin Ruter, then
in New England, had the degree of “Master of
Arts” conferred upon him by Asbury College. He
was probably the first Methodist preacher next to
John Wesley on that line. Wesley got his from Ox-
ford University when young.
The first Methodist academy in New England
was at New Market, New Hampshire. It was es-
tablished by the New England Conference in 1818,
with Martin Ruter as principal. In 1825 it was
moved to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, with Wilbur
Eisk as principal. Wesleyan Seminary was started
in New York in a three-story building in 1819. In
1825 the house and lot were sold to the Book Con-
cern.
Kentucky Methodists were twenty years in ad-
vance of New England in the establishment of an
educational institution. Fewr in members, with only
six preachers, and liable to raids from savage bands.
Bishop Asbury led in a movement for Bethel Acad-
emy at the Conference of 1790. The academy was
modeled after Cokesbury College, 40x80 and three
stories high, on a high bank of the Kentucky River,
in Jessamine County. It was not until 1798 that
it was thoroughly under way under Valentine Cook,
a preacher from the East and a former student of
Cokesbury College. It was in advance of the times
and did not succeed. The enterprise was abandoned
and part of the brick were hauled to Nicholasville
and put into the walls of a county academy. Cook
became a local preacher and an educator in Logan
County, and ranked high as preacher and teacher.
Augusta College grew out of a county academy
and became the possession of Kentucky and Ohio
Conferences, was chartered in 1822, with J. P. Fin-
ley in charge until his death, 1825. J. P. Durbin
and J. S. Tomlinson, both Kentuckians, but the
former in the Ohio Conference, became professors
in 1825, and divided the management between them-
selves until 1828, when Martin Ruter became presi-
dent. In 1832 Ruter resigned and became a pastor
at Pittsburg, and Tomlinson, a graduate of Tran-
sylvania, became president. Bascom and McCown
became professors — both leaving in 1842 for Tran-
sylvania. In the days of its prosperity "Augusta"
was the oldest Methodist college in the world, but
it finally ceased as a Methodist college.
Madison College, of Uniontown, Penn., became
an institution of the Pittsburg Conference in 1827,
214
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
with H. B. Bascom,' president, and was next in order
to Augusta College. When Bascom resigned to
become agent of the American Colonization Society,
J. H. Fielding became president.
Allegheny College, at Meadville, Penn., had been
under Presbyterian control from 1817 to 1833. In
the latter year the Pittsburg Conference took it and
incorporated Madison College with it, and Martin
Ruter was installed president.
Dickinson College, of Carlisle, Penn., was founded
in 1783, and was for a long time under the Presby-
terians. In 1833 it passed under the control of the
Baltimore Conference, and J. P. Durbin became pres-
ident. Durbin went from a cabinet shop at Millers-
burgh, Ivy., with but little education, and served on
a circuit including the town of Augusta. Six years
later he returned as professor of languages in the
Young College there. He gave up the editorship
of the Advocate in New York to take Dickinson
College, and continued there until 1845. He and
Bascom were conspicuously opposite in the General
Conference of 1844 on the division question. He
was thirty years missionary secretary.
Wesleyan University, of Middletown, Conn., was
chartered in 1831 by the New York and New Eng-
land Conferences. Wilbur Fisk, from Wilbraham
Academy, was president until his death in 1838. He
was succeeded by Stephen Olin, a Vermonter, who
had been a preacher and educator of great popular-
ity in the South. He died in 1831. The university
has ranked with the best in the East.
McKendree College, Lebanon, 111., was named in
honor of Bishop McKendree. Ben T. Ivavanaugb,
a Kentuckian, as agent, raised funds for its estab-
lishment. Peter Akers, a Kentuckian and one of
the early preachers of Louisville, was its first presi-
dent. It was chartered in 1834.
St. Charles College, Missouri, was chartered in
1837; I. H. Fielding, from Augusta College, was
president. He died in 1845, and Isaac Ebbut, from
Ohio, became his successor. St. Charles and Mc-
Kendree are within twenty miles of St. Louis.
Indiana Asbury — now DePauw University — had
its corner stone laid at Greencastie June 20, 1837,
by H. P». Bascom, from Augusta College. Three
presidents have become bishops — Simpson, Ames
and Bowman — the latter now being senior bishop of
his church.
Tabernacle Academy, S. C., was taken in charge
by Stephen Olin, from New England, and there he
was converted. He became a member of the South
Carolina Conference in 1824 and served seven years
as a professor in the University of Georgia. “The |l
Academy” was adopted in 1836 by the South Caro- ,'v
lina Conference, was called “Cokesbury Conference
School,” and has afforded free tuition to sons of
preachers for sixty years.
Randolph Macon College, in Southern Virginia,
was founded in 1832 bv the Virginia Conference.
Ten years later Stephen Olin left the University of
Georgia and became its first president. The college ;
is now at Ashland, north of Richmond.
Lagrange College, Alabama, began in 1830, with
R. Paine, afterward bishop, as president. The build-
ings were burned during the late war.
Emory College, of Oxford, Georgia, was chartered
in 1835. Bishop Pierce and his father were earnest
promoters of it. Emory and Henry College, near
Abingdon, southwestern Virginia, was organized in
1838. E. E. Wiley, from New England, was pro-
fessor and president from young manhood to old
age.
Transylvania University, of Lexington, Kentucky,
came under the Kentucky Conference in 1842. H. ’
B. Bascom was president. In 1846 it passed under [
the control of the M. E. Church South, but a few *
years after Bascom’s death it was surrendered.
Wesleyan University, of Delaware, Ohio, began in I
1844 under Edward Thomson, who became a bishop.
To these universities Augusta College owed its de- 1
cline and death, for they drew patronage from it in
both states. Augusta College did much good in its
day, and its fame, East, West and South, was largely
the inspiration to starting other colleges. i
Science Hill Female Academy, founded by Mrs. j
Julia A. Tevis in 1825, was controlled by her to old j
age. Macon Female College, Macon, Ga., was the |
first female college chartered — 1836. Bishop Pierce
was its first president. Hillsborough, Ohio, Female
College was established in 1839. Greensborough,
N. C., Female College began in 1841. All of the
forenamed originated prior to 1845, ar*d exist
to-day except “Cokesbury,” “Asbury,” “Wesleyan
Seminary,” “Madison College,” “Lagrange Col-
lege,” and “Bethel.” “Augusta” and “Transylvania”
exist to-day. Every president, principal and pro- ;
fessor named was a preacher, except Mrs. Tevis, of
“Science Hill.” There are many large and success-
ful institutions of learning — male and female — East,
West, North and South, that originated since 1845
in the two great branches of Episcopal Methodism.
Methodism has been eminently a missionary
movement, and has so continued with increased
zeal.
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
215
Nine years after his conversion John Wesley was
pelted along the streets of Wandsworth, near Lon-
don, by a howling mob. Seven
west India years later he went there by invita-
tion of Nathaniel Gilbert, a wealthy
gentleman of Antigua, West Indies, and had a re-
spectful hearing in Gilbert’s house. He had three
negro servants with him, two of whom were con-
verted and baptized. Gilbert was also converted,
became a zealous Methodist, and when he returned
to Antigua he had a license to preach. On his
premises he preached to his own and other slaves
until his death in 1774, and from that society Metho-
dism spread among negroes on other plantations on
the island. In January, 1785, two missionaries were
sent from the Baltimore Conference that organized
the M. E. Church, to Antigua. In 1787 Dr. Coke
was at St. John’s, Gilbert’s former home, preached
to the mission, and went thence to other islands.
He made annual visits for several years, stationing
missionaries on different islands, and wonderful were
the results.
The mission to America, under three local
preachers, and then under itinerants sent over by
John Wesley, has been described. That in 1814,
when Coke found burial in the deep sea, has been
mentioned. On the island of Ceylon, in a native
church, a marble tablet memorializes Thomas Coke
as the founder of Ceylon missions through the mis-
sionaries who accompanied and survived him.
Three years after Coke’s death the English Wesleyan
Missionary Society was formed, and its representa-
tives are in many lands. From the conference which
organized the M. E. Church two missionaries were
sent to Nova Scotia, and $350 raised to sustain the
mission. Marcus Lindsay, of Kentucky, was instru-
mental in the conversion in 1816 of a Virginia raised
negro, named John Stewart, at Marietta, Ohio. Well
stocked with old-time hymns, with a melodious
voice, gifted in prayer, and with religious knowledge
acquired from white people, he went to the Wyan-
dot Indians, at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. They had
been a savage and warlike tribe, and one of their
bands fought the first battle in Kentucky between
Indians and whites, near Mount Sterling. Simon
Girty had been a war counselor of the Wyandots,
and more than once led their braves on the war path
into Kentucky. Stewart found a competent negro
interpreter at Sandusky, whom he utilized, and he
became instrumental in leading many Indians into
Christianity, among whom were some of the chiefs.
In 1816 the Ohio Conference formed a mission-
ary society and sent a man to aid Stewart in his
work. The sister of Judge McLean, of the United
States Supreme Court, became a missionary teacher.
A church and school house were built, a large farm
opened, a manual labor school established by gov-
ernment aid, and the Wyandots became a largely
civilized and Christianized people. In 1841 they
were transferred to Kansas, at the “Mouth of the
Kaw.” They preserved their civilization and Chris-
tianity there. They are now in the Indian Territory.
Kansas City, Kansas, covers the former Indian
town, “Wyandot,” but the Indian cemetery is pre-
served in the center of the city.
“Menoncue” and “Between the Logs” were chiefs
who became local preachers and went with J. B.
Finley to eastern cities and surprised the people
with their pathos and power in preaching. In 1825
a sixteen-year-old girl heard Bascom at a Baltimore
camp meeting. At 11 o’clock unmoved, at 3 o’clock
she was moved to penitential tears and prayers bv
“Menoncue’s” talk, and in her eighty-fourth year,
as the widow of the late Joseph Boyle, a prominent
St. Louis preacher, she tells with joy of “Menon-
cue’s’’ agency in her conversion. Thus Marcus Lind-
say, though dead, yet speaketh through the person
named. Lindsay and Barnabas McHenry died of
cholera in Washington County, Ivy., in 1833. Lind-
say’s daughter, Mrs. Fletcher Wilson, has been well
known in Methodist circles in Louisville by her
benevolence in different directions.
The success of Stewart among the Wyandot Indi-
ans was the inspiration to .the formation of a Meth-
odist Episcopal Missionary Society in New York
under the direction of Joshua Soule and Nathan
Bangs, in 1819. The General Conference approved
it in 1820, and annual conferences were quick to
organize conference societies, and congregational
societies followed.
Win. Capers became the leader in the establish-
ment of missions among the slaves on southern plan-
tations. Planters encouraged the movement, and the
missions went from conference to conference with
gratifying results, competent and experienced white
men being the missionaries, whose support came
from planters and conference missionary societies.
Through Mr. Capers missions with schools were
established among the southern tribes, now largely
the occupants and owners of the Indian Territory,
with an Indian Mission Conference covering the
domain.
Shawnee Indian Mission was established by
Thomas Johnson, 1830, several miles from Kansas
21 G
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
City, Mo. He was with the mission, first and last,
about thirty years, and witnessed great results.
Other tribes were embraced in the Kansas mission-
ary work, all of whom are now in the Indian Ter-
ritory. Some wonderful specimens of Christian
men were fruits of these Indian missions that were
widely scattered in their locations.
Some zealous young Methodist Indians went
from Upper Sandusky to the Wyandots in Canada,
and introduced Methodism among them. Thence
it extended to the Chippewas of Canada and other
tribes, and for more than half a century Indian
Methodism has been a feature of Canadian Meth-
odism. Two Indian youths of the Chippewa tribe,
sent to Peter Akers' Methodist school at Jackson-
ville, 111., completed their education there and be-
came preachers.
Ben T. Kavanaugh was a brother of Bishop Kava-
naugh, who was serving a conference in Illinois,
and in 1839 was made superintendent of Indian
Missions in Wisconsin. He went to Kentucky and
visited Louisville and other places in behalf of his
work. Accompanied by a brother he went to St.
Louis; was there joined by the Chippewa preachers
from Jacksonville, 111. They went to Fort Snell-
ing, where W. B. Kavanaugh was left with the
Sioux Indians. The others went in a canoe 500
miles up the Mississippi, thence across to where Du-
luth now is, thence to Green Bay. After several
months among the tribes Kavanaugh returned to
Fort Snelling, leaving his Indians to preach to their
people of every accessible tribe. Kavanaugh made
his home near Fort Snelling for some years. He
and W. B. Kavanaugh ultimately died in Kentucky
when old men.
A few miles from Minneapolis was the mission
parsonage of Ben Kavanaugh, near which two of
his children were buried. A Methodist camp ground
includes the place, and at the annual camp meet-
ing children go in procession on a set day and cover
the little graves with wild flowers gathered by them.
Kavanaugh was the first editor of the St. Louis
Christian Advocate.
B. T. Kavanaugh gave George Copwray, one of
his Indian preachers, leave to visit New England
in behalf of the mission. While there he drew
crowds to his eloquent lectures on the Indian in
savagery and Christianity. He was for some weeks
the guest of Henry W. Longfellow, and from him
the poet got the legends and facts for his celebrated
poem about Hiawatha and Minnehaha.
In 1837 Martin Ruter was appointed superintend-
ent of missions in Texas, with Littleton Fowler and
Robert A. Alexander for assistants. Ruter left the
presidency of Allegheny College, removed his family
to New Albany, Inch, visited Louisville and other
towns in Kentucky and got help for his cause, rode
to Texas, embarked in his work, but died the May
following, and was buried in the old capitol of Wash-
ington. The assistants survived, worked many
years with success, and died there. Among those
whom Ruter met in Texas were two daughters of
Barnabas McHenry. F. A. Morris, a son of the
bishop, was under the tutorage of Ruter at Augusta
College, where he graduated. He was made attor-
ney general of the Republic of Texas, in the capitol
where the body of his former tutor lay in the grave.
He returned to Kentucky, became a preacher and
served as a pastor some years in Louisville.
The facts recited in the preceding pages occurred
within the first seventy-nine years of Methodism in
America, and the first 104 years from the organiza-
tion of the first Methodist society in England. This
brings us to the last general conference of an undi-
vided Episcopal Methodism.
The first delegated General Conference was in
Baltimore in 1808. Seven annual conferences, in-
cluding the American settlements-
of 1844 from Missouri and Mississippi to the
Atlantic coast, were represented.
Nine similar conferences were held in the next
thirty-six years, whose membership was from all
the annual conferences in the church domain. The
last was in New York, in Green Street Church, May
and June, 1844. After much discussion a reso-
lution was adopted, by 1 1 1 to 69, touching Bishop
Andrew’s relation to slavery by marriage. It ex-
pressed the sense of the majority that the bishop
should desist from the exercise of his office so long
as the impediment exists. The vote was followed
by a "protest” from the minority, and a “declara-
tion” from fifty-three southern delegates. The
lengthy protest was written by H. B. Bascom, who
was born in New York and reared in Ohio. A reply
to it, by request of the majority, was written by J. P.
Durbin, who was born and reared in Kentucky, but
whose ministerial life, except a few years, had been
in the North. The short “declaration” was referred
to a special committee of nine, which presented a
report that was almost unanimously adopted, em-
bodying what had been called “The Plan of Sepa-
ration,” which allowed the southern conferences to
elect delegates to a convention, and said convention
to form a separate ecclesiastical organization, if they
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
217
should so desire. The southern delegates selected
Louisville, Ky., as the place, and May, 1845, as the
time for said convocation.
Kentucky was the first conference to meet — Sep-
tember, 1844, at Bowling Green — Bishop Janes,
newlv elected, presiding. The conference adopted
resolutions approving the course of the delegates
at New York, and elected delegates to the proposed
convention in Louisville. The example of Ken-
tucky was followed by all the conferences of the
south.
May 1st, 1845, ninety-seven delegates met in con-
vention in the Fourth Street Church. Fifteen con-
ferences were represented, as fol-
convention. lows : Kentucky twelve, Missouri
eight, Virginia seven, North Caro-
lina six, South Carolina nine, Georgia ten, Florida
two, Alabama six, Mississippi seven, Arkansas four,
Texas three, Holston two, Tennessee, ten, Memphis
seven, Indian Mission two. Louisiana was with
Mississippi. S. W. Speer, of the Kentucky Con-
ference, is the only survivor in May, 1896. Sum-
mers and Ralston were secretaries, and Dr. L. Pierce
presided the first day. Bishops Andrew and Soule
were present and alternated in the presidency during
the session. The proceedings throughout were
peaceful and harmonious in an eminent degree.
Tal. P. Shaffner, a Louisville Methodist, was re-
porter.
The Methodist Episcopal Church South was or-
ganized May 17th, at 10 o’clock. The committee
on organization, composed of two members from
each conference delegation, made its report. With-
out discussion it was adopted with only three nays.
They were Kentuckians who adhered to the Church
South at their conference session. A missionary
society constitution was adopted, similar to that in
use since 1820. Bishop Soule was made president
and Ben Drake, of Mississippi, corresponding sec-
retary; Tal. P. Shaffner, Louisville, recording secre-
tary.
The Missionary Board was located at Louisville.
Bishop Andrew and three Louisville M. D.’s were
vice-presidents, J. W. Bright, C. Pirtle and R.
Angel — all local preachers. IT. T. Curd was elected
treasurer.
The board of managers were Samuel Sclnving, S.
K. Richardson, Dennis Spurrier, A. W. K. Harris,
Daniel McAllister, j. S. Lithgow, Wm. Kendrick,
James Hasbrook, William Sale, John M. Talbot, W.
S. Davis, Thomas McGrain, Thomas J. Read, Will-
iam Riddle, Jacob Swigert and E. D. Hobbs, the last
two of Frankfort and Anchorage. The others were
members of Louisville churches. J. S. Lithgow is
the only one living in ’96. The board continued at
Louisville eight years or more. Coleman Daniel
became an active member of it.
Bishops Andrew and Soule were invited by reso-
lution of the convention to unite with the new organi-
zation. The first declared his adherence to it, the
latter said he would do so at the general confer-
ence a year later. When the convention adjourned
“The Methodist Episcopal Church South” consisted
of a written plan of organization, a missionary so-
ciety constitution and a bishop. All the members of
the convention remained members of "The M. E.
Church” until their “adhering” time came on at their
respective annual conference sessions. The three
church papers at Nashville, Richmond and Charles-
ton were endorsed by the convention, but they kept
at their heads “Published for the Methodist Episco-
pal Church,” and so continued until after the General
Conference of May, 1846. James O. Andrew was a
bishop without an adhering member or preacher,
for all the conferences met at their respective ses-
sions as conferences of “The Methodist Episcopal
Church.” The only way to get out w'as to “adhere”
out.
On the first Sunday in June, 1845, in the M. E.
Church in Augusta, Ivy., this historian declared his
adherence to Bishop Andrew’s church, in response
to a written demand from the trustees, who were
opposed to the southern organization. He then and
there said, in the hearing of a church full of wit-
nesses: “I adhere to the Methodist Episcopal
Church South.” He was more than three months
in advance of all other adherents, and is, by priority
of adherence, the oldest Southern Methodist living —
the patriarch, so to speak.
Kentucky was the first to meet, September 10, at
Frankfort, in the senate chamber. Bishop Andrew,
of the M. E. Church South, and
Conferences. Bishop Soule, of the M. E. Church,
were present. The conference met
as a “Methodist Episcopal” body, and Bishop Soule
only had a right to preside. The conference was
prompt to adhere to the M. E. Church South — with
five dissenting ones — who transferred their member-
ship to conferences of the M. E. Church. Afterward
business was done in the name of “The Methodist
Episcopal Church South.”
The other conferences imitated the example of
Kentucky in the matter of adherence and by the
election of delegates to a general conference. May
218
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
i, 1846, the first general conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South commenced its session in
a large African Methodist Church on Union street,
Petersburg, Virginia, a church that is standing in
1896, and is occupied by the Colored Methodist
Episcopal Church in America, in sympathy with the
Church South. Greene Street Church, New York,
has vanished; so has Fourth Street Church, Louis-
ville. Africa alone perpetuates a place, as a church,
notable in the early history of southern Methodism.
Summers and Ralston, secretaries, Bishops Andrew
and Soule present. The second day Bishop Soule
took the chair, declared “The Methodist Episcopal
Church South” fully organized, and announced his
adherence to it.
A general book agency was established, with three
depositories — Richmond, Charleston and Louis-
ville— the last named in charge of E. Stevenson, who
was also elected missionary secretary. A quarterly
review was provided for, with H. B. Bascom, editor.
R. Paine, Tennessee Conference, and W. Capers,
South Carolina, were ordained bishops. The pub-
lishing house at Nashville was established in 1854,
where the missionary board has been located and
bishops usually hold their annual- meetings.
J. O. Andrew was born in Georgia in 1794, was
preacher at 18, became bishop in 1832, served until
1866, was thence non-effective till
1871, when he died at 77. He was
bishop thirty-nine years. Joshua
Soule was bom and reared in Maine. He was preach-
ing at 17, presiding elder at 23, in the general confer-
ence at 27, became bishop in 1824, always lived in
the east and north till he united with the M. E.
Church South. He died in Nashville in 1867, aged
86. He was forty-three years a bishop, but nine
years superannuated. William Capers was a South
Carolinian. His father was one of Gen. Marion’s
captains. He was born in 1790, commenced preach-
ing at 18, was a college professor and church paper
editor. He died at 65, after nine years as a bishop.
Robert Paine was born in North Carolina, 1799.
Reared in Tennessee, entered the conference at 19,
at 31 became president of Lagrange College, was
an effective bishop thirty-six years and died at 83.
H. P. Bascom was born in New York, 1799, com-
menced preaching at 16 in Ohio and Kentucky, died
at 54, four months after he became bishop. George
F. Pierce, of Georgia, was born in 1811, entered
conference at 20, was made bishop in 1854, served
thirty years, and died at 73. John Early,’ of Vir-
ginia, was born in 1786, preached to the slaves of
Southern
Bishops.
Thomas Jefferson at 20, joined the conference at 21,
was ordained bishop at 68, and died at 88; was effect-
ive twelve years. H. H. Kavanaugh was bom in
Kentucky in 1802, entered the conference at 21, be-
came bishop at 52, did all the work required of him
for thirty years, and held three conferences in his
eighty-second year. He died in 1884, at Columbus,
Miss. His grave is in Cave Hill, at Louisville.
The M. E. Church South did its work for white
and colored populations with increased zeal after the
General Conference of 1846. Missions on planta-
tions multiplied, and in 1861 she had 142 white mis-
sionaries among the slaves, and more than 200,000
colored members. The war interfered with confer-
ence meetings, church papers were suspended, the
publishing house closed, no general conference
in 1862, and the church emerged from the conflict
impoverished and weakened, but news from Louis-
ville reached the dispirited Bishops Soule, Andrew,
Earley, Paine and Pierce that was an inspiration to
courage and hope.
After eight years bishops and delegates met in
New Orleans, April, 1866. Four new bishops were
elected, Wightman, South Carolina; Marvin, Mis-
souri; Doggett, Virginia; and McTyeire, Alabama.
The conference provided for lay delegations in an-
nual and general conferences, and the action was
ratified by the annual conferences. Now district
conferences meet annually and elect lay delegates to
annual conferences. They every four years elect
delegates to the general conference.
Besides those already named, the M. E. Church
South has enrolled Parker, Keener, Wilson, Gran-
berry, Hargrove, Duncan, Gallo-
way, Hendrix, Key, Fitzgerald and
Haygood. All but the first and last
named are living (in 1896). The four selected in
1866 died prior to 1883.
A board of trustees looks after donations and
bequests for the benefit of the church. The book
committee supervises the affairs of the publishing
house. The board of missions looks after mission-
ary operations and needs. Sunday school board has
an eye to Sunday schools. Board of education
helps on the cause of church, schools and colleges.
Epworth League Board of Control is supposed to
control the Young People's Society. All these at
Nashville.
The Board of Church Extension was provided for
by the General Conference of 1882. During the years
intervening Rev. David Morton, forty-three years a
member of the conference, has been corresponding
Other
Bishops.
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
219
secretary, with his office in Louisville, where the
board is located, and where several of the managers
reside. In thirteen years the income was more than
$647,000, and help had been given by loan or other-
wise to more than 3,000 churches, to the aggregate
amount of $548,000. A branch of the board is the
Woman’s Parsonage and Home Mission Society,
organized in 1886. Prior to March 3d, 1895,
$115,000 had been received and aid afforded to 784
parsonages. Its membership is 12,000. Miss L. B.
Helm, of Louisville, has edited Our Homes in the
interest of the society.
The General Missionary Board at Nashville has
54 missionaries in foreign lands and 500 in other
departments. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society supports 38 female missionaries to women in
foreign lands, 109 teachers and helpers, 12 board-
ing schools, 40 day schools, 1 hospital, 11 Bible
women, who have more than 4,000 children under
instruction, and a Bible training school for mission-
ary candidates at Kansas City, Mo.
There are Methodist papers in different states
sufficient to supply all demands, and other weekly,
monthly or bi-monthly publications suitable for all
classes from children to the mature layman and
preacher, and others to promote board and society
interests.
Since 1845 institutions of learning have greatly
multiplied in the Southern Church. The chief of
all is Vanderbilt University at Nashville, for whose
existence the church is indebted to Cornelius Van-
derbilt of New York. Kentucky Methodism has a
fair supply of institutions for the education of her
sons and daughters, as at Winchester, Millersburg,
Shelbyville, Russellville and Elkton.
It was the boast of the early Methodist preachers
in Kentucky that “Methodist divinity was in a
healthy condition and needed no doctoring.” The
first Methodist D. D. the world ever saw was Martin
Ruter, book agent at Cincinnati. Transylvania Uni-
versity at Lexington conferred the honor in 1822.
Whence j. S. Tomlinson, President of Augusta Col-
lege, received his doctorate has not been learned — -
probably from Transylvania, where he was educated.
H. B. Bascom received his from Lagrange College,
Ala., June, 1845. Now D. D.’s are numerous.
Choirs and organs were unknown in Louisville
Methodist churches forty years ago and beyond.
Pastors often started tunes in church
Co°rganTd service. Sometimes a layman took
the lead. The most noted and
charming singer in Louisville was Mrs. McGee (or
McGehee) of Brook Street Church. In the summer
of 1850 she sang in the home of Edward Stevenson
in the presence of Bishops Soule, Andrew and Bas-
com, the hymn beginning “Thou art gone to the
grave, but we no longer deplore thee.” Bascom be-
came deeply affected, and went into the hall, fol-
lowed by Stevenson, to whom he exclaimed with
emotion and uplifted hands “Was there ever singing
so near akin to Heaven as that?” Several weeks
later, this writer watched, with Mrs. McGee and
others beside the encoffined body of the dead Bishop
Bascom. About midnight Mrs. McGee lifted up her
voice and sang “Thou art gone to the grave.” The
friend of Bascom, sleepless in his room above, heard
the song, came down the stairway, and attracting
the writer's attention, beckoned to him. He
went. Stevenson recited the incident just recorded,
and then said, “In that same room lies Bascom’s
dead body, and that same woman is singing that
same song.”
The first organ used in Methodist church service
in Louisville was in Shelby Street Church, early in
1866. A choir was organized in connection with
it; singers and organ were between the entrance
doors. The next organ was in the Broadway
Church about 1867 or 1868.
The history of Methodism in Louisville that has
been given relates chiefly to the period prior to the
organization of the M. E. Church
M’ C,!jurch South. That to follow refers to the
period since its organization in 1845.
Wm. Holman was the first and Thos. Bottomley
was the second presiding elder of Louisville under
the M. E. Church South rule, each serving a year.
In 1847 E. W. Sehon, just transferred from Soule
Chapel, Cincinnati — belonging- to the Kentucky
Conference — was announced for the Louisville Dis-
trict and Fourth Street was left to be supplied. But
the Bishop changed his mind, put Sehon at Fourth
Street and transferred Thomas Macldin from the Ten-
nessee Conference and placed him on the district.
Maddin was a prominent man of three-score years
and ten in Tennessee and returned there in 1850.
The district was then divided into East and West
Louisville Districts. C. B. Parsons was placed on
the “East” and A. H. Redford on the “West.” After
three years Parsons was sent to Walnut Street and
E. Stevenson took the place for a year. Redford
continued on the district for four years, then served
one of the churches and next the Bardstown Dis-
trict. He conducted for several years a book de-
pository, and was two terms book agent at Nash-
220
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ville, where he died a member of the Louisville
Conference. He was the author of three volumes
of a history of Methodism in Kentucky.
J. A. Waterman was at Fourth Street 1845-46.
He was an Ohioan but sympathized with the Church
South, and adhered to the Kentucky Conference at
the earliest possible period. He was an educated
man, a learned preacher, and was the first Doctor
of Divinity in the Methodist pastorate in Kentucky.
They called his predecessor, John Miller, ‘‘Doctor,-’
but he was an M. D. and had been a practising phy-
sician in Ohio before he came to Kentucky. He
was the projector of the school at Millersburg, sub-
sequently under G. S. Savage, M. D., for many
years, and now in existence with improved buildings.
G. W. Merritt was the successor of Waterman. He
was not so learned as the D. D., but his fine voice
and earnest delivery, with superior singing powers,
gave him some advantage over his predecessor with
the multitude, and in time he became a “Doctor.”
E. W. Sehon was pastor 1847-49. He was a man
of splendid personal appearance, with accomplished
manners and a smile and cheerful word for every
one. He was a D. D., a revivalist, and had a full
house for two years. * J. H. Linn was successor of
Sehon. It is not possible to give the names of all
the pastors of the several churches. Passing inter-
vening years A. A. Morrison, another Ohio man
and a graduate of Augusta College, was pastor in
1852-53.
Under Morrison’s pastorate the Fourth Street
Church was abandoned, and he preached in a city
school building near Fifth and Walnut. Fourth
Street premises had been sold and the proceeds in-
vested in the present Walnut Street Church at Fifth
Avenue crossing. Morrison died at Denver, Colo.,
in after years, where a church bears his name. C.
B. Parsons became pastor after Morrison, 1853-55.
Under him the church was completed, and by him
it was dedicated. Parsons had been a tragedian of
fame. He joined the Conference in 1840, and spent
two years at Middletown, then two at Frankfort,
then to St. Louis, again at Louisville. Most of his
itinerant life was spent in St. Louis and Louisville.
He was a man of substantial proportions, an elocu-
tionist of high order, and drew large congregations.
Parsons and Holman died members of the M. E.
Church.
Among the many pastors who served Walnut
Street, three spent years in Louisville with other
churches — H. C. Settle, H. C. Morrison and B. M.
Messick. Settle came from the Pacific Conference
in 1856; Morrison came in since the war, and has
been some years Missionary Secretary; Messick was
nineteen years a pastor in Louisville consecutively, '
which cannot be said of any other preacher in the
history of Louisville Methodism. He has been ten
years in St. Louis.
Brook Street Church was destroyed by fire early
in the Conference year of 1851-52. W. H. Ander-
son was pastor, and held services in the Odd Fel-
lows’ Hall on Jefferson Street. Anderson began his
religious life in Old Fourth Street Church, was 1
educated at Dickinson College, Penn., served in both
Conferences in Kentucky, also in Missouri, was
pastor/Bible agent and college president. He died
in Upper Kentucky a few years since after a lingering
illness and much suffering. Within a year Brook
Street was rebuilt and made more attractive. Sept.
5, 1852, the reconstructed church was dedicated by
Bishop Andrew; his text was “The glory of this latter
house shall be greater than the former,” Hag. 11:9.
Passing intervening years to 1865 J. H. Linn is
found at Brook Street Church. He early moved for
a new church where the Broadway Church stands.
Brook Street was sold for $20,000 to the Catholics. j
J. S. Lithgow gave the lot on Broadway, and on
the 27th of May, 1867, Bishop Doggett dedicated the :
lower apartments after an 11 o’clock sermon. In
the afternoon special services were held for the
Sunday School. Addresses were made by the Bishop
and others. Within the next four months the main
audience room above was completed, and on Sept. j,
22 a sermon was preached by Bishop Pierce of 1
Georgia. In the afternoon a service was held for the
Sunday Schools, at night the Bishop preached again
and the church was dedicated. Sixteen thousand
dollars were raised by Pastor Linn to pay outstand-
ing claims. The cost of the church was $75,000.
Among the Broadway pastors the memory of
none is more lovingly cherished than that of R. H.
Rivers. He lived to be among' the oldest of his
co-workers in the ministry, was an educator and a
pastor in the far South and in Kentucky. His last
years were years of intense bodily suffering induced
by fractured limbs and an incurable disease. A late
pastor, W. G. Miller, well and affectionately known
in different states and cities where he served, had
the rare distinction in the long line of Louisville
pastors of dying in the pastorate.
For some years Broadway Church had a Mission
Sunday School in a chapel on Rose Lane under the
oversight of C. O. Smith.
From 1845 to 1863 there were too many pastors at
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
221
Eighth Street Church to justify an attempt to name
them. In 1863 J. H. Linn became pastor and moved
for a new church, and within two years the present
Chestnut Street Church was built at a cost of $40,-
000. Considering that the country was involved in
war at the time it was a great achievement. Until
the Sunday School room was completed service
was held in the law school building on Chestnut
Street. The church was dedicated by Dr. Linn on
his last Sunday before the Conference in 1865. He
has two substantial monuments in Broadway and
Chestnut Street Churches. Few men in Western
Methodism were so much sought for by special trans-
fer to principal cities as John H. Linn. Twice he
was transferred to St. Louis, as many times to Louis-
ville, once to Cincinnati and once to Baltimore. He
died on the superannuated list. His last pastorate
was at Chestnut Street, to which he was transferred
from St. Louis. His successor was W. H. Ander-
son.
The second pastor of Shelby Street Church, 1845-
46, was W. C. Atmore, an Englishman, whose father,
Charles Atmore, was one of John Wesley’s preach-
ers, was with Wesley in his last illness and when he
died. He received from Wesley a silver watch seal,
which the recipient gave to his son, William. He
gave it to his son, Charles P. Atmore, of the Walnut
Street Church, and well known in connection with
the Louisville, Nashville & Southern Railway, and
which is kept as a memento of Wesley and his
ancestors. W. C. Atmore served in both confer-
ences in Kentucky until superannuation came. S. D.
Baldwin was pastor 1846-48. He was an Ohio man
who went to Tennessee and gained position there as
preacher and author.
Shelby Street Church in 1866 introduced an organ
in connection with choir and congregational singing,
and was the first church in Louisville to do so;
Broadway was next.
In 1887, under J. D. Sigler, pastor of Shelby
Street, a lot was secured, northeast corner of Main
and Shelby, for a new church. The old one was
sold in the summer of 1888. A new building was com-
menced under R. H. Rivers, Sigler again in charge,
in the fall. The building was pressed to completion.
In 1896 arrangements are being made under G. H.
Foskett for an additional building to be the main
audience room. It will be within half a square of
the original store room chapel used in 1843.
In 1846 J. S. Scobee was sent to Millville, be-
tween Beargrass and the river. At the end of a year
Millville was retired and Asbury Chapel took its
place, with L. B. Davison in charge. In 1896 Davi-
son is in charge again. Asbury is a brick building at
5 1 3 Ohio Street. Perhaps forty preachers have min-
istered there within fifty years.
In 1848 G. R. Browder commenced a mission at
Fourteenth and Jefferson in an old school building.
After a few months he moved a half square east.
In 1849 Wm. Alexander preached in a small Baptist
Church, southwest corner Twelfth and Jefferson.
In 1850-52 J. R. Hall was in charge; he had been
a carriage manufacturer and member of Fourth
Street Church, with a hospitable home on Third
Street. When growing gray he gave up business,
joined the Conference, and procured the building
of a good two-story brick church on Twelfth Street,
west side between Market and Jefferson, and gath-
ered in a large membership. At that time Shelby,
Brook, Fourth and Twelfth Street Churches stood
on an alley running east and west and Eighth Street
was only a square north of it. Twelfth Street Church
was occupied about twenty years and then sold to
the “Zion African” people. The congregation
moved to a frame building on north side of Jefferson
between Nineteenth and Twentieth streets. In 1872
the appointment was J. P. Goodson, Jefferson and
Portland. Subsequent appointments were to Jeffer-
son Street. After several years the frame was moved
to the rear for Sunday School and the present church
was built. It was dedicated by Bishop Keener Sep-
tember, 1889.
E. W. Sehon’s popularity crowded Fourth Street
1847-49, which led many of his admirers on the
south side of the city to erect a church building on
Third and Guthrie, now known as Trinity M. E.
Church. It was a pewed church. Sehon was ap-
pointed pastor in 1849 and served two years with a
fine congregation. He next became Missionary
Secretary, and filled the office eighteen years. He
died in Louisville 1876. The “chapel” appeared in
the minutes as “Third Street.” After Sehon left it
was served by F. A. Morris from St. Louis, who
after several years returned there. He was much
beloved in both cities and died in the midst of use-
fulness. E. D. Hobbs said, “Bro. Morris came
nearer my ideal of St. John than any man 1 ever
saw.” W. H. Anderson was the second pastor, G.
W. Smiley was the third. He was a thin man phy-
sically, but an earnest and brilliant orator. At the
close of Smiley’s term the majority voted to go into
independence. Ultimately, what was left went with-
out Smiley into the Episcopal Church, and he be-
came a German Reformed in the East. Manv of
222
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the original members returned to the Methodist
Church.
Prior to i860 mission work had been done by dif-
ferent persons and in that year forty-eight persons
were reported. J. P. Goodson was appointed to
Portland and Shippingport. He was instrumental
in building a brick church at 3223 High Avenue.
He rendered much valuable service in the construc-
tion of the building with his own skillful hands. In
I^93'94- under J. D. Sigler, the church was variously
improved and adorned at a cost of $2,400 and a par-
sonage was built at a cost of $1,800. At various
times Shippingport has appeared in the list of ap-
pointments and thirty years ago there was a frame
church in which the islanders worshiped.
Seaman’s Bethel was created through the efforts
of Wm. Holman about 1842. It was in a building
erected for business purposes on Front Street, above
the mouth of Beargrass, for boatmen and people in
that section. Holman was in charge of it about a
dozen years. It has had various connections in its
history, sometimes with a city mission. It existed
about forty years. He lived in the city more than
thirty-three years.
West Broadway appears in 1879 with Bethel, in
1880 without Bethel, with S. L. Lee pastor, and has
been a regular appointment for fifteen years.
The moving population from the region of Walnut
and Chestnut Churches southward created the ne-
cessity for Fourth Avenue Church, which was com-
pleted in December, 1888, at a cost of $40,000 includ-
ing the lot. It was formally opened for religious
worship the first Sunday of the month named by a
sermon from J. H. Young, the first pastor, without
dedication service. In the future an enlargement is
to occur.
Clifton Church is in an eastern suburb. It was
opened for public worship in the summer of 1890.
Wilson Memorial Church, Parkland, opened with
a sermon by J. H. Young in August, 1892.
Lander Memorial Church, at Broadway and
Slaughter Avenue, was dedicated by D. Morton,
January, 1896.
Rivers Memorial Church is an enterprise in honor
of the late R. H. Rivers.
Widows’ and Orphans’ Home has existed for a
number of years on Sixth Street. For want of suffi-
cient income its benefits are extended only to or-
phans, and by such it is occupied to its full capacity.
The Louisville Conference embraces the lower
half of Kentucky above the Tennessee River. It
was organized Oct. 14, 1846. Only two of the or-
iginal members are in the Conference in 1896 — L.
B. Davison and T. C. Frogge, who have rendered
long and hard service for small compensation. J.
S. Scobee, who joined a.t that Conference, is a mem-
ber now. Five of fifty original members live in dif-
ferent states, the writer being one. There are 165
preachers in the Conference now, including eighteen
probationers. The lay representation in 1795 was
thirty-six — only three absent.
“The roll of the honored dead” in the Conference
minutes for 1895 includes ninety-two names. Many
who have been connected with the
•■in Memoriam.” Conference have died in other Con-
ferences or in the local ranks.
Thirty-one of the ninety-two rendered some sort of
service in Louisville, sixteen of whom have been
named. E. B. Crain, Silas Lee, A. L. Alderson,
Abram Long, N. H. Lee, G. W. Crumbaugh, James
H. Owen, R. Y. McReynolds, L. P. Crenshaw, D.
Spurrier, S. R. Brewer, M. N. Lasley, A. McCown
and J. B. Cotrell were men who rendered much
service to the church. James Young, W. R. Bab-
cock, J. A. Henderson, J. S. Wools, Wm. Randolph
are remembered preachers in Louisville, whose
careers were closed elsewhere. W. M. Grubbs, a
member of the Kentucky Conference, long lived in
Louisville and died in Russellville after some years
in Indiana. It is probable that if all the dead who
have served in the Louisville Conference could be
enrolled, the number would be 150 or more. The
pious wives of Louisville pastors and other minis-
ters named have been worthy of all honor, but to
make special mention of them has not been possible;
neither has it been possible to mention the multitude [
of active laymen and women in the churches.
Facts in the preceding narrative prior to 1845
are the common inheritance of the two great
branches of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
largely of other branches of Methodism. Af-
ter 1845 the allusions have been to the M.
E. Church South, now the references will
be to the M. E. Church, as distinguished
from the Church South, and then to the other or- i
ganizations of Methodism.
Since 1845 she has added to her book concerns
depositories in several cities, increased the number
of her church papers, enlarged
Methodist Epis- tj numper of Per schools and col-
copal Church.
leges and extended her missionary
operations in foreign lands, and among the colored
people in the South. She was in advance of the
South in Church Extension and Woman's Mission-
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
223
ary Society. She has 141 annual Conferences in
America and other countries. The M. E. Church
now has twenty bishops. Twenty-five have died in
the history of the church. Those not heretofore
named were Hedding, Emory and Waugh.
Methodist congregations in the city having gone
with the M. E. Church South in 1845, it was twen-
ty-one years before the M. E. Church organized in
Louisville. Then, it was in an old Lfniversalist
Church on Market, below Seventh, in 1866. Dur-
ing six years the pastors there were W. H. Black,
who had spent a number of years in the service of
his church in upper Kentucky; Duke Slavens, who
had been a member of the Kentucky Conference of
the Church South, and J. McKendree Riley from
the North or East. The presiding elders were J.
Foster and J. G. Bruce, who had been long in the
Kentucky Conference of the Church South.
Trinity Church was once “Sehon Chapel’’ of the
Church South. In 1872 it became a Methodist
Episcopal Church with D. Stevenson as pastor. He
is a descendant of the Stevensons, in whose home
the itinerant organized his first society in Kentucky.
Was educated at Transylvania, was many years a
minister in the Church South and joined the M. E.
Church in 1865. He was some time Superintendent
of Public Institutions, is now president of Union
College, Kentucky. Wesley Chapel is a church at
2501 Eighteenth Street.
William Nast, an educated German, was the first
Methodist missionary to the Germans in Cincinnati
in 1835 and is recognized as the
father of German Methodism. In
1840 he commenced the publication
of the Christian Apologist, and has never ceased
to be connected with it, though his son, Albert
Nast, is now the editor, the father being in his
eighty-ninth year. German Methodism has been a
great success in America. Missionaries have gone
to Fatherland and the North and South German
Conferences have grown out of the movement. In
the United States there are nine German Confer-
ences.
In 1840 Peter Schmucher began a mission in
Louisville, preaching on the streets in the east end
and in the home of an American Methodist ; also, in
a small Presbyterian Church. At the end of a year
Schmucher had 93 members, and at the end of two
years they worshiped in a two-story brick church
on the west side of Clay Street on the alley north
of Jefferson. The third year the congregation was
self-supporting and had the honor to be the first
German
Methodism.
African.
Methodists.
German Methodist Church attaining that distinc-
tion. In 1880 the Clay Street congregation built
a larger and finer church on Market Street, west of
Clay, which cost $25,000.
In 1846 a mission was established in the west
end by L. Nippert, who reported 100 members in
1847. About 1855 a church was erected on Madi-
son Street. About 1878-9 the Madison Street con-
gregation built a new church at 1701 West Jeffer-
son Street worth $7,500.
Breckenridge Street Church, at 700 E. Brecken-
ridge, began as a mission from Clay Street. For
some years they occupied a $2,000 chapel, but the
present church building with the ground is worth
$15,000. It was built about 1890-91.
Eighteenth Street Church is at No. 2518, and the
congregation worships in a $2,000 church.
On Jackson Street there is a congregation oc-
cupying a church building worth $16,000. Prior
to the late war the congregation
worshiping there was connected
with the Brook Street Church of the
M. E. Church South. Two other congregations are
reported in the general minutes as “Coke Chapel’’
and “Loyd Street.”
In 1820 the colored membership in Louisville
was about one-third that of the whites. In 1835 it
was more than for times as great. In 1845, when
the M. E. Church South was organized, three prin-
cipal congregations had 996 white and 840 colored
members. For each colored congregation there
was a substantial, good-sized brick church; Jackson
Street, south of Jefferson; Green Street, above Sec-
ond and Center Street, near the Court House. Pastors,
aided by white and colored local preachers, gave
services in the colored churches on Sunday after-
noon and week nights. Preachers esteemed it a
pleasure to preach to a colored congregation. Some-
times all of the “Colored Churches” were under the
pastoral care of a “Missionary” appointed by the
Bishop from the Conference. R. D. Neal, long and
favorably known as a pastor and presiding elder, is
remembered as such a missionary. S. D. Akin and
Aaron Moore as others. The white quarterly Con-
ference had the oversight of their colored churches,
licensed exhorters and local preachers and renewed
the same. In many country towns there were col-
ored churches where special services were given.
When no such churches existed, colored people at-
tended the regular church services and many pas-
tors gave them special services in the churches. As
a result of the late war and emancipation the M. E.
224
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Church South lost all her colored membership in
Louisville to other churches.
In 1793 colored members of St. George’s Church,
Philadelphia, formed a separate congregation and
called it “Bethel,” under Richard Allen, a colored
local preacher, but it remained in connection with
the M. E. Church. In 1816 other congregations
elsewhere joined with “Bethel” and formed “The
African Methodist Episcopal Church,” and Allen
became Bishop. He died at 71. They have worked
on Methodist Episcopal lines, have a book concern,
church papers, schools, colleges, D. D.'s and LL.
D.’s and many able preachers. They have spread
largely over the United States and have missions
in other lands.
In 1845 a society was formed and as soon as pos-
sible thereafter a two-story brick church was built
on Ninth, near Walnut, and named Asbury Chapel,
in honor of Bishop Asbury, who gave deacon’s or-
dination to Richard Allen, their first Bishop, who
was the first colored Methodist preacher that ever
received ordination.
William Quinn was one of the Bishops of the
African M. E. Church. He began his course in the
East, but spent years as a missionary among his
people in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and became
Bishop in 1844. He served twenty-nine years and
died at 85. In Louisville a second society was
formed and a two-story church on Grayson, near
Ninth, was erected in 1850 and called “Quinn Chap-
el.” How Africans of the same denomination, at
that time, could have acquired ownership of two
such churches so close together was a marvel. They
yet stand as monuments of the ability, liberality and
zeal of the African slaves at that period. The same
denomination has a small church on Fifteenth, be-
tween Magazine and Chestnut.
In 1796 colored members of John Street M. E.
Church in New York formed a congregation of
their own people, built a church and called it “Zion,”
with James Varick as their leader. In 1820 they
and other African congregations formed the African
M. E. Zion Church, with Varick as first Bishop.
This church, like the A. M. E. Church, has schools,
colleges, D. D.’s, LL. D.’s and a good supply of
bishops. This is their centennial year and it is to
be observed with imposing services. “Zion
Church” did not enter Louisville until after or near
the close of the late war.
The Center Street congregation of the M. E.
Church South joined “Zion Church,” and in 1866 a
Conference was held in that building, most of whose
members had been local preachers in the Southern
Church. Several of the white Southern pastors vis-
ited the Conference and gave them words of sym-
pathy and encouragement. There was no opposi-
tion to their occupancy of the church.
In 1868 W. H. Miles, reared in Marion or Wash-
ington County, was Zion’s pastor at Center Street.
He had gone from the M. E. Church South, but had
become possessed with a desire to return. He did
return and through a lawsuit secured possession of
the church as the property of the M. E. Church
South, but the majority of the congregation clung
to “Zion” and established themselves elsewhere.
Part of the Zion people from Center Street built
a frame church on Fifteenth Street, between Wal-
nut and Grayson. One of its young pastors was
A. Walters, born in slavery at Bardstown, obtained
some schooling there, was a farmhand in the coun-
try, a hotel servant and steamboat worker at Louis-
ville, got more education at Indianapolis, became a
preacher, served on Kentucky circuits, also in
Louisville, San Francisco and New York, became
Bishop at 34, traveled in the Holy Land and Eu-
rope, preached to pleased Britons in principal
churches and is leader in the Centennial services of
his church.
A part of the membership of Center Street, ad-
hering to the “Zion Church,” established themselves
on Jacob Street, between Preston and Jackson, in
1868, and under E. H. Curry erected a chapel, which
has given place to the “Tabernacle," a two-story
brick building where the richest of Zion's sons and
daughters worship. Curry was a slave and a black-
smith at Bloomfield, Ky. He is reckoned a strong-
man in his Conference.
About 1872 the Zion people purchased the
Twelfth Street Southern Methodist Church, which
was destroyed by the cyclone down to the floor of
the upper room. The congregation has since wor-
shiped in the lower part of the building.
About 70,000 colored members adhered to the
M. E. Church South, and among them was a num-
ber of useful local preachers. In
colored Methodists xg these were organized into a
church with the above name by
Bishops Paine and McTyeire at Jackson, Tennes-
see. W. H. Miles of Center Street fame and R. H.
Vanderhorst were ordained Bishops. Both had
been slaves. Two schools are run in their interest,
Paine and Lane Institutes at Augusta, Georgia, and
Jackson, Tennessee. Bishop Lane is well known to
the Conference of the Church South by reason of
t
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(
METHODISM: THE CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
annual visits to them in the interest of education.
Center Street Church in Louisville is supplied by
their preachers. The three African churches named
have more than a million members. Their general
Conferences meet every four years.
The Methodist Protestant Church was organized
in Baltimore in November, 1830. The organizing
convention was composed of an equal number of
preachers and laymen representing 5,000 members
and 80 ministers. Most of the prominent clerical
and lay delegates had been connected with the
Methodist Episcopal Church. The main causes of
dissatisfaction were the non-representation of the
laity in the Conferences of the church and objec-
tions to the Episcopacy and presiding eldership.
The last two were excluded from the new church
and lay representation substituted for them. Presid-
ing officers of annual and general Conferences are
elected annually. Asa Shinn, who may have organ-
ized the first Methodist Society in Louisville, was
one of the leaders in the “Reform” movement, as it
was called. At the first General Conference in
Georgetown, D. C., 1834, there were 500 preachers
and 27,000 members in the church. This was only
ten years before the movement began for the organ-
ization of the M. E. Church South. Thirty-six years
after the formation of the Methodist Protestant
Church, the M. E. Church South adopted lay repre-
sentation without dissension or even discussion.
The M. E. Church has also adopted lay representa-
tion in her General Conference and by votes of an-
nual Conferences within the past year nearly half
have favored the admission of women as representa-
tives in the General Conference. But for the almost
unanimous vote of the German Conference against
it, the majority would have been decisive for the ad-
mission of women. As compared with Methodist
Episcopal Churches, the “Protestant” Church is
small. The Free Methodists and True Wesleyans
are smaller still. Canada Methodism is strong in
many places- — notably in Montreal. Martin Ruter,
frequently mentioned, was stationed in Montreal
about two years before a Methodist Society had been
organized in Louisville.
[The writer of this chapter, born in Leitchfield,
Kentucky, in 1824, was not reared a Methodist,
but became one at Elizabethtown in 1844, and the
same year was received into the Kentucky Con-
ference and sent to Mason and Bracken Counties
for two years. He lived in Louisville and served
the Twelfth Street Church in 1852-3. Lived
there again and served the Shelby Street Church
1866-8, but has been absent nearly twenty-eight
years. Without ever having seen the editor of
this book he was requested to write the story of
Methodism for it. As to the churches in Louisville,
he has labored under the disadvantage of living in
St. Louis and has not been able to obtain facts
enough from persons residing in Louisville to make
two hundred words of this narrative. In writing- he
has dispensed with the prefixes “Reverend” and
“Doctor” and the suffix “D. D.,” leaving the imag-
ination of readers to apply them where they may
belong. In the foregoing narrative there are his-
tories, more or less condensed, of six Methodist or-
ganizations. The author has endeavored to write
so as to give offense to none, and with the desire to
do justice to all.]
St. Louis, Mo., May, 1896.
LS
CHAPTER XIX.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
BY REV. E. L. POWELL.
Spirit of Religious
Reform.
In order to an intelligent and appreciative un-
derstanding of the history of the “Christian Church”
in Louisville, there must be some knowledge, at
least, of the larger movement of which it is only a
part. It is generally conceded that to Alexander
Campbell, more than to any other man, is due the
honor of having inaugurated the religious reforma-
tion with which this paper has to do. The fact
should be remembered, however, that about this
time the spirit of religious reform
was in the air. The church was
rousing herself as from a long sleep.
Men everywhere were breaking away from theolo-
gies which burdened the conscience and chilled ac-
tive effort for the conversion of the world. Mr.
Campbell was only one of a number, in different
parts of the world, who sought the simplicity and
liberty of the Gospel. The close of the eighteenth
century marks a period of religious upheaval mem-
orable in the history of Christendom — a period that
set in motion influences that gave Methodism to
the world and witnessed a revival of spiritual life
wonderful in its sweep and might. All these varied
efforts, springing up at different times and in dif-
ferent parts of the world, prepared the way for the
reformation wrought by Mr. Campbell and his co-
laborers. As a denomination of Christian people,
we are always glad to bear testimony to the per-
sonal worth and grand achievements of so distin-
guished a leader, while at the same time, it should
be understood, that we do not regard him in any
sense an infallible authority, nor do we accept his
name as at all descriptive of the spirit and mission
of the organization with which we stand identified.
On September 12th, 1788 — a little over one hun-
dred years ago — Alexander Campbell was born in
the County of Antrim, Ireland. Well has it been
said — “We never know where a great beginning
may be happening. Every arrival of a new soul
in the world is a mystery and a shut casket of pos-
sibilities.” We cannot tell who are God’s chosen
men until they enter upon the work to which they
have been divinely called and give proof of their call-
ing by their pre-eminent fitness to accomplish the
task before them. In the childhood of Alexander
Campbell, there was nothing prophetic of future
greatness. His biographer informs us: “There
was in his constitution no tendency to precocious
mental development, nor did his peculiar intellec- S
tual powers begin to manifest themselves strikingly |
until he had nearly attained his growth.” His was
a very natural and uneventful boyhood. But God [
knows his own and leads them with an invisible ;
hand to the fulfillment of those purposes for which
they were born. His eye was upon this child of
nature and His providence would secure the end
seen from the beginning. The time of awakening
came to the farmer lad. He began to feel the “days
before him and the tumult of his life.” His mental
activity asserted itself. A thirst for knowledge took 1
possession of him. Choice literature delighted him, [
and he soon became conversant with the standard
English authors. Study became to him a congenial
employment and books were companions no longer
to be despised. While his native cheerful and active
disposition displayed itself as before, he became
more serious and thoughtful as he came to under-
stand the profound meaning and responsibility of :
life. It is not strange, therefore, that very shortly
after this change in the outward aspects of his his- (
tory, we read of his conversion to the Lord Jesus
Christ and his reception into the church. It is in-
teresting to study the gradual evolution of a life;
to observe the influences that promote its develop-
ment and prepare it for the successful accomplish-
ment of its divinely-appointed mission. There must
be a period of preparation if great results are to be
secured or great victories achieved. God’s best
226
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
227
workmen are those who are best equipped for his
work. The raw enthusiast may win in the battle of
life, but it is the trained soldier who moves forward
with the assurance of success. It would be hard to
enumerate the formative and moulding influences
that were brought to bear on Alexander Campbell
as a boy, youth and man, and which constituted the
preparatory education for his great work of relig-
ious reformation. There are unknown and conse-
quently unperceived influences at work upon every
human character from the first dawn of conscious-
ness until the close of life — influences felt, though
invisible; powerful, though unrecognized. They
are a part of human education. Of these, as a mat-
ter of course, we cannot speak. We cannot explain
the mystery of the dawn as it brightens into the day,
nor can we give a chemical analysis of mental or
moral character by specifying its various constit-
uents. It remains for us to consider those influences
which are plainly recognizable in equipping him for
the prosecution of that work with which he was so
prominently identified.
In following these influences we shall understand
the condition of affairs which made possible and
necessary the movement of which
Campbell. we are writing. Alexander Camp-
bell gratefully acknowledged the
large influence exerted by his father, Thomas Camp-
bell, upon his own character and the work which
he subsequently accomplished. In early life this
influence was consciously recognized. The father’s
reverence for the Bible particularly impressed itself
upon the mind of the son. Alexander relates that
“when entering his father’s study, in which he had
a large and well-assorted library, he was wont to
wonder on seeing, with very few exceptions, only
his Bible and Concordance on the table, with a sim-
ple outfit of pen, ink and paper, whether,” he adds,
“he had read all those volumes and cared nothing
more for them, or whether he regarded them as
wholly useless, I presumed not to inquire and dared
not to decide.” The impression thus early made
upon his mind grew with his growth and strength-
ened with his strength. It was for the Bible as op-
posed to all human standards that he earnestly con-
tended. Besides, Alexander was deeply influenced
as a youth by the work of his father in seeking to
promote union among the various branches of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland — the denomination
of which Thomas Campbell was a member and min-
ister. It will not be necessary to enter into any his-
tory of the Presbyterianism of this period. Suffice
it to say that the denomination was divided into
Seceders, Burghers, Anti-Burghers, Old-Light
Burghers, New-Light Burghers, and, judging from
the past, ready to form other schisms on pretexts as
trivial. “When Alexander was in the seventeenth
year of his age he saw the futile effort of his father to
bring about a union between the Burghers and Anti-
Burghers in Ireland. In 1804 a report with proposi-
tions for union was prepared by Thomas Campbell
and presented to the Synod at Belfast. In March,
1805, a meeting of representatives of the two parties
was held with an apparently unanimous desire for
union. The General Associate Synod of Scotland,
however, dissented', and the measure failed. Of this
Alexander Campbell was cognizant. The failure
produced on his mind made a deep and lasting im-
pression.” Gazing on what he regarded as the body
of Christ, thus mutilated and torn, the heart of
Thomas Campbell was made to bleed and his son
Alexander fully entered into his feelings. From the
desire of these men to bring about a union among
the various branches of the Presbyterian Church,
we date the first dawning of that vision of the union
of all God’s people on the Bible alone, which filled
their souls, and for the realization of which they
expended the best energies of mind, heart and body.
The influence exerted upon the youthful Campbell
by this divided and distracted condition of the re-
ligious world left its permanent impress. He saw
the Presbyterian Church, with which himself and
father were in communion, divided into warring and
contending factions — no less than five separate and
distinct organizations — each claiming supremacy.
He recognized the source of these divisions in a
disposition “to confound matters of opinion and
questions of expediency with the things of faith
and conscience.” He saw the Scriptures wrested
from the people and their interpretation “entirely
confined to the clergy,” especially in the Episcopal
and Presbyterian systems. He saw clerical domina-
tion in the courts, sessions and other church judica-
tories, which presumed to legislate for the worship,
discipline and government of the church, of which
Jesus Christ was the only head. He saw creeds, the
result of such legislation, made binding upon the
consciences and lives of men. A divided church,
separated by the most trivial differences, each organ
ization intolerant of the other; a church dominated
by its clergy, accepting as authoritative the decis-
ions of a body of fallible men; a church creed — rid-
den and priest-ridden — all this Mr. Campbell as an
observant student saw and lamented. As a thought-
228
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ful observer, he could not but be convinced of the
absolute antagonism of what he saw to the genius
and spirit of the Christian religion. Not as yet had
he determined to consecrate his life to the preaching
of the Gospel. His pean of life had not been deter-
mined. He was observing, thinking. To quote
from his biographer, “The effect of the whole,” al-
luding to the religious influences which surrounded
him, “was to increase his reverence for the Scrip-
tures as the only infallible guide in religion, to weak-
en the force of educational prejudices and to deepen
his conviction that the existence of sects and par-
ties was one of the greatest hindrances to the success
of the Gospel.”
Thomas Campbell arrived in the United States
about the first of June, 1807. Alexander sailed for
their new home the first day of October, 1808, but
the wreck of the ill-fated “Hibernia” resulted in a
change of program, the year’s stay at Glasgow Uni-
versity, which told mightily on his after life. Of this,
more anon. Suffice it to say that when Thomas
Campbell came to this country he was cordially
received by the Seceder Synod of the Presbyterian
Church, which was in session at Philadelphia upon
his landing, and was assigned by it to the Presbytery
of Chartiers in Western Pennsylvania. Not very
long had he been engaged in his ministry before
suspicions were entertained of his orthodoxy. A
certain Mr. Wilson, during a communion season,
heard a sermon that was not at all to his liking, a
sermon in which Thomas Campbell lamented the
divisions existing in the religious world and sug-
gested to all his pious hearers, some of whom had
not had an opportunity for a long time of partaking
of the Lord’s Supper, that they should avail them-
selves of the opportunity now offered. This Mr.
Wilson thought that the preacher did not pay suffi-
cient respect to the “division walls,” and accord-
ingly, at the next meeting of the
Campbell Presbytery, laid the case of Thomas
Campbell before that body for its
most serious consideration. The awful charge
brought against him was that he had “failed to in-
culcate strict adherence to the church standard and
usages and had even expressed his disapproval of
some things in said standard and of the uses made
of them.” Not desiring to conceal his convictions,
we are told that he spoke plainly but lovingly to his
brethren, insisting that he had violated no precept
of the sacred volume. The Presbytery, however,
found him deserving of censure for not adhering to
the “Secession Testimony.” He appealed from the
Presbytery to the Synod, and in a letter of some
length set forth his views in relation to Christian
union, and begged that he should be tried by the
divine standard only. His appeal was in vain. “Suf-
ficient grounds to infer censure” was the verdict.
He submitted to the decision “with the understand-
ing on his part, it should mean no more than an
act of deference to the judgment of the court, and
that he might not give offense to his brethren by
manifesting a refractory spirit.” But he was not
permitted to prosecute his work in peace. He was
misrepresented and persecuted to such an extent
that the historian tells us “he became fully satisfied
that nothing but their want of power prevented
them from carrying out their persecution to the
utmost limit and he was led more and more to the
conclusion that bigotry, corruption and tyranny
were qualities inherent in all clerical organizations.”
Thus Thomas Campbell was led to sever his con-
nection with the Presbyterian body and “to hold
himself thenceforth utterly unaffected by its decis-
ions.” After the withdrawal of Thomas Campbell
from the Presbyterians, he continued to preach and
was earnestly listened to by many of his former aud-
itors. It was deemed advisable to have a meeting
of those who sympathized with the views that were
being advocated by Thomas Campbell that some
definiteness might be given to the work. Accord-
ingly, at ‘a specified time, the meeting was held.
The following will bring the scene before us: “A
deep feeling of solemnity pervaded the Assembly
when Thomas Campbell, having opened the meet-
ing in the usual manner, and in earnest prayer spe-
cially invoked the divine guidance, proceeded to
rehearse the matter from the beginning and to dwell
with unusual force upon the manifold evils resulting
from the divisions in religious society, divisions
which he urged were as unnecessary as they were
injurious, since God had provided in his sacred
word an infallible standard which was all-sufficient
and alone sufficient as a basis of union and Chris-
tian co-operation. He showed, however, that men
had not been satisfied with its teachings, but had
gone outside of the Bible to frame for themselves
religious theories, opinions, and speculations which
were the real occasions of the unhappy controver-
sies and strifes which had so long desolated the re-
ligious world. He, therefore, insisted with great
earnestness upon a return to the simple teachings
of the Scriptures and upon the entire abandonment
of everything in religion for which there could not
be produced a divine warrant. Finally, after having
|
,
I
I
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
229
again and again reviewed the ground they occupied
in the reformation which they felt it their duty to
urge upon religious society, he went on to announce
in the most simple and emphatic terms the great
principle or rule upon which he understood they
were then acting, and upon which he trusted they
would continue to act constantly and perseveringly
to the end. ‘That rule, my highly respected hearers,’
said he in conclusion, ‘is this, that where the Scrip-
tures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are
silent, we are silent.’ * * * It was from the
moment when these significant words were uttered
and accepted that the more intelligent ever after-
ward dated the formal and actual commencement
of the reformation which was subsequently carried
on with so much success and which has already
produced such important changes in religious so-
ciety over a large portion of the world.” Those who
endorsed Thomas Campbell’s views organized them-
selves into what was known as “The Christian Asso-
ciation of Washington, Pa.” After this meeting
there was, of course, much discus-
Christian Asso- gj friendly and otherwise, and in
order that the public might the bet-
ter understand the aims and purposes of the move-
ment, Thomas Campbell prepared his now famous
“Declaration and Address.” Herein is set forth the
nature of the work and reasons for its prosecution.
That our readers may know for what the Campbells
contended, it may be well to bring before them in
as few words as possible the substance of this not-
able document. It was an earnest plea for Christian
union, the claim being made that the “Church of
Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally and
constitutionally one, and that while there must be
separate societies, there ought to be no schisms or
uncharitable divisions among them.” That such
union might be effected, it was urged that “nothing
ought to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of
faith, nor required of them as terms of communion,
but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them
in the Word of God.” It affirmed the distinction be-
tween the Law and the Gospel, claiming that “the
New Testament is as perfect a constitution for the
worship, discipline and government of the New
Testament Church, and as perfect a rule for the par-
ticular duties of its members, as the Old Testament
was for the worship, discipline and government of
the Old Testament Church and the particular duties
of its members.” It denied to any human authority
power “to impose new commands or ordinances
upon the church which our Lord Jesus Christ has
not enjoined. Nothing ought to be received into
the faith or worship of the church or be made a
term of communion among Christians that is not as
old as the New Testament.” It proceeds to offer
its objections to human creeds, denying to them
any binding power upon the consciences of men,
affirming that as “they must be in a great measure
the effect of human reasoning and of course must
contain many inferential truths, they ought not to
be made terms of Christian communion, unless we
suppose what is contrary to fact, that none have a
right to the communion of the church but such as
possess a very clear and decisive judgment, or are
come to a very high. degree of doctrinal information;
whereas, the church, from the beginning did and
ever will consist of little children and young men as
well as fathers.” It states in simple terms the way
of life as faith in Christ and obedience to Him and
thus brings out by contrast the folly of requiring
subscription to human compositions, suitable only
to learned doctors and skilled theologians. It was
an effort at restoration rather than reformation. It
was distinctly stated that the object was “to come
firmly and fairly to original ground and take up
things just as the Apostles left them.” Following
the light of divine truth, their aim was to begin at
the beginning and so to have the worship, discip-
line, government, faith and practice of the Apostolic
Church revived. Thomas Campbell well says: “If
holding fast in profession and practice whatever is
expressly revealed and enjoined in the divine stand-
ard does not, under the promised influence of the
divine spirit, prove an adequate basis for promoting
and maintaining unity, peace and purity, we utterly
despair of attaining these invaluable privileges by
adopting the standard of any party.” It is a signifi-
cant fact, to which the biographer of Alexander
Campbell calls attention, in connection with this
paper of Thomas Campbell, viz.: “That no attempt
was ever made by the opposers of the proposed
movement to controvert directly a single posi-
tion which it contained.” In a word, the end
and aim of this movement was to effect Christian
union, under the guidance of the rule already enum-
erated: “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak;
where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.” The
promoters of the work did not themselves anticipate
the radical changes that would be effected by ad-
herence to it. They did not stop to consider conse-
quences. They knew that the principle was right
and could not lead them out of the path of God’s
will. They felt sure of the divine approval and
230
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
pressed forward. So far the reformatory movement
had progressed when Alexander Campbell reached
the United States.
In the meantime many very interesting and im-
portant incidents had occurred in Alexander’s life
The Younger and history fitting him for the lead-
Campbeii’s ership of the work inaugurated by
his father, and preparing him to en-
ter upon it at once upon his arrival in America. It
would not be profitable in this narrative to consider
the influence upon Mr. Campbell of many great and
good men with whom he was associated in the Old
World — men to whom he was more than willing to
give credit and gratitude for their contributions to
his mental awakening. He preserved intact his own
individuality, but was at the same time open and re-
ceptive to the truth from whomsoever it might come.
Impressibility is an evidence of true greatness, and
a readiness to learn from others is a good indication
of future power. Such men as Rowland Hill, James
Alexander Haldane, Alexander Carson and John
Walker — all of whom, it would seem, Mr. Campbell
heard preach — such men could but leave a lasting
impression upon the mind of their youthful hearer.
He himself said in a letter, in 1835: “I am greatly
indebted to all the reformers, from Martin Luther
down to John Wesley. I could not enumerate or
particularize the individuals, living and dead, who
have assisted in forming my mind. I am in some
way indebted to some person or other for every
idea I have on every subject. When I begin to
think of my debt of thought, I see an immense crowd
of claimants. If all the Hebrew, Greek, Roman,
Persian, French, English, Irish, Scotch and Ameri-
can teachers and authors were to demand their own
from me, I do not know that I would have two mites
to buy incense to offer upon the altar of my genius
of originality for the honors vouchsafed to me.”
But we must now call attention to Mr. Camp-
bell’s residence in Glasgow as a student of Glasgow
University. As already stated, the father having
gone to America, the son, with the remaining mem-
bers of the family, determined to follow. All prep-
arations having been made, they set sail from Lon-
donderry with bright anticipations of a speedy meet-
ing with the absent loved one. But an overruling
Providence ordered otherwise. It is unneces-
sary to describe the wreck of the “Hiber-
nia,” the merciful preservation of himself and dear
ones from a watery grave, or detail the incidents of
the journey to Glasgow, where it was agreed the
winter should be spent. I only call attention to the
solemn circumstances under which he resolved to
give himself to the ministry of the Word. It was in
the midst of the violence of the storm, from the fury
of which he had as yet no prospect of deliverance.
His biographer brings the solemn scene before us
most vividly: “It was now that Alexander, having
done all that was possible for the present safety of
his charge, abandoned himself to reflection, as he
sat on the stump of the broken mast and in the near
prospect of death felt as never before the vanity of
the aims and ambitions of human life. The world
now seemed to him a worthless void and all its at-
tractions a vain and delusive show. Kingdoms,
thrones and sceptres could not, he thought, if of-
fered, excite one wish for their possession. The true
objects of human desire and the true purposes of
man’s creation now appeared to him in all their ex-
cellence and glory. He thought of his father’s noble
life, devoted to God and to the salvation of his fel-
low-beings, and felt that such a calling, consecrated
to the elevation and everlasting happiness of man-
kind, was indeed the highest and most worthy sphere
of action in which any human being could engage.
It was then, in that solemn hour, that he gave him-
self up wholly to God and resolved that if saved
from the present peril, he would certainly spend his
entire life in the ministry of the Gospel. It was at
this moment that he for the first time fully decided
upon adopting the ministry as his profession.” It
was a busy year Mr. Campbell spent at Glasgow.
He felt the value of time and the importance of im-
proving it. In close study and hard reading the
days were quickly passed. From all sources he
sought information, and above all he sought that
divine wisdom which led him to care for the inter-
ests of his soul by preparing for eternitv. His diary
reveals how sincerely “he hungered and thirsted
after righteousness.” His stay in Glasgow, so the
historian of his life informs us, “was destined to work
an entire revolution in his views and feelings in re-
spect to the existing denominations and to disengage
his sympathies entirely from the Seceder denomina-
tion and every other form of Presbyterianism.” His
intimacy with Greville Ewing, who was a coadjutor
of the Haldanes and others, had much to do in ef-
fecting this change. In his intercourse with Mr.
Ewing he became thoroughly acquainted with the
reformatory movement then in progress in Scot-
land under the leadership principally of the Haldane
brothers — “a movement from which Mr. Campbell
received his first impulse as a religious reformer
and which may be justly regarded, indeed, as the
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OP LOUISVILLE.
231
first phase of that religious reformation which he
subsequently carried out so successfully to its legi-
timate issues.” The enthronement of the Bible
which characterized this movement; its independent
attitude in relation to all church judicatories; its ap-
proval of lay preaching; the simple view of faith in
Christ rather than in frames of mind or feeling — -
these and other kindred teachings met with his sin-
cere approval. His frequent conversations with Mr.
Ewing; his own reflections based on his observation
of the existing religious state; his close reading of
God’s Word by which he was determined to try all
the teachings and speculations of men, produced in
him a decided dissatisfaction with his religious con-
nection and a consequent unhappy and unsettled
state of mind. Again a quotation from his bi-
ographer will be fitting: “He was in this unsettled
state of mind as the semi-annual communion season
of the Seceders approached and his doubts in re-
gard to the character of such religious establish-
ments occasioned him no little anxiety of mind con-
cerning the course proper for him to pursue. His
conscientious misgivings as to the propriety of sanc-
tioning any longer, by participation, a religious sys-
tem which he disapproved, and on the other hand
his sincere desire to comply with all his religious
obligations, created a serious conflict in his mind,
from which he found it impossible to escape. At
the time of preparation, however, he concluded that
he would be in the way of his duty at least, and that
he would go to the elders and get a metallic token,
which every one who wished to communicate had
to obtain, and that he would use or not afterward,
as was sometimes done.
“The members asked for his credentials as a mem-
ber of the Secession church and he informed them
that his membership was in the
church" Church of Ireland, and that he had
no letter. They replied that in that
case it would be necessary for him to appear before
the Session and to be examined. He accordingly
appeared before them, and, being examined, re-
ceived the token. The hour at which the adminis-
tration of the Lord’s Supper was to take place found
him still undecided, and as there were about eight
hundred communicants and some eight or nine
tables to be served in succession, he concluded to
wait until the last table, in hopes of being able to
overcome his scruples. Failing in this, however,
and unable conscientiously to recognize the Seceder
church as the Church of Christ, he threw his token
upon the plate handed round and when the ele-
ments were passed along the table declined to par-
take with the rest. It was at this moment that the
struggle in his mind was completed and the ring
of the token falling upon the plate announced the
instant at which he renounced Presbyterianism for-
ever— the leaden voucher becoming thus a token
not of communion but of separation.”
After a stay in Glasgow of just three hundred
days from the time of shipwreck, Mr. Campbell set
sail for the United States. Upon his arrival he
found, as already indicated, the soil prepared for
his sowing. He found the Christian Association of
Washington, Pennsylvania, organized as an inde-
pendent body of Christian people who recognized
allegiance only to the truth as they understood it. He
found that the aims and purposes of this association
had been clearly set forth in the “Declaration and
Address,” the proofsheets of which he read on
reaching this country. All this preparatory work
had been done bv Thomas Campbell. And now the
younger Campbell “rejoiced to find himself so agree-
ably placed and so providentially brought to har-
monize and co-operate with his revered father in
the great work he had undertaken.” It would be un-
profitable to follow in detail the subsequent steps
taken in this movement, until its entire independ-
ency was secured and it went forth untrammeled to
fulfill the mission which claimed it. Suffice it for the
purposes of this history to say that the “Christian
Association of Washington, Pennsylvania” — a so-
ciety of which the “Declaration” affirms — “this so-
ciety by no means considers itself a church * * *
but merely as voluntary advocates of church refor-
mation”— applied for admission to the Synod of
Pittsburg and was rejected, consequent upon which
rejection the Christian Association formed them-
selves into an independent Church of Christ May
4, 1810, known as “The First Church of the Chris-
tian Association of Washington, meeting at Cross
Roads and Brush Run, Washington County, Pa."
Following this organization, Alexander Campbell
was led to make a thorough examination of the sub-
ject of Christian baptism. Being convinced that the
Scriptures recognized immersion only, he accord-
ingly asked baptism at the hands of a Baptist preach-
er, who performed this solemn service. At the same
time Thomas Campbell was baptized. “From the
moment that Thomas Campbell concluded to fol-
low the example of his son in relation to baptism
he conceded to him in effect the guidance of the
whole religious movement. Henceforth Alexander
Campbell was to be the master spirit, and through-
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
out his long career we find the same spirit of loyalty
to the truth which led him to take the initiative in re-
gard to baptism.” The little Brush Run Church — -
now an immersed community — was brought into
favorable connection with the Baptists, who invited
the independent congregation into the fellowship
of their “Redstone Association.” This invitation
was accepted “provided always that we should be
allowed to teach and preach whatever we learned
from the Holy Scriptures regardless of any creed or
formula in Christendom.”
Space will not permit a narration of the circum-
stances which led to the separation from the “Red-
stone Association.” In a history of
Redstone tl “Discipies ” by B. B. Tyler, the
statement is made: “The Campbells
were never expelled from any Baptist church, nor
from any association of Baptist churches. In the
course of time life in the Redstone Association be-
came so unpleasant that they voluntarily entered
the Mahoning Association. In 1829 this associa-
tion adjourned as such, sine die, the majority believ-
ing that there is no warrant in Scripture for such
organizations of churches.” From this dissolution
dates the formal separation of the Baptists and Dis-
ciples. Henceforth there is no record of “entang-
ling alliances,” and the new movement, through mis-
takes and successes — accepting only the Bible as its
standard — carved its prominent place among the
mighty religious forces of this nineteenth century.
Let us now inquire as to the introduction and in-
auguration of this movement in Kentucky. “The
close of the eighteenth and the early part of the pres-
ent century,” writes a student of the Campbell move-
ment, “were remarkably characterized by efforts to
restore to the world the simple Gospel as it was
preached in the beginning, originating almost sim-
ultaneously in widely separated regions and amidst
different and antagonistic sects.” Such an effort
was made in Kentucky by Barton Warren Stone —
an effort inaugurated independently of the Camp-
bell movement — and carried forward independent-
ly until the year 1832, at which time, after a corres-
pondence between Stone and Campbell, a union
of their forces was effected in the city of Lexington.
Previous to this correspondence Mr. Campbell, on
his second tour through Kentucky, met Mr. Stone
at Georgetown. “The two laborers in the same great
field formed at once a warm personal attachment
to each other, which continued through life, and
tended greatly to promote a subsequent union be-
tween the two yet distinct bands of reformers.” It
will be interesting to note briefly the history and
work of Stone in Kentucky, the man whose writings, i;
it is claimed, furnish “the first public documents
written since the commencement of the Protestant ill
Reformation in favor of the name ‘Christian’ as the
Scriptural designation for all the disciples of Christ j
and the union of all Christians upon the Bible alone,
to the exclusion of all party names, human creeds I
and confessions of faith.” Barton Warren Stone [ .
was a native of Maryland, born December 24, 1772.
Removing to Virginia in 1779, he remained there
until he was about sixteen years of age. He was a j
good student and used well his opportunities for 1
acquiring a good English education. He became j
interested as a youth in religious matters, but being
unable to decide between the Baptists and Metho-
dists, he gave up his religious struggle for the time,
determining to enter the legal profession. With this j
end in view he entered in 1790 an academy in Guil- !
ford, North Carolina. Here, after a mighty spiritual \
conflict, lasting a year, he finally found the peace j
he craved. After completing his course of studies j
he was conscious of a desire to enter the ministry. \
Troubled as to whether or not he had been divinely j
called, he at last overcame his scruples and applied ;
to become a candidate for the ministry in the Orange l
Presbytery. While preparing for his examination J
he became greatly perplexed on the subject of the
“Trinity,” but nevertheless passed the examining
trial. “Before the next session of the Presbytery,
however, when he was to receive license, he fell ;
again into a depressed state, partly owing to pecu-
niary embarrassments, but more to the conflicting ;
and abstruse doctrines of the theology with which
he had been occupied.” He concluded, finally, not [
to preach, and going to Georgia obtained, through
the influence of his brothers, the appointment of |
Professor of Languages in an academy near Wash-
ington. Again his desire to preach revived, and re-
turning to North Carolina, he received license from
the Orange Presbytery. He was greatly discour-
aged in the beginning of his ministry. He was ad-
vised to go West, and made his way, through many
dangers and trials to the then small village of Nash-
ville, being much encouraged by the results of his
efforts in preaching at various points
Rev. b. w. stone, along the route. Afterward he
came to Kentucky, where his influ-
ence became such a mighty factor in the reformatory
movement. He commenced preaching at Cane
Ridge and Concord, Bourbon County, and was
called later by these congregations to become their
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
233
pastor. This call was made and accepted by Mr.
Stone in the fall of 1798. He immediately began
to prepare for his ordination by a study of the
“Westminster Confession," to the doctrines of which
he would be required to subscribe. But in his investi-
gation he became so much troubled that he asked
for a postponement of the ordination. However,
it was thought best to proceed. He says, quoting
from the biographical sketch I have before me: “I
went into Presbytery and when the question was
propounded, ‘Do you receive and adopt the Confes-
sion of Faith as containing the system of doctrine
taught in the Bible?’ I answered aloud, so that the
whole congregation might hear, ‘I do, as far as I see
it consistent with the Word of God.’ No objection
being made, I was ordained.” Already his soul is
restless under the restraints imposed by his church
standard, and he is beginning to work his way out
of ecclesiastical bondage into the large and compre-
hensive liberty of the fundamental principle of Pro-
testantism— the right of private interpretation. Of
the denominationalism of that day one has observed:
“The Bible which set the soul of Luther free was
itself fastened by a chain in the cloister at Erfurth.
In like manner each religious party had sought to
secure the Bible within its own narrow sectarian
cell, not, indeed, by a metal or material chain, but
by the spiritual fetters of partisan interpretation.”
It was these partisan interpretations — in the form
of creeds, formularies, books of discipline, confes-
sions of faith — as tests of fellowship and standards of
orthodoxy — against which Stone earnestly protest-
ed. However, accepting the “Westminster Con-
fession” with the proviso indicated above, he was
ordained and continued to preach for the Presbyter-
ian churches of Cane Ridge and Concord for sev-
eral years. It was during this time — August, 1801
— that there occurred the famous Cane Ridge re-
vival. This great meeting is interesting both be-
cause of the strange religious phenomena which
atended it and as well because from it dates
the separation of Mr. Stone from the Pres-
byterian Church. This Cane Ridge revival was
a great camp meeting — among the first of the
kind ever held in the State. “It is probable,” says
one writer, “that the first meeting of the kind was
held in July, 1800, in Logan County, Ivy. The Rev.
James McGready of the Presbyterian Church was
the preacher.” Thousands gathered to the place of
assembly; provisions were brought for a prolonged
stay; preaching, singing and praying were kept up
continuously and the people gave themselves over to
a religious enjoyment more animal than spiritual.
Of the Cane Ridge meeting Mr. Stone says: “The
roads were literally crowded with wagons, carriages,
horsemen and footmen, moving to the solemn camp.
It was judged by military men on
Meeting. the ground that there were between
twenty and thirty thousand collect-
ed. Four or five preachers were frequently speak-
ing at the same time, in different parts of the en-
campment without confusion. The Methodist and
Baptist preachers aided in the work, and all ap-
peared cordially united in it — of one mind and one
soul, and the salvation of sinners seemed to be the
great object of all.” The strange feature of these
meetings was the nervous affection known as “the
jerks,” which was regarded by good men as the
direct work of the Spirit of God. “It suddenly struck
down some to the earth, where they lay like dead
men for hours; and it threw others into violent con-
vulsions that were often fearfully protracted. This
affection was involuntary and contagious or perhaps
epidemic. It attacked indiscriminately the most
pious and the most profligate. Like a panic, it some-
times seized entire congregations of worshipers, un-
til five hundred have jerked at once with strange
convulsions.” Such physical phenomena are not al-
together unknown in our own time, but I should say
are characteristic of ignorant and superstitious com-
munities. As fairly representative of the wild and
unreasonable religious fervor which often marked
these old-time camp meetings, suffer a quotation
from the “Life of Elder John Smith,” one of the
most earnest advocates of the reformatory move-
ment in Kentucky. His biographer narrates the fol-
lowing: “It was the spring of 1828. The Metho-
dists had pitched their tents and spread their straw
on the Stepstone — not far from Mt. Sterling — for
a great revival, and with prayer and song they be-
gan to invoke the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of
fire. Soon some strange influence seized the peo-
ple, convicted sinners fell upon the ground and cried
for mercy, while penitents wept in crowds about the
altars. The old saw visions, and the young dreamed
dreams. Strange voices fell upon their ears; un-
seen wings rustled around them and glorious sights
ever and anon flitted before their eyes. Amid these
scenes of rapturous disorder one man leaped from
the straw where he had long been agonizing, and
running to a maple tree near by, up which a wild
grape-vine climbed, gazed into its branches with
burning eyes, and shouted: ‘I have at last found
Him whom my soul has long been seeking! I see
234
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Him in the tree-top! Come, friends, and help me get
my Savior down,’ and he pulled at the hanging vines
till he fell exhausted to the ground. Another, who
had for days and months wrestled with principali-
ties and powers, in the vain hope of a spiritual deliv-
erance, meeting late one evening the arch enemy of
his soul, as he supposed, in a bodily form, fell upon
a harmless wight of the neighborhood with desper-
ate courage, and striking him to the earth with a
sudden blow, pounded the imaginary devil to his
heart’s content.” Such unthinking and meaningless
performances — belonging rather to the unenlight-
ened negro than to intelligent and educated people
— did much to turn the attention of the thoughtful
to the simple presentation of the Gospel as urged by
Stone and his associates. The preaching of Stone
— as yet a Presbyterian preacher — during the Cane
Ridge meeting and subsequently was not, it would
seem, considered sufficiently Calvinistic by the Pres-
byterian authorities. Before this memorable revival
he had abandoned Calvinism as anti-Scriptural. He
says of it: “Let me here speak when I shall be lying
under the clods of the grave. Calvinism is among
the heaviest clogs on Christianity in the world. It
is a dark mountain between heaven and earth, and
is among the most discouraging hindrances to sin-
ners from seeking the kingdom of God, and engen-
ders bondage and gloominess to the saints. Its in-
fluence is felt throughout the Christian world, even
where it is least suspected. Its first link is total de-
pravity. Yet there are thousands of precious saints
in this system.” Just before the beginning of the
Cane Ridge revival, while as yet under the inspira-
tion of a great meeting he had been attending in
South Kentucky, he preached to his people at Cane
Ridge from the words, “Go ye into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that
believeth not shall be damned.” Of this sermon he
himself says: “On the universality of the Gospel and
faith as the condition of salvation, I particularly
dwelt and urged the sinner to believe in it and be
saved.” Certainly such preaching was not Calvin-
istic, however truly it may have declared the Gospel.
At any rate, it was not acceptable to the staunch de-
fenders of the Calvinistic system. Accordingly the
matter was brought before the Synod at Lexing-
ton, Ivy., in 1803. I cannot do better in this con-
nection than to give the succinct statement of one
of Stone’s biographers: “Finding that the Synod
would most likely decide against them, B. W. Stone
and four others withdrew from their jurisdiction (not
their communion) and sent in their protest to the pro-
ceedings. The Synod, however, proceeded to pass
on them the sentence of ‘suspension’ for the crime
of departing from the doctrines of the Confession
of Faith, notwithstanding B. W. Stone had only
promised to ‘receive it so far as he found it con-
sistent with the Word of God.’ Soon after he called
his congregation together and informed them he
no longer sustained to them the relation of pastor,
and though he should continue to preach among
them, it would not be to build up Presbyterianism,
but the Redeemer’s Kingdom. He and his com-
panions formed immediately what they termed the
‘Springfield Presbytery,’ and went on for about one
year preaching and constituting churches. But dis-
covering that it savored of partyism and was build-
ing up sectarianism, they immediately gave it up,
and with all man-made creeds they threw it over-
board and took the name ‘Christian,’ the name given
by divine appointment, first at Antioch.” * * *
Elder Stone continues: “Yet from this period I date
the commencement of that reformation which has
progressed to this day. Through much tribulation
and opposition we advanced and churches and
preachers were multiplied.” When congregations
thus were multiplied and a name was sought for the
churches collectively, they were called “The Chris-
tian Connection.” Those not belonging to this
“Connection” usually spoke of it as “The New Light
Church,” and its members as “New Lights.” The
history of how a union was consummated between
the Cane Ridge Reformers, or “New
Reformers. Lights,” led by Mr. Stone, and the
Bethany Reformers, led by Mr.
Campbell, is an interesting chapter. Space will not
permit a detailed account. It may be said that the
principal point of difference referred to the subject
of baptism. Mr. Stone had at one time in his min-
istry about the same views in regard to baptism in
its relation to the remission of sins as that enter-
tained by Mr. Campbell, “but had strangely let it
go from my (his) mind, until,” he adds, “Mr. Camp-
bell, on his visit to Kentucky, revived it afresh.”
The “Christian Connection,” although immersion
was generally practiced by them, thought it right
to receive into their fellowship those who accepted
Christ but who did not “feel it a duty to be bap-
tized.” Notwithstanding their differences on bap-
tism, the two bodies were so similar in their advo-
cacy of other great questions that union between
them could not long be deferred. Both contended
for the union of all Christians on the Bible alone;
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
235
both opposed creeds and confessions of faith as tests
of fellowship; both recognized man’s responsibility
“by urging sinners to believe on the Savior through
the testimony of God, to repent of sins and obey the
Gospel.” The facts as to the final union effected
are thus stated by one who has carefully gone over
this interesting period of history. “The question
of union was soon solved, as far as it could be solved
by the ministrations of godly men who visited the
congregations of both communities and taught them
to worship together.
In 1831 John T. Johnson became a co-editor of
the “Christian Messenger,” a periodical published
by Barton W. Stone at Georgetown.
Messenger.” 1 his editorial union was soon fol-
lowed by the union of the two
churches in Georgetown. At the close of the same
year a general meeting was held at Georgetown,
including Christmas Day, and continuing four days.
Another was held at Lexington, including New
Year’s Day following. No formal action was taken
at either meeting, because the Congregationalism of
both parties was so pure and simple that it was sup-
posed to be impossible to take any formal action. But
a better understanding and increased fraternal re-
gard was the result of the general interchange of
views by the leading preachers of both parties. In a
short time the two congregations inLexington united.
A union of the two churches in Paris nexttook place;
and so the work went on till nearly all the two classes
of reformers were united and became one people
throughout the State of Kentucky.” Some, how-
ever, objected to the preaching of immersion as
necessary to church fellowship, and continued to
accept the mystical theory of conversion. “These
appropriating the name ‘Christian Church’ denom-
inationally” have crystallized into a small sect, scat-
tered throughout various parts of the country. Be-
cause of their name, confusion is sometimes created
in communities where both bodies have church or-
ganizations. It may be proper to record just here
a few words as to the “name” question. Mr. Stone
advocated, as has been stated, the name “Christian,”
Mr. Campbell preferred “Disciples.” Alexander
Campbell wrote as follows on this subject: “I ha\e
heard much said in behalf of the name Christian for
thirty years and I am only more and more persuaded
that the Apostles had better reasons for not as-
suming it than any living man can give for wearing
it. I am not, however, pertinacious. The brethren
all have a vote in this matter and among the can-
didates for public favor I give my vote for ‘Disci-
ples,’ or ‘Disciples of Christ.’ 'Disciples of Christ’
is a more ancient title than ‘Christian,’ while it fully
includes the whole idea. It claims our preference
for four reasons: First, it is more ancient; second,
it is more descriptive; third, it is more Scriptural:
fourth, it is more unappropriated.” In Kentucky
our people are generally known as “The Christian
Church,” although there is no objection to the name
“Disciples”; in fact, that designation is coming to
be commonly accepted. Before leaving this part
of our narrative it should be stated in justice to the
truth of history that the movement in Kentucky led
by B. W. Stone antedated the work of Alexander
Campbell. In view of- this fact, that is magnanimous
language, worthy the scholar and Christian, used
by Stone: “I will not say there are no faults in
Brother Campbell; but there are fewer, perhaps,
in him than any man I know on earth; and over
these few my love would throw a veil and hide them
from view forever. I am constrained, and willing-
ly constrained, to acknowledge him the greatest
promoter of this reformation of any man living. The
Lord reward him.” Sufficient has been written in
this paper to bring out the main facts as to the origin
and progress of the Disciples of Christ in the United
States. It will be seen that this people has had a
checkered history. They have weathered many
storms and know the meaning of conflict. In all
their exciting contests they have shown themselves
to be actuated by a sincere desire to know the truth.
They have claimed only the independence of Protest-
ants— the right to search the Scriptures for them-
selves and to make the Bible, rather than any fixed
and stereotyped interpretation of it, the rule of their
living. To-day they are a recognized power in the
religious world, ready to co-operate with all who
love the Lord Jesus Christ. As the years have gone
by they have come to be better understood, and
are now on cordial terms with all organizations that
are seeking to subserve the interests of the Master’s
Kingdom. I find, from the Year Book of the Disci-
ples of Christ for 1895, that they number in the
United States 863,019, having 9,058 churches, 6,037
Sunday Schools, 657,958 Sunday School scholars,
2,559 Endeavor societies, 4,928 ministers. The
value of their church property is $14,821,947. They
publish twenty-two periodicals, several of them tak-
ing a high rank in their class. Their literature is
increasing in value and efficiency every year. They
have six universities, a score and more of colleges,
besides a goodly number of institutes and schools.
It is a fact worthy of record that the first educational
236
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
institution of the higher class among the Disciples
was Bacon College, established in Georgetown, Ky.,
in 1836. In 1839 it was removed to Harrodsburg.
In 1857, the institution having suspended in 1850 on
account of lack of support, it was revived by Mr.
John B. Bowman, who secured a charter of enlarged
provisions, and a change of name to “Kentucky
University.” Transylvania University was chartered
by the Legislature of Virginia in 1783, and after an
existence of sixty-six years it became, by an act of
the Legislature, a part of Kentucky University. This
flourishing university has been located in Lexing-
ton since 1865. Bethany College, located at Beth-
any, W. Va., the work of Mr. Campbell’s hands, was
not chartered until 1840. As a matter of interest-
ing historic information the above is worth remem-
bering. It shows how early the Disciples of our
own State turned their attention to the great work
of higher education. They are doing efficient work
in every field that claims the attention of the Chris-
tian world. Through the Foreign Christian Mis-
sionary Society, the Christian Woman’s Board of
Missions — both organizations active and wide
awake — the Disciples contributed to foreign mis-
sions during 1894 the sum of $99,607, to say noth-
ing of money contributed independently. The Gen-
eral Missionary Society, with its various Boards of
Church Extension, Negro Education and Evan-
gelization, contributed to the home field during the
same year $51,238. This does not include the con-
tributions of the Christian Woman’s Board of Mis-
sions or the State and District organizations for
the same purpose, which would bring the total to
$248,472. The grand total for the year for all pur-
poses is given as $3,701,579. These facts may not
give room for self-congratulation, but they unques-
tionably indicate great progress in good works.
We are now prepared to consider the history of
the Christian Church in Louisville. In 1883 Mr. J.
P. Torbitt, well and favorably
Christian Church known jn cjty p>0th as a business
in Louisville. J
man of high standing and a superb
Christian gentleman, published a pamphlet of eigh-
teen pages giving in very concise but interesting
form the main facts as to the inauguration and es-
tablishment of the reformatory movement in Louis-
ville. This pamphlet, with a few prefatory state-
ments of my own and a few changes and omissions
made necessary by the lapse of years, shall be here
incorporated. It may be of interest to state that P.
S. Fall, whose place in the establishment of the
Louisville church is brought out by Mr. Torbitt, met
Mr. Campbell for the first time in this city in 1824.
He was greatly impressed with the preaching of the J
Bethany sage. Although acquainted with the writ- |
ings of Mr. Campbell — notably the “Christian Bap- ij
tist” — he had not before been favored with an oppor-
tunity to hear his eloquent words. It must have
been this visit to Louisville, when Mr. Campbell was
the guest of Mr. Fall and preached at several prom-
inent churches in the city, that prompted the very
eloquent eulogy of George D. Prentice, of the then j
“Louisville Journal.” Of Mr. Campbell this distin- 1
guished editor has to say : “His intellect, it is scarce-
ly too much to say, is among the clearest, richest,
profoundest ever vouchsafed to man. Indeed, it
seems to us that in the faculty of abstract thinking 1
— in so to say the sphere of abstract thought — he
has few, if any, living rivals. Every intellectual per-
son of the slightest metaphysical turn who has heard
Alexander Campbell in the pulpit or in the social
circle, must have been especially impressed by the 1
wonderul facility with which his faculties move in
the highest planes of thought. Ultimate facts stand
forth as boldly in his consciousness as sensations
do in that of most other men. He grasps and
handles the highest, subtlest, most comprehensive
principles as if they were the liveliest impressions of
the senses. No poet’s soul is more crowded with
imagery than his is with the ripest forms of thought.
Surely the life of a man thus excellent and gifted
is a part of the common treasure of society. In his
essential character he belongs to no sect or party,
but to the world.” As calling up an olden day, such
an extract as the above is valuable. |
Rev" Zt Si Pall S I have not anywhere met with a
biographical sketch of P.S.Fall. He [
was an Englishman, and on his coming to this coun-
try soon acquired prominence as a Baptist preacher.
He was scholarly in his tastes, refined in his man- ,
ners, and noted for his remarkable correct use of
words. For a great number of years he labored in ,
Nashville, Tenn., and previously, I think, had con- j
ducted a female school at Frankfort, Ky. He was
greatly loved by all who knew him. He lived to a
good old age — long enough to see the work of his i
hands thoroughly established. Within the past few |
years he has been gathered to his fathers. “He being
dead, yet speaketh.”
Mr. Torbitt will now tell the story of his work:
“In the winter of 1821 P. S. Fall, having been then
about two years in the ministry of the Baptist
church, was invited to visit Louisville for the pur-
pose of preaching, the visit resulting in a request
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
237
that a regular monthly appointment should be made.
A few Baptists who had organized into a church
met on these occasions to attend to church business
and to worship on Saturday, as was the Baptist cus-
tom. On Sunday they occupied the old court house,
which was sometimes filled to overflowing. These
appointments continued through the year 1822. At
the request of the church Mr. Fall removed to Louis-
ville in the beginning of the year 1823, and opened
a school. In the latter part of 1823 a committee, of
which Mr. Fall was chairman, was appointed to re-
construct the church. A covenant was drawn up
after the model of the Enoch Baptist Church of
Cincinnati, and a new constitution in the form of
a creed was prepared, which, being reported to the
church, was unanimously adopted.
“About this time Mr. Fall received through a
friend a copy of Alexander Campbell’s famous ser-
mon on The Law,’ which he read with great inter-
est, and the truths taught in this discourse he now
regards as the basis of the reformation he has since
been pleading.”
It may be interesting to interrupt Mr. Torbitt's
narrative to say that the occasion on which this
famous sermon was preached was destined to be-
come memorable. The discourse was founded on
Romans, viii., 3: “For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” It was delivered
before a Baptist Association and created great ex-
citement. Of it Dr. Richardson, his biographer,
says: “Discarding theological and employing
Scriptural definitions and divisions, he shows that
‘the law’ signifies the whole Mosaic dispensation;
and while he condemns the modern distinction of
moral, judicial and ceremonial law as calculated to
perplex the mind, he takes care to guard against
the supposition that he had any intention of weak-
ening the force of moral obligation or dispensing
with the great and immutable principles upon which
the Mosaic law itself was based, but which that law
did not originate; his object being to show that
the law of Moses, while it embodied some of the
applications of these principles, was a distinct and
peculiar institution designed for special ends and
for a limited time.” It was a sharp and incisive dis-
tinction drawn between the law and the Gospel — -
the one temporary, the other enduring; the one
limited and local, the other universal. Mr. Torbitt
continues:
Several numbers of the ‘Christian Baptist’ also
fell into Mr. Fall's hands, which he studied with
great interest and which influenced him to a more
critical study of the New Testament. He was a pro-
found scholar or great critical acumen.
He and others became subscribers to the ‘Chris-
tian Baptist,’ and though some of the articles which
appeared in it were read with great repugnance,
still the investigations that took place in the family
circle and amongst the members of the church,
where every inch of ground was debated, resulted
in the decision that the Church of Jesus Christ was
to be based on that tried and sure foundation that
God had laid in Zion, and not upon such a covenant
and constitution as they had recent-
Renuncia^ti°n of jy constrUcted. The decision was
unanimous that these should be re-
jected and the law of the Lord recognized as the
only rule of faith and manners. This occurred in
the latter part of the year 1824, and the following
is the declaration unanimously adopted by the
church at that time, copied from the original manu-
script:
‘Whereas, We are by the will of God, as we
trust, and according to the directions of His words,
united upon the belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the
Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that He
gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from
all inquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar peo-
ple, zealous of good works; and, whereas, we deem
it important that we should distinctly understand
ourselves upon the subject of the basis of our union
as a church, we, the Church of Jesus Christ, meet-
ing together in Louisville, do hereby declare and
agree that we do renounce all human instruments
of union such as creeds, confessions of faith and
formulas of doctrine and practice, and that we re-
ceive the New Testament of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ as our only creed, and the only rule of
our faith and practice, the constitution on which we
are built and the perfect and sufficient guide of our
steps in all things pertaining to life and godliness.
And we do hereby acknowledge that having been
baptized into the name of Christ, and thereby having
put on Christ, it is our duty, and we are under the
strongest obligations to observe, study and practice
the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is head over all things to the church, which is His
body, and whom we acknowledge to be our only
Savior, our Prophet, Priest and King, and whose
religion, as taught by Him and the holy apostles,
authorized and commissioned by Him, we believe
to have superseded every other religion and to be
238
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
alone obligatory on the whole human race, Jews
and Gentiles.’
During the latter part of the year 1824 and the
year 1825 the congregation was accustomed to
break the loaf every Lord’s Day and to attend regu-
larly to the contribution for the poor. These du-
ties were felt to be incumbent upon it after the ex-
ample of the early Christians. It did not imagine
that this course would jeopardize its standing in the
Baptist community, from which it had no idea of
separating. Every church was acknowledged as
independent of all others and to be at liberty to obey
the New Testament in all things. It was an admit-
ted principle, moreover, that the internal structure
of each congregation was a matter for its own con-
sideration— not subject to the decision of any eccles-
iastical body.
In the autumn of 1825 the proper arrangements
were made for attending the Long Run Associa-
tion. Mr. Fall had been the clerk of that associa-
tion in 1824, and had been appointed to preach the
introductory sermon and write the circular letter for
1825. Mr. Fall felt it his duty to express in this let-
ter the convictions that had resulted from a careful
study of the New Testament. It was afterwards
published by and at the expense of some of the
members of the association, with the following in-
troduction, copied from the original manuscript:
‘The following essay on the importance of the
Holy Bible was presented to the Long Run Asso-
ciation in the form of a circular letter. On being
read, it was immediately moved that it should be
adopted. This motion was overruled, and it was
committed to a committee of arrangement, who
were to prepare it for a second reading on the next
day. When, under investigation before the com-
mittee, it was read sentence by sentence, every ob-
jection that presented itself to any member of the
committee was proposed and insisted on until it was
seen to be futile; and when thus passed, those who
had offered objections still persisted in objecting,
not because there was anything exceptional in the
letter itself, but, as they said, for fear some preju-
diced person might read it and give it a construction
meaning it was not intended to bear."
‘When it was again read before the association,
no investigation of its merits or demerits took place.
This the association was advised by the moderator
not to enter upon, lest they should be detained there
till dark. Some objections were raised, but not one
that was the result of an understanding of the sub-
ject.
I
‘When the vote was taken on its reception, the
association was equally divided, and it became the
moderator’s duty to give the casting vote. This he
did in the negative, assigning as a reason “that some
ignorant person might read the letter and give it a
meaning it was not intended to bear.”
‘Considering the holy volume is too much neg-
lected by our church, and not wishing a testimony
against such neglect to be lost, several persons
agreed among themselves to request the writer to
print it at their expense. He has complied with
their request, and we now present it to the church,
asking only an impartial examination and investi-
gation of its contents.’
Here follows the circular letter. It is too long to
introduce in this paper and is not essential to the
narrative. It is in Mr. Fall’s usual clear and logical
style, and is a masterful exposition of the place '
which the Scriptures occupy in the salvation of the ;
souls of men. He contends that the written words
of the sacred volume are not a dead letter, but that
they are spirit and life. No miraculous spiritual in-
fluence is needed to make them effective in con-
version. He proceeds to show that the Word of
God is “the only and the sufficient and perfect rule j
of faith and practice.” If a perfect rule, then hu-
man creeds are unnecessary. In fact, as Thomas
Campbell observes: “Every book adopted by any ,
party as its standard for all matters of doctrine,
worship, discipline and government, forms the Bible
of that party.” The Bible is “the rule of faith.” By j
faith he does not mean a system of doctrine — the l
interpretations and conclusions of men — but the es- |
sential truth of the Bible itself. “In fact, it is clear-
ly to be proved that every position we are to re-
ceive of a religious nature is originated with God
and explicitly taught in the Holy Bible; and that
we are neither commanded nor required to believe
anything not contained therein as a religious truth.”
The Bible is, likewise, the “rule of practice.” To it
we must go for guidance in our individual and >
church life. If we do not find there a form of j
“church government” adequate to the needs of
Christ’s church, we need not hope to devise one that ;
shall be regarded with the sacredness of authority.
Thirdly, the Scriptures are the only rule of both
faith and practice. “If there were more rules than
one, and all agreed, then all but one would be un-
necessary; and if they disagreed, no one could
ascertain which had the highest claim on our atten-
tion.” Next, the sufficiency of the Bible as a rule
of faith and practice is emphasized with great earn-
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
239
estness. He then concludes by speaking of the per-
fectness of the divine revelation and exhorts his
brethren to read the Scriptures, not as a text book,
to support favorite systems, “but considering it as
an infallible and inspired record of facts to be
known, truths to be believed, and actions to be pur-
sued.” This letter, which would scarcely create
comment to-day, seems to have been looked upon
at that time suspiciously.
Mr. Torbitt continues: This circular letter was
duly read before the Long Run Association, and
excited much attention, and, to the surprise of the
author, much resistance. Its proposition was, in
substance: ‘The Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament are the only infallible and sufficient rule
of faith and practice.’ This seemed so clear that
no one could question it, but when it had been read,
one after another arose and assailed it, and it was
committed for investigation to the committee of ar-
rangements, while two brethren — Allan and Voor-
hies — ■ were required to write another in case this
should be rejected. Its merits were thoroughly can-
vassed, every word of it being closely scrutinized.
The committee could not question its truths. A
few verbal alterations were made and an explana-
tory note added to its close; but after it had been
again read before the association it was rejected by
the casting vote of the moderator, Geo. Waller.
Thus, the first movement among the Baptists of
Kentucky in the direction of those principles for
which we plead was made by the congregation in
Louisville; and the first document presented to any
Baptist association emanated from the same church.
That document divided the association equally, and
before some who opposed it left the house, as they
themselves stated, they questioned the motives that
led to their action. Afterwards they became warm
advocates of these principles — Benjamin Allan, for
instance, who took up his residence in Nashville,
Tennessee, and lived and died firmly under their
influence.
In 1825, at its close, Mr. Fall left Louisville. Ben-
jamin Allan succeeded him, and the church be-
came quite large. But a Baptist preacher, Dr. S.
M. Noel, who had, in private, strongly advocated
the circular letter, and had said, ‘if he had been
there it should have passed,’ saw proper to change
his views, and went to Louisville to induce the
church to follow his example. He alarmed some
timid members, by fear of being cut off from the
association, and about thirty abandoned the New
Testament as a platform and went back to the old
‘covenant and constitution’ which they had, as pre-
viously noted, given up.
Thus the church was divided in sentiment into
two parties — a large majority contending for the
New Testament as the only and sufficient rule of
faith and practice, and a small minority for the ‘old
constitution’ which they had a few years before
abandoned. But notwithstanding these differences,
they continued to worship together as one body for
several years, Benjamin Allan being pastor.
In the latter part of the year 1829, Jacob Creath,
Jr. (though considerable opposition was made to it),
was invited to hold a protracted meeting, which con-
tinued several weeks.
About the close of this meeting the usual monthly
Saturday meeting for transaction of business was
held, and in the midst of the meeting Cornelius Van
Buskirk, who was clerk of the church, seized the
books of the church, and, amid much confusion,
cried out, ‘All who are for the “Old Constitution”
follow^ me,’ and about thirty members went with him
to another part of the room and organized as a sep-
arate body. The church at this time numbered
nearly three hundred. The majority met the next
day and excluded Van Buskirk and those who went
with him for disorderly conduct, and from this time
the two parties worshiped separately as two distinct
bodies, and were opprobiously styled ‘Campbell-
ites’ and ‘Wallerites ;’ Benjamin Allan being pas-
tor of the former and George Waller of the latter.
The feeling between the two parties became very
bitter. It seems that at the time Van Buskirk seized
the church books another one of his
^h^church Party pocketed the key of the house
and locked the majority out, and
they, in turn, entered the house through a window,
took off the old lock and replaced it with a new
one, and locked out the ‘Old Constitution’ party. A
suit was brought by the ‘Old Constitution’ party for
the entire property, and the suit was finally decided
in favor of the New Testament party. In the mean-
time, however, an arrangement was made by which
the time for the occupation of the house was equally
divided between the two parties. All this time, and
for several years afterwards, the New Testament
party regarded themselves a Baptist Church, be-
longing to the Long Run Association, and their
records show that they bore the name of the ‘First
Baptist Church of Jesus Christ of Louisville, Kv.,’
and that not till the year 1833 did they assume the
name of ‘Disciples of C hrist.’
The following letter, taken from the old church
240
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
records, addressed to the Long Run Association,
dated August, 1831, shows in detail the status of the
quarrel between the two parties at that time:
“Saturday before the fourth Lord’s Day in Au-
gust, 1831, the church met, and, after praise and
prayer, the letter to the association was read and
adopted and the committee discharged. The church
then proceeded to appoint messengers to the asso-
ciation. It was agreed that Brothers Hezekiah Pur-
year, Jesse Swindler, Edmund Green and John
Bledsoe bear the following letter:
“Louisville, Saturday before the fourth Lord’s
day in August, 1831.- — The Baptist Church of Jesus
Christ, in this city, to the Long Run Association
when assembled at Bethel, Shelby County, Ky.,
Friday before the first Lord’s day in September
next:
“Dear Brethren: Through the goodness of God
we are once more permitted to address you by let-
ter, to let you know something relative to the diffi-
culties through which we have had to pass since
your last annual meeting. To give you all in de-
tail would tire your patience and far exceed the
limits of a common letter. We shall, therefore,
confine ourselves to a few facts as they took place,
to the best of our recollection, beginning at our
September meeting, 1830.
“At this meeting, in consequence of some dissatis-
faction made known, the vote of the church was
taken whether Brother Benj. Allan should continue
as our pastor or not, and decided in the affirmative
by a large majority — say about forty-five to fifteen.
The vote was then taken whether the church was
satisfied with the covenant and rules of decorum
or not (under which she had lived and had been
recognized by the Long Run Association as the
Baptist Church of Jesus Christ in this place for the
last five or six years). This question was decided
in the affirmative by a still larger majority, about
fifty-eight to two. The minority then appeared to
yield. Before our next meeting in course, how-
ever, the minority had one secret meeting (if no
more), and appointed a committee to wait on
Brother Allan with a request (as they said) from
many members of the church (say forty) that he
should resign the pastoral care of the church. This
being made known at our October meeting, and
there being no more members present than at our
September meeting, the vote of the church was
again taken on the same questions as stated above,
and again decided in the affirmative by about the
same proportion of majority — say about sixty-three
for Brother Allan’s continuance and twenty-nine
against him; eighty-seven for the rules and cov-
enant and five against them. The minority then
moved that the church should appoint a committee
to settle a difficulty, which they either would not or
could not define, which motion was negatived by
a large majority, and the minority admonished to
submit. In the midst of which the minority, after
having secretly taken the keys of the meeting-house,
and forcibly the church books and papers, with
much noise and angry tumult broke off from the
church. For which heretical course Cornelius Van
Buskirk, William Colgin, Benj. Sly, and all who
joined them in their factious conduct were excluded
from the church. This party of excluded persons
not only refused to give up the keys of the meeting-
house to the church or doorkeeper when demanded
by the Trustees, but locked the doors against the
church and deprived her of her own place of wor-
ship. The Trustees then took possession of the
house and tendered the party half the time in it as a
place of worship till other arrangements could be
made, which offer the party refused, and brought
suit against the Trustees for forcible entry and de-
tainer, and notwithstanding the party were non-
suited or cast, and the church through her Trustees
continues to offer them half the time in the house,
viz.: The first and third weeks in each month and
every other fifth week alternately as they come in
the year, the said party has renewed the suit against
the Trustees, and continues to harass the church
with a lawsuit before the unbelievers, as may be
seen on the records of the Jefferson Circuit Court of
Kentucky, and attested by many who have wit-
nessed their shameful conduct.
“These are some of the difficulties through which
the church has had to pass during the last year,
and we make it known to you not because we love
to accuse or give you unnecessary trouble, but be-
cause we anticipate that this factious* party of ex-
cluded persons, aided and encouraged by Brother
Geo. Waller, who acts as their pastor or moderator,
will attempt to impose themselves upon the Long
Run Association as the Baptist Church of Jesus
Christ in this place. As the church has never been
able to get her books and papers which Cornelius
Van Buskirk took by violence and obstinately re-
fused to give up, she cannot in a city like this, where
members are almost constantly coming to and
going from, be expected to give an exact state-
ment of her members without the books in which
the names are enrolled. From the data we have
j
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
241
efore us, the following are our members. Two
xmdred and ninety-four are reported on the min-
tes of last year; received by baptism, ten; by letter,
ine; recantation, one; excluded, thirty; dis-
lissed by letter, five; so that our total number is
vo hundred and seventy-nine.
“We send our beloved brethren, Jesse Swindler,
lezekiah Puryear, Edmund Green, and John Bled-
oe to sit with you. And now may the God and
ather of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and
11 that call upon his name. Done by order of the
hurch at her August meeting, day and date above
iamed.”
Overtures were made several times lor an ami-
able settlement of the differences between the
wo parties, but the only result reached was a joint
iccupation of the house at the corner of Fifth and
Green streets, with equal division of time, and this
rrangement was continued until the creed party
nally purchased the interest of the other party in
he house. Benjamin Allan continued to preach
|’or the Disciples, with occasional assistance from
isiting preachers.
In November, 1831, the Disciples resolved to dis-
ontinue the regular Saturday monthly meeting as
a court for business, which up to this time they
were accustomed to hold, as under the Baptist
age.
In April, 1833, Boards of Bishops and Deacons
were elected. The church records do not show that
such officers were elected previous to this time.
The first Board of Elders consisted of Jesse Swind-
ler, John Bledsoe and Bartlett Hardy; and of Dea-
cons Peter Priest, David Gordon and Theodore S.
Bell, and from this time the records show that the
church assumed the name of “Disciples of Christ.’’
March 14, 1835, the Disciples sold their entire
interest in the house, corner Fifth and Green, to the
Baptists for $2,550, the Baptists assuming all debts
on the house, and simultaneously the Disciples
bought a small house of worship, on leased ground,
from the Primitive Methodists, located on Second
Street, between Market and Jefferson, to which they
moved, and thus ended the connection between the
Baptists and Disciples in the City of Louisville.
January, 1836, the membership of the church hav-
ng increased, a committee consisting of Lock-
land, Trabue, Lamb, and Naylor was appointed to
determine a plan and make arrangements for the
erection of a new house of worship, and at the same
meeting a committee was appointed consisting of
Lockland, Trabue Bohannon, and Hardy, to select
16
a suitable location for the new church and to sell
the house then occupied on Second Street.
In July, 1836, by a unanimous vote of the congre-
gation, Gordon Gates was called to teach the con-
gregation and act as its president. During the year
1836 the committee, appointed for that purpose,
selected a lot on Fifth Street, between Walnut and
Chestnut, and commenced the erection of a new-
house of worship thereon, which, being finished
during the year 1837, was occupied by the congre-
gation. When completed, a debt of about $2,000
remained on the property.
In April, 1837, George W. Elley was called and
entered on his duties as' preacher. He remained in
this position till May, 1840, about three years.
Elder B. F. Hall, who was regarded as a very able
man, was called to the pastorate, and entered on the
duties of the office July, 1840, and continued until
November, 1842. He was succeeded by Elder D.
S. Burnet, who preached for the congregation about
six months, and was succeeded by Elder Allen
Kendrick, who remained about one year.
In May, 1845, Carrol Kendrick was called as
preacher for the congregation.
During the eight years since the removal from
Second to Fifth Street, the congregation had gradu-
ally grown in numbers and in material strength, and
in the spring of 1845, after a number of consulta-
tions on the subject, it was finally determined to sell
the lot and house of worship on Fifth Street. On
the 30th of June, 1845, a sale °f the house and lot
was made to Rev. Henry Adams, pastor of the col-
ored Baptist Church, for $5,000. The congregation
then moved to a school house on Grayson Street
until arrangements could be made for the erection of
a new house of worship.
January 1, 1846, a lot 60x160 feet in size, on
the northeast corner of Fourth and Walnut streets,
was bought of the Bank of Ken-
tucky, for $4,500, and arrangements
were at once made to erect a house
of worship thereon. James Trabue, John Christo-
pher, W. C. Kidd, R. P. Lightburn, and J. B.
Slaughter were appointed a committee to raise
money for that purpose. Application was at the
same time made to the Legislature of Kentucky,
and a charter was obtained under the corporate
name of “Walnut Street Christian Church of Louis-
ville, Ky.” The incorporators were: R. P. Light-
burn, W. D. Scott, Wm. Terry, J. B. Slaughter,
and E. P. Pope.
During the year 1846 the new house was erected,
Walnut Street
Church.
242
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and so far completed that the congregation moved
into the basement. About this time a few of the
members, thirteen in number, with John Raker as
their leader, formed a small mission church on Han-
cock Street, which was for a number of years partly
supported by the members of the Walnut Street
Church. This mission church after a gradual growth
of some years, sold its property on Hancock
Street and bought the house of worship on Floyd
and Chestnut streets, and has now grown to be a
large and influential congregation. Its present place
of worship is on Broadway, between Floyd and
Preston. Rev. F. M. Dowling is the efficient pas-
tor. Carrol Kendrick was succeeded as preacher
by Henry T. Anderson, who commenced his labors
with the congregation November, 1847, and re~
mained till October, 1853.
H. T. Anderson will be long remembered by his
brethren of this congregation. He was of simple
habits, a hard and persistent student, a ripe scholar
in all that pertains to the Bible and Christianity, and
was richly endowed with all the elements necessary
for a forcible and successful teacher. He possessed
a strong and living faith in God’s promises, and
although lie was often surrounded with most dis-
couraging circumstances, he lived with unwavering
faith, and in the full assurance that God would never
leave nor forsake him. His sermons were always
interesting and attracted good audiences. While
not elaborate or ornate, they were full of instruction
and very suggestive, and calculated to make a read-
ing and thinking congregation. The writer is of
opinion that the work done by Mr. Anderson dur-
ing his ministry of seven years has been a large
factor in the development of primitive Christianity
in the City of Louisville. After leaving Louisville,
he made a translation of the New Testament, which
is regarded by many as the best that has yet ap-
peared. A few years ago his spirit passed away to
that God whom he so fully trusted, and his works
do follow him.
In January, 1854, Curtis J. Smith, a very eloquent
and attractive speaker, was called by the congrega-
tion, and remained as her preacher until October,
1855. While C. J. Smith had charge of the congre-
gation, D. P. Henderson, of Canton, Mo., com-
menced a series of meetings April 29, 1855. These
meetings continued four months, till July 29, and
were eminently successful in the conversion of sin-
ners and in quickening the zeal and spiritual life of
the church. When the meeting closed he returned
to his home at Canton, Mo., and accepted a call of
the congregation on the 12th of August to take th 1
pastoral charge thereof, and on the 18th of Octo r
ber, 1855, entered upon the duties of the office
November 2, 1856, W. C. Rogers was employed t<
assist Mr. Henderson temporarily.
During the year 1859 a number of consultation:
were had, and the propriety discussed of buildinr
a new house of worship. The congregation in the
past few years had grown largely in numbers anc
the house was too small to accommodate the large
audiences comfortably.
It was finally determined, though with some
opposition, to pull down the old house and erect
a more commodious one on the same site, and D.
P. Henderson, James Trabue and William Kaye
were appointed the building committee, with in-
structions to carry out the wishes of the congrega-
tion.
April 1, i860, Mr. Henderson preached the last
sermon in the old church edifice, and immediately
thereafter the work of pulling down commenced,
and the congregation moved to Masonic Temple,
and held her regular meetings there until the new
house was so far completed that the basement could 1
be occupied.
The corner-stone of the church edifice now occu- 1
pied by the congregation, Fourth and Walnut
streets, was laid on the 18th of May, i860. Only
a few were present, and no ceremony. There were
placed in the corner-stone a golden shield, on which
were engraved the names of the officers of the con-
gregation, the finance committee, the building com-
mittee, the names of the architects and contractors,
two copies of the “Christian Union,” the morning
papers of the city, some small American coins, a
handful of wheat, Fall's Review of Transylvania
Presbytery, Henderson’s Discourse on Baptism, a
photograph of the old church building, and a copy
of King James’ version of the Bible.
After occupying the Masonic Temple about eleven
months the congregation moved into the basement
of the new house, which was formally opened March
17, 1861. P. S. Fall and D. P. Henderson delivered
sermons on the occasion, which were afterward pub-
lished in pamphlet form.
During all the years of the Civil War this congre-
gation kept up all its regular meetings for worship,
and generally with good attendance, and although
political animosity was very bitter throughout the
country, harmony among the members was largely
preserved.
Mr. Henderson’s labors as pastor terminated No-
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
243
vember i, 1866, when he received the appointment
of evangelist of this congregation. The ministry
of Mr. Henderson had continued for over eleven
years, during which time there were frequent and
large accessions to the church, and greater material
and moral strength and prosperity than ever before
in her history.
Henry T. Anderson and George G. Mullins filled
the pulpit temporarily after D. P. Henderson’s de-
parture.
June 2, 1867, D. S. Burnett was called as perma-
nent preacher, but died at Baltimore before he could
begin his labors here.
August 21, 1867, Thomas N. Arnold, of Frank-
fort, accepted the invitation of the congregation to
become her preacher, and commenced his ministry
October 6, 1867. He gave good satisfaction, but
resigned April 14, 1868.
During the year 1868 the mission church on Fif-
teenth and Jefferson streets was established by this
congregation, and James C. Keith employed to take
charge of it. This mission — now an independent
congregation — has a very attractive church home,
recently improved and enlarged. Rev. E. V. Spicer
has been their pastor for several years.
Tune 3, 1868, Dr. Winthrop H. Hopson, of Rich-
mond, Va., was called to the pastorate of the Walnut
Street congregation. He accepted and began his
labors with us September 6, 1868. Dr. Hopson
was regarded as one of our best preachers. He was
of imposing presence, had a rich, cultivated voice,
was a close, logical reasoner, and was very accept-
able to the large audiences that uniformly attended
his meetings.
Up to this time the congregation had worshiped
in the basement of the new house, the upper part
being unfinished, and in the year 1869 it was de-
termined to finish the upper part. A good list of
subscriptions was obtained, the building committee
reorganized, and the work put under contract and
finished in the spring of 1870.
Sunday, April 24, 1870, the auditorium was form-
ally opened, Dr. Hopson preaching morning and
evening.
The cost of finishing the house was $30,540, and
the entire cost, including some additional ground,
amounted in round numbers to $66,000. A debt
amounting to about $18,000 was left to be provided
for, which, with the debt of $8,000 contracted in
building a church on Hancock Street for the col-
ored Disciples, weighed heavily for some time on
the usefulness and vitality of the church. During
the years 1871 and 1872, by order of this congrega-
tion, the church edifice on Hancock Street was built
and turned over to the colored Disciples, the work
being done under a committee composed of R. P.
Lightburn, R. H. Wilson, and E. H. Bland, and the
title being placed in the trustees of the Walnut Street
congregation.
Dr. Hopson resigned, and preached his farewell
sermon May 31, 1874. He was very popular with
his congregation, and had so endeared himself to
the great majority of them that they parted with
him sorrowfully and with marked reluctance.
November 15, 1874, Samuel Kelly was employed
to preach for the congregation until a permanent
preacher should be obtained.
J. S. Lamar, of Augusta, Ga., was called April 4,
1875. He was very highly esteemed as a scholar
and preacher, and the congregation became warmly
attached to him. He, however, felt under obliga-
tions to return to the church at Augusta, Ga., and
resigned March 5, 1876, and preached his farewell
discourse April 16, 1876.
B. B. Tyler, of Frankfort, Ivy., was called March
26, 1876, and commenced his labors May 7, 1876.
■Mr. Tyler was pastor at the time Mr. Torbitt wrote.
His history, therefore, ends here.
The ministry of Mr. Tyler was eminently success-
ful. He remained with the congregation some five
vears. At present he holds a very responsible and
influential post in New York City. His successor
was A. I. Hobbs, a man of strong character and
marked individuality. He was a leader of men, and
his influence was always felt in any gathering of his
church. Mr. Hobbs died a few years since, occupy-
ing at the time of his death a prominent position in
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. His friends
in Louisville are many, and his work will not die.
E. L. Powell followed Dr. Hobbs, coming to as-
sume charge of the work in September, 1887. Since
his coming, the Walnut Street congregation has
established two mission churches at Clifton and
Parkland, both of which are doing good work and in
course of time will add greatly to the strength of
our cause in the city.
April 26, 1876, the congregation accepted amend-
ments of its charter, granted by the Legislature of
Kentucky. These amendments authorize the
church to issue bonds on the church property, and
to change the name of the corporation from “\\ alnut
Street Christian Church of Louisville, Ivy., to
“First Christian Church of Louisville, Ky.
There are now in the city some ten congregations
244
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
of Disciples. They comprise a membership of fully
3,000. They are the First Christian
L!f* °* Church, Broadway Christian
Church, Jefferson Street Christian
Church, Third Christian Church, located at Eight-
eenth and Chestnut, of which Rev. D. F. Stafford is
the efficient pastor; Central Church, Second and
Kentucky; Campbell Street, Portland Avenue, and
the two recent missions, Clifton and Parkland, and
Hancock street — the last named the only colored
church of Disciples in the city. Most of these
churches are doing well and steadily increasing in
strength.
Nearly all of these congregations are the imme-
diate offspring of the First Christian Church, and
have been her missions. Not having the necessary
records, it has been impossible to give the history
of each of them.
The Disciples also have an orphans' home, lo-
cated on Eighth and Jefferson streets. While this
is an institution supported by the
orphans’ Home, churches m the State, it was inau-
gurated by the Eouisville congre-
gations. The work of this Christian home has
proved a blessing to many children and those who
have labored to carry it forward have found their
service to be an inspiration and joy. The home
was incorporated July, 1883, and was formally
opened May, 1884. Its first location was 1013 E.
Jefferson Street. During this period of eleven
years — to January 1, 1895 — 158 children have been
received and 101 have gone forth from the home.
There are now 57 children in the home.
There is also located in this city, under the man-
agement of the General Christian Missionary So-
ciety, a Disciples’ school for the education of negro
preachers. Our religious press is ablv represented
by the Guide Printing and Publishing Company on
Walnut Street, near the First Christian Church.
This company publishes the “Christian Guide,” the
State paper of the Disciples. The importance at-
tached to the religious press by Air. Campbell as an
evangelizing and uniting force is clearly shown in
the establishment of the two periodicals with which
his name is so honorably associated — “The Christian
Baptist” and “The Millennial Harbinger,” whose
first number was issued in January, 1830. The Dis-
ciples, as has been shown previously, are most cred-
itably represented in this department of literature,
and there is no paper among them more strongly
edited than is the “Christian Guide,” W. J. Loos
holding the responsible and dignifiedofficeof editor.
The Bible
Their Creed.
In the course of this narrative, very many refer-
ences have been made to the teachings of the Dis-
ciples on various religious questions. Without this,
there could have been no satisfactory statement of
the external incidents marking their progress and
development. As, however, setting forth their spe-
cial contention, the writer may be permitted to give
his own view of their position on the essential and
vital creed of Christianity, and with this doctrinal
presentment the task assigned him will have been
accomplished.
The people with whom I stand identified claim
the Bible only as their creed. This contention calls
for explanation. Webster defines
the word “creed” as “a definite sum-
mary of what is believed.” We
have no definite summary of what is believed outside
the definite summary given in the Bible itself. While
accepting, in common with those known as Evan-
gelical Christians, the great fundamental truths of
our holy religion, we have no formulated or crystal-
lized statement of these truths to serve as a test of
fellowship, or as a standard by which to measure
one's orthodoxy. Such formularies are only hu-
man interpretations of the Scriptures, and have no
more authority or weight than other and different
interpretations. We claim the Protestant privilege
of private interpretation— the right to study the Bi-
ble for ourselves — assured that in so far as its teach-
ings have to do with our present or eternal salva-
tion, they are intelligible to the average understand-
ing. We cannot allow any man or body of men to
formulate their interpretations and attach to them,
for the governance of other lives and consciences,
authoritative force. We are opposed to all human
creeds, because they limit the free and untram-
meled study of the Bible — fixing the metes and
bounds of mental investigation. They erect false
tests of fellowship, thus narrowing the entrance to
Christ’s kingdom on earth by requiring as condi-
tions of church membership those things which our
Lord and his apostles have not imposed. They de-
tract from the all-sufficiency of the Bible, and in
course of time make void the word of God by the
sacredness which men finally attach to their tradi-
tions. We do not object to written comments on
the Bible, or to printed interpretations as thick as
leaves of Vallambrosa. We do object ro making
such matter a test of Christian fellowship or giving
to it the sanctity of authority. We claim the right
to sit in judgment upon all such comments and in-
terpretations. If they speak not according to our
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
245
understanding of the law and the testimony, we feel
at liberty to deal with them as with any other liter-
ature. When, therefore, we say that the Bible is
our creed, we mean that each man has the inalien-
able right to search the Scriptures for himself, and
need not be bound in conscience or life by the stere-
otyped conclusions of other men. We leave the
doctrines of the Bible in the language of the Bible
to be read and interpreted by all in harmony with
their best knowledge and ability. While this large
liberty results in diversity of interpretation, we
have, I make bold to say, as nearly “a common con-
sensus of faith” as our brethren of the creeds.
In affirming that the Bible only is our creed, we
do not wish to be understood as teaching that all
portions are equally binding upon the church of
Christ. We are not under law, but under grace.
The Mosaic rites and institutions are not observed
or honored outside the Jewish Church. All Scrip-
ture is valuable for the purpose designed, but that
purpose, as respects very much of the Old Testa-
ment and some of the customs and instructions of
the New, was limited and local. Our position on
this question, which I cannot stop to defend, has
been admirably stated by one of our own writers in
the following language:
“That although the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments are inseparably connected, making
together but one perfect and entire revelation of the
divine will for the edification and salvation of the
church, and, therefore, in that respect cannot be
separated; yet as to what directly and properly be-
longs to their immediate object, the New Testament
is as perfect a constitution for the worship, dis-
cipline, and government of the New Testament
Church, and as perfect a rule for the particular
duties of its members as the Old Testament was
for the worship, discipline, and government of the
Old Testament Church and the particular duties of
its members.” Since, then, we may not have any
outside formulary, and since the Old Testament is
not binding upon us in matters of faith, worship,
and discipline, we must seek our creed, if one is
to be found, on the pages of the New Testament.
We claim that there is such a creed, and that it is
formulated for us in Scripture language. We claim
it as the apostles’ creed rather than the one known
as such and so called from the fable that the twelve
apostles had each of them contributed a clause.
It is the creed enunciated at Caesarea rather than the
one drawn up at Nice. It was not produced by
the Council of Nice or that of Constantinople, but
sprung from the inspired heart and head of a plain
fisherman of Galilee. It has never been improved
by addition, and no one has ever suggested that it
stood in need of revision. “When Jesus came into
the coasts of Caesarea Phillippi, he asked His dis-
ciples saying: Whom say ye that I am? * * *
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said:
Upon this rock I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This is
the New Testament confession of faith, and no trace
of any other confession can be found in the apostolic
writings. It is, likewise, the testimony of church
historians that this -only was the primitive creed of
the church.
Neither Christ nor His apostles have ever en-
joined subscription to any other creed, and we, as a
people, dare not impose any other article of faith as
a condition of church membership. Our single
question is: “Do you believe with all your heart
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?"
In a discussion of this creed I shall be able to
give some of the reasons that influence me in my
Discussion of church connection. First, the sim-
chureh plicity of its language can but im-
Doctrines. ' , , , ,
press one when contrasted with
the learned and labored utterances of other con-
fessions of faith. We find here no thundering sen-
tences as to our federal headship in Adam, original
sin, total hereditary depravity. We find here no at-
tempt to express in recondite phrase the being of
God, the purpose of God from all eternity, the con-
substantiality of Father and Son or the fixed and
definite relations that may exist in the conception
of a triune God. It does not involve us in labyrin-
thine terminology, as unintelligible to the common
people as the hieroglyphics of Egypt. The confes-
sion is simple enough for a child to speak, and
beautiful in its simplicity. It belongs to those days
— the first two centuries of Christianity — when there
was not even a New Testament and formal theology
was not thought of, “when religion was a life, a
love, a trust, a holy enthusiasm.”
Secondly: The faith it requires is not the accept-
ance of a body of dogmas, but simple belief in a
person. “The question, therefore,” says Richard-
son, in his Memoirs of Campbell, “was not, in the
beginning, ‘what do you believe?’ the eager and
sole inquiry of modern religious parties, but in
whom do you believe?’ It was the question ad-
dressed by Christ himself to one who sought to
know the truth, ‘Dost thou believe on the Son of
246
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
God?’ and the answer was, ‘Who is he, Lord, that I
may believe on him?’ For this direct personal re-
liance, indicated in the primitive confession, and
exhibited as true faith everywhere in the Scripture,
men have, unhappily, substituted a trust in the ac-
curacy of their doctrinal knowledge, a confidence
in the orthodoxy of particular tenets, as if correct-
ness of religious opinion could secure the divine
favor, or had in itself a mysterious saving efficacy.”
This creed concerns itself with a divine life
rather than human deductions. The central truth of
the creed is the divinity of Jesus Christ. This truth
of his divinity does not present itself to us as a decla-
ration to which we subscribe or as a propositional
statement we accept — not in the form of a doctrine
or dogma, but expressed for us in the. life of Jesus,
culminating in His resurrection from the dead.
Divinity inheres in his character. It is not some
peculiar endowment conferred upon him — not
something assumed and worn as a garment, but he
was essentially divine. We ask men, therefore, not
to accept the truth of his divinity as an abstract
statement — a theological dogma, but we ask them
to accept the divine life which declares him to be
the Son of God. This creed, therefore, requires a
confession of faith in a divine person, and not in
any doctrine whatsoever.
To quote one of our own writers: “This being the
rock on which he said he would build his church,
without any question as to its sufficiency, and with-
out elaboration and addition, we simply and confi-
dently accept it and rest in it as being the right con-
fession. We say not a word respecting the accept-
ance ‘of the doctrine and polity of this church,’ or
any other doctrine either in the Scripture or out of
it. We regard the whole matter as a transaction,
not between the sinner and the Savior, and as our
one single solicitude is to have the individual
brought into loyalty to Christ, so our one single
question relates to his personal faith and trust in
a personal Savior. The creed we present for the
world’s acceptance has not to do with ‘doctrines
and dogmas, views of regeneration or justification,
speculations about election and predestination, or
the mysteries of spiritual operation.’ It has to do
with the acceptance of a divine life.”
And so the word had breath and wrought
With human hands the creed of creeds,
In loveliness of perfect deeds.
More strong than all poetic thought.
It was faith in himself to which Jesus invited
men. One whose scholarship will not be questioned
says: “In the Synoptics, with the exception of the
passage in which our Lord affirms the closeness of
the union between the Father and himself, it is im-
possible to find anything resembling an abstract
dogma.” So the Epistles bring before us “a living
Christ who reigns in the heart and who dominates
over the life, not an abstract, dogmatic Christ.”
If one should attempt an analysis of this creed he
would still find it true that he is in the realm of per-
sonal life and not of subtle theological speculation.
First: There is involved in this confession, faith
in the historic life of Jesus. He was no myth. He
was no mere ideal of excellence created by the
human imagination. He was flesh and blood and
dwelt among us, and men “beheld his face as of
the only begotten of the Father.” We accept the rec-
ord which tells us of his earthly ministry — his actual
residence in this world of ours.
Some one has said: “It is well enough to wor-
ship the good, the beautiful and true, but these are
personal qualities and do not float detached about in
the air.” W e believe these qualities to have been per-
fectly manifested in an historic life. This is surely one
meaning of the incarnation. The whole of Christ’s
character as respects its moral virtues can be made
upi from preceding literature. These qualities we
find here and there — now dim, now bright. In the
life of Jesus, however, what was abstract excellence
becomes concrete; what before was a diffusive fire
now becomes a steady flame. Dean Stanley says:
“What can not be effected by mere statements of
truth, however true, or by mere systems of morals,
however good, will be effected when they are repre-
sented in flesh and blood, in the life of a devoted ser-
vant of God, in the story of the life and death of
Christ our Lord. To fasten on this, to trust one’s
self to this, to be awakened by this is Christian faith
— and on feelings such as these or like to these all
Christian doctrine, whether theological or moral,
must be based." But while our creed requires or in-
volves faith in this historic manifestation, it does not
introduce into this historical life any metaphysical
subtleties. Unlike the original Nicene creed, it has
attached to it no “anathema on all who pronounce
the Son to be of a different hypostasis from the
Father.” It does not attempt to analyze the human
and the divine in our Lord’s nature or to give to
each its separate, air-tight compartment. It does not
attempt to fix the exact relation which the Son sus-
tains to the Father, or to formulate any doctrine of
the Trinity, leaving all such questions, as far as they
may be suggested, in the simple language of the
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
247
Scripture writers. A scholarly writer declares,
Modern investigation has established the important
ruth that we have no faculties which enable us to
lenetrate into the abstract realities of being, yet the
heologians of an elder time seemed to think that
here was scarcely a question, however profound,
viith which the logical intellect was not competent
o grapple.” The religion of Jesus is not a philo-
sophical system to be explained by the logical intel-
lect for its satisfaction and pleasure. It is a moral
ind spiritual power to energize the heart and life —
the power of a divine life, which can be felt by all —
learned and unlearned. We do not ask subscription
to any theory of this life, but to the life itself, as
having made known to us the divine character and
will.
In still further continuing our analysis, we may say
there is involved in this confession — faith in Jesus
as the Christ — the Messiah — the anointed of God.
He was specially chosen of God — specially set
apart — to do a special work. That work was — stat-
ing it in a comprehensive way — to save his people
from their sins. He is God’s son, sent into the world
to make known the way to God, the truth of God and
the life of God. Here is an acceptance of him in
every relation he sustains to human life for its up-
lifting and redemption. We receive him as Teacher,
as King, as Savior, as Friend. The creed, however,
asks subscription to no formulated theory of salva-
tion and redemption. In referring to the gospel,
which he preached at Corinth, Paul mentions the
question of reconciliation through Christ, and the
fact that we are made the righteousness of God in
Christ. In commenting on this Scripture a promi-
nent writer says: “I invite the reader’s attention to
this point, because of the endless controversies which
have taken place in the church as to the nature of
the atonement. A few words of exact definition on
the apostle’s part might have prevented these contro-
versies from arising; but instead of exactly defin-
ing the terms which he employed, he contents him-
self with affirming the fact without any attempt to
explain the mode by which it was effected. * * *
Volumes also have been written in attempting to ex-
plain how Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin
on our behalf, and how we, in consequence, have
become the righteousness of God in him, involving
the profound questions of inherent and imputed
righteousness and a whole array of abstract prob-
lems standing in the closest connection with them.
All these and similar subjects, however, he passes
over in absolute silence.”
Our creed asks only the acceptance of him in all
of the personal offices through which He acts upon
human life for its salvation. As Teacher, we must
hear His message ; as King, we must render obedi-
ence to His commands; as Friend, our association
must result in conformity to His image; as dying,
we must feel the power of His love; and so in ac-
complishing His mission as Savior, we must yield
to His ministry and co-operate with Him in what-
ever way He may direct. This is to accept Him as
Christ — the Son of God. But not one word does
the creed say as to the necessity of understanding any
philosophy of salvation.
There is involved, finally, though not explicitly
stated, faith in the present and continued life of
Jesus, for if He be not risen from the dead He is a
Teacher whose words are as the withered plants in
an herbarium — with no living personality back of
them to serve as explanation; He is a sepulchred
King, with no crown or sceptre; He is a Friend,
whose heart has ceased to beat. The gospel which
Paul preached was “Jesus and the Resurrection”—
an historic life and its triumph over death. It is
faith in a living Christ — “who was dead, but is alive
forevermore” — to which we invite men. He lives,
and “His heart is still the same; kinsman, friend
and elder brother is His everlasting name.” "Lo, I
am with you all the days,” was the rich legacy our
Lord left to His mourning and bereaved disciples.
This thought is predominant in the Epistles. Under-
lying this creed, therefore, is the fact of our Lord’s
resurrection, though it asks subscription to no the-
ory or philosophy of that resurrection. Was the
resurrection of Jesus the result of the exercise of
external divine power for the outcome of inherent
moral energy? The creed allows room for specula-
tion. It holds fast to the fact that “he ever liveth at
the right hand of God” — and that His presence is a
living, energizing influence in the lives of His peo-
ple. Thus, in analyzing this creed, we find that the
personal factor is predominant throughout. We are
not introduced to the battle field of contending the-
ologians. We are not called upon to choose between
filiumque and filioque. Our creed hurls no ful-
minations against our unprotected heads, be-
cause we do not appreciate or understand the
learned disquisitions of synods and councils.
An eminent writer calls attention to this sig-
nificant fact: “The only anathema which can
be found in the apostolic writings is pronounced
against those who love not the Lord Tesus Christ,
and those corrupters of the gospel who endeavored
248
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
to impose on Christians the burden of the Mosaic
law, and their sharpest denunciations are levelled not
against those who hold erroneous opinions, but
against those who turn the grace of God into lascivi-
ousness.”
Our creed, therefore, is not a definite summary of
Christian doctrine, not to accept which is to be
damned. It does not stand at the door of the church,
demanding as a condition of membership our accept-
ance and acknowledgment of all the truth which may
subsequently become subject-matter of faith. It is a
pledge of discipleship to Jesus as the Son of God.
Learning of Him day by day we will be led into such
truth as will enable us to grow up into Him in all
things. “To persuade men,” says one of our writ-
ers, “to trust and love and obey a divine Savior is the
one great end for which we labor in preaching the
gospel, assured if men are right about Christ, Christ
will bring them right about everything else.” This
creed requires faith of such simple sort as is essential
to initiate us into the school of Christ, to place us in
the attitude of learners with loving and loyal hearts,
willing and ready to do whatever our Lord shall
command us. To bring men to acknowledge Jesus
as Lord and Christ is the sole aim of the Christian
creed. Instruction in a thousand things comes after-
ward ; faith lays hold of new truths as it advances in
the divine life. Ignorance in connection with many
questions will be continually making way for knowl-
edge, and a larger and richer belief will be ever giv-
ing doubts to the wind. To quote once again from
a representative writer among us: “We demand no
other faith, in order to baptism and church member-
ship, than the faith of the heart in Jesus as the Christ,
the Son of the living God; nor have we any term
or bond of fellowship but faith in this divine Re-
deemer and obedience to Him.” Thus character,
founded on faith in a divine life, and obedience to
the authority of that life, is our only test of fellow-
ship— the basis of fellowship being practical rather
than doctrinal. Our aim, however far we may fail
in its realization, is stated in the principle, “Nothing
is to be made a test of fellowship but what Christ has
made essential to salvation.” The heart of the creed
is forever a divine person ; allegiance to Him its only
requirement.
A third characteristic of this creed has been ad-
mirably stated as effecting the union of conservatism
and progress. The writer says: “We occasionally
read among the current events of the day of some
vigorous and progressive thinker who has been
obliged to sever his church relations, not on account
of any impurity in his life, or any want of faith in the®
essential truth of the Bible, but simply because he '
has outgrown the formulated theology of his de-
nomination. In the Christian church such an event
could not take place. It allows the largest freedom
of thought consistent with the maintenance of the es-
sential and vital truth of Christianity. This truth it
must preserve and teach or it would not be a safe
guide, or in any proper sense the church of Christ;
at the same time it must be free in the persons of its j
individual members and ministers to advance in 1
knowledge, and to adapt itself to the circumstances
surrounding it or it would not be a living power.
Thus our conservatism, modified and vitalized by
the progressive spirit, is not a simple resting in the
dead past — not a dwelling among the tombs of the-
ologies, which, having served their day, have now
as vital forces passed away — but an ardent and cor-
dial devotion to that primitive truth, which being
divine, is ever fresh and ever living; while our pro-
gression, embracing as it does, and carrying along
with itself this essential truth of the ages, can never
be wild, reckless or dangerous.” This is a clear and
succinct statement of the spirit of our creed. If we t
can bring men to be loyal to Christ, they may then ;!
claim the independence of that apostle who said: !
“Let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the 1
marks of the Lord Jesus.” We cannot guard against
heresy by trying to formulate Bible truths. The his- 1
tory of creeds is sufficient proof. Differences of in- i
terpretation have always existed, and will always |
exist in the church. We may well follow, however, >
the example of the apostles who sought not to guard t
against the intrusion of error “by giving greater pre- ;
cision to their statements, or by the use of formal de-
finitions.” The real heretic after all is the man who
denies in his life that Jesus Christ has ever lived;
the man who feels not and shows not the spirit of
him whom we love to call our Lord and Master.
Finally, this creed is sufficiently comprehensive,
embracing all that is essential and vital, for it is
Christo-centric. In Jesus Christ every requirement l
of the soul’s life is met and satisfied. Dean Stanley I
tells of a poor woman “who is said to have found
her way from the distant wilds of Asia to her hus- .
band in England, by constantly repeating the only
two English words that she knew, ‘Gilbert’ and ‘Lon-
don.’” He then adds: “This is a likeness of what
many and many a Christian, many a one,
perhaps, whom some would hardly call a Christian,
might do, if he only put into constant prac-
tice again and again the very simplest and
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF LOUISVILLE.
249
shortest notions he lias of Christ, and of Christ’s
goodness.” All essential Christian doctrine is
embodied in His life and teachings. “In Him
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
It is only such doctrine as is essential to character
and can be manifested in the life — such doctrine alone
has to do with our salvation from sin. Such doctrine
Jesus Christ gives us. All Christian truth receives
its value from Him who said, “I am the truth.”
Other truth may have a relative importance, profit-
able for the various purposes for which it has been
given, but not an essential value, save as it is em-
bodied in the divine life, and is capable of being
translated into human conduct. I cannot forbear to
quote in this connection a passage from Philip Schafif.
He says: “Paul said, ‘I have kept the faith,’ not that
he had continued to stand on a definite platform of
theological planks, but that he had maintained his
faith in the living Christ unbroken. To Paul Christ
was the center of theology, as he was the sum of it.
Christ was his theology of election — ‘chosen in him '
Christ was his theology of redemption — ‘in whom
we have redemption.’ Christ was his theology of all
divine bestowment, ‘who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in Christ.’ He was Paul’s theol-
ogy unto all life, ‘to me to live is Christ,’ and the
apostle saw in advance the time when Christ should
be ‘all in all.’ * * * This age is trying to say
plainly that it does not regard with sympathy the un-
compromising emphasis put upon uninspired state-
ments of divine truth and human speculations about
God, but that it is minded to insist upon the dog-
matic and infallible authority of the living Christ, and
to carry him to the ends of the earth.” This is the
glory of the creed. It enthrones Jesus Christ, re-
cognizing Him alone as essential to the world’s need
in all that has to do with life and destiny, making
Him the center and sum of the Christian revelation.
“They saw no man save Jesus only”; this vision
alone will satisfy the heart-hunger of the world.
“Bring forth the royal diadem.
And crown Him Lord of all.”
CHAPTER XX.
HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
BY REV. JOHN H. HEYWOOD.
American Unitarianism had its earliest organized
expression in New England. This was natural — in-
evitable, indeed — for the prevalent, the dominant
form of ecclesiastical organization and government
in New England from its very settlement was Con-
gregationalism— with its emphatic assertion of the
independence of the churches and of the sacredness
of the right of private judgment — and Unitarianism
was a daughter of Congregationalism. With one
notable exception, the older Unitarian churches in
Massachusetts and the other New England states
were Congregational in government and in forms
of worship. They were, in fact, Liberal Congrega-
tional churches. The exception, which is alike in-
teresting and noteworthy, is that of the “Stone
Chapel,” or rather, “King’s Chapel,” organized in
1686. This, as all thoughtful visitors know, is one
of the most venerable churches in Boston, and orig-
inally was not Congregational, but Episcopal, and
represented the Established Church of England.
As stated in Rev. E. E. Hale’s very interesting life
of Rev. James Freeman Clarke: “This chapel, as
its name implies, had been founded by and for the
crown officers in Boston at the time when Andros
was the royal governor. It continued as the “King’s
Chapel” until the last royal governor left Boston in
1776. In 1782 the proprietors asked James Free-
man to be their reader, chose him pastor in 1783, and
in 1787 ordained him without the help of a bishop,
there being, in fact, no bishop who could have helped
them. Mr. Freeman and they alike understood that
he and they were not to be bound by the articles and
creed of the English church, and thus it happened
that the ‘King’s Chapel,’ after the king ceased to
reign in America, became the first Unitarian church
known under that name in America.” Mr. Hale
adds: “It seems worth while to say this in beginning
the life of the grandson of James Freeman, as the
grandson was to become a preacher and leader
widely known in the Unitarian communion of this
country.” And it has given special pleasure to the
writer of this sketch of the History of the Louisville
Unitarian Church, to quote the suggestive passage,
because Dr. Clarke, the namesake, as well as the
grandson of Dr. James Freeman, was its second
pastor.
This conversion of King’s Chapel makes a rare
event, unique and phenomenal in ecclesiastical his-
tory. It became a thoroughly independent church,
its society accepting and acting upon the Congre-
gational theory that a congregation has the right not
only of choosing, but also of ordaining, its pastor.
In further exercise of its right and prerogative as an
independent church, it made a wide and most signifi-
cant doctrinal movement, or departure. King’s
Chapel had, of course, the formularies of the Eng-
lish Episcopal Church, and its people were strongly
attached to its impressive liturgical service. This
they desired to retain, but so modified as to accord
with their changed religious ideas and convictions,
and on the 12th of April, 1785, they adopted the
Revised Book of Common Prayer, as arranged by
their minister, Rev. James Freeman. King’s Chapel
has been greatly favored in its pastors. Dr. Free-
man’s pastorate continued for nearly fifty years, and
his successors’ names, with his own, stand high in
the records of Liberal Christianity for fine scholar-
ship, for beauty of spirit and life, for noble, Christlike
characters. The memories of Rev. Francis W. P.
Greenwood, Ephraim Peabody, Henry W. Foote
are very precious and fragrant, and the able man who
now fills that venerable pulpit stands there worthily.
The conversion of King’s Chapel into an inde-
pendent Unitarian Church was certainly a very sig-
nificant event, and rendered all the more striking
by the time of its occurrence just at the close of the
250
HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
251
Revolutionary War, which had not only tried all
American souls to their depths, but had also roused
all American minds to their utmost activity.
But the main development of Unitarianism in New
England was, as already stated, in the Congrega-
tional churches. And its develop-
ment there was natural, we may say
normal. Those churches, being
either of “Puritan” or of “Pilgrim” origin, laid im-
mense stress on ecclesiastical and personal inde-
pendence, and, not only that, but the immortal ut-
terance of the heroic and saintly John Robinson, that
more light is yet to break out from God’s Sacred
Word,” had been alike a cheering prophecy of men-
tal and spiritual progression and an enkindling in-
centive to it. The early Unitarians in New England,
it will be remembered, did not seek nor desire to
form a new sect. So unsectarian, so anti-sectarian
were they that some of them — like Rev. Dr. Lowell,
father of James Russell Lowell — positively refused
to take the name “Unitarian.” They did not wish to
leave the Congregational Church any more than
did John Wesley wish to leave the English Episcopal
Church. Their desire was to see that church, that
communion, freed from certain dogmas relating to
the divine character and government, and to human
nature and destiny, which seemed to them harsh and
heart-rending; and to see it freed from some tests of
character and some conditions of fellowship, which
they felt were at variance with right reason and with
the explicit teachings of the founder of Christianity
in his Sermon on the Mount, in the Lord’s Prayer,
in the two great Commandments, and entirely alien
to the spirit which pervaded the life of Jesus and
made it divinely beautiful. Not separation, but a
continued and stronger union based on the princi-
ples of what they regarded as pure, unadulterated
Christianity, was their aim and earnest aspiration.
The divergences, however, in thought were too
many and wide, the influence of temperament, of
inherited tendency and of environment was too
strong and deep to permit of the fulfilment of their
desire, and separation became inevitable. It was
not instantaneous and formal, but gradual and nat-
ural. The discussion lasted long and was at times
sharp and even acrimonious, but it was marked on
both sides by great spiritual energy, mental power
and fine scholarship. It was a continuation of the
unending discussion of that mighty differentiation,
which has gone on through the centuries — as be-
tween Arianism and Athanasianism at one period;
between Augustinism and Pelagianism in another;
between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism; be-
tween Arminianism and Calvinism; between Eccles-
iasticism and Individualism, with its doctrine of the
“Inner Light” — a discussion and differentiation
doubtless to go on with ever-enlarging scope anti
reach — for
“Through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process
of the suns,”
until, in the Divine Providence shall come, through
co-operation of all the mental and spiritual powers,
the analytic understanding, the intuitive reason, the
pure heart, the consecrated will, the grand synthetic
generalization and union, foreshadowed in the sub-
lime prayer “that they all may be one, as thou,
Father, art in me and I in Thee, they may be one
in us,” the real and perfect union, whose keynote
and vital essence the Beloved Disciple has given
us in his deathless utterance, “God is love, and he
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in
him.”
The memorable sermon preached by Rev. W. E.
Channing, D. D., in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1819,
at the ordination of Rev. Jared Sparks as minister of
“The First Independent Church” of that city, did
a great deal towards crystallizing the views of the
Liberal Congregationalists. In May, 1825, the
American Unitarian Association was organized in
Boston and has done admirable work for Liberal
Christianity.
At the suggestion and under the auspices of the
American Unitarian Association, a national confer-
ence was organized in the city of
Nati0neance.°nfer" New York in April, 1865. Its char-
acter and purpose are thus stated in
the preamble to its constitution: “The conference of
Unitarian and other Christian churches was formed
in the year 1865, with the purpose of strengthening
the churches and societies, which should unite in it
for more and better work for the Kingdom of God.
These churches accept the religion of Jesus, holding,
in accordance with His teaching, that practical re-
ligion is summed up in love to God and love to
man. The conference recognizes the fact that its
constituency is Congregational in tradition and pol-
ity. Therefore, it declares that nothing in this con-
stitution is to be construed as an authoritative test;
and we cordially invite to our working fellowship any
who, while differing from us in belief, are in general
sympathy with our spirit and our practical aims."
The Unitarian denomination is relatively a small
one. According to the last “Year Book" of the As-
252
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
sociation its societies in America number four hun-
dred and sixty-four, with ministers. But small as
it is numerically, if we recall a few names of Unitar-
ian men and women who stand high as historians,
philosophers, poets, philanthropists, statesmen, jur-
ists, preachers and teachers — such names, for in-
stance, as Bancroft, Prescott, Palprey, Sparks, Park-
man, Fiske, Draper, Bryant, Longfellow, Pierpont,
Tuckerman, Howe, Miss D. L. Dix, Mrs. M. A. Liv-
ermore, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, John Adams, John
Quincy Adams, Justice Story, Daniel Webster,
Channing, Dewey, Parker, Savage, Chadwick, Ab-
bott and Walker — we see and feel that the body,
however small, has not been without power in the
worlds of thought, science and literature, and of
moral and spiritual life, and of beneficent activity.
Passing now to the special subject of our sketch
— the Unitarian Church of Louisville — we would say
that the society was formed by a few
viiie clear-minded men and women, to
whom the principles of “Liberal
Christianity” — such as the unity and fatherhood of
God, the brotherhood of man, the spiritual lead-
ership of Jesus Christ, the reasonableness of relig-
ion, the final triumph of good over evil, and the un-
broken continuity of life — were inestimably dear.
Rev. E. E. Hale, in his delightful volume already
referred to and quoted from — the memoir of Rev.
James Freeman Clarke, the second pastor of the
church — writes as follows: “Mr. Clarke found a
small Unitarian society, which had built a neat, well-
proportioned church. The society had been organ-
ized by a few earnest Unitarians, mostly from New
England. Services had been held for several years
in different places, generally in the schoolhouse of
Mr. Francis E. Goddard, a man of wide attainments
and an able teacher.”
“John Pierpont, Bernard Whitman and Charles
Briggs were among the preachers who, in short vis-
its to Louisville, had interested the worshipers. The
church had been dedicated on the 27th of May, 1832.
On that occasion Dr. Francis Parkman and James
Walker — afterwards president of Harvard College —
took part in the services.”
The church has had five pastors: Rev. Messrs.
George Chapman, James Freeman Clarke, John
H. Heywood, C. J. K. Jones and J. B. Green.
On the 24th of June, 1832, Rev. George Chapman,
of Boston, who had been invited to become pastor,
preached his first sermon. Mr. Chapman was in his
early manhood of finely cultivated mind and earnest
religious spirit, and very attractive in personal qual-
ities. His ministry was winning and effective, rich
in thought and of marked spiritual power, but it
was very brief, continuing only a year, when failing
health compelled him to resign his charge.
He was succeeded by Rev. James Freeman Clarke,
who became pastor August 4, 1833, and retained his
position seven years. These were
Clarke eventful years to our church, and
not to it alone, but to the whole city.
Mr. Clarke was recognized and honored as a clear,
vigorous, independent thinker by thoughtful men
and women like Judge Pirtle and his gifted wife,
George Keats, the beloved brother of John Keats —
brother not in flesh only, but also in spirit and in
poetical taste and feeling — and by S. S. Goodwin, a
loval son of Plymouth, Massachusetts; by Judge
John Speed and his honored son, James Speed, and
his daughters, Mary and Eliza Speed; Mrs. Breck-
inridge and Mrs. Peay, and by Mr. and Mrs. S.
Sisson, Mr. and Mrs. T. T. Shreve, Mr. and Mrs.
Fortunatus Cosby and her sister, Mrs. Anna Sanders.
Mr. Clarke’s intellectual power, his compact, logi-
cal reasoning, his fine large scholarship, and his
rare catholicity of spirit, were equally recognized by
men of other communions, such men for instance as
Judge S. S. Nicholas. The writer of this paper well
remembers a conversation with Judge Nicholas, him-
self one of Louisville’s ablest writers, in which the
Judge asked, with great earnestness: “Do you know
whom I regard as the finest writer of English that
our city has ever had?” On my responding that I
did not know, he said: “Mr. Clarke, who had the
rarest power of expressing fine, large thought in
simplest, purest, most intelligible language.” All
who are familiar with those two grand volumes,
“The Ten Great Religions,” so rich in learning, so
crystalline in style, so just and generous in spirit,
can readily understand and thoroughly appreciate
the high estimate entertained by Judge Nicholas of
Mr. Clarke’s rank as a thinker and writer. It was
not only as a preacher that Mr. Clarke’s influence
was felt. He was a public-spirited citizen, deeply
interested in whatever affected the welfare of the
community. He devoted much time to the public
schools of the city and, in 1839, was chosen by the
City Council “agent,” that is, secretary and super-
intendent. He was one of the ablest contributors to
the “Western Messenger,” a monthly periodical pub-
lished at first in Cincinnati, and afterwards trans-
ferred to Louisville. “The Messenger” was devoted
to the cause of “Liberal Christianity,” and was thor-
oughly alive to everything that tended to promote
HISTORY OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
253
proad, just and generous thought, and to advance
\ie moral and spiritual welfare of humanity. In
April, 1836, Mr. Clarke became editor of “The Mes-
senger” and continued in charge of it until 1839,
when it was taken back to Cincinnati. Of the multi-
form work done by Mr. Clarke while editor of “The
Messenger,” we have a graphic and most interesting
account, in a letter written bv him to Rev. J. H.
Allen, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1885: “When
it was printed in Louisville I had to be publisher,
editor, contributor, proofreader and boy to pack up
the copies and carry them to the postoffice. But I
enjoyed it.” But of Mr. Clarke’s distinctive work as
an editor we have a. fine and fair statement by Rev.
Dr. Hale, in his biography: “Mr. Clarke’s connec-
tion with ‘The Western Messenger’ maintained and
enlarged his acquaintance with the leaders of the
liberal religious movement in America. He printed
papers of Channing, of Emerson, of Hedge, and of
many of those, less known then, who have since filled
important places in literature.”
In a letter written to Ralph Waldo Emerson, in
1839, Mr. Clarke gives us an unconscious, but de-
lightful illustration of his editorial instinct in dis-
cerning finest flowers, and in gathering sweetest
honey for his editorial hive: “It is said to be the
nature of suddenly acquired wealth to create a long-
ing for more. The poor victim of prosperity, being
suddenly lifted out of all his old habitual ways, can-
not form at once new habits and be contented. He
wants more yet. Such also I find the case with edi-
tors. Had you not given me those two poems,
‘Each and All’ and ‘The Humble Bee,’ I should
probably never have asked you for anything; but
now I wish you to give me two more, namely: ‘The
Rhodora’ and the lines beginning: ‘Goodbye, proud
world! I’m going home.’ I have them in my pos-
session, though not by Margaret’s (Miss Fuller)
fault, for she gave them to me accidentally among
other papers. But being there, may I print them?”
Mr. Clarke resigned his charge of the Louis-
ville Unitarian Church in June, 1840. During his
ministry the congregation had slowly but surely
grown. In addition to the names already men-
tioned, it numbered many of our most respected
merchants, such as Messrs. James E. Breed & Com-
pany, H. D. Newcomb & Brother, William IT Ba-
con & Cobb, Andrew Buchanan, Alonzo Rawson,
Emory Low, Andrew Low, John Cochran & Son,
Charles IT Lewis, P. II. Conant & Brother, f. L.
& N. W. Conant, A. G. Munn, George R. Davis
and Charles Harlow, and quite a number of able
men connected with our city’s banking and other
business institutions, E. H. Lewis, George C.
Gwathmey, H. S. Julien, S. H. Bullen, George W.
Meriwether and E. Hutchings, and of physicians,
Dr. Edward Jarvis, who afterwards became one of
the most eminent sanitary statisticians of Massachu-
setts; Drs. J. B. Flint — eminent as physician and sur-
geon— and E. C. Drane, and of teachers, Francis
E. Goddard, Noble Butler, J. H. Harney, Mrs.
M. R. Windship, Miss Martha Wilder and Mrs.
Elizabeth Williams, and the scholarly historian of
Kentucky, Mann Butler.
On the 2 1st of August, 1840, the pastorate of Mr.
John H. Hey wood, the third pastor, began. During
his long ministry the steady growth of the congre-
gation continued.
The first church edifice, as has already been said,
was erected in 1831-32. It stood on the southeast
corner of Fifth and Walnut streets,
Church Edifice, where is now the drug store of
George A. Newman. It had origi-
nally sixty-four pews, but in 1853, in order to meet
the needs of the congregation, it was enlarged by
the addition of thirty-two pews. The society still
continuing to grow, a new edifice became necessary,
and in 1870 the beautiful building so well known
as “The Church of The Messiah,” on the corner of
Fourth and York streets, was erected. The church
was dedicated January 15, 1871, Rev. Dr. William
G. Eliot, of St. Louis, and Rev. R. Laird Collier, of
Chicago, uniting with the pastor and congregation
in the dedicatory services. On the 31st of December
of the same year the church was destroyed by fire.
This was a hard blow indeed, but the society instant-
ly went to work rebuilding, and on December 15,
1872, the reconstructed building was consecrated
to divine worship and the service of humanity, Rev.
Dr. H. W. Bellows, of New York, preaching morn-
ing and evening, giving two sermons of rare beauty
and power.
Never has a religious society shown greater
energy, faith and hope than did the Unitarian So-
ciety of our city under these disheartening circum-
stances. Not quite a year had passed since the dedi-
cation of the noble structure which had involved
great sacrifice on the part of its members, and
in an hour, as it were, on the night of Saturday,
the last of the year, it was destroyed. Not a
service, however, was omitted. Fortunately, the
rear portion of the edifice, which was devoted to
the Sunday school and social purposes, was saved
from the flames, and services were held Sunday
254
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
morning at the usual hour and, before the close of
that year, the church was restored, and in more
than its former grace and beauty.
The society was generously aided in the construc-
tion and in the reconstruction of the edifice by kind
friends near and far, east and west. Important aid
was also rendered by our Universalist friends. Soon
after the formation of the Unitarian Society, these
friends had organized themselves into a church,
which had, for a time, great prosperity. It was for-
tunate in its ministers, especially in Rev. Messrs. E.
M. Filigree, J. D. Williamson and W. W. Curry,
all men of marked ability and great spiritual earnest-
ness. But through a series of adverse circumstances
and the removal by death of many of its most
efficient members, the society declined and finally
ceased to hold services. The most deeply interest-
ed of the remaining members, such as M. M. Green,
II. P. Truman and T. G. Waters, and those vener-
able patriarchs, Messrs. Jacob Merker and Gad
Chapin, as guileless, single-minded and true-heart-
ed men as ever lived, united with the Unitarian So-
ciety, and through their efforts, the money received
from the sale of the Universalist building was gen-
erously given toward the erection of “The Church
of The Messiah.”
“The Church of The Messiah” was incorporated
by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky in February, 1870. The trustees named
in the act were: Edward A. Gardner, James Speed,
George Davis, James Kennedy, Jacob Merker, Co-
lumbus Chamberlin and George A. Houghton ; the
first four representing the Unitarian, the last three,
the Universalist membership.
The Unitarian society has always been an earnest
worker. It has had from the beginning an attrac-
tive Sunday school. As we have already seen, it
built a church edifice before it had a pastor; and of
its continued activity, evidence is given in the fol-
lowing sketch of its religious and humane work, pre-
pared for “The Southern Unitarian,” published in
Atlanta, Georgia, of July, 1893: “In 1841, under
the leading of Mr. A. G. Munn, then in his early
manhood, and as fresh and young in spirit now as
then, an unsectarian Sunday school was formed on
Tenth street, which attracted to itself a fine body
of teachers and did a great amount of good. In
1 858-59, an admirable ‘night school’ — the pioneer
school, I think — was established in the hall of one
of the city’s engine-houses. This school was formed
and conducted by some young men of the congre-
gation, Messrs. Charles J. Kent, Augustus Holyoke,
B. B. Huntoon, George Hood, H. P. Truman and
others, and to it not a few men, now in prosperous
circumstances and some of wide influence, refer
with gratitude as having offered them the best and,
in some instances, the only school opportunities
enjoyed. At the same period, two Mission Sunday
schools were carried on by Mr. H. T. Wood, a
devoted member of the church, and by Rev. D. A.
Russell, whom the congregation had engaged as
a minister at large. In 1865, an ‘Old Ladies’ Home'
was established and successfully conducted by its
devoted and untiring friends and generous sup-
porters, until 1882, when its was transferred to the
well-endowed Cook Benevolent Institution, and its
kindly work. and helpful influence were thus guar-
anteed continuance and perpetuated.”
During the trying times of the war, the ladies of
the congregation were unwearied and unceasing in
hospital work and in their efforts in
i)unng the civil kejiaif Qf t]le United States and Ken-
tucky, sanitary commissions, and
also of the Refuge Commission.
In the summer of 1879, t'ie illness of Mr. Hey-
wood’s daughter led him to take her and his wife
to Europe, and in August of that year, the Rev. C.
J. Iv. Jones was invited to take charge of the pulpit
during his absence. Early in 1880, Mr. Hey wood
sent in his resignation, and his pastoral connection
formally closed on the 21st of August, justy forty
years from its commencement.
Rev. Mr. Jones’ services began on the first Sun-
day of September, 1879, and they awakened great
interest. He continued pastor until the summer
of 1883, when he resigned and removed to Florida.
There he practiced law, for which he had fitted him-
self during his residence in Louisville, up to Feb-
ruary, 1885, when, in response to a hearty invita-
tion, he returned to our city and resumed his earnest,
efficient work.
In this interim of a year and a half, Rev. J. B.
Green, now of Reading Massachusetts, a devout and
earnest man of strong, fine character, was the min-
ister of the church. It is a suggestive fact that,
while the first three ministers were Unitarians from
birth, the two latter, Rev. Messrs. Jones and Green,
belonged originally to other communions — Mr.
Jones to the Dutch Reformed denomination, hav-
ing received his classical and theological education
at Rutger’s College, New Jersey, and the Union
Theological Seminary of New York, while Mr.
Green’s early education was in the Roman Catholic
church.
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HISTORY OP THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
255
Mr. Jones gives no dull, prosy sermons. His
hearers may agree with him, or may dissent from
him, but they never sleep. He is an enthusiastic
student of the principle or principles of evolution,
which he heartily accepts, and, at the same time, he
as heartily assents to the principles of Unitarian
Christianity as presented in the Constitution of Uni-
tarian and other Christian churches, as amended
and adopted by the National Conference at its ses-
sion in October, 1894. His intense vitality, his
full command of the stores and resources of his
richly furnished mind, his rare power of energizing
and often truly eloquent utterances are quickly
recognized and deeply felt. He is alive to all the
great movements of the day, and his extensive lit-
erary and historical reading and his deep, living in-
terest in natural history and science enable him to
enrich his discourses with many striking illustra-
tions of the all-pervading divine spirit, presence and
power.
A few words will suffice to indicate the present
life and work of the Unitarian society. It is in
good financial condition, being practically free from
debt. It has an excellent Board of Trustees, con-
sisting of Messrs. A. G. Munn, President; Charles
Hermany, John Bacon, Charles F. Smith, F. N.
Hartwell, Edward W. Chamberlain and George
Zubrod. The clerk of the board is Frederick
Reinecke, and the treasurer is Mr. W. G. Munn.
The members of the choir, whom the congre-
gation hold in high esteem not only for their musical
ability but also for their deep interest in the welfare
of the church, are Mr. and Mrs. F. P. Seiler, Mrs.
C. H. Shackleton and Mr. Joseph Simons. The
gifted organist is Mr. Thomas Becker. The con-
gregation is very fortunate in having a capable and
faithful sexton, Albert Miller.
“The Ladies’ Aid Society,” of which Mrs. W. W.
Drummond is the wise and efficient president, has
rendered and is rendering all the while inestimable
aid, thus demonstrating that it is entitled to its name,
"Aid Society.” There are times, as all conversant
with the administration of church affairs well know,
when the hearts of men, even of wise and practical
trustees, fail them for fear lest, at the annual meet-
ing, a large deficit may confront them. Time and
again, at such seasons of anxiety, Mrs. Drummond
and her band of undaunted workers have come to
the rescue; now gladdening the hearts of the choir
and organist by supplying a new and reliable motor
to the noble organ; now cheering and warming the
congregation by first-class furnaces, or surprising
and delighting the trustees by placing a five hun-
dred dollar check in the hands of the treasurer —
truly an “Aid Society.”
Equally efficient have been the labors of “The
Helping Hands,” organized by Miss Danforth, in
ministering, every winter, sympathetically, wisely
and perseveringly to the needs of the suffering-
poor, and in earnestly co-operating with “The King’s
Daughters” in their efforts in behalf of the “Jennie
Casseday Infirmary” and other beneficent charities.
“The Embroidery Class,” suggested and formed
by Miss Lewis, has proved very attractive and em-
inently successful, not only in giving its pupils a use-
ful accomplishment, but also in cultivating fine taste
and in producing thoroughly artistic work.
The Sunday school of the church, always dear to
the congregation, continues its effective work under
the direction of its devoted superintendent, Mrs.
Anna C. Bowser, and her able co-workers, F. N.
Hartwell, M. M. Green, with other faithful teachers.
The Church has also a wide-awake mission school
— the “Highland Unitarian Sunday school" — in the
eastern portion of the city. Mrs. Kohlhepp was its
originator and Mr. Ambrose Bruner is its superin-
tendent, and it has an excellent band of teachers.
The name, “Church of the Messiah,” was adopted
by the congregation at the time of the construction
and dedication of its beautiful edifice, in expression
of its loving reverence for its spiritual leader,
Jesus, the Christ, and of its desire and purpose to
be loyal to the principles of his benign and benefi-
cent religion.
CHAPTER XXL
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
BY REV. S. S. WALTZ, D. D.
In writing of the Lutheran Church in this or
any other city, the history, character and spirit of
the church at large must be taken somewhat into
account. In its phenomenal growth and substan-
tial development in this country and in our city, it
has been moulded by the mother influences from
which it sprang. By inheritance and birth, it is a
church of great principles and of heroic spirit. The
Lutheran Church was born in one of the greatest
religious struggles of the world’s history. The Re-
formation of the sixteenth century was an epoch in
human history. It was not a controversy about
small matters or non-essential doctrines. It was not
a contest among men and parties as to which should
rule. The great central truths of religion were in-
volved in the conflict. It was a battle of life or
death of the great essential truths of the Gospel.
Out of this mighty conflict came the Lutheran
Church. It stood then, as it stands now, the fear-
less champion of Evangelical Christianity.
From the trying times in which it was born, it
became a church of great moral heroism. It was
chivalrous in defense of the great truths of religion
in its early history. It has lost none of its valor
for God in the four centuries of its life. It seems
to have caught the dauntless spirit of the Great Re-
former, as he stood for trial before the Diet of
Worms. Though at the peril of his life, instead of
recanting, he reaffirmed his teachings, closing his
defense with the immortal words which have thrilled
succeeding ages: “Here I stand; I cannot do other-
wise. God help me. Amen.”
Coming into existence in such a time and for
such a mission, it is by birth and inheritance a
church of mighty principles. It lays great stress on
the fundamental truths of religion; sin and re-
demption, repentance and faith. Its whole doc-
trinal and theological system centers in Jesus Christ.
It regards Him as God's divine Son and man’s only
and all sufficient Savior. It has always been a thor-
oughly orthodox evangelical church. In its begin-
ning, it stood squarely on the fundamental doctrines
of God’s word. It has never changed its position.
Its creed, the Augsberg Confession, resting solely
for authority on an unchangeable Bible, has never
been revised. There is no disposition in the church,
and never has been, for change or revision of doc-
trinal position. Its creed stands today, as it has
always stood — the great doctrinal statement of
Christian belief. Dr. Schaff, a recognized American
church historian, said of it: “The Augsberg Con-
fession extended far beyond the bounds of the Luth-
eran Church. It struck the key-note of other
Evangelical Confessions. It strengthened the cause
of the Reformation everywhere, and it will be cher-
ished as one of the noblest monuments of faith from
the Pentecostal period of Protestantism.”
The Lutheran Church, though definite and posi-
tive in its creed on the fundamentals of religion,
allows Christian liberty on all non-
Church. essential questions. It puts in the
hands of its pastors and people a
book of forms which embraces the liturgical riches
of the ages. It encourages the use of these forms,
but does not compel it as a test of loyalty. Some
of its churches are much more liturgical than others.
This does not make them more Lutheran than their
less ritualistic sisters. It is an educational church.
It advocates a trained ministry and encourages the
most liberal culture of its people. Its schools of
varied character are numerous and widespread. In
countries most thoroughly Lutheran will be found
the smallest per cent of illiteracy. Its institutions of
benevolence and mercy are numerous and efficient.
It is a missionary, aggressive church. It had its
origin in central Germany. It partook of the mould
of that splendid people. It has always been proud of
its Fatherland and Mother-tongue. It has not been
256
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
257
content, however, to confine its work to one nation
■or to preach the Gospel in but one language. It
interprets the Savior’s commands to “go into all
nations” as its divine commission to “teach the
Gospel to all people and in all languages.” Acting
under this conviction, it is today preaching the word
and administering the sacraments in ninety differ-
ent languages. In every land to which it goes, it
adapts itself to the people who inhabit it. Without
changing its essential principles, it adopts the lan-
guage and form of government by which it may
best lead the people to the truth of God. It is a
world-wide, all-people’s church. More than fifty
million souls — fully one-third of the Protestant
world — are in its fold. Its missionary spirit, pop-
ular worship and rich hymnology, its profound
theology', evangelical doctrine and its simple, trust-
ful piety, have carried it as an evangel to all lands,
and won for it friends among all peoples. It was in
such a spirit that it came, as an early pioneer, to
this land. Its development in America has been
along these lines.
The interweaving of the Lutheran Church in
American history is such a remarkable coincidence
as to appear like links in the golden chain of Provi-
dence. In the year 1483, when Martin Luther was
born, Columbus caught the inspiration to discover
a new world. While Luther was being trained for
the mighty mission of his life, Columbus was on his
knees, kissing the new found land and consecrating
it to Almighty God. It was as if a new world and a
new born church came upon the stage of action
simultaneously. America has come to be the richest
field of work for the Lutheran Church. The church,
in turn, has been a mighty agency in the spiritual
development of American history. The Lutheran
Church, while always maintaining that the affairs of
civil and religious government ought to be distinct
and separate, has, without violating this principle,
exercised a moulding influence in our national fabric.
The church, though wholly a spiritual and not a
political power, is, by its inherent principles, the
friend and promoter of civil liberty. “The * prin-
ciples of Luther involve not only liberty of conscience
to the individual Christian and religious freedom
in the church, but also political liberty in the state.”
These principles, as a leaven, have been at work
from the foundation of our government to the pres-
ent, shaping our national life. “We Americans,”
writes another, “must dig deeper than the Constitu-
tion and Declaration of Independence — deeper down
than the graves of our Revolutionary fathers — to
17
find the corner stone of our liberties. Back of our
Pilgrim Fathers and pioneer settlers, of our war-
riors and statesmen, our heroes and martyrs, stands
the broad figure of the man of Erfurt, and Witten-
berg, and Worms, and Speyer, who struck the dusty
clasps from the Bible.”
In the planting of the Lutheran Church in this
country, three nationalities bore a part, viz.: the
Hollanders, the Swedes and the
anism in America. Germans. Among the first perma-
nent settlements by the Dutch along
the Hudson river, as early as 1623, were many Luth-
erans. Some years later these people organized
congregations in what are now New York and Al-
bany. These were the pioneer Lutheran Churches
of America. About the same time, Gustavus Adol-
phus, King of Sweden — the martyr hero of Luther-
anism— with far-seeing eye, planned a colony to
carry the' church of the Reformation to the New
World. The Thirty Years War prevented the imme-
diate carrying out of the design. Its hero fell at
Lfitzen, but his devoted followers carried out his
great purpose. In 1637, a ship, with arms for war,
if needed, and manuals for devotion, landed on the
banks of the Delaware river. Land was at once pur-
chased of the Indians for the new colony. Fifty
years before the treaty of William Penn, these
Swedish Lutherans made honorable purchase of the
Indians and became pioneers in a treaty “which, for
purity and integrity, has a world-wide and everlast-
ing reputation.” One of the first houses built on
this land was a place of worship. It was a church
and fortress combined. This was perhaps the first
Evangelical Lutheran Church erected in this coun-
try. The next to help lay the foundations of the
church in America were the Germans. Though des-
tined to become the most powerful element in its
development, they came at a little later date than
the Hollanders and Swedes. The tide of German
emigration did not turn toward America until near
the close of the seventeenth centurv. The first Ger-
man Lutheran minister in this country, Rev. Justus
Falconer, came from the school of Franckefin Halle.
He was consecrated to the ministry by his parents,
but fled from home and country to escape enter-
ing the sacred office. He had not been long in the
New World before the guiding hand of God led him
into the work for which he had been educated. He
was the first German Lutheran minister ordained
in this country, and became pastor of the first church
organized among his native people. His great
spiritual and intellectual power fitted him for the
258
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
leadership to which he was providentially called.
In the early part of the eighteenth century, a large
Lutheran emigration came from Germany to
America. As many as four thousand landed in one
day. They found homes in New York and Penn-
sylvania. Some went to the Carolinas. Wherever
they settled, they made themselves felt by the purity
of their lives, the industry of their habits, and their
strong Christian character. They soon became the
bone and sinew of the communities in which they
lived. Though poor, they kept the altar fires of
religion and love of church burning bright in their
hearts and homes.
Almost a century passed before the Lutheran
Church, as an organized body, began to make real
progress. Its people were scattered and many of
its congregations were without pastors. It needed
a spiritual leader and organizer. In 1733, it was
decided to send a delegation to Europe to solicit
help in erecting churches, but especially to secure
a competent minister. Prayers were daily going
up from many hearts that “the Lord himself would
designate the right man.” These prayers and plead-
ings were heard. A man Was raised up, combining,
in wonderful degree, the needed qualifications.
His name was Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. He
came from Halle and was imbued with the spiritual
and practical Christianity of the institution founded
by Francke. He was a man sent of God to the
Lutheran Church in America. “His coming was
the signal of a new era. It was like the arrival of a
captain in the midst of a scattered, dispirited and
demoralized host.” By his masterful strength and
consecrated life, he brought order and organization
out of chaos and confusion. The church began a
new, more orderly and spiritual development, which
was the guarantee of future prosperity.
The planting of the church in this country — as it
had been in the Old World — was amid the fiercest
struggles and sacrifices. But the people to whom
God had committed the task could not be dismayed
or discouraged. The church of the Reformation was
destined to a glorious future in America, though
born in the long night of persecution and poverty.
Rapid as has been the growth of this land in all
temporal affairs, the Lutheran Church has more
than kept pace with its marvelous march. In 1800
it had, in the United States, 350 churches and 15,-
000 members. To-day it has 5,000 ministers, 10,000
churches and over a million and a quarter of mem-
bers. Added to its rapid native development it is
reckoned that a congregation of five hundred of its
own people land on American shores every day.
Its future is as bright with promises as its past has
been with glorious achievement.
Soon after the church was planted on eastern
shores its people and its principles began to dissemi-
nate themselves through the various parts of the
land. Being an enterprising people they soon
pushed westward and became the pioneers in the
physical and religious development of the country.
Concerning the introduction of the Lutheran
Church into the state of Kentucky, the historic data
is not very definite or complete.
in Kentucky. Long before churches were organ-
ized there were Lutheran settle-
ments in various parts of the state, ministered to by
occasional visits from pioneer preachers. About
the year 1805 a colony of ten members came to
Boone county from Madison county, Virginia. They
immediately established regular worship and con-
tinued it for eight years without a pastor. One of
their own number read a sermon each Sunday. In
1806 they organized a congregation, naming it the
“Hopeful Church.” By this name it is known to-
day. In the following year they built a cabin
church, 18x18 feet, without a nail or glass. In 1813
Rev. William Carpenter, their old pastor in Vir-
ginia, came to live among them and be their min-
ister. He served them for twenty years, until his
death. He was probably the first regular Lutheran
pastor, and this the first organized Lutheran
Church in Kentucky.
After this the next Lutheran settlement was
formed in and around Jeffersontown, in Jefferson
county. They came in the early part of the present
century from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
Among these early pioneers were the Blankenbaker,
Goose, Brinkman, Anderson, Conrad, Durr, Geiger
and Nunnamaker families. Services were held
among themselves and occasionally a minister vis-
ited them. In 1819 they organized a Lutheran
Church. For some time they worshiped in an old
church, nearly a mile distant from Jeffersontown
Later they moved their services to the village. Rev.
Henry A. Kurtz became pastor of the church about
the time of its organization. Colonel Richard C.
Anderson and John Howard were installed as its
first officers. General Robert Anderson, of Fort
Sumter fame, when a boy, was a regular Sunday
school scholar in this pioneer church, of which his
father was an officer. Shortly after the organization
of the congregation they built for themselves the
church in which they have worshiped for over sev-
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
259
enty-five years. It was torn down in 1895, and a
new church erected on the old foundation
enlarged. The history of the Lutheran Church
in Louisville cannot be truthfully written
without giving much credit to this old church of
Jeffersontown. The people of that congregation
gave much encouragement to the work in this city.
Numbers of its people, among whom were Mrs.
Quest and family, several members of the Goose
family, Dr. J. A. Ivrack and others, having moved
to the city, determined to plant a Lutheran Church.
Rev. John Ivrack, one of its faithful pastors, moved
to Louisville in 1847 and f°r two years preached
and worked for the establishment of a church. Rev.
Jacob Keller, the present pastor at Jeffersontown,
who for over fifty years has preached in southern
Indiana and northern Kentucky, never ceased his
efforts until he saw the church finally established in
Louisville.
In 1841 the Lutheran Synod of the west, in session
in Indianapolis, took the following action, which
may be regarded as the germ from which eventually
sprang the English Lutheran Church of Louisville:
“Resolved, That we regard the getting up of Eng-
lish Lutheran churches in the cities of Cincinnati
and Louisville as of paramount importance to all
others at this time; and that we will encourage and
aid, so far as our ability extends, any prudent effort
that may be made for that purpose.” At the next
meeting of this synod, among others, it ordained to
the ministry W. R. McChesney. He had come west
with the purpose of establishing an English Luth-
eran Church in Louisville. The synod gave him its
hearty endorsement. He came at once to the city
and began work. On the 25th of December, 1842,
he organized a church with about twenty-five mem-
bers. The building in which they worshiped was lo-
cated on Second street, between Market and Jeffer-
son. The city directory of the year previous to this
organization reports an Evangelical Lutheran con-
gregation in the same place, under the pastoral care
of Rev. August Ivreel. The new enterprise was at-
tended with marked prosperity from the first. Rev.
McChesney was an attractive preacher and many
people came to hear him. Though brilliant, he was
erratic and unstable, and thus unfitted for the diffi-
cult task before him. In less than a year he was
swerved from his loyalty to the Lutheran Church
and sought to lead the congregation with him to
another denomination. In this he was disappoint-
ed. I he pastorless flock soon scattered and the
enterprise that promised so much ended in failure.
Several efforts were made in succeeding years to
reorganize the scattered congregation, but without
avail. In 1856 a church was organized, but soon
disbanded.
The Kentucky Synod about this time decided that
“if a house could be secured in the central part of
the city and a pious and talented
Kentucky Synod, minister secured, even at this late
date something might be done
among the English speaking people of the commun-
ity.” Efforts were made by Rev. D. Smith, assisted
by Mr. Daniel Heybach, to carry this resolution
into effect, but without permanent success. In 1870
Olive Branch Synod took favorable action looking
to the organization of an English Lutheran Church
in Louisville, pledging $500 to the enterprise. It
instructed Rev. J. S. Heilig to canvass the field and
report the result. Little seems to have been done
to carry out this resolution.
In 1871 the Home Mission Board of the General
Synod, recognizing the manifest call of providence
and the open door of usefulness offered in this city
for the English Lutheran Church, resolved to un-
dertake the work. This action, by the highest mis-
sionary authority of the church, at once inspired
courage in the hearts of an oft disappointed people.
It was this action which led to the establishment of
the English Lutheran Church in this city on that
broad and firm basis on which it has budded so suc-
cessfully. The interest of the church at large was at
once enlisted in the enterprise and the people at
home led to decisive and vigorous action.
The first English Lutheran Church was the out-
growth of this movement. In the early spring of
1872 Rev. J. M. Ruthrauff, now
First church, president of Carthage College, then
completing his theological studies in
Wittenberg College, visited the city with the view
of establishing a Lutheran Mission. He held several
meetings at the homes of H. N. Goose and Mrs. B.
Quest. At one of these meetings it was decided to
organize a church in the near future. Aid was asked
and granted by the Home Mission Board. In May
of this year regular services were begun. Bowles’
Hall, Preston and Jefferson streets, was secured as a
place of worship. In this hall, on the first Sunday
in June, the First English Lutheran Church was
organized. On that occasion the pastor, Rev. Ruth-
rauff, preached from the text: “God hath chosen
the foolish things of this world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty.” That
260
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
was the day of small things, but the faith and the
courage of the pastor and the people partook of the
prophetic spirit of the text, as the developments of
later years abundantly show. The church was or-
ganized with fourteen charter members. Of these
ten are yet living. Almost all of them were of small
means financially. Their wealth for the church con-
sisted in willing minds, determined purpose and con-
secrated hearts. The first church council was com-
posed of the following persons: A. H. Dernette, S.
H. Fertig, A. R. Goose, W. H. Klooz, H. N. Goose
and J. W. Quest.
Services were held in Bowles’ Hall until Decem-
ber ist, when, owing to the uncomfortable room,
they were changed to the Presbyterian Chapel on
Caldwell street, near Preston. In this place the con-
gregation worshiped until it was permitted to oc-
cupy its own church. A lot, in every way desirable,
had been purchased on Broadway, between Preston
and Jackson streets, and a church building decided
upon. After a faithful pastorate of two years, during
which time much necessary pioneer work was done
and foundations wisely laid. Rev. Ruthrauff resigned
the work on September i, 1874. The mission was
exceedingly fortunate in at once securing Rev. Dr.
5. A. Ort, of Wittenberg College, as its pastor. He
came to the work fully equipped in every way for
the great responsibility. Under his vigorous lead-
ership the church building was rapidly pushed to
completion. On the 28th of March, 1875, it was dedi-
cated. The work from this time took great impetus.
People rallied to its support. Its membership in-
creased rapidly. Soon the Sunday school outgrew
its room, and enlargement was necessary. The de-
velopment along all lines was rapid and substantial.
The successful pastorate of Dr. Ort closed on April
6, 1879, when he removed to New York to become
pastor of St. James’ Lutheran Church. Rev. Dr.
J. S. Detweiler, of Polo, Illinois, accepted a call to
the pastorate, and entered upon his work April 20th.
His ministry of four and a half years was aggressive,
earnest and successful. He was popular in the
church and in the community. Many members were
added to the congregation and its general condition
improved. During this pastorate the church, hith-
erto a mission, assumed self-support. On the 31st
day of October, 1883, Rev. Dr. J. S. Detweiler re-
signed the pulpit to accept the presidency of Carth-
age College. Rev. S. S. Waltz, of Kansas City, Mis-
souri, then accepted the call of the church to be-
come its pastor. He began his ministry on Sunday,
October 23d, preaching from the text: “We are
laborers together with God.” The church has moved
steadily on in temporal and spiritual development.
Its effectiveness has been increased by the organiza-
tion of such auxiliary societies as are of approved
character. Its missionary benevolence has been de-
veloped and its work at home enlarged. Though it
has given liberally of its members and its means to
found other churches, its own strength has not de-
creased. Giving has not impoverished it. The pas-
torate, begun at the close of 1883, continues at the
opening of 1896, with abiding evidences of the Di-
vine blessing. The congregation has an active mem-
bership of 505. Its Sunday school has always been
one of the largest in the city.
The Second English Lutheran Church is the out-
growth of a Sunday school organized by Dr. Ort
during his pastorate. For a year
Second Church, and a half it was conducted as a mis-
sion of the First Church. Seeing the
necessity for a congregation in the western part of
the city he planned this work. On the 30th of Jan-
uary, 1876, he, with the assistance of a number of his
active people, organized a Sunday school in Falls
City Hall, on Market street, near Twelfth. During
the year the school moved to Eclipse Hall, on Wal-
nut and Thirteenth streets, and still later to the
German Evangelical Church, on Grayson and Twen-
tieth streets. Though tried by its frequent changes,
the school continued to grow. The necessity of a
permanent home was apparent if the work was to
prosper. At this time the hand of Providence pre-
pared the way for the purchase of a church about to
be sold, on Walnut street, between Eighteenth and
Nineteenth. The Church Extension Board came to
the aid of the mission and this excellent property
was purchased in 1877. New life at once came to
the enterprise. Steps were taken toward securing a
pastor for the mission. As it had been in securing a
church home, so it was in selecting a spiritual leader.
Providence guided and the choice fell on one whose
ministry God has greatly blessed. On September
13th a meeting was held, at which a church was or-
ganized with nineteen members. Dr. J. A. Krack,
|ohn Justi, Fred Kessler and Peter Snyder were
elected as the first Church Council. At this meet-
ing Rev. H. K. Fenner, of Crestline, Ohio, was
elected as pastor of the newly organized church. He
accepted the call and began his pastorate October 21,
1877. Under his efficient ministry, which continues
to the present, the mission grew to be a self-support-
ing church. Its development has been steady and
substantial. It is a congregation noted for its activ-
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
261
ity in good works. As such it occupies a position
of usefulness and promise. It has purchased a lot
on Jefferson street, between Twenty-first and Twen-
ty-second, on which it expects to erect a church edi-
fice in the future. The congregation has an active
membership of 394. Its Sunday school is also large.
The Third English Lutheran Church, like the sec-
ond, sprang from a mission Sunday school. On
February 1, 1880, the school was
Third church, organized by Rev. Dr. J. S. Det-
weiler, in what was known as the
“old gymnasium,” on Maiden Lane and Adams street,
owned by Mr. Rehm. For over five years it was con-
ducted as a mission of the First Church. The un-
comfortable surroundings during these years did not
hinder the accomplishment of a great work. The
band of people in charge of the enterprise worked
with the spirit of Christian heroism. A congrega-
tion was organized on the 17th of May, 1886, with
the hearty concurrence of the mother church. There
were twenty-eight charter members. The first
Church Council was composed of the following per-
sons, viz.: William Breuning, Daniel Laisch, •Wil-
liam Layer and August Feierabend.
Aid was granted the church by the Home Mis-
sion Board. Rev. Charles T. McDaniel, recently
graduated from Gettysburg Seminary, became pas-
tor. He began his ministry on the 1st of August.
With a zealous people and an earnest minister, the
work grew rapidly. The neat and well located
church, on Story avenue, near Frankfort, was erect-
ed during this pastorate. It was dedicated Novem-
ber 13, 1887. Rev. McDaniel’s ministry with the
congregation closed March 1, 1890. Rev. A. J. Kis-
sed, of Tipton, Iowa, succeeded to the pastorate
April 1st of the same year. During the four years
of his earnest ministry the church moved steadily
on, gaining numerically and developing spiritually.
His pastorate closed May 1, 1894. Rev. Thomas A.
Himes, the present pastor, began his ministry with
the congregation September 1, 1894. His faithful
and well-planned labors are bearing much fruit. He
is building substantially on the good foundations
already laid. The congregation occupies a rich ter-
ritory of usefulness and is zealously cultivating it.
It reports an active membership of 148, with a large
Sunday school.
St. Paul’s English Lutheran Church was organ-
ized January 24, 1890, with thirty-nine charter mem-
bers. Of these thirty-four were
st. Paul’s church, granted letters of dismission from
the First Church. The following
composed the first Church Council: L. W. German,
R. H. Finzer, J. D. Upton, Rudolph Finzer, John
McGill, George Peters, John Finzer, Edward Sav-
age and D. J. Etley.
The congregation worshiped for some time in a
church on Hancock and Roselane streets. It soon
purchased a beautiful lot on Brook street, near
Breckinridge. On this it erected the neat church
in which it is now worshiping, at a cost, including
lot, of $7,000. Rev. I. D. Worman, of Wittenberg
Seminary, temporarily supplied the pulpit during
part of the first year. On September 1, 1891, Rev.
J. M. Francis, of Gettysburg Seminary, became the
first regular pastor. He served faithfully and suc-
cessfully in this position until September 1, 1893,
when he resigned to accept a call to Columbia City,
Indiana. During the interim of pastorates the pul-
pit was supplied by Rev. Dr. J. S. Detweiler, Dr.
G. A. Bowers and others. The second regular pas-
tor of the church is the present incumbent, Rev. F.
M. Porch. He began his ministry with the church
November 1, 1894, coming from Topeka, Kansas.
He is faithfully carrying on the work of the church,
cordially supported by a zealous people. It reports
an active membership of 102, with a prosperous
Sunday school.
Grace Church, on Twenty-sixth street, near Bank,
was organized October 11, 1891. On the same day
it dedicated its house of worship.
Grace church. In the summer of 1889, Rev. Dr. H.
K. Fenner, with a committee from
the Second Church, took steps towards organizing
a Sunday school in this growing part of the city.
Preliminary services, conducted by Dr. Fenner, were
held for three Sundays previous, and on October
13th the school was organized in Market Hall, on
Portland avenue, near Twenty-sixth street. Under
the fostering care of the Second Church, this school
was successfully conducted until the time of the or-
ganization of the church and the calling of a pastor.
During its first year its well located church lot was
purchased. Liberal assistance was secured from
the Church Extension Board, and the erection of a
church begun at once. The mother church con-
tributed liberally to the work, both of money and
helpers. The building was erected under its super-
vision. The organization of the church, conducted
by Dr. Fenner, consisted of fourteen charter mem-
bers. Its first Church Council was composed of the
following parties: T. T. Myrick, J. W. Tuell, W. FI.
MacNeal and Christian Boettger.
I11 November of the same year a call was given
262
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Rev. Charles F. Steck, of Muncie, Indiana, to be-
come pastor. He accepted and began his ministry
with the new congregation in its new church Jan-
uary i, 1892. The work, from its beginning to the
present, has been very successful. The first pastor
continues to serve the congregation with great ac-
ceptance and ability. Under his ministry, aided bv
a willing people, the membership has grown from
fourteen to one hundred and forty-nine. Its Sun-
day school is one of the largest and most active in
that part of the city.
Trinity Church is the youngest in the family of
English Lutheran churches in the city. Like most
of its sister churches, it had its ori-
Trinity church, gin in a mission Sunday school. On
November 13, 1889, Rev. S. S.
Waltz, pastor, and a committee from the Council of
the Lirst Church, reported to that body, recom-
mending that a Sunday school be organized at
once in Cardoni Hall, Baxter avenue and Broad-
way. This recommendation was unanimously en-
dorsed, with the conviction that the Highlands was
a promising field for an English Lutheran Church.
The school was organized by Dr. Waltz on the fol-
lowing Sunday, November 17th. It was carried on
uninterruptedly and successfully by the pastor and
members of the First Church for three years. At
its meeting, October 11, 1892, the Church Council,
by unanimous vote, gave its approval to the organ-
ization of a church in this locality, assuring the new
congregation of the prayer and good will of the
mother church. Informal conferences were held
October 16th and 18th to perfect the plans. On
Reformation Sunday, October 30th, the organization
was effected. Dr. Waltz conducted the services and
installed the officers. The first Church Council was
composed of the following: J. F. Merriwether, Amos
Yaeger, Daniel Rommell, William Schlaefer, Charles
Bohnrer, Charles D. Meyer and E. A. Ehrman.
Of the thirty-seven charter members, thirty had
been members of the First Church. The newly
elected council held its first meeting the following
day. At a congregational meet'ng on November
20th, Rev. J. A. M. Zeigler, Ph. D., of Carthage,
Illinois, was elected as pastor. He accepted the call
and took formal charge on December 4th. At that
time the pastor of the First Church, on behalf of his
council and congregation, formally turned over the
Sunday school and newly organized church to the
pastor elect.
The congregation, under the earnest and faithful
ministry of its first pastor, has had a history of pros-
perity. Its past has been successful and its future is
promising. The field in which it i^ located is one
of unusual richness for church work. The congre-
gation continued to worship in Cardeni Hall until
the completion of their new church on Highland
and Rubel avenues. This was erected, including
the ground, at a cost of $14,000. The lot was pur-
chased May 2, 1893. The church was dedicated
January 20, 1895. The congregation has an active
membership of ] 19. Its Sunday school is vigorous
and growing.
The six churches already enumerated all belong
to the General Synod. This is the oldest and most
thoroughly Anglicized general body of the Lutheran
Church in America. They are aggressive in spirit.
They enter heartily into all evangelical movements
which tend to the spiritual advancement of the city.
Though churchly and loyal to the distinctive usages
of the denomination of which they are a part, they en-
ter into cordial fraternal fellowship with all churches
which hold with them the great essential doctrines
of the gospel. These churches have been in exist-
ence in this city less than twenty-four years. Sum- j
marized, their work shows the following results: f
Church members, 1,417; members of Sunday
schools, 2,112; value of church property, $76,000.
Up to the present time the strength of the English
Lutheran people of the city has been largely ex-
pended in developing congregations instead of
building church edifices. Their somewhat modest
houses of worship have served a great purpose. The !
time, however, is doubtless near at hand when these j
will give way to buildings more in keeping with the
demands of strong and growing churches. Many
of the people who entered most heartily into the
organization of these congregations and who have
been most active in their behalf, had formerly been 1
connected with the German Evangelical churches
of the city. The organization of the English Luth-
eran Church offered them an opportunity of work- j
ing and worshiping in accordance with the faith of ;
the fathers, but in the language and spirit of the
children. At the time of the introduction of the
church into the city in 1872, the mother German
congregation was in charge of Rev. Charles L. Dau-
bert. He had been the spiritual leader of the Ger- j
man people of the city since 1840. His ministry on
earth closed January 16, 1875. His memory is a
precious heritage in hundreds of homes. He was a
man of generous and noble spirit. Though a Ger-
man by birth and education and loyal to the lan-
guage of the Fatherland, he clearly saw the necessity
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN LOUISVILLE.
263
of an English church for the Anglicized Germans.
Hence he gave hearty encouragement to the or-
ganization of the English Lutheran Church. When
the corner-stone of the First Church— Preston, near
Broadway — was laid, he was present and took part
in the exercises. Many of those he baptized and
confirmed have become active members of that and
other English Lutheran churches.
Although most of the Protestant Germans of the
city are Lutherans by descent, there are but two
German churches in the city officially connected
with a Lutheran Synod. Both are members of what
is known as the Missouri Synod.
The First German Evangelical Lutheran Church,
worshiping on Broadway, near Underhill street, was
organized in the autumn of 1878.
"=*1" the early part of that year Rev.
F. W. Pohlmann, then pastor at
Lanesville, Indiana, was invited by several German
Lutheran families living in Louisville to preach for
them. He accepted the invitation and held the first
service on the evening of the third Sunday after
Epiphany. At this service eight families were rep-
resented. For about nine months he continued to
hold service each Sunday evening, coming fourteen
miles for this purpose. The services were held in
a chapel on Broadway, near Clay Street. A church
organization was then effected, composed of twenty
families. They called Rev. Pohlmann as their pastor.
He accepted and entered upon his work on the third
Sunday in Advent, 1878. In 1880 the congregation,
which now numbered thirty-five families, bought a
church and parsonage from the German Methodists
on Clay street, between Market and Jefferson. In
connection with his pastoral duties the minister con-
ducted a very successful parochial week-day school.
This school has been a source of great strength to
the congregation. It grew until it required the en-
tire time of a special teacher. The congregation
has had a regular and substantial growth. In 1889
Rev. Pohlmann resigned the pastorate. He was
succeeded by Rev. O. Praetorius, who is still in
charge of the church. The congregation and par-
ochial school continued to grow until their build-
ing was too small for their use. The large and well
located lot, where their church is now situated, was
purchased in 1891. On this was erected a two-story
building, which serves at once for church and
parochial school purposes. This building was dedi-
cated August 20, 1893. It is intended that this
building shall eventually be used entirely for school
purposes and that a house of worship shall be erect-
ed on the front of the same lot. The congregation
is in a prosperous condition. It represents a mem-
bership of 332.
The Second German Evangelical Lutheran
Church was organized with thirty-five families in
1889. To accommodate the mem-
Lutheran Church. bers of the First German Church,
living in the western part of the city,
and the better to develop the field, this church was
organized. A lot and chapel was bought on Twen-
ty-second and Madison streets. Rev. O. Lubke
was the first pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J.
Schumacher, the present pastor, in 1894. This con-
gregation also organized and regularly conducts a
parochial week-day school. It has a membership of
120. Both these German congregations are doing
a good work, not only in their church, but in their
parochial school.
The growth of the Lutheran movement, as traced
in these pages, has been from the inherent power and
merit of the church. Its theology, embodying the
fundamental truths of religion, meets the deepest
wants of the human heart. It comes to the people
with the truth for which they are hungering. It
comes with an open Bible for all people. It comes
singing the songs of redemption in the richest
hymnology of the ages. It comes with its catechism,
that bright gejn among Christian classics, to teach
the children the truth of God. It comes, the friend
of people in every walk and condition of life. It
comes with its literature and its schools, the advo-
cate of education and universal intelligence. It
comes as the foe of all that is evil and the friend of
all that is good. Animated with such principles
the Lutheran Church joined the ranks of the evan-
gelizing forces of this city. It has had trials and ad-
versities enough to forever destroy any merely hu-
man institution. It has survived and triumphed
over all, “not by might nor by power,” but because
“God is in the midst of her.” The church's past is
crowned with the most precious lessons of encour-
agement. Its present is bright with cheering- prom-
ise. Rising through fiercest trials, on stepping-
stones of faith and duty, it has now reached a vantage
ground from which it looks to the future with a
glorious hope.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL SYNOD.
BY REV. THEOPHILAS F. BODE.
This ecclesiastical body is called the German Evan-
gelical Synod of North America, because it is of
German origin. By many, even in our day, it is
mistaken for the Lutheran, by others, the Reformed
Church. Yet it is neither the one nor the other, but
it represents a union between these two branches
of the Evangelical Church of Germany and of this
country. The German Evangelical Synod of North
America acknowledges the Holy Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, and
as the only and infallible criterion of Christian doc-
trines and life; it accepts as its confession that in-
terpretation of the Holy Scriptures which is laid
down in the symbolic books of the Lutheran
and Reformed churches — the principal symbolic
books of these two churches being the Augsberg
Confession, Luther’s Small Catechism, and the Heid-
elberg Catechism — so far as they agree ; but in points
of difference, the German Evangelical Synod of
North America adheres simply to the passages of
the Holy Scriptures alluding to them, and allows
and makes use of that liberty of conscience which
exists in the Evangelical Church.
Of the principal symbolic books of the Lutheran
and Reformed churches, it can be said that they
agree almost throughout with the Holy Scriptures.
In most points of Christian doctrine that are of vital
importance they, therefore, also agree with each
other. But, in some points they differ. The pas-
sages of Scripture alluding to these points of doc-
trine or Christian practice are not very plain, and,
therefore, admit of different interpretations. The
principal difference between these two branches of
the Evangelical Church exists in the doctrine of
the Lord’s Supper. The German Evangelical Synod
of North America does not assume the authority to
decide how the body and blood of our Lord is dis-
pensed and received in this Holy Sacrament, simply
because there is no plain, direct passage of Scripture
by which it can be decided. So then, in this church,
the person holding the Lutheran view, and the one
holding the Reformed view to be the more correct,
may stand together at the Lord’s table and, provided
that they come with a repenting and believing heart,
and provided that their hearts are right with God
and with their fellow-men, they may receive together
this Holy Sacrament, and neither the one nor the
other is excluded or prohibited from partaking of
it. d his Evangelical liberty of conscience is cer-
tainly in accordance with the spirit of the Christian
religion and with the spirit of reformation. Thus
the Evangelical Synod of North America endeavors
to unite the Lutheran and the Reformed branches of
the Evangelical Protestant Church ; so that the chil-
dren of the Reformation may be one in Christ, and
brothers and sisters among each other.
In the glorious work of establishing this union
the German Evangelical Synod of North America
has been wonderfully successful. In Germany a
church with similar principles and the same object in
view has existed since 1817. In that year the union
of the Lutheran and Reformed churches was pro-
claimed in Prussia by Frederick William III., king
of Prussia. This church is known in Germany by
the name of the Prussian Union. I11 this country
its existence dates back to 1840. On the 15th of
October of that year the founders of our synod, six
in number, assembled at Gravois Settlement, now
Mehlville, St. Louis county, Missouri, and organ-
ized themselves, naming the body “The German
Evangelical Church Association of the West.” At
the same time the formulary in which the articles of
faith and the principles of our church are comprised
was adopted and signed by those present at this
meeting. In the course of time other German ec-
clesiastical bodies of the east and northwest, which
were governed by the same principles, united with
the German Evangelical Association of the West.
264
THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL SYNOD.
265
Hence it became necessary that the name should be
changed. This was done in the year 1877, when
the name was adopted by which this body is known
to-day, i. e., “The German Evangelical Synod of
North America.”
The synod has two excellent institutions of learn-
ing-; one is located at Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of
Chicago, where teachers are educated and students
of theology receive their preparatory training; the
theological seminary of the synod is located at St.
Louis, Missouri.
The number of pastors belonging to the synod at
the end of the year 1895 was 838; the number of
congregations of which they had charge, 1,075. In
Louisville there are seven prosperous churches con-
nected with or belonging to the German Evangeli-
cal Synod of North America. They are:
St. Paul’s German Evangelical Church, Preston
and Green streets.
St. John’s German Evangelical Church, Market
and Clay streets.
St. Peter’s German Evangelical Church, Jeffer-
son, between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets.
St. Luke’s German Evangelical Church, Jeffer-
son, near Nineteenth street.
Christ Church, German Evangelical, Garden
street.
St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Church, Me-
chanic street.
Bethlehem German Evangelical Church, South
Seventh street.
St. Paul’s Church is the oldest German Protest-
ant church in the city, and may be called the mother
church of all other churches in the city belonging
to the synod. It has existed, so far as can be
learned, since 1830. Of its early history not much
is known beyond the fact that the congregation had
a place of worship on Fourth and Green streets,
afterwards on Hancock, near Main. In 1842 a
church was built at the corner of Preston and Green
streets and during the war, 1861-62, the present
house of worship was erected. The Rev. Daubert
had charge of this congregation for a period of
thirty-seven years. Since 1874, the Rev. Frederick
Weygold has been pastor of the church.
St. John’s Church may also look back upon a
history of more than a half century. In 1842 the
church was organized. The first regular pastor was
called in 1843, the place of worship at this time being
a rented building on Fifth, between Green and Wal-
nut streets. In 1848 a church was built on Hancock
street, between Market and- Jefferson. This was
occupied until 1867, when the present large house
of worship was completed and dedicated. The Rev.
Theodore Dresel was pastor of this church from
1857 to 1875; Rev. Brodman, who succeeded him,
had charge of the church for a term of four years.
Since 1879 Rev. Carl J. Zimmerman has been pro-
claiming Christ from the pulpit and in the parish of
St. John’s Church. St. John’s is numerically the
strongest church of the synod in Louisville.
St. Peter’s Church has really been in existence
since 1847, but it was not until 1849 that it became
fully organized and erected a house of worship on
Eleventh and Grayson streets. In subsequent years,
during the pastorate of Rev. H. Waldmann, the
church was enlarged and beautified. Rev. Wald-
mann looked after the spiritual welfare of the mem-
bers of the church for a period of twenty-six years.
In October, 1893, the present pastor, T. F. Bode,
was called to the pulpit and parish of St. Peter’s
Church. It very soon became evident to pastor and
people that the location of the church was an un-
fortunate one and an impediment to the work of the
pastor and the prosperity of the church. In a meet-
ing held in January, 1894, it was unanimously re-
solved to build a new church. Messrs. Clark &
Loomis were engaged as architects and the work
was pushed with much energy and consecrated zeal.
An additional piece of ground, adjoining the lots
which had been bought by the Ladies’ Society some
years before this, was purchased, on Jefferson, be-
tween Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, and this con-
stitutes the site of the new church and parsonage.
On the 24th day of March, 1895, the new church
was dedicated. It is an imposing structure, com-
fortably arranged inside, and thoroughly equipped
throughout. This is not only an ornament to the
neighborhood, but also a monument of the Christian
faith and love, and of the consecrated devotion of
the people of God, constituting the membership of
this church.
St. Luke’s Church was first, for a number of
years, located on Thirteenth and Green streets. In
1872 a new church was built on Jefferson street,
near Nineteenth. For many years pastors of the Re-
formed Church had charge of tiiis congregation, but
it afterwards became connected with the synod.
2G6
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Since then the following pastors have served the
congregation : Kranz A. Michel and N. P. Rieger.
Rev. C. Christiansen now has charge of the church.
Christ Church was organized in 1879. A lot was
bought and a church erected on Garden street, and
Rev. Brodmann was called to be its first pastor. He
was succeeded in 1883 by Rev. A. Schory, who has
since then been the spiritual adviser and faithful
leader of the people of Christ Church.
St. Matthew’s Church, on Mechanic street, has
been in existence since 1890. Although a young-
congregation, it was found necessary in 1895 to en-
large the church in order to make room for and ac-
commodate the people. Rev. Bettex was pastor of
this church for a short time; at present Rev. O.
Miner watches over the spiritual interests of St.
Matthew’s congregation.
Bethlehem Church is the youngest Evangelical
sister church of the synod in Louisville. It is lo-
cated on South Seventh street. The Evangelical
Christians of the southern part of the city were vis-
ited and called together for worship by a gentleman
of the name of Edlich. A church was built and Rev.
O. W. Breuhaus was called to the pastorate. In Oc-
tober, 1895, Rev. C. Held took charge of the
church.
In all of these Evangelical churches, except one,
children are instructed and services are conducted in
both the German and English languages. The Ger-
man service is held on Sunday morning and the Eng-
lish service at night.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SOCIETY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.
BY REV. E. A. BEAMAN.
Among the earliest receivers of the doctrines of
the New Jerusalem in Louisville were Nathaniel
Hardy and wife, Bartlet Hardy, Charles E. Beyn-
roth, James Fulton, Mrs. Minerva Parent, Thomas
P. Cragg, John Gill, John Emery Beaman (principal
in a grammar school), Bateman Lloyd (teacher in the
same), Rev. S. H. Wills and wife, Rev. J. P. Stuart
(previously a Presbyterian minister), Miss Caroline
Thumm and Sidney S. Lyon. (Mr. Lyon had been
rescued from infidelity by reading the writings of
Swedenborg.)
The first society was formed in the summer of
1846, one Sunday afternoon, at the residence of Mr.
N. Hardy, the service being conducted by Rev. O.
Prescott, of Cincinnati. The persons forming the
society were Mr. N. Hardy and wife, James Fulton,
Charles E. Beynroth, Miss Caroline Thumm, Sidney
S. Lyon and others. On the same afternoon Bart-
let Hardy united with the society.
Before the formal organization of the society ser-
vices had been held in the basement of the old Uni-
tarian Church, of which Rev. Mr. Heywood was the
pastor. After the organization services continued
to be held in the same place, a reader being ap-
pointed to conduct them. At length, realizing that
having their services in the Unitarian church iden-
tified them, in the mind of the public, with the
Unitarian faith, they deemed it expedient to
have them in another place, and they rented
rooms on Chestnut Street. This was fur-
nished with a pulpit, organ, etc., and also
served as a library and Sunday school room. Ser-
vices were continued there regularly, the society be-
ing visited occasionally by ministers from Cincinnati.
George H. Owen, Esq., a young lawyer, read to the
society in the room on Chestnut street, until some
time in 1870. Mr. Fulton served as librarian; he
also kept new church books on sale.
Rev. E. A. Beaman, of Cincinnati, Ohio, visited
the society several times in 1870 and previously. The
next year he commenced regular monthly visits.
These were continued until the new society was or-
ganized in 1894. During this time the meetings
were held successively in the Chestnut street room,
in a hall in the old Library building, in a room on
Market street, in the parlor of Masonic Temple and
in a room in the Fonda block, on Fourth street. The
audiences varied in number from twenty-five to forte.
There were generally present some strangers from
other churches, and others, who were often so in-
terested that they wondered there were not more
regular attendants. Several of the ministers of dif-
ferent denominations, with whom Mr. Beaman was
on the pleasantest of terms, were occasionally pres-
ent and very attentive listeners. Over seventy of
his discourses have been published in full in the
daily papers, besides many partially reported, and
there is good reason to believe that they have been
pretty generally read, especially by the ministers.
Mr. Beaman has been in the habit of attending other
churches as he has had opportunity, and has rejoiced
at the evidences of progress in theological thought
and belief which are everywhere apparent.
There were occasional accessions to the audiences,
though scarcely more than enough to make up for
removals to other places and to “the other life.” At
length there came to be some who were not satis-
fied with a visit and preaching only once a month.
Every society, to be successful, needs some “lead-
ing spirit” or spirits. The Louisville society had
suffered for the want of such — earnest people who
would not shrink from responsibility. There was
need of those whose genius and disposition were
to “go forward." And such at length came, and as a
result there has been a new organization. A house
has been rented, containing ample accommodations
for congregation, Sunday school and library. And
a minister, Rev. Howard C. Dunham, lias been cn-
207
268
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
gaged as resident minister for the coming year. The
new society was organized on the 15th day of Oc-
tober, 1894, with twelve members, and during the
year the number has increased to about twenty-five.
The society has been legally incorporated. The
officers are a president, treasurer, secretary and trus-
tees. There are also subordinate bodies to serve the
society as its hands for the performances of its va-
rious uses of charity, such as the King's Daughters,
Young People's League and the Sunday school.
We have thus given a brief history of the New
Church in Louisville. The reader will naturally ask,
“What is the New Jerusalem?” What are its doc-
trines? Why has it had such slow growth? What
is the difference between the new and the old man-
hood? What are the writings of Swedenborg in
their relation to this new manhood? Why a new
church organization? What is the one grand central
doctrine that distinguishes the New Church from all
other churches?”
The New Jerusalem is what John, the revelator,
saw in vision and, in symbolical language, described
as “the holy city coming down from God out of
Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus-
band.” When this language is explained the New
Jerusalem is seen to be a new stage of developing
humanity — a new manhood. But what is meant by
the New Jerusalem as a new manhood? Humanity,
or the human race, as a whole, has developed like an
individual; that is, it has been evolved in successive
stages. It has had its pure and innocent childhood,
its wayward growth, its natural or self-love manhood,
and it is now in the early dawn of its spiritual or
love manhood. There has been in these successive
stages a corresponding difference in human intelli-
gence and enlightenment. We see manifestations of
changes on every plane of human thought, not ex-
cepting that of theology. Old absurdities, especially,
and inconsistencies are giving place to more enlight-
ened views.
One of the great wants of the age is now seen
and felt to be an explanation of the Bible, whose
teachings — it being from God — must, when truly
interpreted, be both rational and practical; it is im-
possible that it should otherwise command the be-
lief of man in his coming rational spiritual man-
hood. Such explanation, it is believed by those of
the New Church, has been made by one in the light
of the new age, by one whose whole history shows
him to be especially prepared and competent for the
work.
To interpret revelation truly, it is necessary first to
understand the principles according to which it was j
made ; for such principles contain the only key to in- jj
terpretation. According to this key, all Divine reve-
lation has an internal as well as an external mean-
ing. By this key we see that the real divinity of
Sacred Scripture lies within its verbal expression,
as the soul within the body. The letter of the Word is
holy only from the “spirit and life” within it.
The leading doctrines of the New Jerusalem are
derived from the Bible as interpreted by its key, and
are the following: First, there is but one God, but
God containing such a trinity in unity as Hejras ■
given to each one of His offsprings. That trinity
is called “Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” and is rep-
resented in man bv soul, body and operation or ac-
tion of soul through the body. Second, God has
revealed Himself to men in different ways, but al-
ways in their own language and according to their
recipient condition and wants, at the time. The Bi- ,
ble consists of many such very diverse revelations.
The first verbal revelation to mankind was made in
a language purely symbolical, that being the lan-
guage of the people at the time. That language
was at length lost. Then revelations were success- '■
ively made in language literally true and, at the same
time, having an internal or spiritual meaning; the *
latter meaning, however, was not understood at the ;
time, and it has scarcely been recognized since, until ■
explained by the illuminated seer of this new age.
Third, at length, when humanity had come into such
a condition as to be infested and taken possession of ;
by devils and evil spirits, and needed deliverance
from bondage to that kind of foe — the foes of one’s I
own household, the household of the mind — and
there was no finite arm equal to such a work, God 1
“stretched out his mighty arm;” He, as the Word, !
“was made flesh,” was clothed with a finite human-
ity like our humanity, and in it became manifest as
God with us. That humanity was assumed, as it
were, as a battlefield, and in it the Lord fought 1
against His and our enemies, and overcame them :
and thus delivered man from his bondage. Fourth,
man is saved or lost, exactly according to what he
is, or has made himself by his life, and this depends (
upon whether he has lived according to the laws of
human life. To be lost is to be in an undeveloped,
spiritually diseased condition. To be saved is to be
developed through successive stages of creation and
recreation or regeneration, into his ripe, God-like
love manhood, or, which is the same, into angel-
hood. Fifth, the “future life” is a condition of this
life, but without the material body. Man is not
SOCIETY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.
269
changed in the least in that which constitutes his
: .real being by the death of the body, any more than
the real corn is changed by tbe death of the husk. He
simply lives right on with like affections, thoughts
and motives, but in a spiritual body. Hence hell, in
■ the other life, as in this life, is where self-love has
i dominion; and Heaven is where love rules.
Such, in brief, are the leading doctrines of the
New Jerusalem. As more fully stated, they are,
by common acknowledgment of those who have
given them thought enough to understand them,
eminently rational, practical, beautiful and they are
certainly scriptural. They are also simple — as truth
itself is — far more simple than the leading doctrines
of any religious denomination.
It is, therefore, a very natural question, Why are
the readers of those doctrines and the listeners to
their preaching relatively so few? In the first place,
they do not appeal to the selfish hopes and fears
of people to get religion, attend religious meetings,
join the church and the like, for the sake of keeping
out of hell, as a place of torment, and getting into
Heaven as a place of happiness. Eliminate these
selfish motives from the appeals of evangelists, and
their harvests would be small. On the contrary, life,
according to the doctrines of the New Jerusalem, or
of the real teachings of the Word, is the evolution of
heavenly character, and that is salvation.
Another reason is that there is a great deal of
misrepresentation and prejudice against the New
Church, which is the ecclesiastical form of the New
Jerusalem. The pulpits are responsible for their
share of this. Certain motives have lead a great
many to attend our meetings once, sometimes twice,
and they have as often expressed great satisfaction
with what they had heard. But most of these have
not deemed it expedient to come again. There are
a great many motives that lead people to church, be-
sides the genuine church motives, and such motives
as would keep them away from the little, unpopular
New Church meetings. It requires a decidedly strong
love of the doctrines to overcome so many preju-
dicial influences. The great mass of people attend
church from various other motives than those of
worship and learning the way of life.
Still another reason for the slow growth of the
New Church is the changes which are taking place
in the other churches. It is in the fact that the' old,
offensive dogmas are growing less and less promi-
nent, and all religious teachings are rapidly partak-
ing more and more of the spirit and character of the
New Church. The occasion, therefore, for leaving
former church affiliations for the sake of joining the
New Church is becoming less and less every year.
And the time is not very far distant when the essen-
tial doctrines of the New Church will be preached
under the old denominational names, when, in fact,
whole societies will be ready to adopt the faith of
the New Church. This is conclusively evident from
the changes in doctrines that are now so rapidly
taking place.
But why should the new manhood of the race make
such a difference in human enlightenment? What is
it that really constitutes the difference between the
new manhood and the old manhood? I answer, “It
is humanity, not yet -risen above its self-love stage
of development.’’ Such humanity is capable of great
learning, great statesmanship, profound investiga-
tions in science and philosophy. Yes, self-love men
have often trained themselves to be very religious,
very pious, very self-sacrificing even, but on the self-
ish basis of first getting religion to save their souls.
They are capable of instruction only in the verbal
precept of life. The light of truth does not, cannot,
shine in their minds. To them the Lord has not yet
“come a light into the world’’ — the world of their
minds. Self-love as a motive of action, and whether
religious or secular, is blind to truth as living light.
Even the religious self-love man can only learn
about truth from verbal statements of it ; he can-
not see it; his eyes are not open. In other words,
the “door” of his mind at which the Lord, the Lord
as the real living truth itself, “stands knocking,” is
not open. On the contrary, the man partaking of
the spirit and character of this love stage of human
development has the door of his mind open, and the
Lord, as living truth, the truth that shines in and il-
luminates the mind, is coming in; and, oh, what a
world of meaning in the fact that they “sup” with
each other. “I will come in to him, and will sup
with Him, and He with me.”
Such is the infinite difference between the love-
man and the self-love man, or between the new man-
hood and the old manhood. It is light coming into
the mind and illuminating it, thus giving clear, in-
tuitive perceptions, that is producing all these
changes, and such wonderful progress on every plane
of human thought. This new recipiency of Divine
truth, this reception of truth as “light," instead of
as true verbal expressions of truth, or, in addition
to the latter, is what is giving new life to every
subject of thought. Every industry, as well as all
art, all science, in fact, all literature, including theol-
logy, is being regenerated. This is why old things
270
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
are passing away and all things are becoming new.
Even religion is a new thing. Religion has been a
selfish wav of securing something for self, either in
the here or in the hereafter, as the principal end in
view; religion is now simply life according to the
laws of God as the laws of life, and for the sake of
fulfilling one’s mission in the common body of hu-
manity, as the one great motive of life. Re-
ligion is now seen to be for to-day, and
not for to-morrow, except as a result of
religion for to-day. The real Christ Christianity is
now seen to be peculiarly and emphatically a love
religion. Hard, cruel dogma, representing God as
a magistrate to be “appeased and propitiated,” and
whose forgiveness had to be bought by a “great
sacrifice,” is rapidly giving place to the rational and
practical doctrines of love, which is the all absorbing
element in true Christianity. What else but love —
though, at present, more or less adulterated with
self-love — is the motive power of the great charity
movements of the present day? The question: “What
shall I do to be saved?” is giving place to the ques-
tion: “What shall I do to better serve my fellow-
men?” knowing that salvation will take care of it-
self, if we will but do our best to fill our mission in
the common body.
Such are the signs of the times; such is the basis
on which the New Church is founded, which is the
formal ecclesiastical manifestation of the New Jeru-
salem as the new, God-like, love manhood of the New
Jerusalem, as the warm, ripening summer age of
human development. It is to the New Church, we
may say, that are especially revealed the new doc-
trines or teachings of the new manhood. And such
revelations must come by means of and as character-
ized by the stage of humanity needing it, just as has
been the case, as we have seen, with all other revela-
tions. No one, before this open door love-age, has
been capable of receiving truth otherwise as meas-
ured out to him in words, spoken, as it were, in his
ears; and such revelation, when written, has been
called Holy Writing, or Sacred Scripture, because
the words themselves, as well as the “spirit of life”
of them, were the Lord’s. But the “coming man”
needs, and is measurably capable of receiving, the
truth itself. He does not need to have it put in a
verbal form by one of the “brethren,” and then to
regard such verbal truth as God speaking to him.
Hence, no such authoritative revelation has been
made for the man of the real New Jerusalem. But
in his transition stage from the old to the new man-
hood, man needs explanations and instruction in
many things, especially in regard to the real or high-
er meaning of former revelations. To make such
explanation requires a mind especially prepared for
it, just as is the case in regard to every other sub-
ject. It requires a man especially prepared to ex-
plain any department in the great works of God. He
must have the peculiar bent of mind, talent and
genius as the basis, and then, in all cases, these must
be brought out by cultivation to enable him to ful-
fill his mission. But, besides and in addition to all
this, to explain the higher or internal meaning of
former revelations, required a mind whose love door
was open, thus a mind in a condition to be instructed
by the Lord as the only “Rabbi” or authority; and
this means a mind illuminated by inflowing, living
truth itself. To be thus illuminated is to be taught
by the Lord. And this is the form of the truth, to
be received as authority by all men belonging to this
New Jerusalem or love age.
Hence the value of Swedenborg's writings. They
are not revelations from the Lord, according to any
former meaning of revelation. They are simply
explanations of revelation, of revelation in the great
book of Nature, as well as of that in the Book of
Sacred Scripture. It was his peculiar talent and his
persistent and faithful cultivation of that talent that
gave him such wonderful breadth and depth of mind
above other minds. And then it was that such
treasures of mind gradually lifted up, as it were, in
the light of Heaven, thus into a state of illumina-
nation belonging to the man — to all men — of the
new age; it was all this that enabled Him to per-
form such priceless service for men in their transition
state from the old to the new manhood.
Now, the New Church in Louisville, as in other
places, consists of those who have a rational per-
ception of the truth of the above doctrines and prin-
ciples. They organize themselves into a society, on
the ground of a common faith, just as others do.
They have learned, by the study of his writings, to
regard Swedenborg, though by no means infallible,
as their greatest human teacher in theology, just as
others have so regarded Luther and Calvin and
Wesley and Fox. Yet they do not look upon him as
their rabbi, or master, in any such sense as they do
upon Christ — infinitely far from it. The real man of
the New Jerusalem will never take his teachings as
authority, as others have those of Calvin and Wes-
ley. To command their belief, everything must first
pass through the crucible of their own — notothers’ —
rational thought. No man really belonging to this
New Jerusalem age, thus no man having the love-
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SOCIETY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.
271
door of his mind open, so that he can see by the light
of the truth itself, is going to take any verbal state-
ment of truth whatever as authority. But there is
' enough of unity in the understanding of what are
called the “doctrines of the New Church’’ to constitute
a new brotherhood, and they feel that they can do
more, by their combined action, to promote the dis-
semination among their fellowmen of doctrines so
dear to themselves than by individual action. Be-
sides, unity of belief gives nearness in worship and
also in work. At the same time they do not ignore
the great multitude of those rapidly approaching
them in belief, but who do not deem it expedient to
join them, as outside of the real New Jerusalem, or
as not partaking of the real spirit of the new man-
hood. The great and multiplied charities of the
present day show that all the life of the New Jerusa-
lem is very far from being confined to the few small
New Church societies. It is the life that makes the
infinite difference between love-manhood and self-
love-manhood. And by the life I mean the daily
life and in the various relations of life, and life as
characterized by its motives, and not by that false
show of life which has been called piety. Piety, so-
called, is one of the most offensive pretensions of
humanity when it is founded on the selfish idea of
getting to Heaven and being saved as the great
leading motive of life. There is such a self-satisfied
air about it. There is nothing Godlike in it. It is
repulsive to good men and angels. There crops out
of it, in every' word and tone, “have come into favor
with God. I am therefore safe. I can read my title
clear to mansions in the skies.” Humanity, in its
really ripe, Godlike stage, where love takes the place
of self-love, has no time, no disposition for thoughts
about being saved, or about the rewards of future
Heaven as a motive for right living; it has nothing
to do with the future, or with motives about its own
interests either here or hereafter.
The real man of the new age is, on the contrary,
all absorbed in seeking how best to fulfill his mission
in the common body of human society and for the
sake alone of that body. In that work are all his en-
ergies and all his motives. That work is constantly
his one great end in view, and in it also is all his de-
light, his sweetest heaven, and a delight all the
sweeter for coming unsought. A single thought of
any reward for his well doing, either here or here-
after, as a result, would be as a cold wave and a dark
shadow over the mind. What would be the condition
of the heart, or of any other member of the body,
if, in its work, it should think of itself as having any
other interest in view than that of the common good?
It would cease to exist. Its very life depends upon
its doing its work and of doing it witli the love, so to
speak, of the common good as its onlv motive. So
every human being has his own specific work to do
in his relation to others in the common body, and
so far as he has come into his New Jerusalem, or
Godlike manhood — and Godlike, because he acts
from love, as God does — he thinks no more of
himself or of what is coming to himself as a result ot
his work than the heart does in its pulsations, or the
lungs in their breathings.
Thus the great end in view of the New Church
societies is not to save souls, is not to get men into
Heaven, but is, on the contrary^, to teach men the
way, and to help them to walk in the way, of truly
human life, and for the sake of becoming truly
human beings, thus really children of God, so that
they can do the work of such beings in their rela-
tion to God and their fellow men. Salvation and
Heaven are things not to be thought of — certainly
not as motives to be appealed to — by the man realty
belonging to this New Jerusalem age. Such mo-
tives belong to the past, to man when he was in-
capable of any higher motives. They then consti-
tuted the very warp as well as woof of his religion,
and however devout and pious a condition he may
have worked himself into, such motives have had
their mission and a very important mission. “And
the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men everywhere to repent." This is
common sense. We do not appeal to such motives in
the child as in the man, for it has no such motives
and is incapable of them. So the Old Testament
Scriptures do not appeal to such motives as the New
Testament does. So also the more highly devel-
oped manhood of this new age is capable of higher
motives than the “Disciples” were. They belonged
to the early part of the transition stage from self-love
to love, as supreme master in the household of the
mind. Truth has been so long, so many centuries
doing its work as a warrior — “I came not to send
peace, but a sword” — it has so far subdued the foes
of the household of the mind that humanity has be-
come capable of understanding, better than ever be-
fore, what human life is, and what its real nature and
office are. As a result, among “other old things
that are passing away,” are old motives of action;
and one of the most important things that are "be-
coming new” is capacity to see, better than ever
before, what God is, what His children are, and what
is their relation to Him and to each other. And
272
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
man, in this state, can see that salvation and Heaven
are not things to be looked for as an end in view,
but that they are simply resultant fruits of life; that,
in other words, salvation does not, in any sense or
name whatever, depend upon a change in God —
upon his appeasement and propitiation, for example
— but that it is simply and only the spiritually healthy
condition of life according to the laws of life, and
that Heaven is the unsought sweet enjoyment of
such life. In a word, Heaven is in truly developed
character, and the capacity of the individual man for
the enjoyment of its rewards and spiritual fruition
will be in exact proportion to this development,
without which he would be unfitted for appreciat-
ing or exercising the privileges vouchsafed to those
prepared for them.
This then is the distinctive feature of the New
Church, namely: Life according to the laws of God,
as laws of life and for the sake of life
Feature. ot tlle common body as the end in
view. This is the one grand central
doctrine of the New Jerusalem as revealed in the
Bible when truly interpreted, and all the other doc-
trines are as spokes of the same wheel, and conspire
to illustrate and to enforce it. And all men, of what-
ever sect or name, are of this “New Jerusalem,” just
so far as such life is their one great end in view.
Such life is the grand consummation of all the ages
of human development. This is the prodigal son
“arising and going to his father.” Life according
to the laws of life opens the door of the mind and
lets the Lord in — the Lord as Truth filled with love.
And then what a festival! “I will come into Him
and will sup with Him and He with me.”
CHAPTER XXIV.
JEWS AND JUDAISM IN LOUISVILLE.
BY THE EDITOR.
The history of the Jewish race until within the
memory of men still living is a record full of suffer-
ing upon its part and full of cruelty and injustice
upon the part of its oppressors. It is also full of
heroism and sacrifice upon the part of the oppressed
in their adherence to the ancient faith and their fidel-
ity to each other in the bonds of a common persecu-
tion. Until the establishment of the American re-
public there was scarcely a civilized government by
which the Jews were not subjected to mistreatment
as a race, oppressed with special taxes levied upon
them, and subjected to all manner of extortion and
persecution. The asylum offered them in America,
upon terms of perfect civil and political equality, was
the first boon of freedom and the first protection
they had enjoyed since the race became scattered
and the scepter in their own land passed into the
hands of strangers. After long ages of persecution
the most enlightened nations began to relax the
severity of their laws and to treat them with some
comparative degree of humanity and justice, but
the United States first of all struck the shackles from
their hands and led the way in the line of thorough
emancipation. Even in England the Statute De
Judaismo, which prescribed a dress for Jews, was
only repealed in 1846. In 1828 only twelve Jewish
brokers were allowed to carry on business in Lon-
don, and until 1832 no Jew could open a shop, be-
cause that permission was only accorded to freemen.
The first Jewish sheriff in London was unable to
take the oath of office until a special act was passed
in t 835, and although he was followed two years
later by another Jewish sheriff, Sir Moses Montefiore,
it was not until ten years after his election as aider-
man that Lord Lyndhurst’s act of 1845 was passed
enabling him to perform the duties of that office.
In Germany the race was subjected to especial hard-
ships, and although when Napoleon occupied that
country he decreed their release from all disabilities,
the return of the Germans to power relegated them
again to their former condition. Their burdens were
in time lightened, but the universal admission of
Jews to public posts in Germany dates only from the
establishment of the empire in 1871. It has re-
mained for Russia to adhere to the policy of exclu-
sion and to continue persecutions which smack more
of the middle ages than of the nineteenth century.
Although America offered an asylum for the op-
pressed of all nations from the start, there was a very
limited immigration of Tewish fam-
Jews in . /
America. dies to this country until half a cen-
tury after the Revolutionary war.
Individual Jewish men came to this country at an
early period, but freed from the influence of race as-
sociation they generally intermarried with the Chris-
tian sects and their own identity and that of their de-
scendants as of Jewish origin are only revealed by
their names.
Louisville had a number of these enterprising
people, who, coming here singly, allied themselves
by marriage with Christian families
of first respectability, and whose
children and grandchildren were
brought up as Christians and have lost all identity
of their Jewish descent save as matter of tradition
handed down by their elders or preserved in their
written genealogies. It was not until the forties
that there was anything like a separate and dis-
tinctive Jewish element in Louisville, the city direct-
ories published in the thirties showing only a few-
sporadic members of the race in the list of residents,
very few of whom had any social or business prom-
inence. The fact of this paucity is made evident
from there being no Jewish congregation of record
prior to 1842, when the regulation prescribing ten
based upon the system of Roman decemvirs as the
Pioneer Jews of
Kentucky.
18
273
274
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
lowest number entitled to associate themselves into
a religious society, and the well-known tendency of
the race to organize for worship, suggest that they
were not here in sufficient numbers or under condi-
tions to warrant an organization. In 1842 the first
Jewish place of worship of which there is any record
was on Main Street between First and Brook. The
name of the rabbi is not given, nor is it probable that
there was one, the numbers doubtless not admitting
of the employment of one, and the only officer being
a cantor, who chanted the prayers. Another of the
oldest congregations had its synagogue on the south
side of Market near First, in charge of Rabbi Joseph
Dinkelspiel, who survives, a resident of Metropolis,
111. Still another was on Green Street, between
First and Second, which was in existence as a con-
gregation until within the past year.
But Judaism or Jewish worship cannot be said
to have taken a firm foothold in Louisville until
the organization of the Adas Israel
Congregation. congregation. This body was incor-
porated by the Legislature of Ken-
tucky by act approved January 13th, 1843, entitled
“An act to charter the Adas Israel (community of
Israel) in the City of Louisville.’’ The incorporators
named in the act were as follows: Henry Maier
Rosenthal, David Wise, Abraham Gerstle, Henry
Goodman, Abraham Weil, Nathan Bensinger, Henry
Bissenger, Jacob Wursburger, Moses Schwabacher,
Sigmund Ullman, Abraham Schloss, Judel Backrow,
Emanuel Stern, Sampson Gundelfinger, Henry Lie-
ber, Fais Mark, Leon H. Weishart, Nathan Cerf,
Jacob Hyman, Bernard Effenheim, Henry Selliger,
Abraham Tandler, Joseph Greenbaum, Emanuel
Bamberger, Mathias Zahl, Isaac Bamberger, Theo-
dore Hausah, Isaac Roggerburger, Maier Kraft,
Elias Hilp, Benas Marx, Simon Drumm, Wolf Step-
pacher, Simon Bamberger and Isaac Gumperts.
Among these names will be recognized many prom-
inent in the business history of Louisville, whose
descendants are well known. The only one of the
incorporators who survives is Mr. Abraham Gerstle,
who is still in the enjoyment of a well-preserved old
age. That the immigration of this Jewish element
was comparatively recent is shown by the fact that
not one of the names given above as incorporators of
Adas Israel are to be found in the Louisville di-
rectory for 1838-39. Well, therefore, may it be
safely said that between 1840 and 1843 was the
period when the Jewish community became estab-
lished in Louisville, when the Jew was no longer an
isolated being, who married, if he married at all, out-
side of his race, and could worship according
to the rites of his own religion. The charter consti-
tuted the incorporators and other Israelites residing
either temporarily or permanently in the city of
Louisville, who might apply and be accepted into
this society, a body politic and corporate under the
form and mode of worship of the German Jews in
Louisville with perpetual succession and the usual
corporate rights and privileges. The officers were
to be a Parnas (president of the congregation) a
treasurer, secretary and Sharnas (sexton). The offi-
cers were to be elected by ballot. The seventh sec-
tion of this charter, which was enacted at a time
when the State was very particular as to investing
any corporation with banking privileges, even by
implication, provides that “the money of the said
congregation shall not be employed in banking, but
shall be used especially and exclusively in erecting
or repairing temples or synagogues, or for pur-
chasing and enlarging ground for the same, or re-
lieving the unfortunate, in salaries for the pas-
tor, reader, keeper and Shocat (butcher), in estab-
lishing schools for the education of Israelites, and
also for all necessary books, furniture and accom-
modations calculated for the worship of said congre-
gation.”
The first permanent house of worship of the Adas
Israel congregation was a synagogue on the east side
of Fourth Street, between the present site of the
Polytechnic and the Courier Journal buildings. It
was a wooden structure sitting back from the pave-
ment, with fair architectural adornment, the main
auditorium being elevated and reached by a double
flight of steps. It was destroyed by fire in 1865.
The present imposing synagogue on the south-
east corner of Sixth and Broadway was erected in
1867-68 and is one of the handsom-
Synagogue est church edifices in the city. It is
an oriental structure of the Byzan-
tine style of architecture, having domed turrets at
the angles which impart a very bold and striking-
effect. The interior is fitted up in a corresponding-
style, and has a seating capacity comparing- well with
the largest churches in the city. The architectural
merit of the building was impaired by a very long
and steep flight of steps extending nearly the whole
breadth of the Broadway front. Within the past
year, however, these have been replaced by broad
stone steps of easy ascent, leading from each side of
the former, concealed by a very handsome stone
parapet extending along the front, which adds
greatly to the architectural beauty of the building.
JEWS AND JUDAISM IN LOUISVILLE.
275
The whole structure has been painted a cheerful
:{ color and now presents the appearance of a new and
elegant building.
The first rabbi of Adas Israel was Dr. B. H. Gott-
helf, who continued in charge for fifteen years. The
next was Rabbi Levi Kleeburg, who was born in
Hoffgersmar, Prussia, July 14th, 1832. He was
graduated at the University of Gottingen in Hanover
in 1859, and the same year appointed rabbi of Elber-
field, Germany, where he ministered until 1866. He
then received a call from the Adas Israel congrega-
tion. Here he continued for eleven years, and in
1877 was succeeded by Rabbi Emil Hirsch, whose
ministerial term was two years. There was then a
vacancy of one year until 1881, when Rabbi Adolph
Moses was called by the congregation, and has con-
tinued in charge ever since.
This learned divine is a native of Santomishel in
Prussian Poland, where he was born on the 3d day
of May, 1840, the son of Rabbi J. L.
Rabbi Moses. and Eva Moses. His father, who is
still living, is a man of superior intel-
ligence and character, an excellent scholar and ora-
tor, and revered by his son, who has been heard to
say that he is the saintliest man he has ever known.
The young rabbi received his early education in his
native place under the eye of his father, by whom
as he advanced he was instructed in biblical and Tal-
mudic subjects. At the age of nineteen he removed
to Breslau, where he studied eight years, and was
graduated from the University of Breslau in 1867.
But this was not his only university education, since
about eight years ago, wishing to supplement his
scholastic acquirements with a knowledge of medi-
cine, he began the study of that science at the Uni-
versity of Louisville, and three years ago he received
a diploma from that institution. It was never his
intention to practice, but he has found the knowledge
thus acquired very useful. The life of Dr. Moses
prior to the time when he became settled in the
priesthood was not without other incidents besides
those of scholastic life, and many of his friends will
| be surprised to learn that he has a military record,
! as for about eight months in i860 he was a volun-
teer under Garibaldi in Naples. After finishing his
I studies at Breslau he was from the fall of 1868 until
July, 1870, professor of geography and modern lan-
guages at a commercial college in Bavaria. In Sep-
tember of the latter year he was called to the pulpit
of a Jewish congregation in Montgomery, and com-
ing to America he entered upon his ministerial work
at that place. Here he remained a year and a half,
when he accepted a call to Mobile, Ala., where he
continued to officiate until 1881, when he was called
to the pastorate of Adas Israel. Under his ministra-
tion this congregation has continued to grow in
strength until it is now one of the largest in the city,
comprising as it does the great body of the educated
Jewish citizens of Louisville. Under the pastor-
ate of Dr. Moses there has been a steady growth of
liberalism, which has kept pace with the noted prog-
ress of American Judaism. Dr. Moses may be said
to belong to the advanced wing of the Reformed
Jewish Church in America. He is utterly opposed
to a tribal or chosen-people religion, and in all his
writings and sermons he has this one purpose in
mind. His most pronounced publication is a pam-
phlet of 265 pages from the press of Flexner Broth-
ers, Louisville, 1894, entitled, “The Religion of
Moses,” in which he advocates the broad ground of
Universalism. In it he traces the origin of religion
from its primary origin in the family, the tribe and the
race to the. revealed religion of Moses, which was
intended to embrace all mankind. He therefore dis-
cards Judaism as the proper expression of his faith
and insists upon calling it the religion of Jehovah, or
Jehovism. In this view his congregation is a unit
with him, and his profound scholarship, his broad
humanitarian sentiments, which embrace, in his love
for mankind, all races and sects, have had a marked
effect in breaking down the prejudices and barriers
which so long separated the Jewish rabbi from the
other religious sects. The consequence is that the
relations which Dr. Moses entertains to the clergy of
nearly all the denominations of Louisville is most
cordial and fraternal. Especially was this noted as
between him and the late revered Dr. Broadus. The
enlightened views, the eloquence and thorough es-
teem in which he is held attract to his discourses
not only the laity, but many of the Christian
clergy, and upon occasions calling for meeting's
looking to the alleviation of human distress or to
social reforms he shares with hearty welcome the
pulpit or the rostrum with our leading clergymen.
In all benevolent designs he is ever prominent, and
as a recognition of his value in council to other posi-
tions of honor he adds that of being one of the
Board of Visitors to the Kentucky Institution for the
Blind by appointment of the Governor of Kentucky.
He is a Mason, and is a member of three Jewish
orders, B’nai B’rith, Kesher and Free Sons of Israel.
I11 domestic life Dr. Moses is happily mated. In
November, 1874, he married Miss Emma Isaacs of
New York, whose family was one of the foremost in
27G
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Southern Germany. They have ten children, five
sons and five daughters. His eldest and third sons
are studying for the ministry.
The other Jewish congregations are B’rithSholum,
613 First Street, Rev. Ignatz Mueller; B’nei Jacob
congregation, Rabbi Solomon Scheinfeld, organized
April 2, 1882; Beth Medresh Hagodel, a small con-
gregation, 414 Floyd Street, Rev. Sundel Israel, and
the Adas Jeshurum congregation, 228 E. Chestnut,
organized within the past year. These adhere to
the old Jewish ritual or use a modified form. The
social features of Judaism find expression in the
“Standard Club,” which has an elegant club house
on Fifth Street, between Walnut and Chestnut,
and is an admirably conducted institution. Of
Hebrew societies there are the B'nai B’rith, with
three lodges; the O. Iv. S. B., with two lodges;
the Independent Order Free Sons of Israel, with
two lodges; the O. B. A., with two lodges, and
the A. O. H. , with seven divisions. In charities, in
which the Hebrews are everywhere prominent, it
being their pride that none of their race are to be
found in almshouses or as beggars for charity, the
Louisville Jews are specially active. Besides the
United Hebrew Association, which looks to the gen-
eral relief of the needy of the race, there has been
within the past year completed a large and handsome
building by the Young Men’s Benevolent Associa-
tion, the members of which belong chiefly to the
congregation of Adas Israel, and of which Mr. I.
W. Bernheim is President. The building is situated
on First Street between Walnut and Chestnut, and
was dedicated with appropriate exercises January
1, 1896. The association has also near by a gym-
nasium equipped with all the most improved ap-
pliances for healthful exercise.
CHAPTER XXV.
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
BY OWEN GATHRIGHT, JR., AND W. M. DANNER.
In the year 1844, in London, England, was orig-
inated the religious movement which has developed
into the Young Men’s Christian Association of to-
day. On the 6th of June of that year the first Asso-
ciation was formed and took the name “Young
Men’s Christian Association for the improvement
of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in
the drapery and other trades by the introduction of
religious services in the houses of business.” This
name, which was longer than the list of members,
was soon abbreviated so that only the first four
words were retained and “Young Men’s Christian
Association” became the name by which the succes-
sors of this society have been known throughout
the world. George Williams, a young draper’s clerk,
was the founder of the first Association. Beginning
with six members, at the end of five months it had
seventy members, and at the end of the first year
one hundred and sixty members. Branches of the
parent Association were formed in other English
cities, and at the end of the fourth year of its exis-
tence it had a total membership of nearly one thou-
sand. The purposes of the organization had by this
time become more clearly defined and the scope of
its work greatly broadened, its stated object being
the improvement of the spiritual and mental condi-
tions of young men. The young founder of this As-
sociation budded better than he knew, and while it
was evident from the start that he had set on foot a
movement which met a need of the times, neither he
nor his most sanguine friends could ever have
dreamed of the wonderful results and the vast good
which has resulted therefrom. On the 6th of June,
1894, at the semi-centennial jubilee of the Associa-
tion, this young man, then grown old, crowned with
lasting honor and glory, stood in the center of a
brilliant gathering in Westminster Abbey in the
presence of a mighty army of delegates from all
parts of the civilized world, “who brought from
five hundred thousand members, with a Pentecostal
blessing of tongues, glad tidings of the gratitude of
all the continents and islands of the sea for the work
of the Young Men's Christian Association.”
Eor seven years after the organization of the As-
sociation its work was confined entirely to England,
but the report of what it had accomplished went
abroad, and in the month of December, 1851, the
initial steps in the formation of the American Asso-
ciations were taken. Almost simultaneously Asso-
ciations were formed in Boston, Massachusetts, and
in Montreal, Canada, and thus the work began on
this side of the Atlantic.
In Louisville the movement was not inaugurated
until July, 1853. At that time the American
Protestant ministers of the city and
Association. the City Mission and Tract Society
received from certain German cler-
gymen of Louisville a communication on the subject
of forming an Association to promote the moral and
intellectual improvement of young Germans. This
led to a serious consideration of the project of form-
ing a branch of the Young Men’s Christian Associa-
tion, and to formulate and carry out a plan of organ-
ization a meeting of the young men of the city was
held in Sehon Chapel on the 13th day of July, 1853.
At this meeting' the Association was regularly
formed and the following officers were elected:
President — J. H. Huber.
Vice Presidents — Charles Diiffield, Dr. John R.
Pirtle, John Laufer and Richard A. Robinson.
Recording Secretaries — Alvin Wood, Tolm
Ludwig.
Corresponding Secretaries — H. G. S. Whipple,
Max Kohlhaus.
Treasurer— David B. Fonda.
Board of Managers — Rutherford Douglass, L. L.
Warren, C. C. Spencer, G. R. Penton, John \\ . Cole-
man, Dr. Samuel Dickenson, Bryce M. Patton, Har-
277
278
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
vey Shanks, William Burkhardt, Conrad Schmidt,
F. Wedekemper and Dr. Pillichody.
That the movement had aroused general interest
in the city churches is evident from the fact that on
July 1 8th following, twenty-nine standing commit-
tees of the Association were appointed, representing
as many different church societies then in existence
in Louisville. On the 4th of August following the
committee on library and rooms reported that a
temporary home for the Association had been ob-
tained in the Walnut Street Baptist Church, the trus-
tees of that church having granted the use of rooms,
to be kept open every night of the week except Sun-
day night, such quarters being furnished the Asso-
ciation free of charge. This was the beginning of
the Association and of its work in Louisville, and in
due course of time it took its place in the chain of
kindred organizations which were being established
throughout the United States. A conference of these
Associations was held in Buffalo in June, 1854, and
H. G. S. Whipple, G. A. Hull and R. H. Waggoner
were the delegates elected to represent the Louis-
ville Association. Mr. Whipple alone attended the
conference and upon his return made a report con-
cerning the progress of the Association work, which
was of such interest to the local organization that
one hundred copies of the printed report of the pro-
ceedings of the Buffalo Conference were ordered
for distribution among those interested in the work
in Louisville. Soon afterward the local Association
voted to ratify the articles of confederation which
had been adopted at Buffalo, and thus entered into
the league of Christian Associations. During the
winter of 1854-55, a lecture course was inaugurated
and conducted under the auspices of the Associa-
tion, George William Curtis, Bayard Taylor and
Rev. Dr. Robert Baird being among the more prom-
inent of the lecturers. Oliver Wendell Holmes, John
G. Saxe, Parke Benjamin and Benjamin Silliman,
Sr., delivered lectures under the same auspices the
following winter. It had been hoped that the pro-
ceeds of these lecture courses would aid the Associa-
tion to expand its usefulness and equip it to some
extent for better work, but these expectations were
not realized. On the contrary, the Association in-
curred obligations which made it necessary to sur-
render the rooms generously provided by Walnut
Street Baptist Church, to abandon the regular “open
evenings” and hold only weekly meetings, such
meetings being held at the homes of the members.
In the spring of 1856, the Association inaugurated
a series of daily prayer meetings, which awakened a
deep religious interest in the community and was
productive of most excellent results. This move-
ment spread throughout the city and daily prayer
meetings were conducted in different portions and
at such places as the large hall of Masonic Temple,
the La Fayette Engine House and the Relief Engine
House during a portion of each year until 1859.
During these years committees also visited and held
regular services from time to time at the City Hospi-
tal, the Work House, Marine Hospital, Alms House,
Bethel Mission and County Jail. In the fall of 1858
the committee responded nobly to an appeal for aid
from the Young Men’s Christian Association of New
Orleans on behalf of the yellow fever sufferers of
that city, sending a contribution of something more
than one thousand dollars to the stricken city.
In the spring of 1859 the Association found itself
free from indebtedness with a balance in the treasury
and a membership of 152 young men deeply inter-
ested in its progress and welfare. The outlook at
that time was promising and continued to be so until
the Association began to feel the blighting effects of
the approaching Civil War. A memorable meeting
was held on the 29th of January, 1861, at which, at
the request of the Association of Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, the Louisville Association joined in prayer
for the preservation of the Union. The events of
the following year diminished both the revenues and
the membership of the local Association and again
it became necessary to abandon a home which had
been fitted up over the Mechanics’ Institute Library.
An interval of ten months followed during which
no meetings were held. Then, at the call of the
President, the remnant of the Association again met
in the female High School building at the corner
of Centre and Walnut streets March 29, 1862.
At this meeting a renewal of active work was de-
termined upon and it was decided that the military
prisons, hospitals and barracks of
the city should be included in the
missionary work of the Association.
Mr. George W. Morris, ever a warm friend of the
Association and one of its most active members,
who was at that time President of the City School
Board, secured for the use of the Association, free of
rent, a room in the female High School building
and again it entered upon systematic evangelistic
work. At this time the original Association was
merged into the United States Christian Commis-
sion, which had been organized in Philadelphia,
with George H. Stuart of that city as President. On
Tune 2 1st, 1862, the last entries were made on the
Christian
Commission.
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
279
records of the Association organized in 1853, and
at that time it seems practically to have ceased to
exist. It had, however, responded to an appeal
which came from Philadelphia and had organized
a branch of the Christian Commission, of which J.
Edward Hardy — previously President of the Young
Men’s Christian Association — became chairman and
Thomas Quigley and Isaac Russell treasurer and
secretary, respectively. It seems proper, therefore,
to say that the Association existed during the Civil
War in spirit, though under a different name, and
its energies were largely devoted to work in the
hospitals and barracks, where faithful services were
rendered to the country and to the cause of Chris-
tianity. Immediately after the close of the war, ef-
forts were made to revive the Association, and on
the 29th of May, 1865, a meeting was held for this
purpose at the Merchants’ Exchange. No organiza-
tion was, however, effected and it was not until 1866
that the movement took form which resulted in the
formation of a new Association.
Toward the close of 1866 a concerted movement
was made to reorganize the Association under the
direction of such energetic and
Reorganization, forceful spirits as Rev. George C.
Lorimer, later of Chicago and now
of Boston; Rev. J. L. McKee, Rev. F. M. Whittle,
now Bishop of Virginia; Rev. R. M. Dudley, Rev.
Thomas Bottomley and others. On the 15th of De-
cember a meeting was held in Walnut Street Bap-
tist Church, at which a constitution was adopted and
the initiatory steps taken to found a new Y.M.C.A.
organization. A week later another meeting was
held at the same place, at which the following named
officers were elected:
President — John L. Wheat.
Vice Presidents — William Muir, C. O. Smith,
Theodore Harris, William A. Robinson, H. FI. Mon-
roe, Ben S. Weller and J. A. Hinkle.
Recording Secretary — J. M. Gleason.
Corresponding Secretary — Thomas W. Bullitt.
Treasurer — George S. Allison.
Registrar — John R. Watts.
The meetings of the new Association were held
alternately in the lecture rooms of the central
churches, and through the earnest and well-directed
efforts in its behalf a great interest in the Associa-
tion was soon manifested throughout the city. A
special effort was made to increase its membership
and in a comparatively short time there were eigh-
teen hundred names on the roll of members. At the
session of the Legislature of Kentucky held in 1867
a charter was secured for the Association, and early
in April its constitution was revised to meet the re-
quirements of this charter.
Having now assumed the dignity of a corporate
body and established itself on a more business-like
basis than that upon which the original Association
had been conducted, plans were formed for building
up an institution which should be permanent in
its character, which would bring together the young
men of the city in a semi-social organization, under
influences conducive to their moral and intellectual
betterment and surround them with attractive en-
vironments. To accomplish this result, the Board
of Managers recommended that a fund of $20,000
should be raised to furnish rooms and purchase a
library. Acting' upon this recommendation a com-
mittee of sixty-five men was appointed to solicit
subscriptions, John B. McFerran being made chair-
man of the committee. This committee was com-
posed largely of substantial business men as well
as earnest Christian workers, and they succeeded
in arousing popular sentiment to such an apprecia-
tion of the enterprise that they had comparatively
little difficulty in raising the necessary funds. With
these resources at its command, the Association
rented rooms in what was then known as the Weis-
iger Building — now the Polytechnic Building —
which were handsomely furnished and thrown open
to the members and the general public Saturday
evening, May nth, 1867. This inaugural meeting
and others held about the same time were largely at-
tended, great enthusiasm prevailed and the outlook
was indeed hopeful. On May nth S. L. Ewing was
elected Librarian and Superintendent of the rooms
and about the same time a series of daily prayer
meetings was inaugurated, which continued until
tlie latter part of 1868. Good results of the work
were apparent on every hand, but before long finan-
cial difficulties again clouded the prospects and im-
paired the usefulness of the organization. The cur-
rent expenses of the organization had been very
heavy and to meet these expenses the fund raised
for furnishing the rooms and purchasing a library
had been encroached upon. Debts were incurred
and it was not long before this indebtedness became
burdensome. Members became discouraged and in-
active and the officers of the Association were great-
ly hampered, every branch of the work being af-
fected by the lack of financial resources. At the end
of the year 1869 this indebtedness amounted to $2,-
000 and an important meeting was called to devise
ways and means to liquidate the debt and provide
280
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
for the continuance of Association work. It was
a critical period in the history of the Association,
but the members proved themselves equal to the
emergency.
Mr. Andrew Graham generously proposed to be
one of twenty to pay the debt, and within a week
over $2,000 had been raised, paying
Troubles1 °ff ^ie outstanding obligations and
leaving a balance in the treasury.
This burden being removed, the officers and man-
agers of the Association determined to reduce ex-
penses and early in the following November re-
moved to a building formerly occupied by the Uni-
tarian Church, at the corner of Fifth and Walnut
Streets. Here the Association had a comfortable
home at a reduced cost, using the lower floor
for a library and reading room and for prayer
and business meetings and the upper floor for all
large gatherings. The library collected at this time
had assumed handsome proportions and numbered
in all six thousand volumes. Through the delegates
who were in attendance at the Indianapolis Conven-
tion of 1870 new interest was awakened in mission-
ary labors and there was an increase of work in that
direction. The struggle to meet financial obliga-
tions was, however, a severe one, the experi-
ence of the Louisville Association being not unlike
the experiences of Associations in other Western
cities at that time. The public had not then become
thoroughly aroused, as it is now, to the importance
of the work being done under the auspices of the
Association, and it did not fully realize its value
to the business interests of the city and the com-
munity as a whole. In the fall of 1871 the local
Association again found itself approaching a crisis
in its affairs, and on the nth of November a meet-
ing was held at which resolutions prepared by a
special committee composed of C. B. Seymour, J.
Edward Hardy, Alexander P. Humphrey and B.
M. Sherrill were unanimously adopted. The gloom
which himg over the Association at that time is
evidenced in these resolutions, which made the fol-
lowing recommendations :
First — “That we appoint a committee to secure
the surrender of our lease.
Second — “That a committee be appointed to dis-
pose, J>y sale, in such manner as they shall see fit,
of all our assets, excepting the library.
Third — “That the said committee shall have full
power to return to the School Board the library
loaned us by that body or to dispose of the same in
such manner as shall free us from liability.
Fourth — “That the President be requested to se-
cure from some one of our churches the privilege of
holding our meetings in their lecture room.
Fifth — -“That the committee appointed by the sec-
ond, third and fourth resolutions take no action un-
less the acceptance mentioned in the first be se-
cured.”
“In making these recommendations,” said the
committee, “we would not for a moment intimate
that our organization has been a failure. When we
organized, five years ago, no organization for the
benefit of young men existed in the churches of the
city, no public library or reading room could be
found and no provision was made for a course of
lectures. At present several denominations and some
individual churches have their young people’s so-
cieties, a German Young Men’s Christian Associa-
tion is doing well and the public apathy in reference
to libraries, lectures and reading rooms is rapidly
disappearing. The Women’s Christian Association
has been organized and is accomplishing much. The
Louisville library has been instituted, containing"
about three thousand volumes. We cannot doubt
that our body has been partially instrumental in
bringing about these results. These institutions,
however, have necessarily deprived us of much of
our available strength until at present it seems in-
expedient to continue our library and reading room.
Meanwhile, let us continue our organization, hoping
to resume active operation as soon as we can be
sure of the hearty cooperation and sympathy of the
young men of our city and the Christian people.
As it has pleased God in his providence to transfer
the work for which we labored to the hands of
others, let us rejoice that the work is still doing, and
though as a body we can no longer influence the
community we can as individuals promote and ad-
vance the cause of intelligence, virtue and religion.”
An air of sadness and discouragement hung about
these resolutions and they seemed to foreshadow the
ultimate dissolution of the Association. Through
the sale of its effects and with the proceeds of a lec-
ture delivered under its auspices by John B. Gough
every item of its indebtedness was liquidated, its
rooms were closed and the Association ceased to
exist as a social organization. While, however, the
Association had no rooms and had given up the
work formerly done, officers were elected regularly
and they still felt themselves connected with the
Association at large. They kept up communication
with the international committee and received visits
from Secretaries R. C. Morse and Robert Weiden-
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
281
i sail, who discussed with them the propriety of re-
suming active work as soon as the way should be
clear for them to do so. Although it had scarcely
a tangible existence, the action of these gentlemen
in keeping the Association in place in the national
organization was a potent factor in bringing about
its resuscitation. In the spring of 1875, Whittle and
Bliss, the renowned evangelists, held a series of
gospel meetings in Louisville, which produced a
great religious awakening in the city.
At the close of one of these meetings held in Li-
brary Hall Sunday evening, March 7th, a meeting
was called of those interested in the
reorganization of the Young Men’s
Christian Association. At this meet-
ing the attendance was large, an earnest disposition
was manifested to take hold of the work and push
it vigorously, and a committee was appointed to
devise a plan for the accomplishment of this object.
On the following Friday afternoon an adjourned
meeting was held in the same place, over which Col.
Bennett H. Young presided, John C. Benedict act-
ing as secretary. At this meeting the reorganization
was in part perfected, a constitution being adopted
and a temporary board of managers appointed.
There was vigor and earnestness and prompt action
on the part of those engaged in the new movement.
On the day following the temporary organization
■ another meeting was held at which officers were
elected and steps were taken to secure rooms for the
Association. On the 18th of March, a public inaug-
ural meeting was held in Library Hall, at which Dr.
L. W. Munhall of Indianapolis was present and de-
livered a stirring address. Until April 5th following
the Association made use of the Chestnut Street
Presbyterian lecture room and the small hall of Ma-
sonic Temple. At the date last mentioned it occu-
pied the second floor of the building at No. 76
Fourth Street, furnishing these quarters in part or
perhaps entirely with furniture which had belonged
to the old Association and which was promptly
turned over to the new organization. Difficulty was
again experienced in raising funds and this caused
a removal in the early part of the year 1876 to rooms
at the northwest corner of Third and Walnut Streets,
which were occupied until May, 1877.. In the mean-
time, “The Association Record,” issued monthly
with W. J. Duncan as editor, had been established
and was published with varying success and regular-
ity until May, 1877. The “week of prayer for young
men” was observed for the first time by the Associa-
tion November 14th to 20th, 1875.
The International Committee took a deep interest
in the work of the Louisville Association and a con-
siderable impetus was- given to the movement by
visits of George A. Hall, T. K. Cree, Charles M.
Morton and R. C. Morse, of the International Com-
mittee. Mr. Morse, who was then General Secretary
of the International Committee, was especially help-
ful. His personal interviews with leading men dis-
pelled all doubts as to what might be accomplished
by the Association, and he secured their hearty co-
operation in advancing the work, his visit being
productive of most excellent results. An anniver-
sary meeting was held in the small hall of the Public
Library Building May 8th, 1876, the exercises being
in the nature of an entertainment and the occasion
an altogether enjoyable one. Rev. Stuart Robinson,
D. D., the eminent Presbyterian divine, represented
the Association at the Toronto International Con-
vention in 1876, and as his commanding talents gave
him great prominence and influence in that conven-
tion, the Louisville Association was greatly honored
by its representative. Soon after his return home
and his report as to the general work of the Associa-
tion— a report, by the way, which aroused anew the
enthusiasm of local members — the Association took
up the matter of electing a General Secretary, which
had been proposed a year earlier.
August 30th, 1876, James F. Huber was elected
to that position and at once became chief executive
officer of the Association. Syste-
o c n e rai^ g t a 1 v mat;c work was at once begun and
everything was put in order for
progress and advancement. The constitution was
revised to suit changed conditions and room No. 4
of the Public Library Building became the home
of the Association. Prominent and influential citi-
zens and business men who had previously been
indifferent to the work now began to take an interest
in it and became firm friends and supporters of the
new movement.
Early in the year 1877, the managers of the Asso-
ciation took a step which was prolific of good re-
sults and lasting benefits. They resolved to invite
the International Convention of Young Men’s
Christian Associations to meet in Louisville the fol-
lowing June, and the invitation being formally ex-
tended was accepted. From that time forward all
were busy making necessary preparations for the
coming event and striving to put the Association in
as good shape as possible to receive the visitors and
make a creditable showing on that occasion. The
meeting of the convention occurred in June and
282
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
brought to this city those most prominently engaged
in Association work throughout the United States.
Brought into personal contact with these men, the
members of the local organization and public-spir-
ited citizens in general caught their
Convention*11 spirit and absorbed a measure of
their enthusiasm, and from that time
success was assured. It was a “red letter" event in
the history of the Association and its beneficent re-
sults can hardly be over-estimated. At that time was
set on foot the movement to raise a building fund
for the benefit of the Louisville Association and sub-
scriptions to this fund were made to a considerable
extent. This fund was placed in the hands of
George W. Morris, W. H. Dillingham and R. J.
Menefee, as trustees of the building fund of the
Association. In the spring of 1878 the Association
was chartered by legislative enactment and, acting
under the authority of this charter, the Board of
Managers of the Association in July of that year
appointed GeorgeAV. Morris, J. B. McFerran, Sam-
uel L. Avery, W. H. Dillingham and R. J. Menefee
special custodians of the building fund. These trus-
tees were instructed to invest the funds, which were
at that time or which might come into their hands
for building purposes, in registered United States
Government bonds bearing 4 per cent interest. Thus
was created the nucleus of a fund with which was
purchased the property now owned by the Associa-
tion near the corner of Fifth and Walnut Streets.
In the foregoing brief sketch — necessarily so by
reason of the space allotted to this chapter — the
writer has endeavored to give an outline history of
the earlier movements to establish a branch of the
Young Men’s Christian Association in this city and
of that which established upon a substantial founda-
tion the present institution.
It is unnecessary to enter into all the details of the
earlier struggles of the present organization to main-
tain an existence, and in what fol-
Orgardzation11 lows attention will be given only to
the general features of the Associa-
tion's work and its more important movements.
The Association having been reorganized on
what is known as the “Metropolitan plan,” with
Owen Gathright, Jr., as President and W. M. Dan-
ner as General Secretary, now reports three de-
partments of the work in this city. These include
the central department, located at 431 West Walnut
Street, of which D. W. Lane is chairman and S. W.
McGill Department Secretary; the railroad de-
partment, located at 1023 West Broadway, of which
George W. Weedon is chairman and W. G. Cham-
berlin, Jr., Department Secretary, and the colored
men’s department, which has a home at 942 West
Walnut Street, and of which W. H. Steward is chair-
man and W. J. Skillern Department Secretary. Of
the acquisition by the Association of the property at
431 West Walnut Street and of the removal to that
location, mention will be made further along in this
chapter. The Railroad Department was established
in 1879, when rooms were opened in the eastern part
of the city. After occupying several rooms in the
vicinity of Tenth and Broadway during the years
between 1879 an(l 1891, a reorganization of the work
was effected in the latter year and leased rooms were
fitted up at the present location of the railway
branch. An experienced secretary was at that time
employed to take charge of this branch of the work
and a committee of management composed of rail-
road men was appointed. The membership of this
branch was at that time limited to men ^employed in
some kind of railroad service, and since then there
has been gratifying progress of the work in this
field. The Railroad Department now has a library
of over four hundred volumes, educational classes
are conducted under its auspices during the winter
months, religious services are held every Sunday
afternoon and social entertainments and lectures
serve to promote good feeling and contribute to
the intellectual advancement of its members. A
reading room, bath room and other accommoda-
tions are also provided for members and visitors.
The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company and
the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad
Company, recognizing the beneficial influence
which the association exerts on their employes, make
regular monthly contributions toward defraying
the expenses of the railroad department, and other
corporations have promised similar assistance.
The Colored Men’s Department of the Associa-
tion was organized January 16, 1893, in the rooms
now occupied, with an enrollment of fifteen mem-
bers. Since then the number has increased to one
hundred and twenty-eight members, and this large
membership proves that to some extent at least
the young colored men appreciate the benefits of the
association and the privileges which they are per-
mitted to enjoy through its efforts in their behalf.
Sunday afternoon gospel meetings are held regu-
larly. This department has a library of six hundred
volumes and is housed in comfortable quarters con-
sisting of four rooms.
In this connection mention should be made of the
,
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YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
283
fact that after the Central Department of the Young
Men’s Christian Association had become well es-
tablished, a movement was set on foot which resulted
in the amalgamation with it of the German Young
Men’s Christian Association, which had previously
maintained a separate existence, and the work has
since been conducted in both fields under the aus-
pices of the Central Association. It should also be
stated that what may be termed a Medical College
Department of the Association work was first estab-
lished in 1880, the Louisville Association taking the
lead in this field, it being the first in the United States
to organize a Medical College Department. About
the same time classes were established in vocal music,
elocution and phonography, and the practical edu-
cational work of the Association has since been ac-
tively carried on in connection with its religious
work. In 1880, the Association also began giving
its attention to physical training and gradually de-
veloped the gymnasium feature, which has grown to
such important proportions and is now so popular
a feature of the entertainment provided for young
men at the Association headquarters. After the pur-
chase of the property at present owned by the Asso-
ciation on Walnut Street, between Fourth and Fifth
streets, a gymnasium building was erected and the
best opportunities have been provided for physical
culture.
To have a home of its own is the ambition of every
well-managed Young Men’s Christian Association
in the land. The idea is in harmony
In Ks^own °f with the spirit °f the institution, and
we have seen that, early in its
history, the Louisville Association created a
building fund which was placed in the hands
of careful and sagacious men, to be by them in-
vested for the benefit of the Association. This fund
grew slowly, but in the course of time the most
active members of the Association began to see their
way clear to the purchase of a homestead, leaving
the matter of making such improvements as should
become necessary to be considered in later years.
Accordingly on Dec. 3, 1879, the Association pur-
chased the residence of Mr. A. A. Gordon, a whole-
sale dry goods merchant, on the north side of Wal-
nut near Fifth, at a cost, with adjoining lot, of $9,000.
This dwelling was fitted up comfortably, and at the
time the Association took possession of it many of
the members thought it would serve all the purposes
of a permanent home. Time has demon-
strated, however, that this was a mistaken idea.
So rapidly has the Association grown that the pres-
ent membership of more than one thousand young
men is but illy accommodated in these quarters.
Hence has arisen the necessity for a new building
and new equipment, and it is proposed to raise a
building fund of one hundred thousand dollars to
construct a new home for the Association. Of this
amount, more than seventy-five thousand dollars has
already been subscribed, and the Association has a
bright prospect of realizing its ambition in this direc-
tion. One generous donor, Mrs. Mary R. Belknap,
has contributed to this fund ten thousand dollars,
four others have contributed five thousand dollars
each, one has contributed two thousand dollars, ten
one thousand dollars each, over one hundred have
contributed sums varying from one hundred to seven
hundred and fifty dollars each, and several hundred
more have contributed smaller sums. This shows
the strong hold the Association has gained upon the
affections of the people of Louisville and the popular
appreciation of its value to the public as a moral and
religious force. A great service was rendered to the
Association in November, 1895, by Rev. B. Fay
Mills, the noted evangelist, who was holding a series
of meetings at that time in Louisville. Interesting
himself in the movement to provide for the erection
of a new Y. M. C. A. building he conducted a mem -
orable meeting at the Auditorium in its behalf, at
which the audience, in response to his eloquent and
impressive appeals, contributed nearly thirty thou-
sand dollars to advance the building project. While
striving in every way possible to advance the new
building enterprise, the Association has carried on
its regular work with renewed energy, continually
expanding its usefulness and increasing its prestige
and influence. To those who have contributed to
this result, to those who started and those who have
continued this work, the city owes a lasting debt of
gratitude, and it is especially appropriate that the
names of those who have been and are now officially
connected with the Association should be noted in
this connection.
The President of the first Association was J. H.
Huber, who was elected in 1853. Dr. D. D.
Thompson served in the same capacity in 1853-
54; G. A. Hull, 1854-56; Dr. J. W. Akin, 1856-58; J.
J. Porter, 1858-59; George Harbison, 1859-61, and
James Edward Hardy, 1861-62. The Presidents of
the Association re-organized after the Civil War
were :
John L. Wheat 1866-68
Patrick Joyes 1868-69
James Edward Hardy 1869-72
284
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Since the revival of the Association in 1875 the
following named gentlemen have been Presidents:
Wm. J. Duncan 1875-76
J. T. O’Neal 1876-77
F. D. Carley 1877-79
L. Richardson 1879-80
R. J. Menefee 1881-83
W. P. McDowell 1883-84
C. P. Atmore 1884-86
John G. Cecil 1886-89
W. C. Kendrick 1889-90
Owen Gathright, Jr 1890-96
The first salaried secretary of the Association was
S. L. Ewing, who was elected May nth, 1867, under
the title of Librarian and Superintendent of the
Rooms. He was succeeded Dec. 21st, 1868, by G. W.
Lyon. J. W. Mitchell followed Dec. 27th, 1869, and
H. H. Monroe was employed Dec. 19th, 1870. Fol-
lowing the re-organization in 1875, the salaried of-
ficer became known as General Secretary, the first
incumbent being Jas. F. Huber, who entered upon
his duties Sept. 6th, 1876. His successor was E. C.
Avis, who was employed Sept. 1st, 1884. On May
26th, 1885, W. P. Hall was elected to the position.
Geo. H. Simmons was the next General Secretary,
beginning work July 19th, 1886. He was followed
May 1st, 1888, by E. S. Chiplev, who was succeeded
January, 1891, by W. M. Danner, who has continued
to hold the position to the present time.
In concluding this history of the Louisville Asso-
ciation it is but fair to mention the debt of gratitude
it owes to Mr. Jas. Edwd. Hardy, who has been its
friend continuously from its organization down to
this time, he being the only man in the city who has
regularly maintained his contributions and his con-
nection with the organization during all these years.
The Louisville Association was in effect the parent
of the Kentucky State Association, and on April 16,
1878, the state organization was effected by the elec-
tion of a State Executive Committee, representing
all sections of the State, and entrusted with the super-
vision and extension of Association work throughout
Kentucky.
In 1889 a State Secretary was employed to devote
his entire time to the work. There are now twenty-
eight Associations in the State, as follows: Twelve
in cities and towns, twelve in colleges, two railroad
associations, one army association, and one among
colored young men.
The officers of the State Executive Committee, all
of whom reside in Louisville, are: Jas. Edward
Hardy, Chairman, who has occupied this position
since the organization of the State work in 1878:
John F. Lewis, Recording Secretary; John W. Mc-
Gee, Treasurer; Henry E. Rosevear, State Secretary.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
BY RANDOLPH H. BLAIN, ESQ.
There are few cities of its size that can boast of
more or better sustained public and private charities
than the City of Louisville. These assume the usual
form of hospitals, infirmaries, orphanages, societies,
etc. Some are established and controlled by the
government, others by the general public, and others
by the several religious organizations.
The Louisville Hospital, a large and commodious
building, situated in the middle of the square on
Chestnut and Preston streets; the
G°charmestal Home for the Aged and Infirm,
formerly called the almshouse, a
modern and handsome building on the C., O. & S.
W. Railroad five miles from the city, and the Erup-
tive Hospital on the Seventh Street Road, are city in-
stitutions, supported out of the general tax and un-
der the control and management of the Board of
Safety. There is no special tax for charity, as is com-
mon in many places, and there is no system of regu-
lar out-door relief, except in winter, when the City
Council out of the general revenue fund, pur-
chases a limited supply of coal, to be distributed
by the Mayor, or such agency as he may se-
lect. The Industrial School of Reform, situated on
the corner of Third and Shipp Avenue, is a city insti-
tution supported by special tax and is under the
control of a board of directors. There are two insti-
tutions, one for whites and one for blacks, under one
management, but entirely distinct and separate.
Boys and girls under the age of 16 years are com-
mitted to the school by the City Court, when incor-
rigible, homeless, or guilty of misdemeanors. There
is a regular course of study, and each child is taught
some useful trade, or employment. Under the able
management of Mr. Peter Caldwell, Superintendent
for some thirty years past, the school has accom-
plished a great work, and is one of greatest pride to
every citizen of Louisville.
The Marine Hospital, situated on Portland Ave-
Private
Charities.
nne, was established and is maintained by the Lederal
Government, for the benefit of that large class who
do business on the government waters.
These may be divided into two classes — the de-
nominational and the undenominational. It is not
practicable to make extended men-
tion of them all, or even name them,
as they number up in the hundreds,
and, therefore, only a few of the more prominent
can be noticed in this article.
Among the more prominent of the undenomina-
tional charities and the only society that makes regis-
tration a special feature and seeks to bring all the
varied charities into co-operation by the establish-
ment of a clearing house for charity, may be men-
tioned The Louisville Charity Organization Society.
The Louisville Charity Organization Society, char-
tered by Act of the Kentucky Legislature May 9th,
1884, took its name from the parent
Organization society.society organized in London in
1869. Similar societies have been
formed in most of the large cities in Europe and
throughout the English-speaking world, and are in-
differently styled Associated Charities, Society for
Organizing Charity, Charity Organization, Bureau
of Labor and Charities, etc., all founded on the same
principles, with the same objects and aims, more cor-
rectly indicated by the name of “Society for the Or-
ganization of the Charities.” The objects of the so-
ciety are 1, to form a center of intercommunication
between the various churches and benevolent agen-
cies, to foster harmonious co-operation between
them, and to check the evils of overlapping relief.
2. To investigate thoroughly and without charge the
cases of all applicants for relief, to send to persons
having a legitimate interest in such cases full reports
of the result of investigation, and to provide visitors
to personally attend cases needing counsel and ad-
vice. 3. To obtain from the proper charities and
285
286
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
benevolent individuals suitable and adequate relief
for deserving cases. 4. To procure work for poor
persons, capable of being wholly or partially self-
supporting. 5. To repress mendicancy by the above
means. 6. To promote the general welfare of the
poor by social and sanitary reforms, by inculcation of
habits of providence and self-dependence; to encour-
age the establishment of such provident institutions
as tend to the physical, moral and intellectual im-
provement of the poor.
The governing body is a Central Council com-
posed of twenty members elected annually. A secre-
tary and two agents are the only paid employes. At
the end of the last fiscal year, on Oct. 1st, 1895, a
total of 8,449 cases had been investigated. A com-
plete history of each, relief asked and supplied, is en-
tered on pasteboard cards and arranged on shelves,
with vowelized indexes for easy reference. A total
of 44,863 applications for relief had been entered.
Relief is not given directly by the society, except in
emergency cases under a benevolent committee.
In other cases it is secured from benevolent societies,
individuals or public charities.
In 1888 two acts were passed by the General As-
sembly at the instance of the society, one making-
vagrancy a misdemeanor, the other to authorize the
arrest of infants found begging or in the control of
vicious parents and commit them to an orphanage.
In March, 1890, the city was swept by a tornado.
Millions of dollars’ worth of property was destroyed,
nearly a hundred persons killed and thousands left
homeless. Members of the Central Council were
put at the head of a Citizens’ Benevolent Committee.
Relief was dispensed on organization principles. As
a result every case of distress was fully provided for
without the aid of a dollar from outside sources.
I he advantage of the application of organization
principles were never more fully demonstrated, and
while limitless aid was offered from other cities not
a dollar was accepted, Louisville by her own un-
aided effort fully providing for all who suffered
actual loss. In February, 1893, Mrs. Mary Richard-
son Belknap presented the society with an elegant
home, No. 221 Chestnut Street, costing about $12,-
000, as a memorial of her husband, the late W. B.
Belknap. Such a gift from a noble woman was an
appropriate testimonial to the good work of the
society, reflected honor upon her unselfish gener-
osity, and provides a lasting monument to one of
Louisville’s oldest and most honored citizens. The
society is wholly supported by voluntary contribu-
tions, and it is worthy of note that since its organiza-
tion in 1884 its income has never failed to meet every
demand made upon it. In some years the society
has refused to receive all that was offered because
enough for the needs had been contributed. The
management has at all times refused to incur indebt-
edness on any account. In 1886 the Charity Organ-
ization, by its Employment Committee, established
a labor test for transients. In 1893 Mr. R. A. Rob-
inson, one of Louisville’s oldest citizens, presented
the society with $5,000. To this was added $500 by
Mrs. Belknap, and other smaller amounts by friends,
and the whole expended in the erection of a modem
and thoroughly equipped building on the Linden
Street front of the lot presented to the society by
Mrs. Belknap. The main building is a model for
completeness and accommodates over one hundred
men. There are two large work buildings, one for
home poor, who are paid in groceries, coal and cloth-
ing; the other for the transients, who are limited to a
stay of three days. The work done is splitting kind-
ling. An hour and a half in work pays for a meal,
or a night’s lodging. Men found to be worthy are
secured work by the Superintendent. Last year
there were in all 2,858 inmates, 42,936 meals fur-
nished, 16,569 lodgings and 24,468 bundles of kind-
ling sold. The lodge is self-sustaining under the
management of the committee and the excellent
Superintendent, Capt. W. H. Black.
The Kentucky Humane Society was organized in
Louisville, Oct. 6th, 1883, and incorporated April
15th, 1884. Like the Charity Or-
Humane Society, ganization, it is one of a great family
of similar societies whose object is
to enforce and instill humane treatment and feeling
toward dumb animals, and a tenderness and proper
care for defenseless and neglected children. On
Sept. 20th, 1890, the Louisville Society was re-or-
ganized, a new Board of Directors, a Secretary and
an Agent chosen. Since that date its work has been
most vigorously prosecuted, as appears from its rec-
ords showing 8,216 complaints entered and investi-
gated, affecting the welfare of 1,474 children and
7,228 animals, the seeming discrepancy in figures
arising from the fact that one complaint often in-
volves one or more children or animals. Few or-
ganizations have taken up a more important work,
or one that appeals more to the great human heart
of sympathy.
“The Children's Home Society,” one of many sim-
ilar organizations, recently established in Louisville,
lias for its object the placing of orphans and destitute
children with families where there are no children,
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CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
287
thereby permanently insuring them a home and all
(that the name signifies.
Flower Mission is a voluntary association of ladies,
organized in 1878, by the late lamented Miss Jennie
Casseday,forthe purpose of carrying
| Flower Mission, flowers to those sick, poor or in
prison. In late years it extended its
i work to the distribution of alms, and observes the
' birthday of Miss Casseday as a memorial day, on
! which to distribute flowers, visiting the prisons and
hospitals and those who are shut in by sickness.
Branches of the society have been formed in many
; of the cities and towns in the United States,
i The Jennie “Casseday Rest Cottage” (incorpor-
! ated) conducts a country home, at which young
lady clerks and employes are invited to spend a vaca-
tion of two weeks in the summer, paying nominal
| board, or no board where they are unable to pay
' anything.
Among other undenominational institutions may
| be mentioned the Children’s Free Hospital on Chest-
nut near Floyd, the Home for the Friendless, the
I Cook Benevolent Institution, Old Ladies’ Home, the
Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home and Infirm-
ary of Kentucky, the Woman’s Christian Association
Boarding House, Newsboys’ Home, Kindergarten
i Home, Colored Orphans’ Home and the Jennie Cas-
’ seday Free Infirmary.
In addition to these are the Free Dispensary
Louisville Medical College, Dispensary of the Uni-
ij versity School of Medicine, of the Hospital College
I of Medicine, of the Kentucky School of Medicine,
I and of the College of Dentistry.
I Nearly every church organization has its own re~
I lief society to look after its own poor. In addition
to this the several denominations have their orphan-
i ages, homes, etc. Among those in the city may be
mentioned the “Church Home and Infirmary,”
' Home of the Innocents, Norton Memorial Infirm-
1 ary, Orphanage of the Good Shepherd, Episcopal
I Orphan Asylum, the Louisville Baptist Orphans’
Home, the German Baptist Orphans’ Home,
the German Protestant Orphan Asylum, the Pres-
byterian Orphans’ Home, the Methodist Or-
i phans’ Home, the Christian Church Widows’ and
Orphans’ Home, the St. James Old Folks’ Home
! (colored), Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital, St.
I Joseph’s Infirmary, Sisters of the Good Shepherd,
I St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, St. Ann’s Maternity
Hospital, St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum, Home for
the Aged Poor, and Sacred Heart Home.
Who could have prophesied to that little band of
faithful women that their small beginning, made
eight years ago, with the training of the little chil-
dren of our city, would grow to the increased pro-
portions of the work of the Louisville Free Kin-
dergarten Association of to-day! From a group
of five or six children who gathered once a week
under the care of one earnest woman, it has grown
to the care of about seven hundred children every
school day of the week, the eleven free kindergar-
tens being situated in the needy locality of the city.
The first steps toward the Louisville Free Kin-
dergarten Association grew out of a small band of
children, from three to six years of
Association.* aSe> who attended the weekly
meetings of the Holcombe Mission
Industrial School. To children of this age the
needle and thread of the industrial school was too
difficult a problem, and yet they persisted in regu-
lar attendance every Saturday morning. The prob-
lem of meeting the needs of these children, too
young for the regular industrial school work,
aroused an interest in and investigation of the kin-
dergarten idea. Through the kindness of a friend
in Utica, N. Y., sufficient kindergarten material was
donated to supply the needs of this little class of
waifs, who were kindly cared for and directed in
their work by Miss Mary L. Graham, who truly
made the work a labor of love. If such interest
and results could be obtained with the children
meeting for one hour a week, what might not be the
outgrowth of the training received daily in kinder-
garten? For two long winters they were perplexed
to know what to do with the wee ones of the neigh-
borhood. The kindergarten suggested itself as the
best means of reaching them. Being conscious,
however, of the necessary expense, they dared not
mention it to a Board of Directors, who had al-
ready a financial burden as great as they could
bear. After due consideration and investigation of
the kindergarten idea, the directors said: “Open
your kindergartens if you think you can meet the
expense. Kindergartens are expensive, but they
cost less than almhouses, prisons and lawyers’ fees.
Shall we withhold our money that our loved chil-
dren and grandchildren may live in a city less full
of ignorance, crime and wretchedness? We must
convince our good citizens that the kindergarten is
an economic plan for the prevention of crime and
a powerful agent in education and reform.” So im-
pressed were Mrs. J. R. Clark and Miss Mary L.
Graham with this thought that, with the sanction
’"Written by Miss Patty S. Hill.
288
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
of the Holcombe Mission Board, through their per-
sonal effort and sacrifice, they secured funds suf-
ficient to employ a trained kindergartner, Miss
Susan Tewitt, of Cincinnati, being called as prin-
cipal of the first free kindergarten in Louisville,
which was opened February I, 1887. It is a fact
known only to the few that this free kindergarten
fund was started by a subscription of two hundred
dollars, the price of the seal skin cloak which one
good woman voluntarily resigned.
The work grew in proportion until it demanded
a training class department, furnishing opportunity
both for the training of young women in this work,
and, through them, providing for the care and in-
struction of larger numbers of children, with no ad-
ditional expense. Determining to secure the best
instruction for both children and teachers Mrs.
Clark and Miss Graham investigated the kinder-
garten work of other cities, and secured the services
' of Miss Anna E. Bryan, a Louisville girl who had
distinguished herself by the quality and originality
of her work in the Chicago Free Kindergarten As-
sociation. As a result of this a training class was
opened in September, 1887, with an enrollment of
six young ladies from representative families of
Louisville. A few weeks later the Louisville Free
Kindergarten Association was organized, with both
departments under its charge.
At this organization Mrs. J. R. Clark, Mrs. John
A. Carter, Miss Mary L. Graham, Mrs. A. C. Bow-
ser, Mrs. Lunsford P. Yandell, Mrs. W. N. Little
and Mrs. Albert S. Willis were elected prominent
officers, all of whom have continued their faithful
services to the association, even to the present date.
I11 February, 1888, a call for a second kinder-
garten had to be met in the Home of the Inno-
cents, with Miss Emily P. Beeler as principal for the
first five months, Miss Eva Magruder of Virginia,
one of Louisville’s first graduates, taking charge in
the fall.
The people of Louisville, seeing the benefits of the
training to the children of the poorer classes in
the free kindergartens, requested that the same
training might be provided for their own children
in private kindergarten. Through mistake the pri-
vate kindergarten was advertised in Miss Bryan’s
name, which necessitated her leaving the free work
in the mornings in charge of Miss Miner, of Chi-
cago, who was called to take this place temporar-
ily, Miss Bryan having charge of the private kin-
dergarten in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church,
corner of Second and Oak streets.
In the following September Miss Bryan resumed
her work with the children in the mornings at the
Holcombe Mission in connection with the train-
ing class in the afternoon. On the graduation of the
first class in February, 1889, two more free kinder-
gartens were opened under the care of the asso-
ciation : the Sunbeam Kindergarten, at Twenty-sec-
ond and Walnut, Miss Finie M. Burton, principal,
and the German Free Kindergarten, Clay and Mar-
ket, Miss Patty S. Hill, principal, until the follow-
ing fall, when the position was taken by Miss Helen
Heick.
In September, 1889, many new kindergartens
were opened. Among them were the Stuart Rob-
inson Free Kindergarten, at Sixth and Myrtle
streets, Miss Mary D. Hill, principal; the Knox Col-
ored Kindergarten, at Twelfth and Madison, Miss
Emily P. Beeler, principal; the Tobacco Exchange
Kindergarten, at Eleventh and Market streets, Miss
Celeste Semonin, principal; New Albany Free Kin-
dergarten, Ninth and Oak streets, Miss Anna E.
Moore, principal. The superintendence of these
kindergartens, together with a growing training
department, demanding Miss Bryan’s entire time,
she was forced to give up work with the children
at the parent kindergarten, Miss Patty S. Hill being
called to fill her position as principal of that school.
In June of 1890 the work had grown from one
kindergarten to seven, from the care of one hundred
to three hundred and fifty children, and the normal
class from six to twenty young ladies. The Louis-
ville work becoming so well known and recognized
throughout the country, the many letters of inquiry
and general correspondence necessitated the em-
ployment of an assistant for Miss Bryan, Miss Cath-
arine Montz taking charge of the correspondence
and manual training.
This year records the opening' of the Temple
Free Kindergarten, at Sixth and Broadway, with
Miss Anna E. Moore as principal, her sister, Miss
Edith Moore, having succeeded her as principal of
the New Albanv Kindergarten. This school was
moved to a more needy locality at Preston and T ef -
ferson, with Miss Gertrude Flexner as principal.
The children in the southern suburbs of the city
were reached by the opening of the Third Street
Kindergarten, in the Third Avenue Baptist Church,
Third and B streets, with Miss Elizabeth Fulton
as principal. This movement was much needed and
has been attended with success.
The Parkland Free Kindergarten was organized
a short while after this, under Miss Anna E. Henn,
H
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CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
289
principal; later Miss Zerelda Huckeby became prin-
cipal.
In September, 1893, Miss Bryan desiring a year
of recreation and study, the association granted her
a leave of absence. Miss Patty S. Hill was called
upon to give up her morning work with the children
to take charge of the training department and to
superintend the work done in all of the free kin-
dergartens, her position as principal of the parent
free kindergarten being filled by Mrs. E. G. Graves.
Throughout the history of the association, in ad-
dition to raising funds for their running expenses,
the ladies had been slowly accumulating a fund,
hoping the time might come when they would see
fit to purchase their own building. In May, 1894,
the association saw fit to take this step, purchasing
the beautiful property on the southwest corner of
Floyd and Walnut streets. The building was suf-
ficiently large to justify them in opening three de-
partments, the free kindergarten for the children,
the normal training department and the boarding
department for those young ladies from a distance,
who had sought Louisville kindergarten training.
The boarding and manual training departments
were superintended by Mrs. Elizabeth S. De Bruler.
During this year the Third Street Kindergarten
was moved to “The Point,” where it was supported
by Calvary Episcopal Church, with Miss Elizabeth
Fulton as principal. In September, 1895, the asso-
ciation took under its care three new kindergartens,
the Masonic Home Free Kindergarten, Miss Eliza-
beth Beers, principal; the Merchants and Bankers’
Free Kindergarten, at Bullitt and River, Miss Eliza-
beth Akin, principal; and the Mary Belknap Free
Kindergarten, in the Charity Organization Build-
ing, Miss Angelyn Benton, principal.
Eight years of determination and effort on the
part of every one associated with the work have
resulted to-day in giving the Louisville Free Kin-
dergarten Association a national reputation for or-
iginality in thought and method. Although it is
situated in the South, educators from North, East,
South and West have seen fit to apply to our Louis-
ville Association for teachers to fill positions of
honor and responsibility, both throughout our own
country and abroad.
Every year finds in the Louisville Free Kinder-
garten Training School full graduates of prominent
training schools of other large cities, who have
| come to gain the secret of the original quality of the
Louisville free kindergartens.
A prominent educator from the North wrote late-
19
ly: “I know of no place where the principles of
Froebel are worked out so thoroughly, originally
and in detail as in the Louisville kindergarten.” An
educator from across the water, after a thorough in-
vestigation of the kindergartens here, as well as in
other cities, said at the end of her visit: “I have
found in Louisville what I want, and I shall be glad
to take back to my school not only your select, as
I first thought when I came, but any graduate of
the Louisville Free Kindergarten Training School
whom you will recommend.”
When the International and Cotton States Expo-
sition was to be held in Atlanta, Ga., in the fall of
1895, the Educational Committee, desirous of show-
ing the South what had been done in an educa-
tional line, decided to have a model kindergarten
and model school in connection with the Exposi-
tion. The kindergarten was awarded to the Louis-
ville Free Kindergarten Association, with a good
salary, over other competitors who offered their ser-
vices free for the advertisement of working in the
Fair. This is considered to have been a wonderful
opportunity for Louisville to show to the South
what kindergarten methods can accomplish. Mrs.
Mary D. Hill was principal of the Exposition kin-
dergarten, and has done much excellent work.
The Louisville Free Kindergarten Association to-
day has under its care ten large free kindergartens,
as follows:
Parent Kindergarten, 240 East Walnut, Mrs. E.
G. Graves, principal.
Sunbeam Kindergarten, Twenty-second and Wal-
nut, Miss Margaret Young, principal.
German Kindergarten, Clay and Market, Miss
Helen Heick, principal.
Ivnox Colored Kindergarten, Twelfth and Madi-
son, Miss Emily P. Beeler, principal.
Stuart Robinson Kindergarten, Seventh and
Weissinger avenue, Miss Liebe F. Jones, principal.
Tobacco Exchange Kindergarten, Twelfth and
Market, Miss Mary D. Hill, principal.
Temple Free Kindergarten, Preston and Jeffer-
son, Mrs. Jean S. Redelsheimer, principal.
Masonic Plome Free Kindergarten, Masonic
Home, Miss Elizabeth Beers, principal.
Merchants and Bankers’ Kindergarten, Bullitt
and River, Miss Elizabeth Akin, principal.
Mary Belknap Kindergarten, Charity Organiza-
tion Building, Miss Angelyn Benton, principal.
The Normal Department has grown to such pro-
portions as to demand the assistance of a faculty
of four.
290
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
FACULTY OF NORMAL DEPARTMENT.
Miss Patty S. Hill, training teacher, superin-
tendent.
Miss Finie M. Burton, nurses’ classes, primary
Sunday school classes, manual training.
Miss Anna E. Moore, science classes, primary
classes.
Miss Mildred J. Hill, vocal classes, accompani-
ment classes.
Louisville, Kentucky, December 5, 1895.
Prom almost every point of view, as one ap-
proaches the city of Louisville, the building of the
Kentucky Institute for the Blind
for the Blind.* dominates the landscape. With its
massive walls crowned with an airy
dome and embowered in trees, it forms an object as
beautiful to the eye as it is conspicuous. It is the
home of the sixth institution of the kind in the
United States, and was founded by a charter from
the General Assembly of Kentucky, approved Feb-
ruary 5, 1842. To those familiar with its history
it stands a noble monument to those who, in found-
ing it, budded wiser than they knew, and especial-
ly to the memories of two of the noblest citizens
of Kentucky, Dr. T. S. Bell and the Hon. William
F. Bullock, who assisted at its inception, and who,
for over forty years, guided its management. To
these men was it permitted, in some directions, to
see the fruits of their labors. They lived to see the
little school of five pupils, started in a rented house
on Sixth street, between Walnut and Jefferson
streets, firmly established in a palatial home of its
own in a noble park of twenty-five acres, with a
hundred pupils, with a separate department for col-
ored blind children, and with a printing house sup-
plying the whole country with embossed literature.
It took fifty years for the first organized move-
ment for the education of the blind to travel across
the Atlantic from the center of its origin in Paris,
France. Now, State schools for the blind number
thirty-eight, and nearly four thousand children are
receiving instruction in them. At the close of the
year 1842 the total number of blind pupils in the
United States, including the ten in the Kentucky
school, was two hundred and seventy-seven. The
latest report of the Kentucky school shows an en-
rollment of one hundred and thirty, of whom twen-
ty-five were in the colored department.
When first started the school was maintained by
the citizens of Louisville alone. Many of the noble
^Written by Dr. B. B. Huntoon,
women of the city united to hold a fair to aid in
supporting the school. Dr. Samuel G. Howe, then
the superintendent of the Massachusetts School for
the Blind, and William Chapin, superintendent of
the Ohio School, came with some of their blind
pupils, and gave exhibitions before the Legisla-
ture and in the churches of Louisville. Such prac-
tical illustrations of the good results from edu-
cating the blind proved irresistible arguments with
the members of the Legislature and created a deep
interest in the welfare of the school.
The first superintendent was Bryce M. Patton,
who held the position until 1871. He was in charge
of a private school in Louisville when he was ap-
pointed, and he brought to his work rare energy,
scholarship and ability. His brother, Otis Patton,
blind from infancy and a graduate from the Massa-
chusetts School for the Blind, was his assistant, and
loseph B. Smith, another graduate of the Massa-
chusetts School for the Blind, and a graduate of
Harvard College, had charge of the musical depart-
ment. His scholarly attainments and his great
musical abilities easily placed him among the first
musicians of the city. He became organist and
leader of the choir at the Unitarian Church, and
during his fifteen years’ connection with the School
for the Blind he demonstrated the importance of his
department and proved that, in the path of music,
the blind musician could compete on more equal
terms with his seeing competitors than in any other
walk of life. A memorial of the life of this remark-
able man was written by the Rev. John H. Hey-
wood, and published by Hanna & Co., in 1859.
The school was opened on the 9th day of May,
1842, with five pupils. In January, 1843, the
“Prather House,” on Green street, between Third
and Fourth streets, was rented. In July, 1843, a
lot of ground on the south side of Broadway, be-
tween First and Second streets, one hundred and
forty feet front and four hundred feet deep, was
purchased, and a building, designed by J. Stirewalt,
was erected and occupied in 1845. This was the
home of the school until September 29, 1851, when
it was destroyed by fire. The pupils were kindly
sheltered by the friends of the school in the neigh-
borhood, until the building now used for the Male
High School was made ready for the pupils. Here
the school remained for four years, leasing a room
for the mechanical department on the east side of
Seventh street, between Chestnut and Walnut.
Meanwhile efforts were promptly made for secur-
ing a better location, which resulted in the pur-
1
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CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
291
chase from F. G. Edwards of ten acres of ground on
the eastern limit of the city for five hundred dollars.
Upon these grounds the imposing edifice, still the
home of the school, was erected, and on the 8th of
October, 1855, it was occupied by the pupils.
In its structure the building is modeled after the
plan of the Indiana Institution for the Blind, which
was devised by W. H. Churchman, its blind super-
intendent, who was a graduate from the Pennsyl-
vania School for the Blind.
Shortly after the battle of Perryville, in October,
1862, the building was taken by the local army med-
ical director as a military hospital, and twenty-four
hours were given for vacating the building. The
“Alexander Place,” now a portion of Cherokee
Park, was leased, and the children were again has-
tily removed. All attempts to recover the building
were fruitless, until an appeal was made' to the Sec-
retary of War, who issued a peremptory order for
the immediate surrender of the building, and on
March 17, 1863, the school returned to the build-
ing, which has since been continuously occupied
for the purpose for which it was intended.
When the building for the American Printing
House for the Blind was erected in 1882, six and
four-fifths additional acres of land were secured
for the State. When the building for the colored
department was put up in 1884 eight and one-fifth
more acres of adjacent land were purchased. The
land now held by the State for the use of the blind
forms a beautiful park of twenty-five acres in ex-
tent, bounded on each of its four sides by a wide
street, and covered with beautiful forest trees. It is
the intention of the Board of Visitors to secure for
this land a complete collection of native Kentucky
trees, and they have already planted specimens of
one hundred and fifteen varieties.
The cost of the four buildings now on the
grounds, including the small building used for a
stable and workshop, was one hundred and ten
thousand dollars. The annual cost of maintaining
the two departments for the instruction of the white
and colored children is about twenty-five thousand
dollars.
The first Board of Visitors, appointed by the State
Board of Education from year to year up to 1873,
consisted of William F. Bullock, T. S. Bell, M. D.,
John I. Jacob, S. Casseday, Edward Jarvis, M. D.,
B. M. Patton and James Pickett. The Board of
Lady Visitors, appointed by the first Board of Visi-
tors, consisted of the following named ladies: Mrs.
S. Casseday, Mrs. William Jackson, Mrs. James
Hughes, Mrs. John I. Jacob, Mrs. Chapman Cole-
man, Mrs. Edward Jarvis, Mrs. James C. Ford,
Mrs. J. Chenowith, Mrs. Preston S. Loughborough,
Mrs. Duncan Mauzzey, Mrs. James E. Tyler and
Mrs. Richard Steele. These ladies manifested much
interest in the school from year to year; but, as one
by one, they retired from active service in its behalf,
their places were no longer filled, and this feature in
the management of the institution was not perpetu-
ated. But as the building was furnished in 1842
and again in 1847 by the women of Louisville, it
is probable that their interest long survived the sev-
erance of their official ties with the institution.
In the communication from the Board of Visi-
tors, published in the Louisville Journal of May 14,
1842, special mention is made of the industry and
zeal of James S. Speed, Joseph Metcalfe and Sam-
uel Dickinson in procuring subscriptions; also of
the pupils of Miss Mason’s school for the proceeds
of concerts given in aid of the school.
The list of those who have been members of the
Board of Visitors comprises the names of eminent
business and professional men who have been iden-
tified with the progress of our State and city in al-
most every public-spirited and philanthropic direc-
tion. The following is this honor roll, with the year,
after each name of their appointment and of their
departure from office:
William F. Bullock, 1842 to 1864, and 1873 to
1889. (President of the board from 1842 to 1864,
and from 1885 to 1889.)
T. S. Bell, 1842 to 1885. (President of the board
from 1864 to 1885.)
Samuel Casseday, 1842 to 1849.
John I. Jacob, 1842 to 1846.
James Pickett, 1842 to 1843.
Edward Jarvis, M. D., 1842 to 1843.
Bryce M. Patton, 1842 to 1843.
William Richardson, 1843 to 1847.
Garnett Duncan, 1843 to 1845.
Rev. George W. Brush, 1845 to 1846, and 1864
to 1867.
Charles J. Clarke, 1843 to 1852.
Rev. Edward P. Humphrey, 1845 to 1856.
William F. Pettit, 1846 to 1849.
William Kendrick, 1848 to 1852, and 1864 to
1880.
Lewis Ruffner, 1849 to 1858.
Bland Ballard, 1849 to 1864.
Robert J. Breckinridge, 1852 to i860.
William Tanner, 1852 to 1856.
William S. Bodley, 1856 to 1864.
292
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
William Garnet, 1857 to i860.
John Milton, 1858 to i860.
John G. Barret, 1864 to 1873.
Rev. John L. McKee, D. D., 1864 to 1867.
Rev. D. P. Henderson, D. D., 1864 to 1865.
Floyd Parks, 1864 to 1865.
W. B. Belknap, 1865 to 1867.
James Harrison, 1867 to 1885,.
S. A. Atchison, 1867 to 1869.
Henry J. Stites, 1867 to 1888.
Thomas E. Bramlette, 1869 to 1875.
James B. McFerran, 1869 to 1870.
Alfred T. Pope, 1870 to 1874.
Z. M. Sherley, 1873 to 1889.
G. H. Cochran, 1873 to 1889.
Rev. John H. Heywood, 1879 to 1880, and from
1889 to
Thomas L. Jefferson, 1874 to 1884.
W. N. Haldeman, 1875 to 1889.
John A. Carter, 1880 to 1894.
John P. Morton, 1880 to 1888.
Albert A. Stoll, 1884 to 1888.
Thomas D. Osborne, 1885 to 1888.
Rt. Rev. T. U. Dudley, D. D., 1888 to
Hon. A. P. Humphrey, 1888 to
Hon. James S. Pirtle, 1888 to (The present
president of the board, succeeding Judge Bullock
in 1889.)
Col. Charles F. Johnson, 1888 to
Benjamin Bayless, 1888 to 1892.
Robert Cochran, 1888 to
Oscar Fenley, 1889 to
William A. Robinson, 1889 to
The office of treasurer was held by Samuel Cas-
seday from 1842 to 1843; by William Richardson
from 1843 to 1854; by John Milton from 1854 to
i860; by John G. Barret from i860 to 1890, and by
the present incumbent, William S. Parker, from
1890.
The office of superintendent was held by Bryce
M. Patton from 1842 to 1871. The present incum-
bent, B. B. Huntoon, has held the office since 1871.
In 1873 the Legislature placed the appointment
of the Board of Visitors in the nands of the Gover-
nor of the Commonwealth, and in 1876 enacted the
law under which thg institution is at present man-
aged. The act for the establishment of the de-
partment for the colored blind was approved in
1884, and twenty thousand dollars was appropriated
to buy land and erect thereon a suitable building.
In October, 1886, the school was formally opened.
The Hon. William F. Bullock drew up the act
for extending to the colored children of the com-
monwealth the same privileges that had been se-
cured forty-two years before from the General As-
sembly under the terms of an act of which he was
the author. When the venerable philanthropist ap-
peared before a joint session of the Committees on
Charitable Institutions from both Houses to advo-
cate the bill, the presiding officer said to him that
he need spend no time in addressing the commit-
tee, it was sufficient for him to say that the bill was
right and proper. It was immediately reported fav-
orably upon and passed unanimously through both
Houses. Such confidence in all matters relating to
education and philanthropy had been fairly earned
by this noble type of an American citizen. He had
framed the bill establishing the Common School
system of the State; he had labored to secure the
proper enlargement of the Eastern Lunatic Asy-
lum, and in 1858, with James Guthrie, Dr. T. S.
Bell, H. T. Curd, A. O. Brannin, John Milton and
B. M. Patton, had organized the American Print-
ing House for the Blind.
Of this institution, destined to do a mighty work
for the education of the blind, he was at once made
president, an office which he held to the day of his
death.
The purposes of this institution were singularly
broad, and while, for many years, it had to depend
upon private charity for its existence, yet it aimed
to establish a national fund to be under the con-
trol of all the schools for the blind in the country.
In 1865 there was obtained from the General As-
sembly an appropriation of five dollars annually
for every blind person in the State, according to the
LTnited States census. This gave a great impetus to
the work; and so much benefit accrued to the State
School for the Blind, and so excellent was the me-
chanical execution of the embossed books and ap-
paratus for the blind made by this printing house,
that at a general meeting of all the teachers of the
blind in the United States a memorial to Congress
was prepared and a bill drawn up providing for a
national fund, the income of which was to go to
the American Printing House for the Blind at
Louisville, Ky. This bill and memorial, having re-
ceived the unanimous indorsement and approval of
the superintendents of all the institutions for the
blind in the country, -were presented to the Forty-
fourth Congress by the Hon. Henry Watterson,
and subsequently to the Forty-fifth Congress by
the Hon. Albert S. Willis. To the wise, active and
persistent labors of the Hon. Albert S. Willis, then
CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
29:
representing the Louisville District in Congress, is
flue the fact that this bill, placing the sum of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of four
per cent government bonds in the hands of the
Secretary of the United States Treasury, the an-
nual interest to be paid to the American Printing
House for the Blind, to be used in printing and fur-
nishing embossed books and apparatus for the
blind to be distributed every year among all the
schools for the blind in the United States, was al-
most unanimously passed by both Houses of Con-
gress and became a law March 3, 1879.
At the request of the local board at Louisville, the
regular State appropriation was then withdrawn,
and its accumulations used in purchasing land and
erecting the present building. The national aid
thus given to the education of the blind of the whole
country has brought about the most satisfactory re-
sults. A wonderful stimulus has been given to the
work everywhere. The American Bible Society
, has had a new edition of the entire Bible printed
in N. Y. point, and a society formed by H. L. Hall,
a blind man, in Philadelphia, styled The Society for
Providing Evangelical Religious Literature for the
Blind, has distributed thousands of volumes free,
: and supplied two thousand blind readers all over
the country with weekly copies of The International
Sunday School Lesson Leaves.
The main work of the printing house has, how-
ever, been the production of text books and stand-
ard literature, and the good resulting therefrom is
; incalculable, the list of its publications filling a
1 pamphlet of sixteen pages.
From 1858 to 1871 Bryce M. Patton was the
superintendent; since that time B. B. Huntoon has
been in charge, and many valuable devices and im-
Iprovements have marked the beneficent progress of
the American Printing House for the Blind.
Mr. Garvin H. Cochran was elected president
upon the death of Judge Bullock in 1889, and in
1890, upon his resignation, Mr. Robert Cochran
was chosen his successor.
The present Board of Trustees consists of the fol-
lowing named gentlemen of Louisville, together
with the superintendents, ex-officio, of all the public
institutions for the education of the blind in the
United States: Robert Cochran, W. N. ITaldeman,
i Hon. Albert S. Willis, Garvin H. Cochran, Hon.
James S. Pirtle, Rev. John H. Heywood and Wil-
j liam C. Kendrick.
Subsequent to the preparation of the above sketch
of the Blind Asylum, the following article upon the
institution appeared in the “Louisville Evening-
Post,” which is deemed fitting to be inserted here
as a merited tribute to the superintendent, Dr. P>. B.
Huntoon. (By the Editor) :
It is a pleasure to turn to the report of such an
institution as the Kentucky Institution for the Edu-
cation of the Blind. It stands as a
SChBUmJ0r the monument to the intelligent philan-
thropy of the State. From its foun-
dation it has enlisted the services of the most benev-
olent of our people, and the State has stood ready
to do all the directors or Board of Visitors ask.
The board at this time is composed of James S. Pir-
tle, Robert Cochran,' George Gaulbert, Bishoo
Dudley, A. P. Humphrey, Charles F. Johnson,
Oscar Fenley, Dr. Heywood and William A. Rob-
inson. Mr. and Mrs. B. B. Huntoon have been in
personal charge of this institution for nearly twen-
ty-five years, and no one who has ever visited the
school will forget the impressions of such a visit.
Mr. Huntoon, a teacher from natural instinct and
by special training, found life too easy teaching boys
having command of their faculties, and seeking for
some more difficult task, undertook to teach the
blind how to read and write, to teach them geo-
graphy and arithmetic, and baseball, and sewing,
and other things which men with eyes know not.
To better teach them physical and political geo-
graphy, Mr. Huntoon made his own maps, and
geography in this school is taught in a way other
schools may well imitate.
Mr. Huntoon is also superintendent of the Ameri-
can Printing House for the Blind, endowed by the
United States Government. He was chosen for this
position because of certain inventions, adaptations
or applications of his own, by which printing for
the blind was reduced to cost, say three-fourths.
These changes will result in opening almost all lit-
erature to the blind, and that is the next best thing
to giving them eyes anew.
There are two schools under the charge of Mr.
Huntoon — the white school, having 107 pupils; the
colored school, with 25 pupils. The purpose of
the State is thus described in his report by President
Pirtle :
“In carrying out the purposes of the founders of
this public school for the blind, your Board of Visi-
tors have endeavored to meet the expectations of a
wise and beneficent public sentiment. They would
respectfully submit that they have tried to follow-
in the line marked out in the beginning by those
eminent men, who for many years guided the prog-
294
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ress of the school, and have tried to maintain a
school that should secure to the blind wards of the
State advantages fully equal to those enjoyed by
other children in the best schools of the State. With
this end in view they have secured for the school
skillful and devoted teachers, good and faithful ser-
vants, improved educational appliances, and have
provided that the children under their control shall
be properly and kindly cared for in respect to their
food, their shelter, their clothing and their health.”
Yet there are hundreds of children throughout
the State entitled to use these facilities, whose pa-
rents know little of the institution and nothing of its
value. If to deprive a seeing child of an education
is a grievous wrong, it is little short of a crime to
deprive the blind of the opportunities offered by
the State.
On the nth of March, 1896, Governor Bradley
appointed the following persons as Commissioners
of the Blind Asylum: Rabbi Adolph Moses, Au-
gustus E. Willson, W. N. Haldeman, Andrew
Cowan, L. S. McMurtry, M. Muldoon, Logan C.
Murray, W. A. Robinson and James A. Leach.
Andrew Cowan was elected president of the board.
One of the most beneficent charities in Louisville
is the Norton Memorial Infirmary, on the northeast
corner of Thitd and Oak streets. It
Norton _ . ,
Memorial fronts, with spacious grounds on
infirmary. * e^her side, upon the most fashion-
able avenue in the city, and is surrounded by all the
adjuncts of shade and pleasing views which can
cheer the invalid or tend to call back health. It was
named in memory of Rev. John N. Norton, assistant
rector of Christ Church, and owes its foundation
chiefly to his widow, Mrs. M. Louise Norton. With
the donation of her residence on Broadway near
Preston as a nucleus, additional funds were raised by
the ladies of the Episcopal churches to enable the
cornerstone to be laid on Ascension Day, 1882, and
in December, 1885, the building was completed and
ready for occupation, receiving from Mrs. Norton
additional donations in aid of its equipment. The
most active agency in raising funds at the start was
a girls’ society of St. Paul’s Church, known as “The
Ministering Children’s League,” through whose ex-
ertions nearly $5,000 was raised. The object of the
institution is set forth in its articles of incorporation,
as follows: “The general nature of the business of
the corporation and the object of its organization
being that of providing an infirmary for the care and
nursing of the sick, which institution shall be con-
*Written by the editor.
ducted and controlled under the auspices and
direction of persons connected with the Episcopal
Church.” In accordance with this provision, the
Infirmary is managed by a Board of Trustees, con-
sisting of eight members of the Protestant Episcopal
Diocese of Kentucky. The trustees represent mem-
bers of Christ, Cavalry, St. Paul’s, St. Andrew’s, St.
John’s and Grace churches, in this city, and are
elected annually by their vestries. The president of
the Board of Trustees is Rt. Rev. T. U. Dudley,
bishop of Kentucky. In addition to this board,
which is charged with the general supervision of the
institution, is a Board of Managers, in immediate
charge of the infirmary, the members of which are
elected annually from the churches named above,
and who remain in office until their successors are
chosen. Mrs. E. S. Tuley is president of this board,
of which she has been a member from the beginning,
and of which she was vice-president until the death
of Mrs. R. A. Robinson, the president, whom she
succeeded.
The building, which the pious charity of its found-
ers erected for the worthy purposes above set forth,
is a handsome four-story brick structure, architec-
turally pleasing to the eye, yet modeled more with a
view to practical service and hygienic efifect than for
ornament. There are fifteen rooms and two wards
for the accommodation of sick persons, each of the
wards having capacity for eight persons. A full
corps of trained nurses, under a competent superin-
tendent, is provided for the care of the sick, and the
infirmary is conducted upon the most thorough
modern system and equipped with the latest im-
provements, surgical and otherwise, for the care of
patients. Connected with the infirmary is a nurse’s
training school, in which, besides the practical ex-
perience under the instruction of the superintendent,
weekly lectures are delivered to the nurses by lead-
ing physicians and surgeons, free of charge. The
school term is two years, at the end of which time, if
the pupils prove efficient, they receive a diploma,
which enables them to secure employment in fami-
lies outside the infirmary. Miss Nellie Gillette, a
graduate of the New York Hospital, is the superin-
tendent of the infirmary and in charge of the nurses.
The rooms of the infirmary provided for the sick
are nearly all known as “memorial rooms,” from
having been furnished in memory of deceased per-
sons by surviving family or friends. Besides these
are endowed beds and cots, $5,000 permanently en-
dowing a bed and $3,000 a cot. An endowment of
$23,000 is derived from these sources.
1
CHARITIES AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
295
Although the Norton Infirmary was founded and
is conducted by members of the Episcopal Church,
it is by no means a sectarian institution and ministers
alike to persons of all creeds who may seek a refuge
within its walls. The broad spirit which character-
izes it is shown in the fact that a number of the
memorial rooms are maintained by members of
other sects than the Episcopal. Referring to this
subject, Bishop Dudley, in his last annual report,
says: “Let it be clearly understood that our charity
is not limited to members of any religious body, but
that all the needy are welcome to share whatever we
have to bestow. The minister of any religion has
full access to the patient who desires his ministra-
tions, whether that patient be in a free bed in the
ward or in a private room for which payment is
made. The desire to heal the sick in body and,
therefore, to provide a home for the ailing, wherein
their own physicians may treat them, or if they can-
not summon them, that ours may give them their
skill. At the same time, we would offer soothing-
consolation to the soul, and to do this kindly office,
our venerable and beloved chaplain, Rev. E. T. Per-
kins, D. D., is ever ready, while any other religious
teacher may come if bidden.”
About three hundred patients are treated annual-
ly, and already the necessity for more accommoda-
tion is felt. Chronic cases, infectious or contagious
diseases, and those arising from mental aberration
or alchoholism, are not admitted. Persons unable
to pay are treated free upon proper recommenda-
tion, while for pay patients the rates are graded ac-
cording to the character of service and accommoda-
tion required. As an emergency hospital for per-
sons injured by railroad or other accidents, strangers
suddenly stricken with illness, or invalids from the
city or abroad needing surgical attention or treat-
ment, it has proven a great blessing; while even for
residents who have all the comforts of home, it com-
mends itself in cases of typhoid or other protracted
cases which require trained nurses and a regime
stricter than can usually be enforced in a family.
Note. — Detailed account of the charities enumerated
and not described in this article will be found elsewhere
in this history under separate heads, in the history of
the several churches to which they are attached, or in the
chapter on medical schools. — Editor.
CHAPTER XXVII.
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
BY H. B. GRANT.
Freemasonry is a fraternity that teaches ethics
chiefly by symbols, having for its creed belief in the
Eternal God, the Father, the Grand Architect of the
Universe; and by its ceremonials impresses the
dogma of the Resurrection. The fraternity is prac-
tically universal, embracing in its membership men
of almost every rank, faith and tongue.
Free Masons were so called because they were
builders and skilled artisans, who were free-born,
of lawful 'age, being free from parental constraint,
exempted by royal rulers from certain restrictions
and endowed with certain privileges. They were
called “Frie men of Maissones” in a Scottish manu-
script, 1600. The name, “Free and Accepted
Masons,” was first given by Dr. James Anderson
(born 1684), in the title of his “Book of Constitu-
tions” (1723), because the brethren were “free of the
craft,” or merely speculative (ideal) Masons, not
necessarily operatives; each of whom was “accepted
a member of a particular lodge” by initiation. The
word “Ancient” is prefixed to this name by a num-
ber of Grand Lodges, having reference to the great
antiquity of the organization, but with some ostenta-
tion, and was borrowed from the so-called “An-
cients” of England.
The fraternity is also styled “Ancient York
Masons,” upon the well-founded belief in the old
legends, that a General Assembly of the craft was
held in York, “England, under the patronage of Ed-
win, brother of Athelstan, at which a constitution
was agreed upon (A. D. 926) after comparing the
old records and charges. From this, and upon the
hypothesis that York was the cradle of Masonry, the
three degrees were called the “York Rite.” The
“higher degrees,” conferred in the Chapter, Council
and Commandery, were invented centuries after-
ward and are now embraced in the grades generally
known as the York Rite.
Freemasonry was, no doubt, purely operative —
that is, composed of workmen (operatives) — prior to
1396, but so imperceptibly did the operative char-
acter merge into the speculative that the exact date
cannot be decided upon. Speculative Masonry was
in the ascendency in 1670.
The origin cannot certainly be determined. A
common saying among the craft is that it has existed
“from a time whereof the memory of man runneth
not to the contrary.” Tradition declares that it took
its rise at the building of Solomon’s Temple, and a
very large majority of the brethren, amounting al-
most to unanimity, give this “unwritten history” the
fullest credence. A learned disquisition fixes its
origin among the Phoenicians, long before Solo-
mon’s time. Among the old Masonic manuscripts
that are still extant, is a poem supposed to have
been written about the year 1390, or earlier. Lines
61 and 62 read thus:
“Thys craft com ynto Englond, as you say,
Yn tyme of good Kynge Adelstonn’s day.”
It is known as the Halliwell manuscript, and gives
an account of the assembling of the craft with men
of prominence, to amend the laws,
“For dyvers defawtys (defects) that yn the craft he
fonde.”
Then follow fifteen articles; then fifteen “points,”
called “Plures Constitutiones.” The last sub-head-
ing, or title, is, “Ars quatuor Coronatorum,” under
which the craft is enjoined to pray and faithfully keep
the laws. Religious and moral duties are enlarged
upon and the poem closes with:
“Amen! Amen! So mot hyt be!
Say we so alle per charyte.”
Dr. Oliver, a learned writer, believed the poem
contained the Constitutions of 926, called “The
Gothic Constitutions,” in allusion to the Gothic ar-
chitecture introduced into England by the fraternity.
A common designation is “York Constitutions,”
296
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
297
from the place in which they are said to have been
adopted. A German translation of the constitutions
of 926, called “The Krause MS.,” is esteemed as
being at least doubtful.
Another manuscript, written early in the Fifteenth
century, and a manuscript roll, nine feet long, bear-
ing the date 1583, with others evidently having a
common origin, give substantial foundation for be-
lief in the antiquity of Masonry.
Much of the early history is interspersed with
fable and romance. The art of printing was un-
known, the knowledge of writing being confined to
a few, and mankind trusted to traditions for infor-
mation of the past. Comparatively little of Masonry
was written. Even after the art of printing was dis-
covered, the supposition prevailed that it would be
wrong to print anything relating to Masonry. Dr.
Anderson informs us that ancient records were lost
in the war with the Danes, who burned the monas-
teries where they were kept, and, in 1720, “at some
of the private lodges, several very valuable manu-
scripts concerning the fraternity were too hastily
burned by some scrupulous brothers, that these
j papers might not fall into strange hands.” This
j will, in part, explain the difficulty in obtaining au-
thentic knowledge of the origin and history of Free-
masonry.
Leaving the chaos of Masonic mythical traditions
to speculation, we find veritable lodge minutes of
1599 still extant, though there are earlier manu-
scripts yet preserved, as before mentioned.
In the Middle Ages, the meetings of the craft were
called “Assemblies,” tantamount to our lodges.
Every Mason might attend the “General Assembly,”
which was equivalent to the comparatively modern
Grand Lodge, composed of certain officers and rep-
resentatives, constituting the Supreme Legislative
Body of Symbolic Masonry, and its court of last
resort. The Grand Lodges of South America,
France, etc., are for the most part called “Grand
Orients,” which often exercise jurisdiction over the
j symbolic and higher degrees, including those of the
| Scottish Rite. (q. v.)
In 1717. lodges in London, England, formed the
first “Grand Lodge.” A schismatic body, formed
' (j738)* what they called “Ancients,” or Ancient
York Masons, and stigmatized the original body as
' *There is some obscurity as to this date. Though it
is generally accepted, I am of the opinion that the body
was not formed, in fact, until 1752 or 1753, but that the
schismatics were controlled by a Grand Committee, 1738-
1752. See 3 Gould, p. 186, American Edition; Mackey’s
Cyclopaedia, p. 67; Masonic Constitution and History of
Massachusetts, 1792, p. 93.
“Moderns.” The dissensions between these two
lasted until 1813, when they were consolidated under
the title of “The United Grand Lodge of Ancient
Freemasons of England.”
The laws of the Grand Lodge (England), organ-
ized in 1717, were published by Dr. Anderson in
1723, and called “The Constitutions of the Free-
masons.” Thirty-three years afterward, Lawrence
Dermott, Grand Secretary of the seceders, published
their laws under the title of “Ahiman Rezon” — mean-
ing “the will of Selected Brethren.” Pennsylvania
still retains this name for its Code of Laws.
The subordinate body is sometimes called “The
Blue Lodge,” because its appropriate tincture is blue,
symbolizing universality, and to remind every ini-
tiate that friendship, morality and brotherly love
should be as extensive as the blue vault above him.
The three lodge degrees are called “Symbolic Ma-
sonry,” because symbolism is their prevailing char-
acteristic. They are also called “Ancient Craft
Masonry,” because they are the primitive degrees
of the craft, and “Free and Accepted Masons,” for
reasons herein before mentioned.
The first written mention of Freemasonry as hav-
ing a probable organization in America was in a
letter from John Moore (1715), who
11^ America had been appointed Collector of the
Port of Philadelphia twelve years
before. The first documentary evidences of author-
ity for Freemasons to assemble in lodges here
were “Deputations,” viz.: On June 5th, 1730, by
the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master, to Daniel Coxe,
appointing him Provincial Grand Master of New
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In January,
1731, Coxe visited London, and the records show
that “his health was drank as Provincial Grand Mas-
ter of North America.” April 30th, 1733, a deputa-
tion was granted by Lord Viscount Montague to
Flenry Price, appointing him Provincial Grand Mas-
ter of New England. A Provincial Grand Lodge
was organized in Boston, July 30th, 1733.
“The Pennsylvania Gazette,” published by Ben-
jamin Franklin, refers to Masonic occurrences in
July, 1730, and at other times. In June, 1732, “The
Gazette” published an advertisement announcing
that on St. John’s Day, “Worshipful W. Allen, Esq.,
was unanimously chosen Grand Master of this Prov-
ince for the year ensuing;” and such announcements
were made in the same paper for a number of years.
Franklin was Grand Master in 1734 and published
“The Constitutions of Freemasons” that year—
“price, stich’d, 2s 6; bound, 4s."
298
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
In 1735-36, Masonry was introduced into South
Carolina and Georgia.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland warranted lodges in
Virginia as early as 1741, and the Provincial Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts, under the Grand Lodge of
Scotland, granted a warrant to Fredericksburg
Lodge No. 4, 1752. George Washington was made
a Mason in this lodge. In this lodge LaFayette was
welcomed (1824) and wrote his name on its rolls as
an honorary member. Other Grand Lodges granted
warrants for lodges in Virginia, viz.: the Grand
Lodge of England (“Moderns,” 1753 and later); the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (1768 and later); the
Grand Orient of France (1785); the Grand Lodge of
Ireland, noticed in the address of the Virginia Con-
vention; and from a “Deputy Grand Master of
America.”
Representatives from five lodges (May 6th, 1777,)
resolved “That a Grand Master ought to be chosen
to preside over the craft in this Commonwealth.”
May 13th the convention sent out an address to
lodges. It met June 23d, and again October 13th,
1778, when it elected a Grand Master, who was in-
stalled on the 30th of the same month. Washington
was Master of a lodge, but never Grand Master;
although, as a result of resolves of the craft in differ-
ent States, he was elected by the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania (1780) to be General, or National
Grand Master, but a national body was not estab-
lished. Grand Lodges in America had been “Pro-
vincial” until March 8th, 1777, when the first inde-
pent, or Sovereign Grand Lodge was formed in this
country and grew out of the death of General Joseph
Warren, Provincial Grand Master, killed at Bunker
Hill.
In the Grand Lodge of Virginia, November 17th,
1788, “Ordered, That a Charter be granted to Rich-
ard Clough Anderson, John Fow-
Masonry j Green Clay, and others, to hold a
regular lodge of Free Masons
at the town of Lexington, in the District of Ken-
tucky, by the name, title and designation of the Lex-
ington Lodge No. 25.” (Now No. 1 on the Ken-
tucky register.)
December 6th, 1791, in the Grand Lodge of Vir-
ginia, were installed Horace Hall as Master, and
John Waller as Senior Warden “of Paris Lodge No.
35, presented with their charter of this date, and
congratulated agreeable to the customs of American
Masons.” This lodge was numbered “2” in the Ken-
tucky list, but became defunct in 1802.
November 29th, 1796, “George Town Lodge No.
46,” of Georgetown, Kentucky, was chartered by 1
Virginia, and became No. 3 on the Kentucky reg-
ister.
December nth, 1799, “Frankfort-Hiram Lodge
No. 57” (now Hiram Lodge No. 4) was chartered,
Daniel Weisiger being the first Master; Thomas
Todd, Senior Warden, and Butler Ewing, Junior
Warden, the lodge having been granted a dispensa-
tion December 17th, 1798.
Abraham Lodge, under dispensation, at Shelby-
ville, Kentucky (now Solomon Lodge No. 5), was
granted a dispensation by Virginia prior to Septem-
ber 8th, 1800.
Representatives from the Lexington, Paris,
Georgetown, Hiram (Frankfort) and Abraham 1
(Shelbyville) Lodges met in the Masonic hall in j
Lexington, September 8th, 1800, to consider the
question of forming a Grand Lodge. This conven-
tion resolved that a Grand Lodge ought to be es-
tablished in Kentucky, and requested the lodges to j
appear by their representatives in the same place, j
October 16th, “for the purpose of opening a Grand |
Lodge.” A committee of five — one from each lodge j
— was appointed “to draft a respectful address to the |
Grand Lodge of Virginia, giving the reasons that 1
have induced these lodges to separate from its jur- j
isdiction.” The reasons assigned were, in short: j
The welfare of the craft; non-participation in the ;
charity fund; to avoid the great inconvenience and i
difficulties in attending the Grand Lodge, which also j
deprived Kentucky lodges of the visits and inspec-
tions of grand officers — esteemed not the least in :
importance; and that Kentucky, being an indepen- 1
dent Commonwealth, authorized such a step. Pay- j
ments of amounts due were assured, manly expres- j
sions of good will were given, and the convention f
adjourned to meet again in October. I
October 16th, 1800, the Grand Lodge of Ken-
tucky was organized in Lexington, with these offi-
cers: William Murray, Frankfort, Grand Master; •
Alexander MacGregor, Lexington, Deputy Grand
Master; Simon Adams, Shelbyville, Grand Senior
Warden; Cary L. Clarke, Georgetown, Grand
Junior Warden; James Russell, Lexington, Grand
Secretary; John A. Seitz, Lexington, Grand Treas- ;
urer; Thomas Hughes and Nathaniel Williams,
Grand Deacons; Samuel Shepherd, Grand Pursui-
vant; John Bobbs, Grand Tyler. Thus the first
Grand Lodge west of the Alleghenies came into ex-
istence.
Lexington Lodge No. 1, Hiram Lodge No. 4, and
Solomon Lodge No. 5 still survive. No. 4 has in its
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
299
possession the oldest lodge charter “in the west” —
that of No. i having been destroyed by fire in 1837;
No. 2 surrendered its charter in 1803 and its place
on the rolls remained vacant for sixty-eight years,
when No. 16 was given its name and number. The
warrant of Georgetown Lodge No. 3 was forfeited
in 1804, and never revived.
The Grand Lodge met annually from 1800 to
1806, then every year in August until 1855, when it
changed the time to October. Met in Lexington, 1800
to 1833, 1839, 1841 to 1858; in Louisville, 1834 to
1838, 1840 and in 1859; since the latter year, Louis-
ville has been its permanent meeting place and
Louisville is, technically, “The Grand East” of the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Louisville is also the
seat or “Orient” of every other Grand Masonic body
of Kentucky, except the Grand Commanderv, which
meets in this city when not invited to meet elsewhere.
There were several enabling acts passed by the
Legislature for the benefit of the Grand Lodge, but
it was not incorporated until 1841. The act of in-
corporation granted privileges; provided that when-
ever subordinate lodges became defunct, their realty
“shall properly vest in said Grand Lodge, by reason
of the rules or by-laws thereof, and may hold the
same in fee simple.” The act also authorized the
erection and maintenance of an asylum for indigent
children.
The Grand Lodge of Kentucky lias warranted
over seven hundred lodges, of which four hundred
and sixty are working to-day. Among those set
to work by this “Mother Grand Lodge of the West”
were: One in Arkansas, four in Illinois, six in In-
diana, one in Louisiana, three in Mississippi, one in
Missouri, one in Ohio, and one in Tennessee. Subse-
quently in each of these States a Grand Lodge was
organized. Lodges within the several State bound-
aries owe allegiance to the Grand Lodge in their own
State.
Though not the largest nor the wealthiest Grand
Lodge, it has been the pioneer in systematic benevo-
lence and, with unstinted hand, has distributed many
hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity. To the
Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home (q. v.) alone,
it has contributed an amount fairly estimated at
over $200,000.00, giving, at one time, $78,500; at
another time $20,000 in stock worth $50,000. In
addition to all this, its assessments for the benefit of
the home has yielded over $230,000. For years the
Grand Lodge sustained a college, and by precept
and example, it has encouraged the cause of educa-
tion and charity.
Members of the fraternity in Kentucky, as else-
where, have been men of renown in the field, on the
bench, in the pulpit, and in the councils of the na-
tion. Among the Grand Masters were George M.
Bibb, who was Chief Justice of the Appellate Court
and Secretary of the Treasury under President Tyler;
John Rowan, Secretary of State (Kentucky) and
United States Senator; Colonel John Allen, lawyer
and statesman, killed at battle of the River Raisin;
Colonel Joseph Hamilton Daviess, a distinguished
lawyer, killed at the battle of Tippecanoe while
Grand Master. His silver-mounted sword, which
was in his grasp, with its scabbard, and the belt that
encircled his body when he fell, are in possession of
the Grand Lodge, as is a very fine oil portrait of
him. Charles G. Wintersmith; John B. Huston;
Henry Clay, the “Great Commoner”; Robert Mor-
ris, poet laureate of Freemasonry; Leslie Combs,
Garrett Davis, Robert Mallory, Governor James
Clark, George D. Prentice, the great editor and poet;
Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, John C. Breckinridge,
Vice-President of the United States; Charles A.
Wickliffe, Governor of Kentucky; Richard M. John-
son, Vice-President of the United States, who is said
to have killed Tecumseh; John J. Marshall, Humph-
rey Marshall, James Guthrie, Secretary of theUnited
States Treasury; Worden Pope, Ben Hardin Helm,
Robert Trimble, Justice of the LTnited States Court,
and a host of other notables, were zealous craftsmen
of the “mystic tie” in Kentucky.
In 1800, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky adopted
the Ahiman Rezon of Virginia, with some amend-
ments, as the Masonic law of Iven-
Masonic Literature, tucky. In 1808, a book of consti-
tutions was published and a second
edition followed in 1818, both prepared by James
Moore and Cary L. Clarke. In 1824, a digest of the
laws and regulations of the Grand Lodge of Ken-
tucky was prepared by D. Bradford and Leslie
Combs. In 1880, a digest and code was prepared by
H. B. Grant, which he revised in 1889, and enlarged
it as a “Book of Constitutions,” containing 404
pages, 8 volumes, printed in Louisville, 1894, by
the Masonic Home printing office. It also contains
fifty-four “Landmarks of Freemasonry, with proofs."
These books were prepared by resolutions of the
Grand Lodge, and accepted as authority upon the
subjects treated therein. IT. B. Grant also prepared
a system of “Tactics and Manual for Knights Tem-
plars,” which is in general use in the United States,
and in 1895 reached its twelfth edition. He also
wrote a history of DeMolav Commanderv (t8q6).
300
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
John M. S. McCorkle published a i2mo. book on
Masonic Jurisprudence (Louisville, 1867), but it is
now out of print. Dr. Robert Morris wrote very
many books on Masonic Jurisprudence, history,
poetry and romance. He was the author of “The
Level and the Square,” a poem that has a world-
wide popularity in Masonic circles. His book of
poems, entitled “The Poetry of Freemasonry,” is
probably the largest book of Masonic poems extant.
He was crowned poet laureate of Freemasonry in
New York, December, 1884. A Manual of Masonry
and Anti-Masonry — 12 mo., 372 pp. — was “pub-
lished for the people,” in Louisville, 1833.
Among the Masonic periodicals published in Ken-
tucky are the following:
Age, The Masonic, 1880, Louisville; afterward
moved to Missouri.
Advocate, The Universal Masonic Library, 1855;
only a few numbers were issued.
. Craftsman, The Kentucky, 1895, Lexington.
Freemason, The, 1844, Louisville.
Freemason, The American, 1853-57, Louisville
(Morris).
Freemason, The American, 1858, Louisville (Bren-
nan).
Freemason, The Kentucky, 1868, Frankfort.
Gavel, The, 1880, Danville.
Home, Our, 1878, Louisville, at the Masonic
Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, by Jas. A. Hodges.
Journal, The Masonic, 1876, Louisville.
Journal, The Masonic Home, 1883, Louisville, at
the Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, H. B.
Grant, editor to 1890; Jas. W. Hopper (a learned
editorial writer on the Courier-Journal) editor, 1891-
’96.
Mirror, The Masonic, and organ of the Grand
Lodge of Kentucky, 1845, Maysville and Covington.
Mirror, The Masonic, and Colonization Advocate,
1833, Newcastle.
Mirror, The Masonic, 1841, Maysville.
Miscellany, The Masonic, and Ladies’ Literary
Magazine, 1821, Lexington.
Review, The Masonic, 1845, Ohio, but in 1877 it
was consolidated with The Masonic Journal of
Louisville, and “published in Cincinnati and Louis-
ville.”
Voice of Masonry, 1859, Louisville.
The Grand Lodge library is located in Masonic
Temple at Fourth and Green streets, and contains
about 4,000 volumes and about 1,000 pamphlets, al-
most exclusively Masonic works. Some of them are
very rare and costly.
Up to 1803 there was no Masonic body in Louis-
ville. The first one to find a home here was No. 8,
moved from Middletown, Jefferson
The Blue Lodges. County. In 1 895 there were four-
teen lodges in the city, having 2,100
affiliates, besides, probably, as many more non-
affiliates.
The cornerstone of the Masonic Temple was laid
at the corner of Fourth and Jefferson streets, June
16th, 1851, by J. M. S. McCorkle, Grand Master
(afterward Grand Secretary). Rev. John H. Linn, a
Methodist minister of prominence, delivered the ad-
dress on that occasion. The Temple was completed
in 1857, at a cost of $150,000. It is 210 by 75 feet,
superficial measure, and 80 feet in height. Before
it was finished the lodges met in their hall over a
Baptist Church, on the southwest corner of Green
and Fifth streets. When that was sold they moved
to the southeast corner of Third and Market streets.
At one time there were eight lodges, two chapters, a
council and two commanderies meeting in the tem-
ple. Now they have secured other quarters, leav-
ing (April, 1896,) but two lodges and two com-
manderies in the temple.
Abraham Lodge No. 8 was granted a dispensa-
tion by James Morrison, first Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky, December 21st, i8or,
“for temporary establishment in Middletown, in the
county of Jefferson,” James Taylor being the first
Master; Philip Barbour, Senior Warden, and Sam-
uel N. Lucket, Junior Warden. April 6th, 1802, it
was chartered, but not organized until the Septem-
ber following, therefore the Grand Lodge ordered
that £48 be credited to its account.
The older lodges were the five which formed the
Grand Lodge in 1800, besides Washington Lodge
No. 6, of Bardstown, and Harmony Lodge No. 7, of
Natchez, Mississippi. Of these, Washington Lodge
No. 6, was forfeited in 1806, and, in 1874, Duval
Lodge was given “No. 6.” No. 7 surrendered its
charter in 1814, and No. 33 was established by Mis-
sissippi in Natchez under the same name in 1816.
The original Nos. 2 and 3 died in infancy. (See page
8.) Abraham Lodge No. 8 is, therefore, third in
rank among the lodges west of West Virginia, not-
withstanding younger lodges have — perhaps wrong-
fully—been given numbers ahead of it.
In April, 1803, the Grand Lodge authorized Abra-
ham Lodge to move to Louisville, where it is now
located. In 1806 the membership had increased to
48, good men and true. The names of Worden
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
301
Pope, Floyd, Bullitt, Ormsby, Tyler, Breckinridge,
Thruston, Mann Butler, the Kentucky historian,
and other men of prominence appeared on its rolls.
In 1830-33, the Morgan excitement had a depress-
ing effect, so that Masonry languished all over the
United States, but an attempt to dissolve the lodge
failed. During a few succeeding years, Dr. T. S.
Bell, Rev. Guerdon Gates, Ben. A. Floyd and other
men of prominence were initiated into the fold, and
its membership numbered one hundred faithful men.
In 1852 the lodge celebrated its semi-centennial in
Louisville, and in 1886 it consolidated with lodges
Nos. 51, 106 and 113 (q. v.), retaining its own name
and number, so that, in August, 1895, it had 236
members, including 24 Past Masters and several
judges of courts, merchants and professional men.
This lodge meets in the Masonic Temple.
Clark Lodge No. 51 was chartered in 1818, with
Charles B. King, Master; Temple Gwathmey, Senior
Warden, and William Tompkins, Junior Warden.
The charter was forfeited in 1835 and restored in
1840. Grand Masters James Rice, Jr., Levi Tyler,
i David T. Montserral and Willis Stewart, with James
i Guthrie, John H. Harney — editor of “The Louis-
ville Democrat” — and other distinguished men were
members of this lodge.
General LaFayette visited Louisville, May nth,
1825, and met with the brethren in Clark and Abra-
< ham Lodges, full minutes thereof being kept by the
former. Among those present were General La-
Fayette, his son, George Washington LaFayette,
John Rowan, John P. Oldham, Shadrach Penn
(editor), Willis Stewart, Levi Tyler, Virgil Mc-
Knight, James Guthrie, Worden Pope, . Thomas
Joyes, and others, whose names were almost the
synonyms of greatness in their day. In 1886, Clark
Lodge was merged into Abraham Lodge No. 8
(q. v.).
Mount Moriah Lodge No. 106 was granted a dis-
j pensation January 15th, and a charter August 29th,
1839, Thomas I. Welby being the first Master; Wil-
liam R. Kerr, Senior Warden, and Isaac Cromie,
Junior Warden. George D. Prentice, D. W. Yan-
* dell, Joseph B. Kinkead, G. W. Anderson, Edward
Wilder, William E. Garvin, Henry W. Gray, Solo-
mon K. Grant, Tal P. Shaffner and Alexander Evans
were among the members of this lodge, which was
decidedly “select.” Robert Morris, the Masonic
writer, called the membership “Masonic lights and
jewels of eminence.” It was consolidated into Abra-
ham Lodge No. 8 (q. v.) in 1886.
Antiquity Lodge No. 113 received a dispensation
under the name of “The Lodge of Antiquity,” in
1840, and was chartered in September, John R. Hall
being the first Master; O. Montcalm, Senior War-
den; Charles Stienagee, Junior Warden. The char-
ter was forfeited in 1842, restored in 1847, arrested
in 1862, restored in 1865, and again arrested in 1866.
A dispensation was granted for a new lodge by the
same name in 1868, and the old name and number,
with the old charter, were given to it October 22d
of the same year. December 29, 1886, this lodge
of many tribulations was consolidated into Abraham
Lodge No. 8 (q. v.)
Mount Zion Lodge No. 147 was organized under
dispensation before September, 1846, and was char-
tered September 2, 1846, with Philip Tomppert — after-
ward mayor of Louisville — Master; Sylvester Thomas,
Senior Warden ; J. C. Hoffman, Junior Warden, and
Theodore Schwartz, Secretary. It transacts its busi-
ness and “works” in German. In 1858 it reported
eighty members, and now has one hundred and
twenty-five on its rolls. Its meetings are held over
the southeast corner of First and Market streets.
Lewis Lodge No. 19 1 was granted a dispensation
as “St. John’s Lodge, Lb D.,” prior to August, 1849,
and authorized to work in Portland, then an inde-
pendent town, now a part of Louisville. The dis-
pensation was continued in August, 1849, and a
charter was granted to it, changing the name to
Lewis Lodge No. 191, August 28th, 1850, in honor
of Asa lv. Lewis, Past Grand Master. James E.
Cable was first Master; John K. Ferguson, Senior
Warden, and Nicholas Nicholas, Junior Warden.
In 1858, it had twenty-six members; now it reports
one hundred and eleven on its rolls, and meets on
Twenty-seventh street, north of Portland avenue.
Compass Lodge No. 223 was granted a dispensa-
tion June 19th, 1851, and was chartered August 27th,
1851, E. S. Craig being the first Master; Isaac Griffin,
Senior Warden, and William A. Hauser, Junior War-
den. Frederick Webber was secretary and is one of
the two surviving charter members. He is now Secre-
tary General of the Supreme Council, thirty-third de-
gree,Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, forthe south-
ern jurisdiction. The seal of Compass Lodge has
displayed a pair of compasses, and upon its legs,
the suggestive Masonic motto, “Keep within. Its
jewels were probably more costly than those of any
lodge in Kentucky, being of massive silver, sus-
pended from broad solid silver chain collars. But
302
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
these were stolen several decades ago. Its meetings
are held on the north side of Jefferson street, between
Fourth and Fifth streets.
Willis Stewart Lodge No. 224, named for Past
Grand Master Willis Stewart of Louisville, re-
ceived a dispensation before August, 1851, and was
chartered August 27, 1851, Sylvester Thomas being
first Master, Ernest Giese Senior Warden and H. R.
Shroeder Junior Warden. The lodge is composed
of Germans, who speak that language in the work,
lectures and business of the lodge. Their meet-
ings are held over the “Telephone Exchange,” 444
West Jefferson street. The manual used was trans-
lated into the German language by Theodore
Schwartz of Louisville.
St. George’s Lodge No. 239 received a dispen-
sation prior to August, 1852, and was chartered
September 2, 1852. It held its meetings — with
other lodges — over the southeast corner of Third
and Market streets. Its first Master was the Rev.
W. Y. Rooker, rector of St. Paul’s Church, an Eng-
lishman, who, no doubt, suggested its name. The
Senior Warden was James C. Ford, a southern
planter, who built the finest residence in Louisville
at that time. It still stands on the southwest cor-
ner of Second and Broadway. George Starkey, a
prominent merchant, was Junior Warden. Among
the members were Benjamin N. Crump, the treas-
urer, a wealthy hardware merchant; James Guthrie,
Dr. S. D. Gross, the celebrated surgeon; Joseph
Coombs, a man of large means, who owned the
Exchange Hotel, then estimated a fine one, on the
southeast corner of Sixth and Main streets, and
Woolf Samuels, a large clothing merchant, north-
east corner of Fourth and Market streets— being
at that time the only Hebrew in the lodge. A large
number of prominent men were connected with this
lodge. Jacob F. Weller — a retired merchant — now
president of the Masonic Home, and Charles C.
Spencer (deceased), auctioneer, were initiated into
the lodge among the first. It now meets on the
north side of Jefferson street, between Fourth and
Fifth.
Tyler Lodge No. 241 was named for Levi Tyler,
Past Grand Master, and organized under dispensa-
tion prior to August, 1852, with Sanders Shanks
first Master. The charter granted September 2,
1852, with S. W. Vanculin, Master, was surrendered
in 1854. A new lodge under the same name, grant-
ed a dispensation in November, 1858, was com-
posed, for the most part, of members of the old
lodge, George W. Johnston being Master. Octo-
ber 20, 1859, the old charter, furniture and jewels ox
Tyler Lodge No. 241 were given to the new lodge.
In 1862 it surrendered the charter, and its place re-
mains vacant on the register.
Excelsior Lodge No. 258 was granted a dispen-
sation prior to August, 1853, when a charter was au-
thorized on the 31st of that month, William E. Rob-
inson being the first Senior Warden, and Henry
Reynolds Junior Warden. On the roster will be
found the names of Jesse Bayles, afterward Col-
onel in the United States Volunteers (1861); J. J.
Hirschbuhl, a prominent jeweler; Jacob Krieger,*
a well known banker; Thomas L. Jefferson, Sr., a
successful merchant, Representative and Senator in
the Kentucky Legislature, and for many years pres-
ident of the Masonic Home. All of those named,
except the first Senior Warden, are now dead. The
lodge is known for its activity and generosity. From
a membership of forty-one, when the charter was
granted, it has grown to rank third numerically in
the State. Excelsior Lodge meets over the south-
east corner of First and Market streets.
Robinson Lodge No. 266 received a dispensation
and was chartered the following September 1st,
1853, James C. Robinson, for whom the lodge
was named, being the first Master; John Trainer,
Senior Warden, and James Johnson, Junior War-
den. For many years it held its meetings in its
hall, on Eighth street, between Green and Jeffer-
son streets, but it now meets at the southwest cor-
ner of Twenty-fifth and Market streets, full of ac-
tivity and good work.
Preston Lodge No. 281 was organized under dis-
pensation from Grand Master Thomas Todd, Janu-
ary 19th, 1854, at the corner of Main and Campbell
streets, Smith Gregory, Master; H. F. Vissman,
Senior Warden, and W. K. Thomas, Junior War-
den, with six other members. It reported thirty-
eight members in August, when a charter was
granted. Rob Morris, then Deputy Grand Master,
set the lodge to work, and General William Pres-
ton, for whom it was named, delivered an address
on that occasion. The custom of this lodge is to
*Of Mr. Krieger, this is worthy of record: As a mer-
chant, he failed, but, in after years, voluntarily paid
every cent with interest, although he was under no legal
obligation to do so. He was honest, kind hearted, lib-
eral and enterprising as a citizen, whose death was un-
doubtedly caused by his subsequent misfortunes.
f
i
1
-
[
i
MA'SONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
303
re-elect its presiding officers for several successive
terms; thus they become proficient, and the lodge
enjoys an enviable reputation for “good work.” It
is a liberal lodge, having at this time 452 members,
with one of the finest lodge rooms in Kentucky.
It is located over the Main and Shelby Street En-
gine House. The room and its furniture belong to
the lodge. It was rebuilt and refurnished in 1894.
On the occasion of its dedication in October,
Charles C. Vogt, its present treasurer, presented the
lodge with a library of twelve hundred volumes of
choice Masonic books and proceedings, some of
them very rare. It is the largest lodge in Kentucky.
Falls City Lodge No. 376 was granted a dispen-
sation March 27, i860, and was chartered October
18, i860, David T. Montserrat — Past Grand Master
— being the first Master; William E. Woodruff,
Senior Warden, and W. W. Clemens, Junior War-
den. One of its most active members was Elisha
D. Cook (deceased), to whom, perhaps more than
to any other one person, the lodge owes much for
the careful guarding of the ballot box in its in-
fancy, in consecjuence whereof the lodge is com-
posed of exceptionally good material. John H.
Leathers, a Past Grand Master and now treasurer
of the Grand Lodge; John B. Castleman, colonel
of the Louisville Legion, and Rt. Rev. T. U. Dud-
ley, Episcopal Bishop of Kentucky, are members.
It meets in the Temple.
Louisville Lodge No. 400 received a dispensation
dated April 26, 1865, and a charter dated October
18, 1865. William Kendrick was first Master. He
was a leading jeweler, of most excellent reputation
for uprightness. H. B. Grant, then a bank teller,
now Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge and of the
Grand Chapter, was the first Senior Warden. Not
a little opposition grew out of its formation, and for
years it was known as “the Silk Stocking Lodge.”
Among its members have been Judge James A.
Beattie, distinguished for his learning ; Rev. Thom-
as Bottomly, a veteran minister; Rev. J. H. Linn,
D. D., who delivered the address at the laying of
the corner-stone of the Masonic Temple; Governor
Thomas E. Bramlette; Colonels James F. Buckner
and William P. Boone, United States Volunteers
(1861) and prominent lawyers; Rev. S. E. Barn-
well, who was killed in St. John’s P. E. Church, on
Jefferson street, near Eleventh street, during the
cyclone of 1890; John M. S. McCorkle, Past Grand
Master and Grand Secretary; John W. Finnell,
Secretary of State; George W. Wicks, deceased;
Dr. E. A. Grant, Chas. J. Clarke, a leading archi-
tect, and others prominent in business and social
circles. It now ranks fifth in numerical strength
among Kentucky lodges, but up to 1895 had con-
tributed more to the Masonic Widows’ and Or-
phans’ Home than any other lodge in the State,
aggregating about $15,000. It meets in the Scot-
tish Rite Cathedral, on Sixth street, near Walnut,
occupying one of the finest lodge rooms in the
State.
Kilwinning Lodge No. 506 was named for Scot-
land’s “old Mother Kilwinning,” and was chartered
to “be located at or near the northeast corner of
Main and Seventeenth streets,” October 19, 1871.
W. W. Crawford was first Master; D. F. C. Weller,
Senior Warden, and George W. Barth, Junior War-
den. This lodge has made 151 Masons, and has
had 223 members, of whom 21 have died; now re-
maining, 104 members. The lodge occupied Falls
City Hall, on Market, near Twelfth street, March
27, 1890, when the building was destroyed by a
cyclone. Its property and charter were lost, but
the latter came to light several weeks after the
storm. One member was killed in the wreck of the
hall, which has been rebuilt and is now reoccupied.
Its secretary, Samuel R. Calveard, is one of its most
zealous members.
Aurora Lodge No. 633 was set to work under
dispensation November 3, 1886, and chartered Oc-
tober 19, 1887, after a hard struggle. The lodge is
composed chiefly of Germans, and works in that
language. John Blaes, the first Master, was seri-
ously injured during the cyclone of 1890 that de-
stroyed Falls City Hall, in which the lodge held its
meetings. The hall having been rebuilt, the lodge
meets there. Membership in 1895, 102.
Parkland Lodge No. 638, granted a dispensation
July 4, 1888, was chartered October 24, 1889, and
located in the town of Parkland, now the southwest-
ern part of the city of Louisville, having been "an-
nexed" in 1894. William H. Perrin, author of a
“Historv of Kentucky” (1887), and several local his-
tories in different States, was the first Master; 1.
W. Blackhart. Senior Warden, and Thomas C. Rob-
ertson, Junior Warden. The Master was instru-
mental in securing the erection of the Masonic Tem-
ple in Parkland, at the northwest corner of Twenty-
eighth and Dumesnil streets. W. T. Pyne, manufae-
304
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
turer, and George W. Crawford are among the
members of this flourishing suburban lodge.
The Master-elect of a Blue Lodge — as a part of
the installation ceremonies — receives the degree of
Past Master, in an “occasional
Masters. lodge,” which has no “warrant of
constitution,” or regular organiza-
tion. It is called “a convocation of Actual Past
Masters,” to distinguish it from a Chapter Lodge of
(“Virtual”) Past Masters. In some jurisdictions the
ceremony is termed “passing the chair.” The per-
son thus inducted into office is said to have been
“seated in the Oriental Chair of King Solomon.”
The degree was often conferred in .the Grand
Lodge, and in October, 1888, it was conferred on
an hundred or more at one time in Louisville, of
which no record was made.
Very lame efforts have been made to trace the Past
Master’s degree back to 1723 on the most flimsy
grounds. The Virtual, or Chapter, degree of Past
Master was invented about the beginning of the
current century as a qualifying grade for the Royal
Arch Degree, which could not be conferred except
upon the one who had presided in a lodge.
Lodges of Instruction — improperly called
“Schools of Instruction” — are occasional conven-
tions held by authority of a lodge,
Lodges of
Instruction.
a Grand Lodge or the Masters
thereof, for the purpose of giving
instruction in the esoteric and unwritten part of
Masonry. Dr. Rob Morris, while Grand Master,
held such a lodge in Louisville in 1859, which was
attended by Masons from Kentucky and other
States. Its avowed purpose was “to revise the an-
cient work and lectures of Masonry and to offer
a standard of reference in mooted questions of Ma-
sonic jurisprudence.” Other “schools” and conven-
tions have been held in Louisville, but none of them
have been of the same magnitude, or of such gen-
eral interest to the craft as was the Morris Lodge of
Instruction.
The degrees of Mark Master, Past Master (see
above), Most Excellent Master and Royal Arch
Mason are the fourth, fifth, sixth
and seventh degrees of the “York
Rite,” as practiced in America, and
constitute what is known as “Capitular Masonry,”
because they are conferred under a Chapter war-
rant. The predominating tincture of the Chapter
is red, or scarlet, symbolizing ardor and zeal, puri-
fication or regeneration, historically referring- to
the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. The
Capitular
Masonry.
seventh degree members address each other as
“Companion.”
The Royal Arch degree is probably about one
hundred and fifty years old. Until 1797 it was con-
ferred by irresponsible bodies, calling themselves
Chapters, or under control of the Blue Lodge; or
conferred in a Chapter appurtenant to a Lodge.
The other Chapter degrees are more modern, prob-
ably little over one hundred years old. The word
“Arch” — in “Royal Arch Mason” — was first used
as meaning “Chief,” or of an advanced or superior
class, as arch-bishop, arch-angel. Thus came the
Arch-Mason, or one who had advanced beyond the
lodge degrees. From this followed the name of
“Royal Arch Masons” as a degree of exaltation,
claimed to be “the summit of Ancient Craft Mason-
ry.” But the summit of folly was reached when the
phylacteries of ostentation were broadened by a few
into the pharisaical title of “Holy Royal Arch”! A
preliminary convention was held October 24, 1797,
at Hartford, Connecticut, which culminated in the
formation of the “Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the
Northern States of America. It became the
“General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of
the United States of America,” January 6, 1806,
which is the national governing body in the United
States, under constitutional restrictions.
The first authority in Kentucky for conferring
the Capitular degrees was granted on petition from
a number of Companions in Lexington, in 1814,
who said: “Recognizing the authority of this M.
W. Grand Lodge (of Kentucky) over all congrega-
tions of Masons assembled within the State, we pray
the sanction of this Most Worshipful Grand Lodge
to our proceedings, and that a warrant may issue to
us authorizing us to open and hold a Royal Arch
Chapter, under Warrant No. 1 — (i. e. Charter of
Lexington Lodge, No. 1) — and that, under the au-
thority of that warrant, we may be enabled, in ad-
dition to the ordinary workings under warrants
granted by this Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, to
confer the degrees of Mark Master, Past Master,
Most Excellent Master and Royal Arch Mason, and
to do all other matters and things appertaining to a
Royal Arch Chapter.”
In 1816, like power was granted for Chapters
under warrants Nos. 4 and 5 (i. e., charters of Frank-
fort and Shelbyville lodges), and a petition to en-
able the brethren in Natchez, Mississippi, to confer
the Chapter degrees was declined for reasons set
out in full — substantially, that they were not known
as Royal Arch Masons, but, if so known and they
■■■
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
305
were also known to be skilled, “it would be advis-
able to establish a Chapter there.”
August 30th, 1816, the Grand Lodge authorized
the Chapters working under warrants Nos. I, 4
and 5 to establish a Grand Royal Arch Chapter,
but provided that no Chapter should be warranted
without permission of the Grand Lodge. All of
which goes to show that the Grand Lodge claimed
jurisdiction over Capitular Masonry, and that such
right was conceded. December 4th, 1817, represen-
tatives from Lexington, Frankfort and Shelby vdle
Chapters met in Frankfort and adopted a preamble,
setting out that they had been in existence for more
than a year under authority of warrants from Thom-
as Smith Webb, Deputy General Grand High Priest
of the General Grand Chapter, dated October 16th,
1816! Therefore, they resolved to form a Grand
Chapter in Kentucky, and did it. This action was
sanctioned and approved by DeWitt Clinton, Gen-
eral Grand High Priest, December 30th, 1817.
The Grand Chapter of Kentucky withdrew as a
constituent from the national body in 1857, but re-
united with it in 1873. The Grand Chapter met
in Frankfort, 1817-18, 1819-24; in Shelbyville, 1818;
in Lexington, 1825-34, 1839-58, and in Louisville
from 1859 t° the present time, being located in the
latter city by constitutional enactment. There were
no meetings in 1836-38. It accepted control of the
Royal and Select Master’s degrees in 1878 and sur-
rendered it in 1882. It has chartered 135 subordi-
nate Chapters, of which 81 are now working. De-
cember 5th, 1817, Danville Chapter was established
and chartered as No. 4 the following January, but
became defunct in 1832.
Louisville Chapter No. 5 received a dispen-
sation prior to May 19th, 1818, to be lo-
cated in the city for which it was named, and
a charter was granted to it, naming Richard
Ferguson as first High Priest, Richard C. Anderson,
King, and George R. C. Floyd, Scribe. It reported
eleven members, but in 1820 reported thirty-one
members and gained twenty-three during the en-
suing year. In 1857, a new charter was issued in
lieu of the original parchment that had been de-
stroyed by fire. The Chapter consolidated with No.
18 in 1841, and into King Solomon Chapter (q. v.)
in 1890. The latter will, no doubt, be given “No.
5,” being entitled to it under the law. Council
degrees were conferred by No. 5, 1878-81.
King Solomon Chapter No. 18, having been con-
solidated with Louisville Chapter No. 5, January
6th, 1890, the Grand Chapter will be memorialized
20
during the current year— 1896 — to give it “No. 5.”
King Solomon Chapter was organized under dis-
pensation February 26th, 1840, with William B.
Phillips, High Priest; Wilkins Tannehill, King (he
was afterward Grand Master of Tennessee and au-
thor of a lodge manual), and Thomas J. Read,
Scribe. No. 5 declined to recommend it to enable
it to obtain a dispensation, and this essential was
secured from the Chapter in Lexington! Its first
candidate was refused admission as a visitor to No.
5, which declared King Solomon to be an “illegal
assemblage of Masons,” and a great deal of bitter-
ness was engendered. The Grand High Priest de-
clared King Solomon to be “the best equipped and
working Chapter west of the mountains.” The
Grand Chapter pronounced it legal, and No. 5 with-
drew its effusive action. No. 18 followed the old
forms and permitted its High Priest to resign, elect-
ing the King to fill the vacancy. This is not now
allowed.
Its hall having been burned, the Chapter met in
the Exchange Hotel, at the southeast corner of
Sixth and Main streets, temporarily. November
24th, 1841, by compact, No. 5 and No. 18 consoli-
dated, the latter surrendering its charter and its
members, per agreement, were to unite with No. 5
without petition or ballot!
September 13th, 1858, nine of the old members of
No. 18 petitioned for a dispensation and the old
charter was given to it, Alexander Evans being High
Priest. In 1865 the charter being destroyed a new
one was granted. From 1878 to 1882, the Council
degrees were conferred in this Chapter. In con-
nection with Chapter No. 5 and Council No. 4, it
fitted up the Chapter rooms in the north end of
Masonic Temple at a cost of $6,000, in 1865. With
assistance from the Scottish Rite bodies, these
rooms were refitted in 1883. Temporarily,
the Chapter occupied Excelsior Lodge Hall,
First and Market, and Telephone Hall, Jef-
ferson Street, between Fourth and Fifth, and moved
from the Temple to the Scottish Rite Cathedral
(formerly St. Paul’s P. E. Church), on Sixth Street,
near Walnut, April, 1896. Its room there is finely
furnished and well equipped.
Eureka Chapter No. 101 upon the petition of a
number of good Masons received a dispensation
prior to October, 1868, and was chartered October
20, 1868, Smith Gregory being the first High Priest.
The Chapter meets in Preston Lodge Hall, on Main
Street, above Shelby, and has grown with wonder-
ful rapidity to occupy the first place, numerically.
306
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
among the Chapters of Kentucky. It is now in a
most flourishing condition.
Hiram Chapter, No. 129, was granted a dispensa-
tion September 16, 1882, and a charter October 16,
1882. It met in Falls City Hall, Market Street, near
Twelfth, until the building was destroyed to its
foundation by the cyclone of 1890, when it lost its
charter. A new charter was granted October 22,
1890, and the hall was rebuilt upon the same spot.
The Chapter now meets on Market and Twenty-
fifth streets.
Ten independent Mark Masters’ Lodges were
authorized by the Grand Chapter of Kentucky, not-
withstanding the degree was con-
Mark Lodges. ferred by Chapters. The one in
Louisville was granted a dispensa-
tion prior to November 4, 1821. On that day it was
chartered as Clark Mark Lodge, No. 4, William
Tompkins, Master; John Trott, Senior Warden, and
William F. Pratt, Junior Warden. It was, however,
lost sight of after 1824. No independent Mark
Lodges have been established, nor do any appear
to have been at work after 1844, or about that
date.
This order is an honorarium bestowed upon the
High Priests of Royal Arch Chapters in the United
States. Its origin dates from 1799,
h ighUMes tii ood . when k was made a Part of the cere-
monials for installing a High
Priest. It was conferred in the Grand Chapter of
Kentucky as early as 1823 and subsequently, but
the General Grand Chapter, which met in Lexing-
ton, Kentucky, in 1853, resolved that the degree
was not essential, which left it in the hands of those
who possessed it. The Grand Chapter of Kentucky
in 1854 resolved that it was “expedient to organize
a Grand Council of High Priests,” and this was
done August 31, 1854, by the High Priests from
thirteen Chapters.
The “Grand Council of the Order of High-Priest-
hood” first met in Louisville in 1859 and has con-
tinued to do so from that date. It has no subor-
dinates, but meets on call of the President, gener-
ally during the meeting of the Grand Lodge, con-
fers the degree and closes, then prints its proceed-
ings!
The eighth and ninth degrees of the “York Rite,”
with the degree of Super Excellent Master as an
honorarium, constitute the Council
Masonry. °f Royal and Select Masters — or,
“Masonry of the Secret Vault.”
It was first called Cryptic Masonry by Dr. Rob
Morris, for years a resident of Louisville. Its ap-
propriate tinctures are black and red, signifying t
grief and silence; zeal and martyrdom, though many
take purple as its chief color, perhaps through the i,
mistaken idea of royalty, from the “Royal Master's j
Degree” and its legends.
The Council degrees are scarcely one hundred
years old. At first, a single degree, then two —
communicated by itinerant lecturers — claimed bv
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, by the Gen-
eral Grand Chapter, by Grand Chapters and by
Grand Councils. Now they are controlled exclus- f
ively by State Grand Councils — some sovereign and
independent, others “Constituents” of a General
Grand Council, which held its first triennial meet-
ing in Denver, August 14, 1883, and by the last
mentioned body.
The Grand Council of Kentucky, Royal and Se-
lect Masters, was organized December 10, 1827, and t
has. held its meetings in Louisville from and includ- j
ing the year 1859. Its prosperity was varied until j
1878, when it gave to the Grand Chapter jurisdic- i
tion over the degrees, but reassumed exclusive au-
thority in 1882. In 1883, it made the Super Excel-
lent and Honorary Degree, by amendment to its
Constitution.
The Grand Council of Kentucky has granted i ‘
Charters to Councils in Tennessee, Louisiana, Illi-
nois, Indiana, Missouri, and possibly in other States.
Louisville Council, No. 4, received its warrant,
signed by “John Barker, K.-H., S. P. R. S., Sover-
eign Grand Inspector General of the Thirty-third
Degree, and General Agent of the Supreme Council
in the United States of America” (Southern juris-
diction), dated at Louisville, Kentucky, September
26, 1827; Isaac Hughes Tyler, First Master; Oliver
Wilson, Deputy, and Nathaniel Hardy, Principal
Conductor of the work. This was probably its only \
warrant until 1852, when such an intimation was re-
hersed; also that the Charters of Kentucky Councils
“may be uniform,” a new Charter was issued. It is
also probable that the original warrants of Councils
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 emanated from the same
source (John Barker) though Jeremy L. Cross gave i 1
Charters in Lexington and Shelbyville (1816-17).
Tyrian Council, No. 8, appears to have been in
existence in January, 1841, when Clark Lodge de-
clared that it was “inexpedient for so many differ-
ent Masonic bodies to exist in this city, and par-
ticularly to meet in the same hall”; that it was, there-
fore,unwilling to admit certain bodies named, among
them Tyrian Council of R. & S. M., but would re-
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
307
ceive them as members, if they would surrender
their Charters! This Council was represented in
Grand Council, 1841.
The Orders of Knighthood, so called, as con -
ferred by a Commandery of Knights Templars, are
ofter referred to as “Chivalric Ma-
Masonry* sonry,” and consist of the Order of
Knight — or Companion — of the
Red Cross, Knight Templar and Knight of Malta.
The first is based upon legends which date five hun-
dred years before Christ, and is intimately connected
with the Royal Arch Degree. It has no analogy with
the other grades of the Commandery. There are
plausible traditions favorable to the generally ac-
cepted idea that the Order of Knight Templar can
be traced back to the Martyr De Molay (1297), the
Twenty-second Grand Master of the Order of the
Temple, but such an opinion can hardly be defended
successfully.
The Knight of Malta grade was introduced into
Masonry of the United States prior to 1805. The
well known hostility between the Crusader Templars
and the Knights of Rhodes, or Malta, or Order of
St. John, together with other facts, suggest doubts
as to the propriety of the modern relation of these
Orders. The first written or printed account of the
modern grade of Knight Templar having been con-
ferred— so far as I am able to discover — was at a
meeting of St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Lodge, Boston,
in August, 1769. It was worked in England ten
years later.
The General Grand Encampment of Knights
Templars of the United States — called Grand En-
campment, etc., since 1856 — was organized in 1816,
and DeWitt Clinton was chosen Grand Master. He
was re-elected in 1819.
The Grand Encampment of Kentucky — called
Grand Commandery, since 1856 — was organized
October 5, 1847, by representatives from “Encamp-
ments,” of Louisville, Webb (of Lexington), Ver-
sailles, Frankfort and Montgomery (of Mt. Sterling),
called “Commanderies,” since 1856. The Grand
Commandery met in Louisville in 1858, 1864, 1865,
1870, 1880, 1883, 1890. The entertainment of the
visitors, by Louisville and DeMolay Commanderies
of this city at these meetings, or “conclaves,” has
been uniformly elaborate and unstinted.
The Grand Commandery has chartered twenty-
eight subordinates, of which twenty-five are work-
ing, having a membership of between 1,700 and
1 ,800.
Louisville Commandery, No. 1, received its dis-
pensation January 2, 1840, and was chartered Sep-
tember 17, 1841, as “Louisville Commandery, No.
— .” It was first officially recognized as “No. 1” in
a communication from the General Grand Recorder,
dated September 17, 1847, but does not appear so
to have been accepted by the Grand Commandery
of Kentucky until 1855. The reason seems to have
been a claim of Webb Commandery, of Lexington,
to the designation of No. 1, based upon these facts:
A Charter had been granted to Webb Encampment,
No. 1, January 1, 1826, by the (General) Grand Gen-
eralissimo, John Snow, and confirmed by the na-
tional body, September 19, 1826. In March, 1841,
the (General) Grand Master reported that the En-
campment at Lexington had asked for authority to
“meet and again resume its Masonic business and
labors”; that it “had ceased to meet for several years
past” — how many is not shown. Its Charter was
fourteen years older than Louisville’s, and it had
“resumed” business six months before Louisville
received its Charter, but a year after Louisville re-
ceived its dispensation.
Louisville Commandery, in a competitive drill in
Lexington, (1881), with DeMolay Commandery, No.
12, won the prize banner by a score of 74 against
72.5. The competitive drill in Covington (1882)
between the same Commanderies resulted in De-
Molay’s winning, in a score of 461.5 to 457.2, in a
possible score of 520, which shows that the drilling
must have been exceptionally good. The Board of
Judges was composed of two United States Army
officers and a Colonel of Militia, who had been
educated at a military school.
Among the members of Louisville Commandery,
No. 1, have been Solomon Iv. Grant, P. G. C.; Rob
Morris, poet laureate; Charles R. Woodruff, P. G.
C. ; John H. Leathers, P. G. M.; Thomas H. Sherley,
P. G. C. ; Henry S. Tyler, Mayor of Louisville;
George W. Wicks, merchant; Dr. Preston B. Scott,
Judges W. B. Hoke and R. H. Thompson and
Charles E. Dunn. Today, it is second in point of
numbers, having no superior, pro merito, in Ken-
tucky. Its conclaves are held in Masonic Temple.
DeMolay Commandery, No. 12, was organized
under dispensation, April 13, 1867, and under
Charter, June 27, 1867. Few Commanderies are
better known. Its superiority in drill, having won
honors in a number of state contests with Louisville
Commandery (q. v.) and others, is everywhere recog-
nized; being second in the Inter-State Drill in Chi-
cago in 1880; and carrying off the first prize in San
308
memorial History of louisville.
Francisco, in 1883, against Raper Commandery, No.
1, of Indianapolis — winner of the first prize at Chi-
cago— and St. Bernard Commandery of Chicago,
which had won in two contests with Raper after its
success in 1880. Members of DeMolay Command-
ery have been Judges James A. Beattie, Joseph B.
Kinkead, James R. DuPuy and I. W. Edwards, Gov.
Thos. E. Bramlette, Colonel William P. Boone, E.
Y. Parsons, M. C. ; Warren LaRue Thomas, Grand
Master of Templars ; T. L. Jefferson, Sr., Kentucky
Senator.etc., late President of the Masonic Home;
T. L. Jefferson, Jr.; Rt. Rev. Thomas U. Dudley,
Episcopal Bishop of Kentucky; H. B. Grant, Grand
Secretary, and author of the Tactics; John Finzer,
President of the Five Brothers Tobacco Factory; E.
G. Hall, P. G. C.; J. F. Weller, President of the
Masonic Home; William Ryan, P. G. C., and George
D. Todd, Mayor of Louisville. It has nearly double
the membership of any other Commandery in the
state, or about 350 on its rolls.
For activity, liberality and zeal, it is unsurpassed.
It carries a mortar (called “the Orator”) for pyro-
technic shell throwing, on its frequent pilgrimages.
It holds its meetings in Masonic Temple. A history
of this Commandery, by the author of this sketch,
is ready for the press, and will contain portraits of its
membership, and “half-tone” pictures of its trophies,
prizes, etc.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite grew
out of the “Rite of Perfection,” organized in Paris,
in 1758; by the “Council of Emper-
ors of the East and West,” and
consisted of twenty-five degrees.
It was introduced into the United States in 1783.
In 1801, the first Supreme Council that was ever
formed was instituted in Charleston, South Caro-
lina, and eight degrees were added to the “Rite of
Perfection,” making thirty-three degrees in all.
These were divided into seven sections, or bodies,
of which the first embraces the symbolic degrees
of the Blue Lodge, although the Rite does not con-
fer those degrees in English speaking countries.
The Supreme Council thirty-third degree is com-
posed of active Sovereign Grand Inspectors Gen-
eral and is the highest authority, claimed to have
been derived from the Latin Constitutions of 1786,
established by the approval of Frederick II. of Prus-
sia.
The jurisdiction over the United States was di-
vided in 1813 between the Southern and Northern
Supreme Councils, the latter taking territorial con-
trol over the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-
The Scottish
Rite.
mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. The Southern Masonic,
jurisdiction embraces all the other States and Ter-1'
ritories.
There have been schisms and invading Councils,
but none of them are recognized as legitimate by
the two Supreme Councils, by Grand Masonic bod-
ies of the United States or other countries, nor by 1
each other.
In Kentucky, Frederick Webber of Louisville — j,
now Secretary General of the Southern Supreme j
Council — and John C. Breckinridge — Vice Presi- 1
dent of the United States — were the active members j
of the Supreme Council until the death of Breckin- j
ridge, and now Webber is the only one from Ken- '
tucky.
August 20, 1852, Albert G. Mackey instituted a
Consistory thirty-second degree A. A. S. R.’s in •
Louisville, and on October 1, 1852, a Grand Con- j
sistory was “duly convened,” Henry W. Gray being ;
the first T .•. I Grand Commander; Rob Morris be- j
came “Commander in Chief,” and General William \
Preston became a member in 1858.
In 1866, a revival of this branch of Masonry gave [
new impetus to the Rite, and “the dark story” for a [
kind of “attic between floors”) in the Masonic Tem-
ple, Louisville, was fitted up for their convenience.
Oval windows were cut through the Green street f
wall, to give light to the rooms, which were occu- I
pied for ten years. 1
Webber Lodge of Perfection, No. 1, was organ- !
ized prior to August, 1866. Beattie Council Princes [
of Jerusalem, No. 1, Pellican Chapter Rose Croix,
No. 1, and Kilwinning Council Knights Kadosh,
No. 1, were also instituted and met in the Temple.
Howe Lodge of Perfection, No. 2, followed in
March, 1867, and the name of Beattie Council was
changed to Adar.
Webber and Howe Lodges were consolidated ;
under the name of Union Lodge of Perfection, No. ;
3, in December, 1868. i
Lodges of Sorrow were held October 3, 1870, p
General Albert Pike, thirty-third degree Sovereign
Grand Commander, presiding, in the Baptist
Church, corner of Fourth and Walnut streets, sub-
sequently in the Presbyterian Church, at Fourth
and Broadway; again, in 1881, in an immense “Tab-
ernacle” that had been erected for “the Moody re-
vival meetings.” There was also a Lodge of Sor-
row, held in the Masonic Temple, when General
MASONRY AND MASONIC INSTITUTIONS.
30!)
Albert Pike delivered an address. The Scottish Rite
bodies added a story to the building formerly occu-
pied by the Courier-Journal, on the south side of
Jefferson, between Third and Fourth streets, and
dedicated the building above the second floor to
their uses. In the same year subordinate bodies of
the Rite were organized in Covington.
In 1883, the Louisville bodies moved to the Ma-
sonic Temple, occupying the upper floors on Jef-
ferson Street, known as the Chapter rooms. In
1895, they purchased the ruins and parsonage of
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, northwest corner of
Sixth and Walnut streets, sold the corner lot and
parsonage to the Liederkranz Society of Musicians
and, utilizing the church walls, made additions and
changes and constructed the “Scottish Rite Cathe-
dral,” which the Rite now occupies. The small chapel
north of the old church has been fitted up in fine
style and is rented to Louisville Lodge, No. 400,
and King Solomon Chapter, R. A. M.’s. The Con-
sistory owns a house and a large lot on Second
Street, facing Guthrie Street, purchased before St.
Paul’s Church property was secured, with a view of
erecting an imposing cathedral thereon.
Red Cross of Rome and Constantine is the style
of a degree which is supposed to have been estab-
lished in 1780 and reorganized in 1804. It is found-
ed on the circumstance or legends of the supposed
vision of Constantine, who is said to have seen the
form of a cross in the heavens (October, A. D. 312)
with the inscription “En tauto nika” (or “En to
nika”) — “By this conquer.”
In 1878, a body of this order was in existence in
Louisville and met in the Consistory rooms, b,ut it
did not flourish and did so little as hardly to be
entitled to recognition, having died in infancy.
This order of “Ladies’ degrees,” invented by Rob
Morris, in “the 50’s,” consists of five grades, viz.: I,
Jeptha’s Daughter, or the Daugh-
ter’s Degree; 2, Ruth, or the Wid-
ow’s Degree; 3, Esther, or the
Wife’s Degree; 4, Martha, or the Sister’s Degree;
5, Electa, or the Mother’s Degree. It was conferred
— or, perhaps, more properly speaking, communi-
cated— in an impressive manner upon Master Ma-
sons and the female members of their families. Af-
terwards, Robert Macoy of New York purchased
the copyright and dramatized it and established
bodies of this “American Adoption Rite.”
A General Grand Chapter was formed independ-
ent of Macoy — perhaps wrongfully — for the United
Order of the
Eastern Star.
States, and a number of State Constituent Grand
Chapters are also flourishing. There was some
clash of authority concerning them, Macoy claim-
ing exclusive right in the premises as owner of the
copyright. Whatever may have been the equities
of the case the bodies live, while the inventor and the
patron, or proprietor, are both dead.
In Louisville, Queen Esther Chapter, No. 1, was
organized under charter dated January 15, 1873,
and received a new charter dated March 25, 1882,
from the General Grand Chapter of the order. It
died of inanition in 1890.
The idea of an orphan asylum and a school seems
to have been ever present with the Grand Lodge of
Kentucky. It took more definite
\fome!° shape when, in 1840, a committee
was appointed to “make applica-
tion to the Legislature * * * for a charter in-
corporating the Grand Lodge of Kentucky with
power to hold property sufficient for an orphan asy-
lum and school in addition to its Grand Lodge.”
Another committee was to inquire into the matter,
select a site, report plans with estimates, system or
rules, receive contributions, etc. The report, made
in 1843, suggested a school for Masonic orphans
and destitute children of living brethren, to be lo-
cated on a farm. This was to be a “Masonic Labor
School,” with an agricultural department. The act
of incorporation was approved January 29, 1841.
A college was established in LaGrange, in 1845,
accepting the Funk bequest, valued at $6,000. In
1846, students from nine different States were in
attendance.
Dr. A. Given, an ex-army surgeon, in 1866, be-
came enthused with the idea of having a Masonic
asylum and hospital in Louisville, and procured in-
dorsements of it from leading physicians. His me-
morial, after being rewritten, was presented to the
Grand Lodge October 16, 1866, and referred to a
committee that never reported! Thirty-eight days
thereafter one of the committee, with other Masons
of Louisville — ignoring Dr. Given — called a “mass
meeting,” which agreed to establish a Masonic wid-
ows’ and orphans’ home and infirmary. C. Henry
Finck made the first subscription, and the first
money was paid the next morning by a member of
Louisville Lodge, No. 400.
The institution was incorporated January 15,
1867, and Thomas T. Shreve donated a lot of
ground to “the Home.” More ground adjoining the
Shreve lot was purchased for $6,000, making in all
about five and one-half acres of an old cornfield, in
310
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
which the cornerstone of the “Masonic Widows’
and Orphans’ Home” was laid October 24, 1869,
during a severe snowstorm by E. S. Fitch, Grand
Master. The north wing was dedicated October
18, 1870. The entire building being under roof,
the central part was blown down to its foundation
June 2, 1875, but immediately rebuilt and dedicated
October 23, 1876. The building covers 24,-
000 square feet. Additional ground was pur-
chased in 1892, so that the property now
embraces all the ground between First and Second
streets, 420 feet, and between Lee south to Avery
Street, measuring 900 feet.
The Home has received into its loving care 900
beneficiaries, of whom 250 now enjoy its protection
and support. Its endowment fund has accumulated
to about $190,000, and every affiliated Mason in
Kentucky contributes $1.00 a year toward its main-
tenance, as a fixed minimum amount for his annual
contribution.
A printing office is maintained in connection with
the Home, capable of printing the Grand Lodge
proceedings of from 400 to 500 pages — half of it in
nonpareil type — in less than sixty days, while it
sends out its “Masonic Home Journal” semi-month-
ly to over 18,000 readers. A shoe-shop in the Home
supplies the shoes needed and does all the necessary
shoe repairing, all the work, except cutting, being
done by boys.
The Grand Lodge has been liberal to a fault (see
reports), and is now taking steps to contribute
many thousands more at its centennial celebration,
October, 1900, to erect an Old Masons’ Home, in
addition to the present buildings.
Kentucky Masons builded better than they knew,
for their example has been followed by Illinois,
Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia,
Connecticut, etc., in the erection of similar institu-
tions, and the work goes nobly on.
St. John’s Day, June 24th, is annually celebrated
in the interest of the Home. The second celebra-
tion in Louisville netted $14,959.12; and another,
in 1881, without the stimulant of newness and rival-
ry of fourteen competing lodges, netted $9,119.37
at a three days’ picnic and competitive drill in Cen-
tral Park and adjacent grounds south to A Street,
between Fourth and Sixth streets, which are now
laid out and many elegant buildings erected there-
on. The boys of the Home were uniformed as
Templars by generous friends and drilled with
swords as a “Little Commandery,” gaining enviable
reputation for skill and precision of movement.
They went to Washington, D. C., during the Grand
Encampment there in 1889. A different detachment
of twenty-nine boys went to Paducah, Kentucky, in
1894; still another went to Boston, Massachusetts,
via Niagara Falls and Quebec, by favor of General
S. C. Lawrence of Boston, returning via down the
St. Lawrence to Montreal, New York City, Phila-
delphia, Baltimore, Washington, etc., everywhere
receiving generous attention, in 1895. One hun-
dred and ten of the children visited the World’s
Fair, Chicago, in 1893. These incidents will indi-
cate the popularity of the Home, that brings out
such liberality of the kind-hearted.
The school maintained at the Home embraces
eight grades and is fully equal to the city schools.
Its chapel is a gem, having expensively decorated
art and stained glass windows, marble pulpit, pedes-
tals, etc., contributed by Masonic bodies.
A “Ladies’ Aid Society,” of which Mrs. Susan
Preston Hepburn was President, took great interest
in raising funds for the Home, by fairs, festivals,
etc., and turned over to the Home treasury over
$12,000. On every hand it finds friends, and its
usefulness has but commenced. It is justly the
pride of Kentucky Masons, and is an honor alike
to them, the Falls City and the State. Jacob F.
Weller is President of the institution; T. L. Jeffer-
son, Jr., Treasurer.
“The Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine” is esteemed by the uninitiated as a
modern “funny degree,” but it is in
T shHne.tlC no sense Masonic. The members
are, however, either Knights
Templars or thirty-second degree Masons, and for
this reason it is considered by some as quasi Ma-
sonic.
The historic claim is that the order was estab-
lished in Mecca, Arabia, in 1608 — which is extreme-
ly doubtful if not positively inaccurate. It is said to
have been revived at Cairo in 1837, and brought to
America in 1871. The bodies are called “Temples,”
and the first one in America was constituted as
“Mecca Temple, No. 1,” in 1875 or 1876.
Kosair Temple of Louisville was chartered June
14, 1886, with William Ryan as “Potentate,” and has
been “fun for the boys” even unto this day. It
meets in the Commandery rooms at Masonic Tem-
ple and is very popular.
S'
!
CHAPTER XXVIII,
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
by'w. w. morris.
This order is now everywhere known as a bene-
factor of the human race. Its flag proudly floats in
the breeze of every clime, as a beacon to the pilgrims
of life’s fitful journey, and a welcome guide to the
tempest driven mariner across the troubled waves of
human woe to its calm haven of rest. It exists in
response to the cravings of the soul for a domain of
brotherhood, a fraternity wherein sweet and con-
genial companionships and mutual offices of kind-
ness and regard would soften the asperities of life
and remove the evils of prejudice, bigotry and intol-
erance. An order that teaches the higher ideal of
life, that gives men a new faith in virtue, charity and
love, assuredly deserves a considerate study by all
those who are interested in the welfare of the human
race. As the means to an end, it has become one of
the most powerful weapons in the warfare upon
ignorance, vice and the host of evils that beset man
at every step in his earthly career. It does not seek
a veiled origin in the misty shades of the past to sur-
round it with the false glamour that arises from the
belief in the doctrine of omne ignotum pro magni-
fico. This age of enlightenment has emancipated the
gross credulity of the past. Antiquity bears with it
no passport of truth or goodness. The order of Odd
Fellows originated in England in the Eighteenth
century. In the early part of that century the cele-
brated Daniel De Foe mentions the Society of Odd
Fellows and in the Gentlemen’s Magazine for 1745
the Odd Fellows Lodge is mentioned as “a place
where very pleasant and recreative evenings are
spent.” The poet James Montgomery, in 1788, wrote
a song for a body of Odd Fellows. The Odd Fel-
lows’ Keepsake states that the early English Lodges
were supported and their members relieved by each
member and visitor paying a penny to the secretary
on entering the lodge. These allusions are sufficient
proof of the existence of the order at the time, but
they tell nothing of its aims, objects and character-
istics. From other sources, it is known that the
lodges were originally formed by workingmen for
social purposes and for giving the brethren aid and
assisting them to obtain employment when out of
work. When a brother could not obtain work he
was given a card and funds enough to carry him
to the next lodge, and if unsuccessful there that
lodge facilitated his further progress in the same
way. Where he found employment, there he de-
posited his card. At first there was little or no ritual
and no formal method of conducting the business of
the lodge. These were matters of gradual and slow
growth. The English are and were very conserva-
tive, and do not readily yield to innovation. Time,
however, works wonders, so that in the end many
radical and necessary changes were made in the
order. Even to this day some of the original and
characteristic features of the order are still prac-
ticed in the English branch of the fraternity. In the
early days of the institution after the formal business
was transacted conviviality and good fellowship be-
came the order of the night, and the brethren, glass
and pipe in hand, made the welkin ring with the
melody of their favorite song:
“When friendship, love and truth abound
Among a hand of brothers,
The cup of joy goes gaily round,
Each shares the bliss of others.”
Or,
“Then let us be social, be generous, be kind.
And let each take his glass and be mellow;
Then we’ll join heart and hand, leave dissensions behind,
And we’ll each prove a hearty Odd Fellow.”
It is said that the titles of the officers of the lodge
were taken from the “Order of Gregorianus,” which
met at St. Albans in May, 1736. In the early history
of the order each lodge was the arbiter of its own
fate and practically supreme. The doctrine of self
institution prevailed then as it did afterward in the
establishment of the order in the United States.
311
312
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
Secessions from lodges were frequent and rendered
the lodges less able to fulfill the objects of their be-
ing. The brethren were slow to learn that in union
there is strength. Wildey, the father and founder of
American Odd Fellowship, brought with him to this
country the seed which carefully sown and nurtured
has grown to such a mighty tree that in the shade
produced by its wide spreading branches brethren
may seek and obtain solace and security from most
of the storms incident to human life. The natal day
of American Odd Fellowship was the 26th of April,
1819. The attempts made prior to this date to estab-
lish the order here failed or the sickly or sporadic
growth became absorbed in the more vigorous
family planted by Wildey. American Odd Fellow-
ship was planted in Baltimore, Md., April 26, 1819.
No claim to antiquity can precede the establishment
of Washington Lodge, number one, of this date.
Whatever may be said with reference to the ancient
Order of Odd Fellows as a matter of history there
can be no question that the first lodge was instituted
at the Seven Stars in the City of Baltimore, on the
26th day of April, 1819. Thomas Wildey was the first
Noble Grand and the first Grand Master and the
first Grand Sire. He instituted Boone Lodge,
number one, in the City of Louisville, in the year
1833. Upon this occasion the following officers
were elected and installed:
Noble Grand — Sidney S. Lyon.
Vice Grand — Steven Barclay.
Recording Secretary — G. G. Wright.
Corresponding Secretary — John J. Roach.
Treasurer — W. Sutcliffe.
For the occasion of the meeting Boone Lodge
prepared a suitable room on the north side of Main
Street above Fifth, where it met for several years.
On the 17th of March, 1835, Chosen Friends Lodge,
number two, was organized. The first officers
elected and installed were:
Noble Grand — Henry Barker.
Vice Grand — Charles Wolford.
Secretary — Sidney S. Lyon.
Treasurer — A. W. R. Harris.
On the 25th day of March, 1835, a charter was
granted for the organization of Washington Lodge,
number three, at Covington, and this lodge was duly
instituted. On the 7th of October, 1835, a charter
was granted to organize Lorraine Lodge, number
four, which was duly instituted at this date with the
following officers:
Noble G^and — Joseph Metcalf.
Vice Grand — William H. Grainger.
Secretary — John Joyce.
Treasurer — William Twyman.
After the institution of Washington Lodge, num-
ber one, in Baltimore, the power was granted to form '
the Grand Lodge of the United States, with author-
ity to institute subordinate lodges within the juris-
diction of this supreme body. The organism of the
Sovereign Grand Lodge in its governmental au- [
thority and control is similar to that of the govern- j
ment of the United States. The Grand Lodge of a j
State represents the Legislature. The Grand Master
represents the Governor. The Sovereign Grand
Lodge represents the Senate of the United States.
The Grand Sire represents the President of the
United States. Under this authority at the session
of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, September 1, 1835,
a charter was granted for the Grand Lodge of the
State of Kentucky. The following petitioners were
embraced in the application: John J. Roach, P. G., ’
John Hawkins, Steven Barclay, Joseph Metcalf,
Joseph Barclay, Henry Wolford, Thomas Devan.
These of Boone Lodge, number one: Sidney S.
Lyon of Chosen Friends Lodge, number two; Ben-
jamin Moses of Washington Lodge, number three.
And so, on the 14th day of September, 1836, the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky was organized and the
following officers were elected and installed with
the highest ceremonials:
Grand Master— William S. Wolford, No. 2.
Deputy Grand Master — A. W. R. Harris, No. 2.
Grand Secretary — Charles Q. Black, No. 1.
Grand Treasurer — Henry Wolford, No. 1.
Thus was formed the Grand Lodge of the State
of Kentucky, I. O. O. F., since which time it has had
a career of peace and progress not exceeded by that 1
of any other jurisdiction. Its officers have been men
of marked merit and integrity. When the Grand
Lodge of Kentucky was formed in 1836 there were
but fifteen Past Grands and a total membership of
one hundred and seventy. There are at the present
time three thousand Past Grands, with a member-
ship of ten thousand. The Patriarchal or Encamp-
ment branch of the order, having been formally or-
ganized by the Sovereign Grand Lodge as a part j
of the system of Odd Fellowship, the members in
Kentucky deeming it not only desirable, but of the
utmost importance to have that beautiful depart-
ment as a part of the intrinsic organization, insti-
tuted on the 1 8th of August, 1837, Mount Horeb
Encampment, number one, at Louisville. The fol-
lowing charter members formed this first Encamp-
ment, namely: Joseph Barclay, Thomas H. Brice,
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
313
Henry Wolford, Charles Scott, John Hawkins,
Joseph Metcalf, F. Sarmiento, William Hunt, W. B.
Canby, H. H. Moray, John J. Roach.
The first officers elected and installed were:
Chief Patriarch — John Hawkins.
High Priest — J. Y. Dashiell.
Senior Warden — Joseph Metcalf.
Junior Warden — E. Kitts.
Scribe — Henry Wolford.
Treasurer — Charles Q. Black.
A charter was granted Olive Branch Encamp-
ment, number two, at Covington, May 17, 1837, On
the 2 1 st of November, 1839, the Grand Encamp-
ment of Kentucky was instituted by the competent
officials and after due ceremonials the following of-
ficers were installed:
Grand Patriarch — Henry Wolford.
Grand High Priest — Peleg Kidd.
Grand Senior Warden — Levi White.
Grand Junior Warden — Jesse Vansickle.
Grand Scribe — S. S. Barnes.
Grand Treasurer — John Thomas.
At that time there were two subordinate Encamp-
ments in the State, having about seventy members.
There are now more than forty Encampments and
more than two thousand Patriarchal members.
Up to the year 1830 no regular records were pre-
served as to the statistics of the Order. It appears
that at the close of the year 1895 there were in the
City of Louisville, eighteen subordinate Lodges and
five Subordinate Encampments, with a membership
exceeding three thousand. That under the super-
vision of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F.,
there were, embracing the Grand Lodges of Aus-
tralasia, the German Empire, Denmark, and Switzer-
land, one Sovereign Grand Lodge, four Independ-
ent Grand Lodges, fifty-four Subordinate Grand
Encampments, sisty-six Subordinate Grand Lodges.
Subordinate Encampments, twenty-six hundred
and thirty-three ; Subordinate Lodges, ten thousand
nine hundred and forty; lodge members, one million
and fifteen thousand nine hundred and forty-seven.
To these must be addedthe members of the Rebekah
Lodges. In addition to the Subordinate Lodges and
the Subordinate Encampments there has been added
the Rebekah Lodge, to which lodge wives, daugh-
ters and sisters of Odd Fellows in good standing
are by law admitted to membership, and the work
of these Rebekah Lodges, which now number more
than three thousand, has been phenomenal in the
works of benevolence and charity. The kind deeds
that have been done by the sisters is recorded in the
Great Record to remain a sealed book until time
shall be no more. To those unfamiliar with the
practical work of Odd Fellowship, it will be surpris-
ing to be informed that the total relief to lodge mem-
bers in 1895 exceeded $3,500,000.00; that the total
relief in the most unostentatious manner always
bearing in mind the significant instruction, not to
let the left hand know what the right hand doeth, has
relieved more than 800,000 members with an aggre-
gate of more than $70,000,000.00. The work of this
great order, with its more than one million of mem-
bers, scattered from the rising of the sun to the going
down of the same, will never be fully appreciated
until men of all ranks, conditions and creeds shall
harmonize in the combined efforts to do the greatest
good to the greatest number.
CHAPTER XXIX.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS AND OTHER SOCIETIES.
BY THE EDITOR.
In the two preceding- chapters extended mention
has been made of the two secret orders or fraternal
organizations most numerously represented in
Louisville and throughout the United States. To
enter fully into the histories of all the organizations
of this character in the city would require more
space than can be given to the matter in this con-
nection, were it possible to secure all the necessary
data. The writer must, therefore, be content to
give a general review of that rapid growth and de-
velopment of fraternal sentiment which has multi-
plied secret and benevolent orders and benefit so-
cieties in Louisville and made them important, ele-
ments in the social life of the city.
Next to the organizations already mentioned
in prominence and prestige, and among the most
worthy of all the modern brotherhoods, is that of the
Knights of Pythias, which has been represented in
Louisville since 1869. The order was instituted in
the City of Washington February 19, 1864, and was
composed originally entirely of clerks employed in
the different departments of the United States Gov-
ernment. The ritual of the order was prepared by
Dr. Robert A. Champion, but the chief promoter
of its growth and prosperity was Joseph Dowdall
of Columbus, Ohio. The first Grand Lodge was
organized on the 8th of April, 1864, and the Su-
preme Lodge of Knights of Pythias of the world
came into existence August 11, 1868. On the 7th
of May, 1869, the pioneer lodge of this order in
Louisville and the first in the State of Kentucky as
well, was instituted and named Clay Lodge No. 1.
It had to begin with a membership of twenty-nine,
and from this modest beginning Pythianism has
grown to its present proportions. Clay Lodge now
314
has sister subordinate lodges named respectively
Daniel Boone Lodge No. 2, Damon Lodge No. 3,
Uhland Lodge No. 4, Pioneer Lodge No. 8, Alpha
Lodge No. 9 and Mystic Lodge No. 11. The Uni-
form Rank is represented by Louisville Division
No. 1 and the Endowment Rank by sections num-
bered 1 and 1001 respectively. The first of these
sections was instituted November 28, 1877. Damon
Lodge No. 3 and Eureka Lodge No. 5 are colored
lodges belonging to this order.
Among the oldest purely American orders in the
Lhiited States is the Order of Red Men, represented
in Louisville by Hiawatha Tribe No.
Red Men 7 and Cherokee Tribe No. 8. The
order has an interesting his-
tory and had its origin in “the spirit of ’76.” Prior
to the Revolution there was a feeling of antagonism
to secret societies in the colonies, especially marked
with reference to those societies which were of En-
glish origin. At the same time the need was felt of
some such organizations to aid the Colonists in at-
taining a higher degree of religious, social and politi-
cal freedom than was accessible through the ordinary
avenues of civil life under the then existing forms
of government, and efforts were made to organize
associations that were purely and truly American
in character. The result was that in 1776 the “Red
Men’s” societies came into existence, being founded
on customs and traditions of the Indians. These
societies became especially popular in Pennsylvania
and Maryland, and many years later, in 1833, the
Improved Order of Red Men became their legiti-
mate successor. It has now a membership of more
than one hundred thousand in the United States.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS AND OTHER SOCIETIES.
315
represented in Louisville by Louisville Lodge No.
8 and including among its mem-
0Eiks°f bers many of the most prominent of
the younger men of the city, had its
origin in New York City February 16, 1868. Origi-
nally it was composed mainly of members of the
dramatic profession and held its meetings every
Sunday evening. Business meetings were followed
by a “social session,” and at precisely eleven o’clock
a toast was always drunk “to our absent brothers.”
There was much of good fellowship in the parent
organization and it attracted many bright and gen-
ial spirits. Its successors have been like unto it in
this respect wherever they have been established,
and representatives of all the professions and
higher callings in life are now to be found among
| its members. In 1890 there were in existence two
j hundred lodges, located mainly in the larger cities
| of the LTnited States, and Louisville Lodge was
j among the earliest lodges instituted in Western cit-
I ies. The present officers of the lodge are W. B.
' Thomas, Exalted Ruler, and C. W. Simmons, Sec-
j retary.
\ Of all the secret orders in the city, that which at
i present is attracting most attention to itself is doubt-
less the American Protective Asso-
tective Association, nation, semi-political in its charac-
ter. While its secrets are carefully
guarded and the writer has only such knowledge
■ of its aims and purposes as come to the surface in
its' public acts, it seems to be in effect a revival of the
oath-bound organization -which made its appearance
in this country and became a factor in American
politics in 1852-55. At that time it became a politi-
cal organization under the name of the American,
or, as it was more generally called, the “Know
' Nothing” party. Like its predecessor, the Ameri-
| can Protective Association appears to exist chiefly
j for the purpose of preventing the easy naturalization
: of foreigners and to aid the election of native born
| citizens to office, its members including many of for-
eign birth or descent. It arrays itself against church
influences in politics and governmental affairs, and
I is especially hostile to the Catholic Church in this re-
| spect. Its influence in Kentucky politics was first
1 made apparent in 1894, and in 1895 it undoubtedly
I exerted an important effect on a memorable State
I contest. This organization is now (1896) repre-
sented in Louisville by an advisory board and seven -
j teen Councils, and its members are exceedingly ac-
tive participants in state and local politics.
Orders which combine social, fraternal and bene-
fit features are largely represented in Louisville.
The Royal Arcanum, a widely-
Benefit Orders, known and popular organization of
this character, is represented by
Louisville Council No. 242, Clay Council No. 1252
and Kentucky Council No. 1064; the National Prov-
ident Union by Henry Clay Council No. 69; the
Ancient Order of United Workmen by Louis-
ville Lodge No. 6, Kentucky Lodge No. 7, Jefferson
Lodge No. 12, Mozart Lodge No. 18, Germania
Lodge No. 19, West End Lodge No. 21, Schiller
Lodge No. 24, Antiquity Lodge No. 30, Humboldt
Lodge No. 37 and George W. Metz Lodge.
The Senior Order of United American Mechanics
is represented by Kentucky Star No. 3, Henry Clay
Council No. 2 and Washington Council No. 1. The
Order of Chosen Friends has eleven Councils in
Louisville, the following being their names and
numbers:
Bercaw Council No. 9, Friendship Council No.
18, Union Council No. 19, Sunlight Council No.
20, Jefferson Council No. 24, Welcome Council No.
15, Briareus Council No. 21, Aid Council No. 25,
Miller Council No. 26, Rainbow Council No. 2 and
H. H. Morse Council No. 10.
The American Legion of Honor has one Council
in Louisville, Louisville Council No. 399, and the
Oriental League has also one Council in this city,
known as Johanboeke Hebron Council No. 17. The
United Order of the Golden Cross has Louisville
Commandery No. 117, Falls City Commandery No.
351, Progress Commandery No. 407 and Kentucky
Commandery No. 531.
The Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, a
popular and growing fraternal organization, have in
Louisville two Senates, known respectively as
Louisville Senate No. 1 and Kentucky Senate No.
265. The Knights of the Maccabees have Louis-
ville Tent No. 45.
The Knights of Honor have a long list of local
lodges, the names and numbers being as follows:
Golden Lodge No. 1, Louisville Lodge No. 2, Ex-
celsior Lodge No. 4, Jefferson Lodge No. 5, R. E.
Lee Lodge No. 6, Armenius Lodge No. 7,
Aid Lodge No. 25, Columbian Lodge No. 98, Teu-
tonia Lodge No. 128, Central Lodge No. 164, W.
B. Hoke Lodge No. 177, Centennial Lodge No.
200, Falls City Lodge No. 208, Mystic Lodge No.
212, Broadway Lodge No. 731, Schiller Lodge No.
1277, Mechanics’ Lodge No. 1404, Check Lodge
No. 1515, Phoenix Lodge No. 2113, Highland
Lodge No. 3036, Humboldt Lodge No. 3078, Dia-
CHAPTER XXX.
THE LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL CLUB.
BY MARMADUSE B. BOWDEN.
Successful in its industrial and artistic features,
the Southern Exposition of 1883 proved a loss to
investors in its stock. Its effect was discouraging
to public spirit, which lay dormant until 1887. In
the early part of that year Louisville’s younger
business men proposed the formation of a society
for the purpose of arousing the people to concerted
action in the general interest. The idea took, and
on May 12, 1887, the Louisville Commercial Club
was incorporated. Its charter declared its object
to be “to promote the commercial interests and gen-
eral welfare of the City of Louisville.” It was the
first time the “City of Louisville” had ever been
written in capital letters!
George A. Robinson was elected president of the
club. On May 18 it had one hundred and sixty-eight
members. This number was increased year by year
until it reached its highwater mark in 1891, when
the membership roll showed twelve hundred and
seventy-two names. The first secretary of the club
was Angus Allmond, who served in that capacity
for three years and who became its tenth president
by election on May 12, 1896. Upon its organization
the club was given temporary desk room in R. G.
Dun & Co.’s rear office, whence in a few weeks it
removed to modest quarters on Bullitt street, near
Main. It was in these rooms that the original Park
Bill, drawn at the request of the club by the late
Col. John Mason Brown, was given its first public
reading by its distinguished author. On this occa-
sion the club pledged itself to secure the passage
of the bill by the General Assembly. In this it
succeeded. The bill required a ratification by popu-
lar vote, and again the club took the lead, and agi-
tated the subject so effectively that all opposition
was swept aside and the act confirmed by an over-
whelming majority. This was the first great public
service the Commercial Club rendered.
The club quarters early became the gathering
place of business men, and out of these casual meet-
ings sprang many enterprises. The
COlUprojerted!dmS company which erected Louisville’s
first cotton mill was organized
there. The records of the club show that hundreds
of corporate meetings were held in the club rooms
and that during its first years large numbers of
business organizations were effected there. The
club early felt the inadequacy of its quarters, and
this led to the projection of “the tallest building on
the western hemisphere south of the Ohio River,”
which the Commercial Club Building Company, or-
ganized in 1888, completed in 1890, and which was
known first as the “Commercial Club Building,” but
which afterward became “The Commerce,” and is
now called “The Columbia.” At the end of the
club’s first year President Robinson declared of it:
“It has succeeded in creating a liberal public spirit.
* * * When was there such general interest in
the advancement of our city’s prosperity? During
what year was there ever such a record as that just
made?”
In May, 1888, John S. Morris became president.
The club had now a thousand members, and its
treasury overflowed. The annual New Year’s re-
ception, regularly held since, was inaugurated bv
Mr. Morris, as was the annual dinner, which was
observed regularly till 1894, when it was omitted
on account of the depression of business, and since
when it has not been revived. During every year
the club has entertained hundreds, and during the
G. A. R. Encampment of 1895 it entertained thou-
sands of visitors to Louisville; its employment com-
mittee secured positions for hundreds of persons
out of work, and from its office an almost incalcul-
able quantity of advertising matter has been scat-
tered broadcast over our own and foreign countries.
THE LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL CLUB.
319
In 1888-1889 the Press Committee furnished to
newspapers 1,500 columns of matter. This was
trebled in the succeeding year. During 1888
the club’s quarters were removed to the Tyler build-
ing at Sixth and Main streets, and in this year the
first fall celebration was conducted. For this pur-
pose the club in three days secured 493 floats. Dun
& Co.’s records confirmed the report of the club’s
Mercantile and Manufacturing Committee that
“during the year ending May 1, 1889, the material
improvement of Louisville far exceeded that of any
city of its class in the United States.”
Charles F. Huhlein succeeded to the presidency
of the club in May, 1889. It is estimated that the
newspaper space devoted to the club during his
term of office was worth $75,000. During the year
there were established by the club's encouragement
four building and loan associations that have since
grown to gigantic proportions and contributed
largely to the increase of homes owned by the less
wealthy classes of our people. It was under Presi-
dent Huhlein that the club declared war on “swing-
ing signs” — long an eye-sore and source of danger.
The club’s continued warfare was rewarded in 1894,
I when every such sign in Louisville was removed in
obedience to an ordinance then adopted. A vigor-
ous effort, successful in the Senate, to induce the
General Assembly to create an Immigration Bu-
reau, was defeated by one vote in the House, during
President Huhlein’s term, which was marked by
the greatest energy and the widest range of subjects
considered. When the great cyclone of 1890 swept
Louisville the Commercial Club Patrol was instant-
ly formed and rendered signal ser-
ciub Patrol. vice in the work of rescue and pro-
tection of property. The directors
of the club had held a meeting each week, though
the by-laws only required them to meet monthly,
from the organization of the club, and had never
j been without a quorum. It was because of such
j zeal as this fact indicates that the energizing itlflu-
I ence of the club was everywhere felt; in view of
! thi^ fact it is easy to understand why the club came
j to be called “The Young Giant.”
Frank N. Hartwell was chosen president in May,
1890. Lucien Adkins succeeded Angus Allmond,
! who declined a re-election, as secretary. The club’s
income was now more than $1,000 per month. It
j entered into an expensive lease for quarters for a
| term of five years in the Commercial Club Build-
ing, and took possession January 1, 1891. This
lease proved a thorn in the flesh of the organiza-
tion until its cancellation was secured in 1893. The
club quarters increased in popularity as a place of
meeting. As many as seven were noted as in ses-
sion there at the same time. The club’s successful
efforts in behalf of a park system began now to have
a further effect in the projection of the parkway
known as the Grand Boulevard, and in the conse-
quent reclamation and improvement of adjacent ter-
ritory, since become the site of many suburban
homes. The architectural standard set up by the
erection of the Commercial Club Building also be-
ings for business purposes of a character unknown
prior to the completion of the struc-
EnterSinments. tUre at Follrth and Main streets-
During Mr. Llartwell's term the
May Music Festival of 1891 was conceived. Mr. C.
H. Shackleton trained for this event a local chorus
of two hundred and fifty voices that afterward be-
came the Louisville Musical Club. The fall cele-
bration of 1890 was successfully conducted largely
by the assistance of the club in raising the necessary
funds. The suggestion of a Board of Public Works,
afterward embodied in the present city charter, em-
anated from the club under Mr. Hartwell’s leader-
ship. The Federal census-takers proving unsatis-
factory the club put its own enumerators in the field
and succeeded thereby in adding several thousands
to the accredited population of the city. The policy
of inviting large organizations to hold their annual
sessions here bore fruit this year in the meeting of
four large and several small national associations in
Louisville. Wherever commercial assemblies were
held the club had its representatives there to guard
the interests of Louisville. The club endeavored to
induce the Constitutional Convention to remove the
state capital to Louisville and conducted a notable
but unsuccessful campaign to that end. The secre-
tary’s office "became a clearing house for even-
kind of information.” The national government
often applied to the club for information concern-
ing the city and state. In retiring President Hart-
well declared: “The organization is stronger than
ever before.”
In May, 1891, Owen Gathright, Jr., was elected
president. The club this year devoted itself to the
cause of overworked clerks, and by their assistance
succeeded in the establishment of the hours from
"7 to 7,” i. e., from seven a. m. to seven p. m. as the
limit of the day's work, with a Saturday closing-
hour at one p. m. The first “World’s Fair Appro-
priation .Bill” was passed during- Mr. Gathright s ad
ministration, and was due directly to the work of the
320
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
club. A second effort to have the General Assem-
bly create an Immigration Bureau failed in the
State Senate, despite the assiduous work of the club
to secure its passage. The new city charter was this
year almost completed, and it was framed by three
members of the club, appointed by the mayor. The
May Music Festival proved a great artistic success
and certainly did much to encourage the cause of
music in Louisville, but it cost the club treasury
somewhat over $4,000 more than the receipts. The
club also suffered a loss of two hundred members
during the year. This was due most largely per-
haps to the dissatisfaction caused by a bitter strug-
gle for the presidency in May, 1891, the opposing
forces being the “Conservatives,” with Mr. Gath-
right as their candidate, and the “Progressives.”
The presidency fell to Mr. Geo. Braden in May,
1892. The club had not recovered from its financial
losses. It was further affected by an unfortunate
quarrel between the president and the secretary,
Mr. Adkins, who was eventually forced to retire.
Mr. Thos. P. Craig was chosen to succeed to the
position of secretary, and has continuously held
that office since. The membership during the year
was reduced by the loss of three hundred and fifty-
eight members. The treasury was correspondingly
affected. Nevertheless the club lost little of its ef-
fectiveness. The Court of Appeals having decided
that the World’s Fair Bill was improperly passed,
a second one was drafted and the club devoted its
whole energies to securing its passage, and suc-
ceeded. A great deal of complaint having arisen
concerning the sanitary condition of the city, the
club at a considerable cost employed a distinguished
sanitary engineer and had a sanitary survey of the
city made. The result was the establishment be-
yond question of the general healthfulness of the
city. The club interested itself in the scheme to
build the Nicaragua Canal and held a State conven-
tion, which declared in favor of the project and pe-
titioned Congress to grant the necessary financial
aid for its accomplishment. A second effort was
made to remove the State capital to Louisville.
Sites were secured and offered to the Legislature
(known as the “Long Parliament”), and a vote was
taken whereby an appropriation of $1,000,000 was
offered by the city to the State as a bonus, and a
committee opened headquarters in Frankfort. Lex-
ington was also ambitious to be the capital and
after being defeated by Louisville in the House of
Representatives gave its votes to Frankfort, and so
ended the contest in the latter’s favor. The club
during Mr. Braden’s term attempted the establish-
ment of a military post in this city, but was unable to
succeed in this. It was busy with the effort to se-
cure from the General Assembly a charter for the j
city that would be acceptable in its tax provisions to
the citizens and sent frequent delegations to Frank-
fort for that purpose.
In May, 1893, Marmaduke B. Bowden was elect- |
ed president of the club. Early in this year the
financial panic of 1893 fell upon the
o“B°unr„rgd country, and among the banks in
Louisville which suspended was \
that which held the club’s funds. The club was i
saved from bankruptcy by the prompt action of the ,
Columbia Building Company, which cancelled the I
lease by which the club was bound to continue pay-
ment of high rent. This relieved the organization
of a liability of $1,500 a year, and for this relief the
club was particularly indebted to J. Lithgow Smith,
one of its former directors, who was superintendent
of the Columbia Building Company. The Board j
of Trade generously offered the club quarters in its
building at Third and Main streets, where the club (
has since been located. It was during this year [
that the City Council passed the ordinance requiring ;
the removal of all swinging signs. To Mayor Tyler ,
directly the city was indebted for this, for which the ;
club had struggled so long. During this year a
club committee investigated and reported upon the
subject of a hospital ambulance system to take the
place of the coverless patrol wagons which had been
used for ambulance purposes. The report was
turned over to Mayor Tyler, with the request that !
such a service as it recommended be established.
The mayor promptly took the proper steps and the j
present hospital ambulance is the result. The club
took advantage of the World’s Fair to distribute
immense quantities of advertising matter setting 1
out the advantages of Louisville, and lent its influ-
ence to the effort to extend the boundaries of the ,
city. The Louisville Musical Club, struggling to 1
maintain itself, this year found itself without a home.
The Commercial Club placed its quarters at the :
service of the Musical Club, which here conducted |
its rehearsals preparatory to its debut at the Musi- f
cal Congress at Chicago during the World’s Fair,
where it took conspicuous place and was highly
complimented upon its performances. In recogni-
tion of the aid given it by the Commercial Club the
Musical Club in February, 1894, tendered the for-
mer a concert which was perhaps the finest musical
performance ever rendered by a local organization.
THE LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL CLUB.
321
The greatest undertaking of the Commercial Club
during the year was its endeavor to bring to Louis-
ville the National Encampment of the Grand Army
in 1895. St. Paul was an earnest candidate for this
event and a national campaign took place between
that city and Louisville. Representatives of the
Commercial Club attended the annual meetings of
the larger G. A. R. State departments, and there
presented Louisville’s claims. A tremendous
amount of circular literature was distributed and the
club correspondence so increased
Encampment that an assistant secretary and sev-
eral stenographers were perforce
added to the club’s pay roll. The matter of securing
the encampment was specifically managed by the
Railway, Mail and Telegraph Committee, of which
Mr. Jno. H. Milliken was chairman and Mr. Will
Colgan was secretary, and the larger part of the
work fell to the members of this committee, but the
energies and thought of the entire directory was
largely devoted to this work during the year. The
formal vote by which Louisville won the encamp-
ment was not taken until the National encampment
of 1894 met at Pittsburg in September, but the bat-
tle was really fought and won long before that time
in the State Departments. There was practically
no opposition to Louisville at Pittsburg. St. Paul
had already been thoroughly defeated. The cam-
paign by which this was accomplished appreciated
the opinion the northern, eastern and western peo-
ple held of our intelligence and industry.
Peyton N. Clarke succeeded to the club presidency
in May, 1894. Shortly afterward, with the view
of popularizing the Grand Army Encampment
movement, the club transferred all matters pertain-
ing to that movement to a Citizens’ Committee,
which in turn was succeeded, after the Pittsburg
victory, by a second Citizens’ Committee, with Col.
T. H. Sherley as its president. This last was the
body which had charge of all the preliminary work
and which conducted to so brilliant a termination
the twenty-ninth G. A. R. National Encampment in
Louisville in September, 1895. During Mr. Clark’s
incumbency the hospital ambulance service was put
into operation. The club was this year confronted
with the question whether the Knights of Pythias
should be invited to hold their national meeting in
August, 1896, in Louisville. It was known that this
large body would be glad to accept such an invita-
tion, but it was decided to withhold this in view of
the extensive preparations and large expenditures
already making for the reception of the Grand
21
Army, and of the further fact that the meetings of
the two organizations would fall one within twelve
months of the other. The club devoted consider-
able time and thought to the subject of improving
the Kentucky River, and forwarded appropriate
resolutions to Congress with the view to influencing
legislation favorable to that stream. The club also
lent its weight to the securing of a congressional ap-
propriation in behalf of the Atlanta Exposition.
The club again advocated the appropriation of a
million dollars for improving the public parks, and
the proposition carried, though the issue of bonds
has been delayed by a lawsuit instituted with the
view to test the validity of the issue. The City De-
velopment Committee declared war upon the de-
stroyers of shade trees, and by vigorous action suc-
ceeded in placing all such trees upon the public
streets under the guardianship of the Park Com-
mission. This committee also, in conjunction with
other organizations, induced the City Council to
authorize the construction of needed fire cisterns
and the placing of fire plugs in unprotected districts
where such mode of protection was feasible. The
Pure Food Exposition, held under the club’s aus-
pices this year, proved a success. The usual quan-
tity of advertising- matter was issued and a rigid
economy was practiced during the year.
In May, 1895, Marmaduke B. Bowden was elect-
ed president a second time. The policy of economy
was continued throughout the year, with the result
that May 1, 1896, the surplus was larger than it had
been at the end of any fiscal year since May 1, 1892.
The necessity for such hoarding of the club funds
grew out of the prevailing depression in business
circles and materially affected the club’s activities,
but during the year it was still found possible to do
something. In special quarters the club enter-
tained during the G. A. R. Encampment over 10,000
persons, and its rooms proved to be among the
most popular of all those kept open for the enter-
tainment of visitors. The club was complimented
during the encampment by serenades from such
leading G. A. R. Posts as Lafayette of New York,
and Columbia of Chicago, while G. S. Grant Post ot
Chicago, the largest in the world, presented, with
a complimentary address, to the club the white dove
that perched upon the post's banner during the great
parade, and Leominster Post of Massachusetts
also presented to the club a magnificent paii ot
horns, brought from the Cape of Good Hope and
polished in Leominster. The club also enteitained
the United Editorial Association of Indiana
322
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
during the year, and in conjunction with the Board
of Trade conducted to the Atlanta Exposition an
excursion of Kentuckians, but for whose presence
“Kentucky Day” at the Exposition would have
proved a dreary occasion, whereas, by the co-opera-
tion of visiting officials of other States, it was noth-
ing short of a complete and brilliant success. The
club during the year had representatives at the Ohio
River Improvement Convention at Cincinnati, the
Western Waterways Convention at Vicksburg, the
Good Roads Parliament at Atlanta, and the South-
ern and Western Grain and Trade Congress at
Charleston. The club was defeated in an effort to
secure from the General Assembly an amendment to
the city charter allowing the exemption of manufac-
turing concerns from municipal taxation for a per-
iod of years in consideration of locating here by the
untoward conditions that prevailed at Frankfort
throughout the session. It took an active interest
in securing the passage of the constitutional amend-
ment, which, if ratified by popular vote, will permit
every municipality to adopt any desired system for
raising local revenues. The club was instrumental
in inducing the League of American Wheelmen to
select Louisville as the location of the national
bicycle racing meet, to be held in August next, anc (
it was upon the invitation of the club that the Son?
of Veterans agreed to hold their next national en-
campment here in September, 1896.
In May, 1896, Angus Allmond, first secretary oi
the club, was elected president. With him an excep-
tionally able and earnest board of directors was)
chosen. |
The Commercial Club’s usefulness cannot be!
measured by its immediate or tangible accomplish-
ments. Its greatest claim to public gratitude and i,
support lies in the fact that it has been an inspira-l
tion, inciting others to the doing of things it could .
not have itself performed. It has been a tremendous \
power in Louisville, and not the least of its glories
are the small things its patient intelligence has ac-
complished, and which individual effort would not
have undertaken or adhered to if begun. The
selfish have sneered at it, fools have misjudged it j
and the envious have maligned it, but it has never j
for one moment abated its efforts in the public in- ■
terest. It found Louisville sleeping; it wakened j
her, and even now is doing more to keep her awake \
than any single institution in the city. Esto per-
petua ! |
*
CHAPTER XXXI.
JOCKEY, SOCIAL, LITERARY AND OTHER CLUBS.
BY THE EDITOR.
The Louisville Jockey Club as it practically
now exists was organized in 1876, its first
meeting being held in the spring of that
year. Its buildings were erected on ground
leased from the Churchill brothers and com-
prised a grand stand, with necessary stables and pad-
docks and a modest clubhouse, which became the
residence of its president, Col. M. Lewis Clark, for
twenty years, and which is still occupied by him
since he became chief judge of the new organization.
It proved a success from the initial meeting, taking
at once the foremost rank, and has done more to pro-
mote the success of the legitimate turf and the de-
velopment of the thoroughbred than any similar in-
stitution in the United States. The absolute fairness
and integrity of its managers has always been con-
ceded and the confidence of its patrons has never
been shaken. In 1895 the club was reorganized
as the Newr Louisville Jockey Club, and very
extensive improvements made. A large and com-
modious new brick grand stand was erected on
the north side of the course and additional fa
cilities for the accommodation of race horses
added, including stalls for the temporary ac-
commodation of horses entered for the day's
racing beneath the grand stand, thus reducing
the time necessary for bringing them from the per-
manent stables to the score, and enabling those in-
terested to inspect them and judge their condition.
Of the new company, Mr. W. F. Schulte became
president, while the veteran Col. Clark became pre-
siding judge, and C. F. Price was continued as sec-
retary. The two seasons of racing under the new
organization have proven very successful. New life
has been infused into the management and the in-
terest in racing, which had shown a decided falling
off, has been revived. This was notably evidenced
in the spring meeting of the current year, when the
racing both as to numbers and close finishes and the
daily attendance was the best in the history of the
club.
While the continuous existence of the Louisville
Jockey Club has not been so long as that of the Lex-
ington Association, which dates from 1826, -Louis-
ville has always been a notable racing point. As
early as 1783 it is known that races were run on what
is now Market street, until prohibited by the munici-
pal authorities. Afterward there was a race track
near the foot of Sixteenth street, at which horses
were run for purses. In the Louisville Advertiser of
October 3, 1823, there appears the following adver-
tisement: “Louisville Jockey Club races will com-
mence on Monday, October, 1823, and continue
three days. First day, three-mile heats; second
day, two-mile heats; third day, one-mile heats; free
for any horse, mare or gelding. Aged horses, 12 1
pounds; six years old, 114 pounds; five years old,
103 pounds; four years old, 90 pounds; three years
old, 75 pounds. Thos. Watson, Sec’y.” It will be
noted that there were no dashes, all being heat races.
It will also be observed that the weights for age were
less than now, when in the Derby three-year-olds
are required to carry 1 1 7 pounds. The jockey club
races, as shown by the press, seem to have been
kept up quite regularly, and in the Louisville
“Focus” of 1827 there appears the following: “The
Louisville Jockey Club will commence the first
Wednesday in October, 1827, on the Louisville turf,
Hope Distillery, and continue four days. First day,
three-mile heats, $120; second day, two mile-heats,
$80; third day, one-mile heats, $50; fourth day, three
best in five, one mile and repeat.” The Hope distil-
lery was at the foot of Sixteenth street. There is also
an advertisement stating that there would be six
two-year-olds run over the Reargrass track, at Major
Peter Funk’s on the last Tuesday in October, 1827,
one mile and repeat for $30. We are not able to fix
exactly the date of the organization of the Oakland
32 3
324
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
course, but it was firmly established when the fol-
lowing announcement was made in the city press
of June 5, 1838: “Louisville Jockey Club races over
Oakland course. The subscriber having lately pur-
chased the Oakland course, announces the following
races for October 15: Four-mile heats, purse $1,200;
three-mile heats, $600 ; two-mile heats, plate value of
$500; spring races, June 28, four-mile heats, $1,000;
three-mile heats, $500; two-mile heats, $500; three in
five, mile heats, purse $250. Y. N. Oliver.”
The four-mile race between Grey Eagle and Wag-
ner, which took place there September 30, 1839, was
one of the greatest events of the American turf, from
the interest it created at the time, the amount of the
stake and the large attendance. It was a match race
for $14,000. Grey Eagle was a Kentucky horse and
Wagner a Tennessee horse. The Kentuckians were
confident that Grey Eagle would win and bet heavily
on him at odds. It was a heat race, best two in three.
The first heat was won by Wagner in 7:48, but the
backers of Grey Eagle were still confident. The
second heat Wagner beat Grey Eagle in 7:44, win-
ning the race and purse. On Saturday, October 5,
for the Jockey Club purse of $1,500, four mile heats,
the entries were Grey Eagle, Wagner and Capt.
Willa Viley’s mare Emily Johnson. The Kentuck-
ians, although they had nearly bankrupted them-
selves on the match race the week before, still had
faith in Grey Eagle, which was heightened by his
winning the first race in 7:51, Wagner just running
to save his distance. In the second heat, however,
Wagner beat Grey Eagle in what was then regarded
as extraordinary time, 7:43. The excitement now
was greater than at any other time during the meet-
ing, the friends of either horse claiming ultimate
victory. But those of Grey Eagle were destined to
another and even worse disappointment, for in the
third heat he let down lame in the second mile and
was retired from the turf. He was an extraordinarily
handsome dappled gray, while Wagner was a chest-
nut. On the Oakland course also appeared many
of the greatest race horses, such as Boston, Single-
ton, Whip, Glencoe and others, afterward the sires
of the best strains of the Kentucky thoroughbred.
The race course, which was then considered quite a
distance from the city, was situated at Seventh and
Magnolia, not as far out as the Auditorium. There
was then no city south of Broadway and little or
none south of Chestnut. Shortly after the war, in
1866, Louisville having been long without a race
course, the Woodlawn course was established by the
combined efforts of the breeders of the Blue-grass
region and local sportsmen. Its location was on Jj
the Louisville & Frankfort railroad, about six miles s
east of the city, and for several years it was very suc-
cessful; but financial troubles, coupled with a lack
of concord, ensued and it was wound up in litiga-
tion, its successor being the present Jockey Club, as
already described.
Numerous efforts from time to time within the
past twenty years, which period marks the inaugura-
Louisviiie Driving tion and culmination of trotting
and races in Kentucky were made
Fair Association. , , i . ... , ,
to establish a trotting club sim-
ilar to the Louisville Jockey Club. Notwith-
standing these efforts at the outset seemed to
promise favorably, for some reason they all ended in
failure after a brief trial. In 1895, however, a new
spirit was awakened and the Louisville Fair and
Driving Association was incorporated by a number
of gentlemen interested in the trotting horse, and a
very eligible site for a trotting track was purchased
on the main stem of the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad, several miles south of the city. At an ex-
pense of $100,000 one of the best tracks in the
United States was constructed on the most approved
principles, to insure speed and drainage, and a large
and handsome grand stand was built, together with
ample stables and a thorough equipment. It was
completed in time for a fall meeting, at which purses
aggregating $25,000 were given, for which some
of the fastest trotters of the country contended. But,
unfortunately, the meeting was timed for the same
week of the twenty-ninth grand encampment G. A.
R., which it was reasonably expected would insure
a large attendance. The exercises in the city, how-
ever, so engrossed the attention of both citizens and
strangers that the number who visited the race track
was not at all commensurate with the excellent rac-
ing afforded, nor the expense incurred for the popu-
lar entertainment. The coming fall meeting prom-
ises to be more auspicious, the association offering
in purses and stakes $40,000, which will doubtless
attract large crowds. The president is J. J. Doug-
lass and secretary, George Lindenberger.
Of the many social organizations in Louisville,
the Pendennis Club is the oldest and largest in point
of membership. It was founded in
The Pendenni.s. 1881, in the line of succession to sev-
eral of similar character which had
preceded, such as the Kentucky Club, which, until
for some years after the war, had its headquarters
in the old Anderson mansion, on the south side of
JOCKEY, SOCIAL, LITERARY AND OTHER CLUBS.
325
leL
!d]
&
n-
Jefferson street, between Fourth and Fifth; the Pren-
tice Club and afterward the Union Club, quartered
in the Courier-Journal building. These had, one by
one, disbanded in turn, and Louisville was without
a gentleman’s social club, until the Pendennis tvas
started in a quiet and unostentatious way by a lim-
ited number of gentlemen, with Major J. M. Wright
as president. Its quarters were first in the second
story of the building on the southwest corner of
Fourth and Walnut. Here it continued for several
years, growing in numbers and influence until it
purchased its present very elegant clubhouse on the
south side of Walnut, between Third and Fourth
street nearly opposite Macauley’s Theatre. It is
one of the handsomest locations in the city. The
house, which occupies part of the block upon which
the old residence of John I. Jacob stood alone near
its center, was built by Abraham Hunt, Esq., at the
beginning of the war, for his private residence.
Upon its completion, he moved into it with his
family and, after an occupancy of a week, having
concluded to take a trip to Europe, he sold it and
it was the residence of Mr. John Bell and Mr. Wm.
B. Belknap, until it was purchased by the club.
Since its removal to those handsome quarters the
club increased in numbers until it has over three
hundred members, comprising the most substantial
business and professional men of the city and State.
The clubhouse has been improved from time to time,
until, in all of its details of interior decoration and
appointments for the entertainment and comfort of
its members and guests, it will compare favorably
with any clubhouse in the country. It is essentiallv
a home club, comfort in no particular being sacri-
ficed to display. It maintains an admirable and in-
expensive cuisine and is noted for the elegance of the
entertainments, public and private, which it affords
in its elegant dining rooms. The rules governing
the admission of members are rigid and sufficient to
secure the exclusion of undesirable persons. In all
respects it is an admirable institution, affording not
only a useful resource to the home member, but a
means whereby the visiting stranger gets an insight
into the personnel of its leading citizens, and into
the proverbial hospitality of Kentucky. The presi-
dents of the club since its organization have been
Major J. M. Wright, 1881-84; Captain Silas F. Mil-
ler, 1884-87, 1888-94; Mr. James Clark, 1887-88,
and John M. Atherton from 1894 to the present time.
The secretary is Mr. Joseph S. Odiorne.
The Kenton Club is, in order of merit and
age, next to the Pendennis Club, and is another
one of the social institutions of Louisville.
In 1888 the University Club was or-
Kenton ciub. ganized, with headquarters in the
Fonda building, on Fourth, between
Walnut and Chestnut. As its name implies it was de-
signed as a club for collegiate graduates and was
composed of a younger set of men than the Penden-
nis. It flourished two or three years with some very
attractive features, being less expensive and with a
more social turn. Its membership became very cred-
itable, both in numbers and composition, and it
seemed to be on the high road to success, the erec-
tion of a new building being in contemplation, when
financial embarrassment ensued and it passed into
liquidation. Some of its principal members, believ-
ing that there was room for another club, organized
on thorough business principles, took the matter in
hand and their efforts resulted in the organization of
the Kenton, upon a sound footing. Ground was
purchased and the present handsome and well-
planned club building, on the east side of Fourth
avenue, was erected in 1892, largely through the
energy and good financial ability of the late Samuel
A. Miller, who became its first president, and at his
death, in 1895, was succeeded by Graham Macfar-
lane. Much that has been said of the excellent man-
agement and high standard of the Pendennis is
equally applicable to the Kenton, the latter, in fact,
having the advantage of possessing a clubhouse
planned especially for the purpose. Its membership
is large and growing, and while it consists princi-
pally of young men, there is a sufficient leaven of
those of more mature years to insure, if it were
needed, sufficient ballast to steady the craft under
full sail.
A social club which in some of its features is dif-
ferent from the preceding, is the Standard Club,
whose clubhouse is on the east side
standard ciub. of Fifth street, between Walnut and
Chestnut. Its membership is com-
posed of the leading Jewish families of the city. To
the social features of the other clubs are added a
large ball room, in which are held social events,
public and private, when the guests are too great in
number for a private house, such as weddings, balls
and other similar entertainments, as also on special
occasion concerts and musical soirees not open to
the general public. The buildings are large and at-
tractive, forming one of the architectural features of
the locality. The club is admirably managed and
financially prosperous, as a glance at its handsome
and well ordered buildings readily suggests. It was
326
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
founded in 1882 and has a membership of one hun-
dred and twenty or more. Its president is Mr. S.
Grabfelder.
The Athletic Club is an organization of young
men, the primary object of which was the cultiva-
tion of manly sports and the promo-
Athietie ciub. tion of healthy exercise and physical
culture. Its handsome and ornate
building in shingle is on Fifth, near St. Catherines.
It was built in 1888-89 and has proven itself to be
admirably planned and adapted for the purpose for
which it was constructed. It comprises a large, well-
lighted and well-ventilated gymnasium, with all the
latest appliances for muscular development, as also
bath rooms and lavatories, and storage rooms for
athletic suits, etc. The gymnasium hall is so ar-
ranged that it can be used for a ball room, and it is
a favorite place for social entertainments, fetes, etc.
The club has a professor of athletics for the instruc-
tion of its members in boxing and running, leaping
and other athletic sports, and, at stated times, gives
exhibitions, at which prizes are contended for in the
several branches of physical science, to which at-
tention is given.
The Riding Club is an association of ladies and
gentlemen who practice horseback riding. Their
club building is in the rear of the
Riding'ciub Auditorium on Fifth and A street.
It was built for the purpose and is
well adapted for its objects. Here the novice learns
to ride under the instruction of a competent teacher,
and the more experienced can practice or ride in
weather too inclement for out-of-door exercise. Since
the organization of the club and the erection of the
clubhouse four or five years ago, there has been de-
veloped a growing taste for horseback riding, the
result of which is seen daily in proper season in the
graceful riding of those who have availed them-
selves of the opportunity to learn. Gen. John B.
Castleman is president and founder of the club.
The Watterson Club is a Democratic political
club, with the social feature attached. It was or-
ganized in 1892, during the presi-
Poiiticai ciubs. dential campaign, and has been
maintained with much spirit. Until
within the current year it had a large clubhouse,
when, on occasion, it dispensed a free hospitality,
but latterly, owing to financial depression and a lack
of the unity and enthusiasm which led to its organ-
ization, it has given its building up and taken apart-
ments better adapted for its purposes. The Garfield
Club is a social organization of members of the Re-
publican party, which has been in active existence
through a number of presidential campaigns. It
has a large membership of active leading Republi-
cans and is an important factor in State and local
politics. It likewise has given up its clubhouse and 1
has cpiarters at 237 Third street. It is not within the
province of this article to give an account of the
purely political clubs, of which there are a large !
number, quiescent in periods of political calm and in >
a state of greater or less eruption pending an ex- |
citing municipal, State or presidential election.
The Iroquois Driving and Cycling Club is a social
organization which, as its name in part implies, is
an outgrowth or evolution of the
Iroquois ciub. modern bicycle. It is composed
both of those who drive for recrea-
tion in their private vehicles and those who ride the
bicycle. It has erected an ornate and convenient
clubhouse on the Southern Parkway leading to
Iroquois Park, where its members can refresh them-
selves and enjoy all the luxury of a city clubhouse.
There are other purely cycling clubs, unnecessary to
speak of in detail, as the objects are limited. The
League of American Wheelmen is a national organ- 1
ization, with a large representation in Louisville.
It has had a great influence in promoting bicycling,
and this is felt in the matter of improving roads and
streets. Few cities have as fine a field for bicycling
as Louisville. The route from the city to Iroquois
Park, a distance of four and a half miles, is one of
the finest to be found anywhere, firm, smooth and
suitable for all weather, while in fair weather the
other parks and the routes to them are attractive.
The country roads in summer and the fine system of
turnpikes admit of extensive and interesting tours.
It is not uncommon for amateur cyclists to go to
Frankfort and return the same day, a distance of 104
miles the round trip. In the vicinity of Shawnee
Park, three miles west of the city, is one of the
finest bicycle tracks in the United States, belonging
to the Fountain Ferry Cycle Athletic Club, a broad
elliptical course of artificial stone, three laps to the
mile, which, although only in use one year, has al-
ready become noted for its fine qualities for speed
Louisville and has become a favorite resort. It is es-
timated that there are fifteen thousand in Louisville
and the number is daily increasing. The influence
of Louisville as a cycle center is shown by the fact
of the annual meet here in August of this year of
the League of American Wheelmen.
The Polytechnic Society of Kentucky is the lead-
JOCKEY, SOCIAL, LITERARY AND OTHER CLUBS.
32T
ing as it is the oldest and largest literary institution
in the city. It was founded in 1876
Polytechnic . number of the first men of
Society. ^
Louisville and may be said to have
combined in itself the remnants of nearly all the
institutions of the kind which preceded it. It suc-
ceeded to the library of the Kentucky Library As-
sociation and on its shelves will be found the books
of a number of other libraries, which from time to
time came into life and passed away after a greater
or less period of existence. The Polytechnic owns
a handsome building on Fourth avenue, between
Green and Walnut, in which are a large lecture hall,
until lately used as a theatre, a museum of great
value, a gallery of paintings and sculpture and a fine
library of over 50,000 volumes, free to the public.
It is a valuable institution and promotive of great
good to the general public. Its officers are Hon.
Bennett H. Young, president; W. T. Grant, treas-
| urer; E. A. Grant, secretary, and Miss A. V. Pollard,
| librarian.
Of literary clubs there are a number in Louisville.
Of these the Filson Club occupies the most promi-
nent place. Its object is to collect,
Literary ciubs. preserve and publish all matter re-
lating to the early settlement and
history of Kentucky, and in this direction its work
has been very valuable. It was organized in 1884
and has published in attractive form twelve mono-
grams upon subjects relating to the pioneer history
of Kentucky. Col. R. T. Durrett, who is the founder
of the club, which meets at his house on the night
of the first Monday of each month, from October to
June inclusive, has been the president from its or-
ganization, and Capt. Thomas Speed is the secre-
tary. The exercises of the club consist in the read-
ing of papers by members assigned to the duty at
previous meeting and the discussion of them and of
such matters of interest as may arise. The mem-
bership of the club includes all parts of Kentucky
and reaches between three and four hundred of the
most intelligent men and women of Kentucky.
The Salmagundi Club is composed of a limited
membership of twenty-four gentlemen, who meet
fortnightly during the same season as the Filson
and discuss literary, social and civic subjects pre-
viously chosen in an informal and conversational
way. It also takes an interest in all matters affect-
ing the progress and welfare of Louisville and exerts
a decided influence in all movements looking to the
advancement of the interest of the local community.
This was specially manifested in the matter of public
parks, the project of their inauguration having orig-
inated in the club and carried to practical execution
through the efforts of its members.
The Conversation Club is a similar body, which
embraces in its membership many of the most
learned citizens in the community. There are also
clubs in the various professions, and a chess club
where the knightly game is the object of special
study. The Woman’s Club, while not strictly liter-
ary, but having for its object the elevation and pro-
gress of woman’s sphere, is a strong organization
and has recently entertained here the Federation of
Women’s Clubs of America in its biennial meeting.
There are also many other clubs not literary worthy
of mention, as the Engineers and Architects’ Club,
Louisville Boat Club, Louisville Base Ball Club,
Louisville Fish and Game Club, Kentucky Gun
Club, etc., etc., whose objects are indicated by their
titles, all of which contribute to culture or recrea-
tion.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THEATERS AND THEATRICAL STARS.
BY THE EDITOR.
From a very early period in the history of Louis-
ville the drama was held in high favor. Long before
it had a permanent habitation strolling companies
coming down the river on flat boats found it a
remunerative venture. The first theater of which
there is mention was built in 1808, and is noted in
Dr. Wm. McMurtrie’s history, that well-spring of
local historic lore, to which reference must be made
for the beginning of all the enterprises of Louisville.
According to this authority this Temple of Thespis
was a sorry structure, as he says that until the sum-
mer of 1818 it was little better than a barn. In that
year, however, Mr. Samuel Drake remodeled it into
a handsome three-story brick building. It was sit-
uated on the north side of Jefferson street, between
Third and Fourth, about where the center of the
handsome Tyler block now is. "It is now” (1819),
says the historian, “fitted up with such a degree of
taste that does honor to its manager, Mr. Drake,
whose unceasing endeavors to merit the approba-
tion of the public will no doubt meet with a liberal
recompense in its patronage. The house is divided
into a pit, two tiers of boxes and a gallery, capable
of containing in all about 800 persons. Attached
to the premises are a retiring room for the ladies
and one containing refreshment for
Theater1 die company in general.” This was
indeed a good theater for a town of
four thousand people. The enterprising manager,
who wrought this great change and for many years
conducted it upon an elevated plane, was Samuel
Drake, an English actor, who, with his family, emi-
grated to the United States about 1810. He had
two sons, Alexander and Samuel, and a daughter,
Tulia, all of whom became celebrated in the dra-
matic annals of the West. Julia was the mother of
the poet, W. W. Fosdick, by her first husband,
Thomas R. Fosdick, and of Julia Dean, the actress,
by her second husband. Alexander Drake, the eld-
est son, was, in addition to being an accomplished
actor himself, the father, by his first marriage, of
Mrs. Julia Drake Chapman, who was an actress of
superior talent, and also the mother of two very
beautiful daughters, known as the Chapman sisters,
who were a great toast in their day. The second
wife of Alexander Drake was a Miss Denny of
Schenectady, New York, who was a leading actress
in the principal theaters of the United States for
many years and died comparatively recently. She
was a very interesting woman, as well as an actress
of mark. Col. R. T. Durrett has, among other sou-
venirs of her, two autograph letters, which give a
fair insight into her merit as an actress and her sta-
tion in society. The first is from Washington Irv-
ing, written in October, 1832, as a letter of intro-
duction to Mr. William Jordan of London, in which,
referring to Mrs. Drake’s professional merit, he
says he has “seen her in the character of the Widow
Cheerlv’ and ‘Mary, the Maid of the Inn.’ In both
of them she appeared to me to equal the best of
similar performers that I have lately seen on the
London boards.” The second is a letter from John
Howard Payne, author of "Home, Sweet Home,"
written May 20, 1833, as Mrs. Drake was about to
sail for Europe. It is addressed to Mrs. Winter,
London, and among other complimentary things,
says: “Mrs. Drake, who is one of the few Ameri-
cans warmly praised by Mrs. Trollope, visits Eng-
land with a view to a professional experiment in
London. You may infer what her chances may be
from what is said of her in the 'Travels’ of the Duke
of Saxe-Weimar. He calls her the ‘Siddons of the
West,’ probably destined to become the Siddons of
the world.” Bernard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, here
spoken of, arrived in Louisville April 26, 1826, and
gives the city a very favorable notice. He attended
the theater on the occasion of the benefit of Mrs.
Drake, when two pieces were played, “Man and
1
;
\.
f '
328
THEATERS AND THEATRICAL STARS.
329
Wife,” an English drama, and a farce called “Three
Weeks After Marriage.” He says: “The theater
was well filled, as Mrs. Drake was very much of a
favorite with the ladies here. All the boxes were full
of the fashionables of the place.” Mrs. Trollope
visited Louisville in the spring of 1828. Mrs. Drake
played as a member of Drake’s Company at inter-
vals until 1840, taking the leading part in many
dramas. Among others we note in the press of
the day, “Dr. Faustus and the Devil,” and the
“News Letter,” of July 27, 1839, stated that she
closed the season on the 226. with “Adrian and
Orilla.”
The third son of Samuel Drake was James G.
Drake, who in early life appeared upon the stage.
After he was grown and married,
TFan?nyke his w^e being a daughter of Alex-
ander Breckinridge, brother of
James D., member of Congress from Louisville
1821-23, he rarely took part except to sing to a gui-
tar accompaniment. He was a very handsome man
and the writer of a number of sweet songs, as
“Beautiful Isle where the Sun Goes Down,” “Tom
Breeze,” beginning “Here’s a health to thee, Tom
Breeze, Tom Breeze of the rolling billow” ; “Pensez
a moi, ma chere ami,” “Parlez bas,” and others, gen-
erally of a sentimental strain. With this strong ar-
ray of family talent, the elder Drake was quite in-
dependent of the professional world. In those days,
as, until the era of cheap railroad fares, there were
no companies which traveled as now, except of the
class known as “barn stormers” — described in Joe
Jefferson’s Memoirs — who went by stage coach or
private conveyances, in bodies of three or four and
played in the small towns, in whatever kind of
houses they could find available. In the cities where
there were established theaters the proprietors had
what was called stock companies, the principal
members of which were fair actors competent to
take part in almost any play, while there were others
who could play the subordinate parts, as leading
lady, the rich uncle, the villain, and so on. At a
theater of this kind the company was engaged for
the season, and only the “stars” traveled. A great
tragedian came with his valet only, and a leading
actress with her maid, and the same scenery did
service during the season. Nor was the season
short, as now, but went well on toward the dog days
as the notices cited above indicate. Think of Forrest
ranting in June, and yet here is a press notice of
June I, 1839, on the occasion of his appearance as
Spartaeus in “The Gladiator”: “Mr. Forrest has been
The Old-Time
Theater.
more admired in this than in any other character
he has played during his engagement. The gigan-
tic proportions of his figure and the extraordinary
muscular development of his limbs are eminently
adapted to the character.” He afterward played
“Lear” for his benefit. Every star had his benefit,
which was fixed for the last night. In July of the
same year notice is made of the appearance of the
“Juvenile Prodigy,” Fanny Davenport, as Richard
III., of which the theatrical critic says: “We were
surprised not so much that she played in this char-
acter so well or no better as that a mere child of her
years could represent it at all." She was not the
Fanny Davenport of our later days, who was not
born until 1850.
From the personal reminiscences of Col. John
Thompson Gray, whose recollection extends back
to 1825, we have gathered some in-
teresting data. He says that
Drake’s old Louisville theater was
a very creditable one, and had some features not
excelled by its successors. It had a row of private
boxes occupying the whole front of what is now the
dress circle, as in the French Opera House in New
Orleans. They were closed in the rear, having
doors for entrance and open in front. The second
tier was open and corresponded to the latter day
dress circle, while the third was low priced as now.
The pit was not the choice place, as now, but was
occupied by men, veteran theatergoers and critics.
The theater was lighted with a grand chandelier,
swung from the dome, and with side lights, all of
sperm candles. As he expresses it, there never was
a dripping candle. This was in keeping with all of
Drake’s appointments, the decorations of the thea-
ter being- in harmonious colors and every adjunct
tastefully adjusted.
“Old Drake,” as he was familiarly known, took a
steady hand in the play in parts not of the kind re-
quiring much histrionic ability, as in the King in
“Hamlet,” and in such characters as showed off
his fine figure and his gorgeous make-up. He was
a fine fencer, and the audience was never so much
pleased as in a combat with swords between him
and the elder Booth, father of Edwin and John
Wilkes. The two were great friends and Booth
spent much of his time with Drake at his suburban
home on the river road. He rarely played at
any other principal theater. In Baltimore, near
which he had a farm, he only appeared at the
Museum. He was a man of great intensity of char-
acter, with black hair and a luminous gray eye,
330
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
which appeared to be black at night. His forte was
in “Richard III.,” although he played in many other
high tragedies. He was a great Shakespearian
scholar and full of reminiscences of the elder Kean
and other old actors. Alexander Drake, son of
the manager, was a fine comedian with a large re-
pertoire, and was always a favorite. “Old Hender-
son” was another favorite who never failed to bring
down the house in “Luke, the Laborer,” and was
an excellent Polonius, while Murphy, an eastern
actor, had high merit. Miss Fisher of Boston was
another popular actress, who lisped, but was a
beautiful woman, and played Juliet to perfection.
Prior to 1830 Charles B. Parsons, who afterward
became an eminent divine, was an actor of great
power and popularity. The younger Kean was an
actor of great finish and power in tragedy.
Col. Gray recalls with vividness a scene in the
theater in 1825, when Fanny Wright, the first wo-
man’s rights agitator, delivered a lecture. She was
a tall, handsome woman, of pure Saxon type, and
fine elocutionary power. The theater was packed
from pit to dome, with leading citizens on the stage.
In the midst of one of her most stirring appeals
some hoodlum in the third tier cried fire. There
was instant panic, threatening serious disaster, when
his father, rising on the stage, said calmly, in a
loud, firm voice, “Sit down,” and then addressing
his wife, who was sitting below him, in a mild, re-
assuring tone, with “Sit down, Mary!” the rush was
stayed with no untoward results. Drake was a very
noted and popular manager, and secured all the best
talent of the day. Among his special friends with
whom his name is coupled was Caldwell, the cele-
brated owner and manager of the Varieties Theater
in New Orleans, father of Shakespeare Caldwell, of
whom Grace King, in her recent charming book,
“New Orleans, the Place and the People,” Macmil-
lan & Co., New York, 1895, speaks as “that in-
comparable owner and manager, accomplished
scholar, actor, reader, gentleman, bon vivant Cald-
well, whose suppers, bon mots, readings, criticisms
and repartees are a regular part of the make-up of
any pretender to dramatic criticism of to-day.”
When he came to Louisville or Drake went to New
Orleans it was indeed “a feast of reason and a flow
of soul.” But the end came and Drake retired from
the business, and with him went out the glory of the
old playhouse. For several years it was conducted
on a lower and lower scale, until, in 1843, it was
destroyed by fire. A project was then set on foot by
the veteran Caldwell, just referred to, for the erec-
The Louisville
Theater.
tion of another first-class theater, but after being
partially completed the scheme failed, until 1846,
when it was purchased by J. W. Bates of Cincinnati,
who completed it and for many
years conducted it, first by himself
and then as the firm of Sarzedas &
Bates, other lessees also controlling it in its later
years. It was situated on the southeast corner of
Fourth and Green streets, and was burned down
in the winter of 1866. In this theater, which
had a prosperous career of more than a quarter of
a century, the better days of its predecessor were
revived, and it was a favorite, both with the best
theater-going public and the best actors. Macready,
John Logan and his daughter Eliza, both favorites,
Forrest, the Booths, the Placides, Couldock, Joe Jef-
ferson, Florence, Barrett, Charlotte Cushman, Mr.
and Mrs. W. H. Crisp, and all the celebrities of the
period unnecessary to individualize. Julia Dean
was always a great favorite. As has been said, she
was the daughter of Julia Drake and her second
husband, Edmund Dean, a well known manager of
Buffalo and Rochester theaters, and was born in
Pleasant Valley, New York, July 22, 1830. Her
first appearance here was when she was fifteen, as
Lady Ellen, in the “Lady of the Lake,” and her
theatrical success was at its height in 1855, when she
married Dr. Archie Hayne of Charleston, S. C. She
was divorced from him several years afterward on
the ground of his failure to support her, and in 1866
married James Cooper of New York. Her last ap-
pearance was in New York in 1867, and she died
the following year. She was very beautiful and of
lovely character. She was an ideal Juliet, and many
a gray head of to-day will recall the emotions with
which he hung upon her words, night after night,
in the early fifties, when she wielded a power over
their hearts which was irresistible. Joe Jefferson,
always a favorite in Louisville, but who did not at-
tain real fame until he appeared in Boucicault’s ver-
sion of “Rip Van Winkle” in 1866, was a stock
actor of acknowledged merit for many years previ-
ous. His forte was in comedy, and he played a
round of characters, which he surrendered when
he struck his great bonanza. One especially is re-
called in which he was inimitable — that of “Dick-
ory” in a farce, where, as a servant with a tallow
candle in his hand, he saw a ghost, and his trem-
bling terror was a piece of marvelous acting. His
promise to reproduce it here in late years is yet un-
fulfilled. Of all the actors who have ever appeared
in Louisville he holds the warmest place in the
THEATERS AND THEATRICAL STARS.
331
hearts of the people here, and always draws the larg-
est houses. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Crisp, the father
and mother of Hon. C. F. Crisp, of Georgia, ex-
Speaker of Congress, appeared frequently at this
theater in the decade before the war. They played
in higher comedy and in melodrama. He was a
handsome man and a spirited actor, while Mrs.
Crisp, a refined lady, was a good support to him in
the principal female character of the play. The
writer recalls seeing them in Atlan-
PTheate,nsaV ta< Ga-> in “Camille,” during the
war. The theater, having lived out
its usefulness, was succeeded in 1867 by Macauley’s
Theater, erected by Barney Macauley, a popular
actor of that time, and opened March 15, 1867, on
which occasion a poetical address from the pen of
George D. Prentice was recited by Miss Dargon,
one of the actresses. It was built on the old
“Prather Square,” near the corner of Fourth avenue
and Walnut street, on the site of an old burial
ground, and replacing the residence of James Pra-
ther, built in 1840. For nearly thirty years it has
been the leading theater of Louisville, has developed
the triumphs of all the principal actors of the period
and by successive improvements bas kept up with
all the requirements of a first-class playhouse.
It was in this theater that Mary Anderson made
her debut, November 27, 1875. She was born of
Louisville parentage in Sacramento, California, July
28, 1859, and was brought to Louisville when an
infant. At three years old she lost her father, who
was a Confederate officer. In time her mother
married Dr. Hamilton Griffin, who, when she
entered upon her full professional life, be-
came her dramatic manager. She was educated
at the Ursuline Convent, in this city, and is remem-
bered as a blithe young girl who showed a fond-
ness for the drama, and resolved, at thirteen, to en-
ter the profession. To that end she read and stu-
died, and after taking a course of dramatic lessons
in New York at the suggestion of Charlotte Cush-
man, returned home and pursued her elocutionary
lessons for a year longer, appearing as “Juliet” to
a crowded house of friends. The rest of her career
belongs to history. From “Lady Macbeth” to “Per-
dita,” she had one continued triumph, both in this
country and Europe, retiring from the stage when
under thirty with fortune, fame and a husband, An-
tonio de Navarro, of New York. She has since resid-
ed in England, and in an autobiography has lately
given with charming simplicity the story of her re-
markable career.
Having brought the theatrical history of Louis-
ville to the period of the generation now living, it
only remains to add a few words in regard to the
present status of the drama. In addition to Macau-
ley’s Theater, there are now several others: The
Temple Theater, situated in the Masonic Temple
building, on the southwest corner of Fourth avenue
and Jefferson street; the Avenue Theater, on the
west side of Fourth avenue, between Walnut and
Green; the Grand Opera House, on Jefferson, be-
tween Second and Third streets, and the Bucking-
ham, on Jefferson, between Third and Fourth
streets. The Amphitheater Auditorium, on Fourth
avenue, between Hill and “A” streets, is a large
building with a seating capacity of several
thousand, given to special attractions only, of
sufficient celebrity to fill it, with provision for out-
door spectacular representations. On the whole,
Louisville may be said to be well sup-
plied with places of amusement, but as yet is with-
out a theater or music hall in architectural keeping
with the taste or patronage of her citizens.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FEDERAL, COUNTY AND CITY BUILDINGS.
BY THE EDITOR.
The most notable public building in Louisville is
that built by the United States Government for the
accommodation of the Federal departments repre-
sented in this city. It stands on the northeast corner
of Fourth and Chestnut streets and was first occu-
pied for business by the postoffice on the 23d of
April, 1892. It was built during the first adminis-
tration of President Cleveland and that of President
Harrison, of Bowling Green oolitic limestone and
cost something more than a million of dollars. The
entire first floor of the building is occupied by the
postoffice. Mail matter from the railroads, steam-
boats and city collection is received in the rear of the
building and passes directly into the large distribut-
ing rooms, where it is assorted and parcelled to the
carriers, for whose accommodation, in the intervals
between their hours of duty, there are quarters ad-
jacent. On the Chestnut street front are the offices
for registered matter, sale of stamps and the mailing
of letters and packages. On the Fourth street front
are the general delivery and private boxes, offices
of the postmaster and assistant, and for the sale of
money orders and postal currency. The accommo-
dations for every department of the service are on
a liberal scale and with a view to increased service
as the city expands. The upper stories of the build-
ing are devoted to the accommodation of the United
States District Court, its marshal and clerk, the In-
ternal Revenue service, the Surveyor of Customs, the
Pension Bureau, Inspector of Steamboats and other
branches of the Federal service.
' In the history of the United States Courts of Ken-
tucky, which appears elsewhere, will be found a full
list of those who have occupied important positions
in connection with these courts in Louisville. Fur-
ther along in this chapter the reader will find a list of
all the postmasters who have served the city, and the
following is a list of other government officials who
have been part and parcel of our local history:
COLLECTORS AND SURVEYORS OF CUSTOMS.
Name.
Title.
When Appointed
Richard Taylor
CollectorMarch 21, 1791
fames McConnell
a
Aug. 23, 1800
Robert Anderson New. .
“
Oct. 11, 1802
Richard Ferguson . . . .
Surveyor Aug. 20,1807
Benjamin J. Harrison. .
a
Feb. 3, 1835
Edward S. Camp
“
June 27, 1836
Nathaniel P. Porter. . . .
u
Sept. 11, 1839
Nathaniel P. Porter. . . .
((
Tan. 24, 1844
Nathaniel P. Porter. . . .
u
Jan. 24, 1848
Robert C. Thompson . .
u
May 15, 1849
Henry N. Sands
“
May 23, 1853
Samuel S. English
u
July 7, 1856
Walter N. Haldeman..
“
June 3, 1858
Samuel S. English
a
Feb. 28, 1861
Charles B. Cotton
u
July 27, 1861
William D. Gallagher. .
a
Feb. 29, 1864
Richard R. Bolling. . . .
“
Jan. 26, 1867
James P. Luse
April 9, 1869
fames P. Luse
“
March 20, 1873
Taliaferro O. Shackelford
“
April 5, 1877
folm K. Faulkner
a
April 7, 1882
John T. Gathright
“
April 6, 1 885
Daniel R. Collier
u
Aug. 17, 1889
Benjamin F. Alford. . . .
u
Oct. 2, 1893
PENSION AGENTS.
G. W. Merriwither, Newton Lane, William R.
Vance, Isaac Caldwell, Joseph B. Kinkead, Edward
332
FEDERAL, COUNTY AND CITY BUILDINGS.
333
F. Gallagher, Andrew Monroe, Samuel McKee, Wil-
iam D. Gallagher, Robert M. Kelly, Don Carlos
Buell, Claiborne J. Walton, George M. Adams.
ASSESSORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE FROM 1862
UNTIL ABOLITION OF OFFICE, MAY 20, 1873.
NAME
Date
Temporary
Appointment
Date
Permanent
Appointment
Date
Separation
From Service
Edgar Needham* —
Wm. G. Needhamf. ..
Oct. 28, 1862
Feb. 28, 1863
May 8, 1873
May 20, 1873
’Died May 8th, 1873.
vActing Assessor from May 9, 1873.
COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE
1862 TO 1896.
NAME
Date
Temporary
Appointment
Date
Permanent
Appointment
Date
Separation
From Service
Philip Speed
Jas. F. Buckner
Wm. S. Wilson
Lewis Buckner
Attilla Cox
Albert Scott
Nov. 13, 1862
June 10, 1885
June 13, 1889
June 19, 1893
March 4, 1863
April 9, 1869
Feb. 18, 1881
May 25, 1882
April 17, 1816
Jan. 4, 1890
Sept. 13, 1893
April 30, 1869
Feb. 28, 1881
May 31, 1882
June 30, 1885
June 30, 1889
July 10, 1893
Ben Johnson
From a recent publication compiled by Assistant
Postmaster Stuart R. Young and published by the
Louisville Letter Carriers’ Associa-
Post^office tion,we have gathered some valuable
information touching the history of
the Louisville Post Office, which will be of interest
in this connection. The first postmaster of Louis-
ville was Michael Laccassagne, a French gentleman
of prominence, who came to Kentucky at an early
day, a refugee from the terrors of the French Revo-
lution, and had a handsome residence and garden
on the northeast corner of Fifth and Main streets.
He was postmaster from 1795 to 1797, and is sup-
posed to have had his office at his residence. The
date of his appointment was January 1, 1795, but
he acted as postmaster from August 27, 1794, to that
date. He was succeeded by Worden Pope, who
served nearly two years, until he became clerk of the
County and Circuit Courts, filling this place nearly
forty years. The longest service as postmaster was that
of Mr. John Thompson Gray, who held the office
for nearly twenty-two years, from May 21, 1807, to
October 21, 1829. He was turned out by General
Jackson on political grounds, and was succeeded by
Judge J. P. Oldham, who served seven years. Dur-
ing a part of Mr. Gray’s service, the office was held
in his warehouse, a noted landmark on the wharf
near the mouth of Beargrass creek, between Second
and Third, and later on the north side of Main, be-
tween Third and Fourth, Under Judge Oldham’s
administration it was held on the south side of Mar-
ket, between Third and Fourth. In 1840 it was
moved to the northeast corner of Third and Jeffer-
son, in the building now standing, which was erected
by Levi Tyler for that purpose. Here it continued
until October, 1858, when the Government building
on the southwest corner of Third and Green was
completed. It remained there thirty-five years, until
its business had greatly outgrown its accommoda-
tions, when, to the relief of all parties, it took up its
present abode in 1892, as stated.
The following is a list of postmasters from 1795 to
date :
Date of Appointment.
Michael Laccassagne January 1, 1795
Worden Pope October 1, 1797
John Eastin April 1, 1799
Thomas M. Winn January 2, 1802
Josiah Vail October 1, 1805
Thomas M. Winn January 1, 1807
John T. Gray May 21, 1807
John T. Gray October 21, 1818
John P. Oldham May 13, 1829
James M. Campbell September 1, 1836
George L. Douglass November 22, 1839
Littleberry H. Mosby September 24, 1841
Thomas J. Read August 6, 1845
Frederick G. Edwards June 28, 1849
James W. Brannon June 22, 1853
Francis S. J. Ronald March 26, 1856
John J. Speed March 13, 1861
Jesse Bayles (failed to qualify) . September 1, 1869
Mrs. Lucy M. Porter September 26, 1869
Mrs. Virginia C. Thompson May 25, 1877
John Barret July 9, 1890
Charles P. Weaver January 12, 1894
It is a gratifying reflection that, during more than
a century since the establishment of this office, it
has been held by incumbents of high worth, and
that, in its administration, there has never been any
deviation from the highest standard of official in-
tegrity. The growth of business and population of
Louisville can best be realized by a comparison of the
relative receipts at the close of the last century with
those of the past year. In 1799 the entire receipts,
which, as well as the mail, the postmaster was able
to handle without assistance, were:
For letters $125.40
For newspapers 42.9 1
Total
$198.3 1
336
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
four letter carriers were placed on duty. While this
service had been in successful operation for several
years in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and a few
other Eastern cities, and in Cleveland and Cincin-
nati in the West, it met with slight favor here (or in
Baltimore, New Orleans and other Southern cities),
our people generally preferring to stick to.„the old
way of going to the postoffice for their mail matter
to having it brought to them by government offi
cials, free of charge; therefore the free delivery was
confined principally to the residence portion of the
city.
“In the year 1865, however, the Postoffice De-
partment at Washington determined to still further
try to educate our people as to the advantages to
be derived from the free delivery system, where-
upon the number of letter carriers was increased to
fifteen. These carriers were regularly dispatched
on their daily rounds through Main street and the
central business districts, but they carried very lit-
tle mail matter, because the business men objected
to ‘running the risk of having their letters scat-
tered about the streets,’ or even handled ‘by persons
whom they knew nothing about.'
“Finally the Postoffice Department ordered a re-
construction of the office for the better convenience
of the free delivery system, which necessitated the
removal of the 2,500 rented boxes and drawers.
This necessitated the placing of the mail matter for
these boxes in the general delivery or else the de-
livery of some by letter carriers. Most reluctantly
the merchants and bankers consented to permit the
temporary delivery of their mail matter, pending the
alteration in the office arrangement. But long be-
fore these alterations were completed (including the
erection of but one hundred lockboxes), nearly
every person was not only satisfied with the new
system, but they were generally delighted with it,
and ever thereafter this system has been so improved
that there are but few of our 200,000 citizens now
who care to go to the postoffice for their mail mat-
ter, but much prefer to have the same delivered to
them at their doors several times during the day by
the ninety carriers now performing this duty in a
most satisfactory manner. For several years after
the introduction of the free delivery system here tin
letter boxes, with a mail lock attached to each, were
kept in corner groceries and drug stores for the re-
ception of mail matter, but this custom was aban-
doned a few years later, and the lamp-post letter
boxes on street corners were substituted therefor.’’
Next in point of popular interest to the Govern-
ment Building and of greater historic interest than
any other building in Louisville, is
Cour^ House. the Jefferson County Court House,
occupying the block between Fiftli
and Sixth streets and fronting on Jefferson street.
It stands to-day substantially as it was completed
in 1859 and for more than forty years has served
the purposes of a temple of justice. Projected on
a much more pretentious scale, under the inspira-
tion of James Guthrie, who looked far into the fu-
ture and proposed to build such a structure as would
meet the requirements of the city a generation or
two later, the walls were erected in 1838-39, but
not until the date above mentioned was it finished
and fully occupied. The business depression which
prevailed immediately after the financial panic of
1837 and the miscarriage of some of the plans of the
projectors, prevented the carrying out of the origi-
nal building plans, but nevertheless it was at the
time of its completion one of the finest court houses
in the West. Of classic architecture and massive
construction it was an imposing structure when sur-
rounded only by the comparatively small dwellings
and business blocks of 1859. Further west on Jef-
ferson street was constructed in 1844 the City and
County Jail, to which large additions have since
been made, and these buildings still serve the pur-
poses for which they were originally designed. It
has accommodation for 400 prisoners, and in the
fall of 1895 had 385. It is doubtful if there can be
found anywhere in the west a court house about
which clusters so much of interesting historic inci-
dent as about the old court house of Louisville. It
figured prominently in the plans of the pioneers
who sought for many years to make Louisville the
capital of Kentucky, and about the time the build-
ing was commenced there were many citizens of
Louisville who expected to see it occupied ulti-
mately by a governor and other State officers of
the commonwealth. In this they were doomed to
disappointment and the failure to procure the re-
moval of the capital from Frankfort to Louisville
was doubtless one of the reasons for not complet-
ing the building originally planned. The first sub-
stantial court house erected in 1810-11 stood on the
site now occupied in part by the county jail and
fronted on Sixth street. It was torn down in 1836.
It was of brick with four large wooden columns.
The most striking feature in the court house is a
life size marble statue of Henry Clay by Hart, which
occupies the rotunda on the main floor, and is a
lifelike representation of the “great commoner,” It
[
FEDERAL, COUNTY AND CITY BUILDINGS.
337
was unveiled on the 30th of May, 1867, with impos-
ing ceremonies, a choir of one hundred voices sing-
ing a poem written by George D. Prentice for the
occasion.
I In 1866 the first steps were taken toward the erec-
tion of the present City Hall building. At that time
the City Council invited competi-
city Hail. tion on the part of the architects
for a design for the proposed build-
ling, and the premium of five hundred dollars of-
fered for the best plans submitted as a result of
this invitation was awarded to Messrs. Mergell &
Andrewartha. Messrs. Stancliff & Company, archi-
tects, were afterward authorized to work up those
[plans in detail and the result of their labors was
I filed with the city authorities September 2, 1868. No
active steps were taken to forward the building en-
terprise until after the charter convention of 1870
had made an appropriation for that purpose, but
! in that year work was inaugurated and pushed vig-
orously under the administration of Mayor John G.
Baxter. It was completed in June of 1873, two
years and ten months after it was begun, Mavor
! Charles D. Jacob being at the head of the city gov-
ernment when the building was completed and be-
. ing the first mayor to occupy an office in the
superb new building, which has since been the home
; of all the city offices. The total cost of the build-
I ing was $464,778. It was damaged to some extent
by an explosion of gas which occurred at Sixth and
; Congress streets October 16, 1873, and a fire dam-
aged the tower to the amount of seven thousand
dollars November 17, 1875. In the tower is the
I City Fire Signal Station. The top of the flag staff
on the tower is 196 feet above the street.
The City Hospital building is an imposing struc-
i ture consisting of a large central edifice fronting to
the south with commodious east
° Bun dhig s' and west wings, the whole present-
ing a good architectural effect. It
occupies a fine lot of seven acres ornamented with
large shade trees. The grounds have lately been
placed in charge of the Park Commission and are
ornamented with shrubbery and flowers.
The U. S. Marine Hospital is a large and com-
modious building situated on High avenue in the
northwestern part of the city and embraces in its
grounds four or five acres, which set off the build-
ing well and give it an attractive appearance. Other
public buildings of note devoted to hospital, re-
form and charitable objects, accounts of which are
given under their appropriate heads, are the In-
dustrial School of Reform, the Home for the Aged
and Infirm, the City Workhouse, the Norton In-
firmary, the Morton Church Home and Infirmary,
the Jennie Casseday Infirmary, the Baptist Or-
phans’ Home, St. Joseph’s Infirmary, St. Mary and
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the Cook Benevolent In-
stitution, the Masonic Orphans’ and Widows’ Home
and many other eleemosynary institutions. Of
notable blocks and buildings are the ten-story
Columbia Building, the Louisville Trust Company
Building, the Kenyon, the Bull Block, the Ameri-
can National Bank Building, all modern; the Louis-
ville Medical School, the Kentucky School of Medi-
cine and other modern structures of architectural
merit. The buildings of the Baptist Theological
Seminary are especially worthy of note, comprising
the college buildings proper on Fifth, near Broad-
way; the Norton Dormitory and the Library Build-
ing near by. The latter is especially chaste and attrac-
tive. In church architecture, Louisville presents
many choice specimens. The Catholic Cathedral
of the Assumption on Fifth Street is in pure Gothic
style, with a steeple 300 feet high, while the First
Presbyterian Church on Fourth, near York; the
Second Presbyterian Church on the southeast cor-
ner of Second and Broadway; the Church of the
Messiah at Fourth and York; St. Peter's Church
of the Evangelical Synod of America on the north
side of Jefferson, between Twelfth and Thirteenth;
Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral; St. Andrew’s
Episcopal, corner of Second and Kentucky; Cal-
vary Episcopal, on Fourth Avenue, between York
and Breckinridge, and St. Paul’s Episcopal in St.
James’ Square, Fourth Avenue, are specimens of
ornate architecture in stone which would adorn
any city. Many other buildings, public and private,
are worthy of mention, the enumeration of which
would, however, extend this chapter beyond the
limits prescribed for it. Each year always shows a
steady growth in the higher forms of architecture,
with better adaptation within and without to the
uses for which they are designed. Nor in this con-
nection must we omit to mention the elegant depot
of the L. & N. Railroad at Tenth and Broadway,
and that of the C., O. & Southwestern at the foot
of Seventh Street, as also the freight depot of the
Pennsylvania Railroad at Jefferson, between 1 h fif-
teenth and Fourteenth streets, and that of the Big
Four on Main, between Preston and Jackson — all
new and well adapted for the service required.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE PUBLIC PARKS AND PARKWAYS.
BY ANDREW COWAN.
Louisville has three large suburban parks and
hve interior places that are maintained in parklike
condition for public use. These three parks and one
of the interior squares were purchased by the Board
of Park Commissioners in the years 1891 and 1892,
except about one-half of the Southern Park, which
was purchased by the General Council of the city,
and partially laid out by the city engineer under the
direction of the mayor, Hon. Chas. D. Jacob, pre-
vious to the adoption of a park act, May 6, 1890.
It is not surprising that the founders of this beau-
tiful city, at the Falls of the Ohio, more than a hun-
dred years ago, should have failed to realize the
great importance of providing large areas for the
health and comfort of a population that now numbers
over two hundred thousand souls. These early set-
tlers scarcely dreamed of the brilliant future of their
town. They had traveled over the mountains and
through the wilderness, or floated their boats down
the rivers from the older settled country, and here
where the beautiful river flowed deep and broad,
before its calm surface was broken into rapids at
the “Falls of the Ohio,'’ they built their pioneer
homes, surrounded by the primitive forest.
The broad and fertile plain over which the pres-
ent city is spread was then a virgin forest. The
mighty sycamores and giant oaks, the great beech
and the lofty walnut trees, crowded upon the soil that
was needed for sowing and planting, and were there-
fore but cumberers of the ground, to be cut down
and destroyed. Many of these noble trees that es-
caped the axe are yet standing, singly or in groups,
upon the land that was so recently acquired for pub-
lic parks.
When Louisville was first laid out as a town at the
Falls of the Ohio, in 1779, there was one of its citi-
zens who had the forethought to suggest that public
grounds or parks be reserved for the benefit of its
future inhabitants. This great and farseeing man
was Gen. George Rogers Clark. He made a sur-
vey and map of the town in 1779,
Park Sites which has been preserved and is
now in the possession of R. T. Dur-
rett. On this map all the ground between First and
Twelfth streets, and between Main and the river, is
marked “public.” Also two whole squares lying be-
tween Fifth and Sixth streets and from Green street
to the half-way line between Market and Jefferson
are marked “public.” Also a strip 210 feet wide
immediately south of Jefferson street, extending
from First to Twelfth streets, is marked “public.”
This is all that Gen. Clark’s map shows, but it has
come down in tradition that it was a part of
his plan to have this strip of public property back
of the Jefferson street lots repeated at intervals
of three, four or five squares, as the city
extended south. This plan, if it had been adopted
and adhered to by the trustees, would have secured
an ample system of intramural parks. But General
Clark’s plan of the town was never officially adopted
by the trustees so far as their records show. The
trustees, however, did not have it in their power to
adhere to General Clark’s plan, even if they were in
favor of it. Col. John Campbell had a debt against
Dr. John Connolly, the first owner of the land on
which Louisville was laid out, and another against a
man by the name of McKee, which the Legislature
of Virginia allowed them to collect from the town of
Louisville. The trustees were neither wise enough
nor powerful enough to resist Col. Campbell and
the Legislature combined, and the result w?as that
all the property reserved on General Clark’s map
for parks and public uses Was sold at auction to pay
the Connolly and McKee debts, except the grave-
t
338
THE PUBLIC PARKS AND PARKWAYS.
339
yard on Jefferson, between Eleventh and Twelfth
streets, now known as Baxter square, and one-half
of the public square reserved for the court-house.
This first effort for parks in the town of Louisville
was such a failure that nothing of the kind was at-
tempted again for almost half a century.
In 1824 the Hon. James Guthrie became a mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees, by which the town was
then governed. Mr. Guthrie was a broad-minded,
far-seeing man, and it was through his efforts that
the town purchased from James A. Pearce and the
Hon. John Rowan the wharf between Seventh and
Eighth streets and made a contract with Rowan for
the rest of the wharf property below Fourth street,
which afterwards resulted in this property being ab-
solutely owned by the city. Mr. Guthrie also wanted
the trustees to buy what was then known as Bear-
grass Point, extending from Beargrass creek to the
river and from First street to about midway between
Third and Fourth streets. If Mr. Guthrie had suc-
ceeded in buying this Beargrass Point it was his
intention to follow it by purchases from the Preston
and Taylor heirs of their holdings between Bear-
grass and the river, which would have extended the
purchases to the junction of the Muddy Fork of
Beargrass, where the present cut-off was made. Mr.
Guthrie’s idea of this property for a park was not
very clearly defined. He thought, however, that a
portion of it would be necessary for a wharf as the
city should extend to the east, and that the part of it
not used for a wharf would serve the citizens for the
enjoyment of shade trees and fresh air in the sum-
mer time. He was not able to induce his brother
trustees to see the advantage ©f this purchase, and
thus faded a second vague conception, if not a defi-
nite plan, of a public park.
In 1851 Thomas Brown, a banker of Louisville,
offered the city of Louisville eighty-two and one-
half acres of land lying between Brook and Third
and D and K streets, for the sum of $10,000. This
land was offered to the city for a park and was pur-
chased by it for that purpose at the price named.
No steps, however, were taken to convert it into a
park by the city, but instead thereof it was given bv
the city in i860 to the House of Refuge. In the
conveyance by the city to the House of Refuge a
reservation was made of forty acres to be used for a
public park. Neither the whole eighty-two and one-
half acres nor the forty acres have ever been con-
verted into a park, and thus failed a third attempt
in this important direction.
In 1853, while James S. Speed was Mayor of
Louisville, a movement was made to get the City
of Louisville to save Corn Island
Corn Island as a r , • , ,
Park site. tr°m being swept away by the cur-
rents of the river, and to use it as a
park. Up to this time the island, containing some
forty acres, above all the dangers of the river except
high flood, was adorned with fine old forest trees.
These trees, however, were being cut down more
and more each year, and the island began showing
signs of being eaten away by the swift currents of
the river on its north and south sides. R. T. Dur-
rett, who was then a member of the City Council,
urged upon the Mayor and his brother Councilmen
the necessity of planting willows along the margins
of this island or erecting a protecting wall to save
it from being washed away. The necessity of spend-
ing public money to make a park out of this island
was not appreciated nor understood by the City
Council, and the result was that the island con-
tinued from year to year to be eaten away by the
currents and the floods until nothing was left of
it but a little pile of rocks and mud, where it once
rose so beautiful in the river. And thus perished
a fourth conception and attempt of a public park
in Louisville.
In 1880, the old graveyard on Jefferson, between
Eleventh and Twelfth streets, was deprived of the
bones of pioneers, who had lain there for a hundred
years, and the ground was devoted to public use
under the name of Baxter Square. In converting
this space from a burial ground into a park some
noble elms that had come down from the original
forest were unwisely removed, but still other trees
were left and shrubbery and flowers were planted.
Thus was inaugurated the first park in Louisville.
Could the bodies be removed from the Western
Cemetery, on Jefferson Street, to Cave Hill Ceme-
tery and the ground be dedicated to the use of the
living for another interior park it would be a happy
circumstance, for in its present neglected and shab-
by condition the Western Cemetery is a sad and un-
wholesome spectacle.
The population of Louisville increased rapidly
after the Civil War, but the old fashioned conserva-
tism of ante-bellum days continued to prevail. A
large and influential majority of property owners
and taxpayers successfully resisted all schemes that
were suggested for establishing a system of parks
until in the year 1887 a plan that seemed to be both
practical and disinterested was formulated by the
Salmagundi Club, a social and literary organization
whose membership commanded public respect ami
340
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Present Park
System.
confidence. At one of the fortnightly meetings of
this club in that year the subject of public parks for
the city was proposed by Captain Thomas Speed,
one of its members. The discussion of the subject
elicited the fact that Andrew Cowan, another mem-
ber of the club, had been for a long time engaged
in studying the parks and methods of other cities
and had carefully explored the country adjacent to
Louisville to learn the most desirable situations for
a system of parks for Louisville. Afterward, by
request of the club, he formulated and presented
his views in a paper, read by him at a subsequent
meeting, which was ordered to be printed in the
Courier-Journal. Its publication, illustrated with
maps of the locations suggested for parks, drawn
by Mr. Charles Hermany, also a member of the
club, aroused public interest in the project, and this
interest continued to grow until the former opposi-
tion to the establishment of parks had been largely
overcome.
Having thus brought the matter to a point where
public opinion seemed to be strongly enlisted in its
favor, and perceiving that an act of
the Legislature, authorizing the
city to provide public parks for the
health and comfort of the people must be obtained,
the Salmagundi Club decided that the Commercial
Club, a large and influential organization of young
business men for promoting the public welfare and
increasing the commercial growth of the city, should
be asked to undertake the prosecution of the enter-
prise. The President of the Salmagundi Club, Col-
onel John Mason Brown, with Thomas Speed and
Andrew Cowan, were therefore appointed to submit
the matter to the Commercial Club, which duty
they performed at a meeting of the Commercial
Club called for the purpose. The Commercial Club
warmly approved the plan as explained by this com-
mittee, and requested Colonel Brown to draft a
Park Act to be presented to the Legislature, when
approved by the Mayor and General Council of the
city. A Park Act was soon drafted by Colonel
Brown and approved by the city administration be-
fore the end of the Legislative session in 1888, but
so near to the close that it was deemed impracticable
to secure its adoption at that term.
The act was submitted to the next Legislature
and adopted, receiving the approval of the Gover-
nor May 6, 1890. Before that time, however, its
author, Colonel John Mason Brown, a man of the
noblest character, deeply concerned for the public
eood and active in all movements for the welfare
of Louisville, died of pneumonia, after a brief ill jj
ness. His brother-in-law and partner, George Md
Davie, aided by R. W. Knott and other member !
of the Salmagundi Club, took charge of the act, se 1}
curing its passage by the Legislature and its subse
quent approval by the people of Louisville at ai
election held for that purpose August 4, 1890, om
month after the election of the six Park Commis-
sioners, whose selection was thereby publicly ap- [
proved, according to the purpose of the act in pro !
viding for their election before its own submission!
to the people for approval or rejection.
The election for six commissioners who, with the
Mayor as a member of the board, ex-officio, would J
constitute “the Board of Park Commissioners of
the City of Louisville,” was held on the 1st day off
July, 1890, and resulted in the election of John R.|
Castleman, John Finzer, Andrew Cowan, Gottleib 1
Layer, E. C. Bonne and Thomas H. Sherley.
Air. Finzer, who had gone abroad for his health,
soon after the organization of the board, died in f
Switzerland January 18, 1891, and Mr. R. T. Dur- 1
rett was elected by the board to fill the vacancy.
“For the purpose of providing funds for the ac- ;
quisition, improvement and management of park .
property” the Park Act authorized the city to issue ;
four per cent coupon bonds to the amount of six j
hundred thousand dollars, to be dated July 1, 1890,
and payable forty years after date; and “for the pur-
pose of providing necessary funds for the care and
improvement of park property,” the General Coun- !
cil of the city was required to levy and collect an (
annual tax not exceeding five cents upon each one j
hundred dollars of all the taxable property within j
the city. |
The act has since been amended to require the j
levy for the same purpose of not less than five cents j
nor more than eight cents upon j
Park Bonds. each one hundred dollars of all tax- ;
able property. The Park Commis- j
sioners by the act were authorized to expend not
exceeding the proceeds of four hundred thousand '
dollars of the bonds in the purchase and condemna- !
tion of lands. The bonds were sold at par and ma- .
tured interest March 13, 1891, and the board at once r
proceeded to acquire by purchase, gift or condemna-
tion suitable land for three suburban parks, as the
act required.
While this movement to establish a system of !
public parks was under way and public sentiment
had been aroused in favor of the enterprise, the
Mayor, Hon. Charles D. Jacob, and the General
THE PUBLIC PARKS AND PARKWAYS.
341
Council anticipated the inauguration of the work
Las planned by purchasing for park purposes about
300 acres of land, part of a hill, or “knob,” situated
about four miles south of the southern limits of the
city. The proposed act had, therefore, been altered
before its passage so as to direct the city to transfer
this property to the Board of Park Commissioners
and to require the payment to the city of all sums
I expended in its acquirement and improvement.
In the purchase of this land1' for a park “and the
improvement thereof and in the construction and
| work done in the boulevard leading thereto,” the
city had expended a large sum, which the Board of
Park Commissioners was required, under Section 23
of the act, to at once refund and pay to the city out
of the proceeds of the four hundred thousand dollars
of the bonds to be used in the purchase and con-
demnation of the lands. This expenditure by the
city was shown to be $104,466.36, but the commis-
sioners objected to paying $38,255 of the amount
on the ground that it had not been expended upon
park property within the meaning of the act, and
the court sustained them in this decision. There
' was therefore paid to the city only the sum of $66,-
200.30, thus leaving about $340,000 from the pro-
ceeds of the four hundred bonds to be expended
in the purchase and condemnation of lands. This
sum was increased by cash donations of about
$25,000 from private individuals to assist the board
in purchasing park land contiguous to property
owned by them.
The limits of this chapter will not admit of a
detailed account of the work of the Park Com-
missioners, but it can be said that the location of
the three parks and the purchase of land has had
the fullest approbation of the public. They acquired
by purchase and gift 306.42 acres for the Eastern
Park and about 250 acres in connection with the
tract of 300 acres that had been transferred by the
city, making the total area of the Southern Park
about 550 acres. Deeds for all the land embraced
in the Parkway or Boulevard from the city limits
to the Southern Park, most of which had been
graded, were obtained from its owners, who, with
' one exception, donated it for this roadway, 150 feet
wide, through their property, which was thereby
much enhanced in value. The total area of the
Southern Parkway is 48.47 acres, making an im-
posing approach to the park.
The acquirement of land for the Western Park
was delayed by the necessity of condemning a part
of it to secure legal titles, but these suits were by
agreement and friendly. The total area of this
park is 166.91 acres.
In addition to these three suburban parks, the
board purchased from the Boone heirs a city square
between Nineteenth and Twentieth
small Parks. and Rowan and Duncan streets, a
part of the city that appeared to be
in great need of a small park. The area of this
square is 4.05 acres. The city transferred to the
Board of Park Commissioners two vacant spaces
in Market Street that had formerly been occupied
by public market houses; also, Baxter Square, con-
taining 2.01 acres, which had been made a park in
the year 1880.
These parks and interior squares were given
names by the board on August 13, 1891. The
three suburban parks were named Cherokee, Shaw-
nee and Iroquois, respectively. Kentucky, before
its settlement by white people, was the property and
hunting ground of these tribes, and it was thought
to be both appropriate and desirable to bestow their
names upon the parks. The pioneer names, Boone,
Kenton and Logan, were conferred upon the three
interior spaces that had not been previously named.
Baxter Square had been officially named by the
General Council, in honor of John G. Baxter, who
was Mayor when the little park was inaugurated.
The total acreage of the entire park property on
January 1, 1896, was 1,079.18 acres, as follows:
Iroquois Park 550.71 acres
Cherokee Park 306.42 acres
Shawnee Park 166.91 acres
Southern Parkway .... 48.47 acres
Boone Square 4.05 acres
Baxter Square 2.01 acres
Logan Place .35 acres
Kenton Place .26 acres
When a large part of the land desired for the
parks had been purchased, the Board of Park Com-
missioners wisely decided to secure the services
of the most able park architects in the country to
prepare plans for laying out and improving it in
the most skillful manner. Accordingly, on June 17,
1891, a contract was made with Frederick Law Olm-
stead & Co. of Brookline, Massachusetts, to furnish
working plans for the improvement of the park
property. Mr. F. L. Olmstead has been identi-
fied with the establishment and improvement of
nearly all the important public parks of this coun-
try and is the recognized head of his profession in
park architecture. The wisdom of securing his ser-
312
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
vices and that of his associates has been fnlly dem-
onstrated by the work that has been done under
their contract with the Board of Park Commission-
ers.
Their plans for improving Boone Square, Logan
Place and Kenton Place were approved by the
board as soon as submitted, and this work was all
completed before the summer of 1892.
The plans for Cherokee, Iroquois and Shawnee
Parks were designed after complete topographical
maps of the lands had been pre-
suburban Parks, pared by the engineer of the board
and several corps of assistants. As
each section of the architect’s designs for the subur-
ban parks was received and approved the improve-
ment of the land, according to the plans, was dili-
gently prosecuted under the direction of the com-
missioners, so that the people soon enjoyed the
benefits of their park property.
The driveways of Cherokee Park have all been
graded except two, and the entire park of 300 acres
is open to the public throughout the year, when
the weather is fair. But until the roads are paved
with stone or gravel, and foot walks are similarly
constructed, it will continue to be necessary to close
the suburban parks in wet weather. Electric cars
now carry passengers quickly to the entrance of
Cherokee Park, and the city is rapidly being built
out to its borders.
The Southern Parkway, or Boulevard, from the
city to Iroquois Park has been partially improved
by grading and paving the central driveway with
stone and Paducah gravel, making a smooth and
attractive approach to the park for carriages and
bicycles and affording, in connection with Third
Avenue, a splendid drive of nearly six miles that
may be enjoyed throughout the year. This park-
way when completed will be one of the handsomest
approaches to any park in this country. Its entire
width is 150 feet and the plan for it, as made by the
park architects, provides for a central driveway,
already completed, two planting spaces, one on
either side of the central driveway, for trees and
turf, with a promenade in the center of one for
pedestrians and a bridle path in the center of the
other for equestrians. On each side of these will
be a service road twenty feet wide for traffic to and
from the residences along the way. The central
road is to be reserved exclusively for pleasure driv-
ing and riding purposes.
Iroquois Park has been sufficiently improved to
make it an agreeable place of repose and refresh-
ment for a large number of people who now fre-
quent it in favorable weather. The application of
electric power for propelling street cars since the
original purchase of part of this property by the
General Council removed one of the greatest objec
tions to a site so distant from the heart of the city.
Two electric street car lines have now been built
with the aid of subsidies from owners of land that
lie between the city and this park, and cars run at
half hour intervals, alternately, over both lines, car-
rying passengers from the city to the park in about
twenty minutes.
Shawnee Park is located about one and one-half
miles west of the city limits on the bank of the Ohio
River. The plan of the park contemplates that it
will be the favorite place for athletic sports and
outdoor games. All the driveways have been grad-
ed ready for paving and the property is in attractive
condition for public use. An electric railway was
extended from the city limits to the park in the
summer of 1895, and the cars are run at convenient
intervals.
The Park Commissioners have made the most
judicious use of the fund provided for the improve-
ment of park property. It has not been adequate
to complete the work, nor was it supposed by the
authors and promoters of the Park Act that it
would be. They believed, however, that the people
would willingly supply all that was needed when it
had been shown that the work of the Board of
Park Commissioners was conducted with ability
and with regard for the public welfare. That has
now been satisfactorily demonstrated and an addi-
tional issue of one million dollars of bonds to com-
plete the parks has lately been authorized. The
sufficiency of the vote that was cast in favor of this
issue of bonds is being tested in the courts* through
a friendly suit, as a necessary preliminary to a satis-
factory disposal of these bonds.
Louisville is built upon a level plain bounded on
the north and west by the Ohio River, which is
spanned by three railway bridges. To the south-
ward this level plain extends several miles, unbrok-
en save by two wooded hills, or “knobs,” as they
are called in Kentucky. One of these hills, covered
to the summit with forest trees, is Iroquois Park, the
largest of the three suburban park sites. The slopes
are thickly covered with fine trees, and there are
*Since the foregoing was in type the Court of Ap-
peals of Kentucky has rendered a decision in the case
cited to the effect that the vote by which the bonds
were sought to be authorized was not sufficient in law
and that they cannot therefore be issued.
I
t
I
THE PUBLIC PARKS AND PARKWAYS.
343
shady groves and open spaces studded with trees
on the summit from which, on a clear day, the whole
length and breadth of the city and fine distant pros-
pects of the beautiful country adjacent to Louisville
may be seen. The Southern Parkway, or Grand
Boulevard, to Iroquois Park extends southward
from Third Avenue and affords a charming drive
of about six miles. This is one of the favorite drives
for Louisville people. At night thousands of bi-
cycles skim over the smooth roadway with their
white and red lights Hashing and disappearing, mak-
ing a scene worth going a long distance to witness
and enjoy.
At the easterly borders of the city, upon high,
rolling, picturesque land, is Cherokee Park, the
second in size and the most beautiful. Its surface
is gracefully undulating, and through it flows the
middle fork of the famous Beargrass Creek. The
soil is rich and the bluegrass grows upon it luxur-
iantly, covering it with a brilliant mantle in spring
and summer and scarcely less deeply green in the
early winter.
Lovers of grand trees, the wide-spreading beech
and lofty poplars, stately maples and the black wal-
nut, great oaks and giant sycamores and graceful
elms may see them here in native grandeur, where
they have grown in virgin soil since Kentucky was
the Indians' hunting ground. Mr. Frederick Law
Olmstead, the eminent landscape architect, when
visiting Cherokee Park the first time exclaimed, “O,
if we had such trees about Boston every one of them
would be famous,” and later he has written that
“superb umbrageous trees standing singly and in
open groups, distributed upon a graceful, undulat-
ing green sward, are to Ire seen there in higher per-
fection than has yet been found in any public park in
America.”
Shawnee Park, on the westerly side of the city, is
located on the river bank. The Ohio River flows
along the northerly front of the city and is broken
by falls or rapids below the city wharf. The “falls
are navigable for the largest river steamboats dur-
ing a part of the year, but at low water the boats
pass through the United States Government Canal
on the Kentucky side of the river. Below the falls
the river flows wide and deep past the city of New
Albany, Ind., backed by picturesque wooded hills on
the north and then sweeps around to the south-
ward, passing the west border of Louisville in front
of Shawnee Park. This lovely park is entirely level
above the high water stage of the river.
It contains about 130 acres above high water
mark, extending along the river bank, from which
the view, with the deep wooded Indiana “knobs”
beyond the opposite shore, is extensive and beauti-
ful. “Broad and tranquil meadowy spaces with the
shadows of great spreading trees slanting across
them,” with fine areas of turf for lawn games and
the Ohio River for boating and bathing are the
distinctive features of Shawnee Park. There are
numerous springs on the river bank and a fine grove
of beeches makes a lovely picnic ground.
These are the public parks of Louisville, exten-
sive enough for its present and future needs, al-
though the acquirement of additional interior spaces
for small parks is greatly to be desired and may yet
be accomplished. The policy of the Park Commis-
sioners has been to follow the counsel of their emi-
nent park architects, as presented in one of their
earliest letters to the board, to wit:
“First, to develop within each one of your three
properties a treasure of rural and sylvan scenery
of a character distinct from that which you will de-
velop within either of the othertwo, the distinction be-
ing determined in each case by regard for the exist-
ing topographical peculiarities of the particular site;
second, to make provision on neither site for any
form of recreation, the means for which will be in a
marked degree discordant with or subversive of the
natural character of that site; third, to supply suit-
able means for making the enjoyment of the scenery
of each park available to those escaping from the
city, in the form of walks, roads and places of rest,
shelter and refreshment, such means being regarded
not at all as the substance of your parks, but as the
wholly subordinate implements and tools by which
the substance is to be made use of. Strenuously
disappoint all notions that any may have formed that
you are to spend the public money intrusted to you
upon objects of curiosity or decoration; your busi-
ness is to form parks, not museums or collections
of ornaments. If gifts are offered you of objects
simply ornamental, by all means decline them. Ad-
mit nothing to your parks that is not fitting and
helpful to their distinguishing purpose.”
This policy consistently and rigidly followed
should accomplish a grand result. The Commis-
sioners, who are serving the public without other
compensation than public approbation, which is
the highest reward desired by men of character and
position, may be trusted to finish the work so well
begun.
CHAPTER XXXV.
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
BY THE EDITOR.
Cave Hill Cemetery, which is situated in the east-
ern portion of the city, is a part of what was once
known as “Cave Farm,'’ the name being derived
from a noted cave spring on the premises. The
property was originally the farm and country resi-
dence of William Johnston, one of the early settlers
at Louisville, who was clerk of the County Court
and at whose house the Court, in the absence of a
Court House, held its meetings. In the course of
time the city of Louisville became the owner of the
farm, upon a portion of which it established a work-
house for the detention and confinement, at labor,
of violators of the law, a pest house and other
municipal institutions. Extensive quarries were
also opened and are still maintained upon a part of
the property where malefactors are employed in
quarrying and breaking stone.
When the town of Louisville was laid out, the
trustees reserved certain lots for burial purposes,
supposed at that time to be ample.
oid-Tirae qqie block bounded by Eleventh,
Cemeteries.
Twelfth, Jefferson and Green streets
and those between Fifteenth, Eighteenth, Jefferson
and Grayson were set apart for such use, while in
various parts of what now constitutes the city there
were a number of burial places belonging to private
families or church congregations. The increase of
population has encroached upon these spots to such
an extent that they have all been obliterated except
the lower cemetery on Jefferson and a small He-
brew one, of the existence of- which comparatively
few are aware, on Woodbine Street, between Floyd
and Preston. The upper Jefferson Street Cemetery
has been converted into a public park known as
Baxter Square, to which use, in good time, the lower
one will doubtless be devoted when the tenants by
whom it is occupied shall have been reverently re-
moved to some more appropriate spot.
In nothing has there been a greater change with-
in the last half or three-quarters of a century than in
the matter of sepulture. The bodies of the dead
were formerly deposited either in the churchyards of
towns and villages, or in private burial lots upon
the farm. The encroachment of business or popula-
tion has led to the abandonment of the first and the
migratory tendency and change of tenure in farms
have, in a great measure, obliterated the last. These
two causes, coupled with considerations of health
to the living and the better care of the premises,
have led to the establishment of rural cemeteries
remote from the centers of population dedicated in
perpetuity to the repose of the dead. Modern civil-
ization has impressed itself in nothing more than in
this change wherein the features of the charnel house
have been obliterated, the gloom of the ancient and
typical graveyard banished and the abode of the
dead made beautiful and cheerful. The legal fiction
of a corporation — a body without a soul, yet of per-
petual life — has nowhere a better illustration of its
practical beneficence than in affording a means
whereby from the association of finite individuals
the interests of many living and dead are thus pre-
served with thoughtful care, where formerly they
were doomed to neglect and decay. The French
were the pioneers in this beneficent innovation, and
from the great cemetery of Pere La Chaise, at Paris,
have sprung the spots which have made so many
modern cities notable. So widespread and general
have become the pride and interest in this respect
that the cemetery has become the criterion of the
refinement of the city to which it is attached; the
moral barometer by which the civilization and cul-
ture of its people can be judged quite as well as by
its statistical tables, its churches and schools.
Judged by this standard, Louisville is entitled to a
high position in the world’s estimate of her civiliza-
344
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
345
tion and refinement. She has in her suburbs a num-
ber of cemeteries of various sects and denomina-
tions, as the St. Louis Catholic Cemetery, the Adas
Israel Hebrew Cemetery, the Eastern or Methodist
Cemetery and St. Stephen’s Cemetery, all of which
reflect credit upon those who founded them and
those who maintain them in order. But the great
glory of Louisville, in respect to her care for her
dead, lies in her non-sectarian rural cemetery known
far and wide as “Cave Hill.’’ As the population of
the city grew, the necessity of better facilities for the
sepulture of the dead became more manifest, and
the conscience of the city guardians became quick-
ened under the appeals of leading citizens who
moved with energy and intelligence in the matter.
As a result of these efforts, a legislative charter
was obtained in February, 1848, whereby L. L.
Shreve, Dr. G. W. Bavless, Jede-
cemetoT Company. diah Cobb> William B. Belknap,
Dr. James C. Johnston and James
Rudd and their successors were created a corporate
body styled the Cave Hill Cemetery Company, with
all the powers requisite for acquiring land and man-
aging the same for the purpose of a public place of
burial. To this company the City of Louisville, by
deed of the 1st day of June, 1848, conveyed forty-
seven and six-tenths acres of its Cave Hill Farm to
the six managers above named, with the express
provision that they and their successors in office
should perpetually hold and use the same for the
purpose of a rural cemetery, according to the pro-
visions of the legislative act of incorporation. This
deed was coupled with some reservations of right
of way and use of spring, which have long since
been released until there is no restriction upon the
fee simple title of any part of the company’s prem-
ises save as to the uses to which the ground is lim-
ited as a place of burial. So great, however, was
the objection of some of the original incorporators
or managers of the company to the reservations con-
tained in the deed of conveyance that the four first
named above resigned and, in accordance with the
power then vested in them, the Mayor and Council
elected in their stead John P. Morton, Dr. Joshua
B. Flint, Thomas E. Wilson and Dr. T. S. Bell. On
the 1 6th of June, 1848, the new board was organ-
ized by the election of Dr. James C. Johnston, Pres-
ident; Dr. T. S. Bell, Secretary, and Thomas E.
Wilson, Treasurer. The selection of the President
was especially appropriate, as lie had been one of
the original advocates of the measure, and the farm
was his birthplace more than half a century before.
The first step looking to the use of the grounds
thus acquired was its dedication with appropriate
religious services. These were held on the after-
noon of July 25, 1848, in the presence of a large con-
course of ladies and gentlemen in the beautiful grove
beneath the summit of the hill, on the crown of
which stand the monuments of Edward Crowe and
John Love, near Beargrass Creek. After appro-
priate music by the choir, an impressive address
was delivered by Rev. E. W. Sehon of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Then the choir sang the follow-
ing beautiful ode composed for the occasion by
Fortunatus Cosby, Escp, worthy to be preserved in
perpetual association with the spot whose ideal
beauty therein prefigured has been fully realized m
the adornment added by the hand of art:
Not in the crowded mart,
On sordid thoughts intent;
Not where the groveling heart
On low desire is bent;
Not where Ambition stalks
And spurns the patient earth,
Nor yet where Folly walks
’Mid scenes of idle mirth.
Not where the busy hum
Of ceaseless toil is heard;
Not where the thoughtless come
With light and careless word;
Not there, not there should rest.
Forgotten evermore,
The weary, the oppress’d,
Their tedious life-ache o’er.
Not there the hallowed form.
That pillowed all our woes
On her pure bosom warm —
Not there should she repose; .
Not there, not there should sleep
Or child’s or parent's head;
Not there the living keep
Remembrance of the dead.
But where the forest weaves
Its ceaseless undersong.
And voices ’mid the leaves
The symphony prolong;
Where breeze and brook and bird
Their sweetest music wake,
And only Nature’s heard,
Their resting-place we’ll make.
There where the crocus springs
Amid the lingering snow,
And where the violet brings
Its first awakening glow;
Where summer flowers unfold
Their wealth of fragrant bloom;
There, for the young, the old,
We'll rear affection's tomb.
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
346
There where the water’s sheen
Reveals the world above,
And where the heavens serene
Look down with watchful love;
The loved ones there to earth
We’ll render — “dust to dust” —
To Him who gave them birth —
The Merciful, the Just.
The dedication address was then delivered by
Rev. E. P. Humphrey of the Second Presbyterian
Church of Louisville. It was a scholarly produc-
tion, a classic oration, a historical review, a sermon
cheering and comforting in the thought suggested
of having such a peaceful rural home prepared for
those confined in life to the crowded walls of the
city. After nearly half a century, in which most of
those who heard him have been gathered, as quoted
by him:
“Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,”
it reads as fresh and redolent of the spirit which
evolved it as if pronounced but yesterday. It is
worthy to be reproduced often for the benefit of
current generations, so full is it of the noblest sen-
timents inspired by such an occasion, affectionate
care of the dead that their virtues may elevate the
living, with suggestions full of practical wisdom, and
yet withal coupled with poetic thought and graceful
diction.
Referring to the decay and neglect of the “old
grave-yard” and the ruthlessness with which it was
permitted to go to ruin or to be obliterated by the
ploughshare, and comparing this and the sale of
burial grounds for the sites of warehouses and
stores to th'e shame of Egypt in making merchan-
dise of her mummies, he says:
“Now, it is one of the indispensable conditions of
the Rural Cemetery that its possession as a burial
place be made perpetual and inviolable. The au-
thority of the law and the public sentiment and con-
science must be successfully invoked to guard our
graves from the cupidity of our survivors. In the
oldest records of the race it is related that a ven-
erable patriarch on the death of his wife applied to
the people of the neighborhood for a burial place.
One of them offered him a field for the purpose.
He declined the generous offer and urged them to
sell him the inclosure and to accept its value. They
consented to his request and he purchased the place
for ‘four hundred shekels of silver, current money
with the merchant;’ and, as we read in the narra-
tive, ‘the field, and the cave which was therein, and
all the trees that were in the field, that were in all
the borders round about, were made sure unto Abra-
ham for a possession of a burying place.’
“We shall do well to profit by this example of
patriarchal sagacity. It becomes us to see to it
that this spot be made sure for the uses of the burial
place. It must be guarded from the rapacity of the
buyers and sellers of another generation. If this
complete security cannot be gained nothing is ac-
complished, and we must abide as best we may the
mockery and dishonor attached to a spot which is
the cemetery to-day and which may be the shambles
to-morrow.
“The maxim that the earth belongs not to the
dead but to the living is relied on to furnish an apol-
ogy for devoting to other purposes the place which
has been used for the burial of the dead. But on
this very maxim do we rest our argument for its
perpetual consecration. It becomes to the living an
object of increasing interest as successive genera-
tions are brought within its gates. Its ancient mon-
uments, its pious inscriptions, its moss-covered
head-stones, its venerable shades, the memory of
the great and good of olden time, constitute a leg-
acy of imperishable moral wealth to those who
come after. Themistocles could not sleep, so much
was his spirit fired by visiting the graves of the illus-
trious dead. The Romans buried their most hon-
ored citizens along the Appian Way, that the youth,
as they entered the city, might be moved to emulate
their virtues and share their renown. To this day
the tomb of Scipio remains to perpetuate the mem-
ory at least of old Roman valor. The early Chris-
tians worshiped God at the graves of the martyrs
to reassure their faith and to catch the spirit of those
‘of whom the world was not worthy.’ The patriot
leads his son to the tomb of Washington to engage
him to imitate his great and brave example. None
scarcely can be so dead to virtue as to visit the
graves of the great and good without some aspira-
tions after a better life. There is a beautiful signifi-
cancy in the miracle recorded in the sacred word.
The dead man cast into the sepulcher of Elisha,
when he touched the bones of the holy prophet, re-
vived and stood on his feet.”
Again he says:
“In all our wanderings, our hearts acknowledge
the attractions of the holy spot where sleep our
parents and our children. If that place be theirs
and ours forever, little do. we care who may occupy
our patrimonial acres or whose head may repose
under our native roof. Even our Indian tribes, as
i
i
.
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
347
they retire from advancing civilization, cast their
last look behind, not on their corn fields and hunt-
ing grounds, but on the graves of their fathers.
“Now, the Rural Cemetery meets this lofty sen-
timent of our nature. It offers the advantages of
family cemeteries on private grounds, while it ob-
viates the insecurity attending them. It does not
open long ranges of graves — here a dismal range
for adults, and there a range more dismal for chil-
dren— but it invites us to a place where we and
those who love us may lie down together — where
our families, divided by death may be gathered again
in the grave. It is not forgetful of the stranger who
may die among us, for it offers to his dust a quiet
resting-place. But it is, in the main, a grouping
together of family burial places, giving to each
household a spot sacred to the repose of its dead.”
There are other passages which we would be
glad to give from this historic address, but if we
should give all our inclination would prompt, there
would be little left unquoted.
Upon the conclusion of Mr. Humphrey’s address
and after the singing of Dr. Muhlenberg’s hymn,
“I Would Not Live Alway,” the solemn services
were terminated with a prayer and benediction by
Rev. Mr. Gallegher, rector of St. Paul’s Church.
The broad spirit manifested in the inauguration of
Cave Hill Cemetery by the participation in the ex-
ercises of the ministers of three different sects has
characterized the management of its affairs from
that day to this. No sectarian jealousy or partisan
spirit has ever marred the harmony of its adminis-
tration, which has always been enlightened, pro-
gressive and marked by thorough integrity.
It would be tedious to follow all the changes made
in the organization of the Cave Hill Company by
amendment to its charter, rules or by-laws, but it
will be interesting to the large number of the citi-
zens of Louisville who feel an interest in the subject
to give the salient points in its progress.
In the first place, the comparatively small tract
of a little more than forty-five acres, which was the
city’s first donation, was, eighteen
ACenieteryt0 months after its dedication, in-
creased by the purchase of twelve
acres, which was very essential, as this comprised
the present entrance and beautiful lawn leading to
the cemetery proper. Prior to that, access to the
cemetery was only had through a narrow lane,
which was used jointly by the city for access to its
quarries. The disadvantages of the original mode
of ingress and egress were so patent that public
interest in the cemetery languished, and many re-
garded the enterprise as doomed to failure. But
when this advantageous purchase was made public,
interest revived and new life was at once manifested.
Ten years later the city added from the Cave Hill
farm another donation of thirty-two acres. The
original charter limited the number of acres which
the company should acquire to one hundred, but an
amendment was secured in 1854 by which this limit
was increased to three hundred. Since that time 175
acres additional have been acquired, making the
present total acreage 264. Another amendment re-
lieved its management from control of the mayor and
council by making the managers eligible by the lot-
holders. But the most important reform made in
the administration of the cemetery was in several
amendments regulating the financial concerns of the
company. Originally it was provided that all re-
ceipts should be paid to the mayor and council, who
should allow six per cent interest upon the sums as
accumulated, and pay out the interest for mainte-
nance. Next this was modified so that the city re-
linquished its control of the money of the company,
which was required to set apart one-fifth of the pro-
ceeds of lots, and invest the same so as to create a
perpetual fund for the preservation of the grounds.
Finally, by an act of the Legislature in 1882, this
provision was further perfected by creating what may
be said to be a sinking fund commission. An
auxiliary company was incorporated, styled the
Cave Hill Investment Company, providing for
five directors, all of whom shall be
vestment^company. lot-owners, one of whom shall be the
president of the Cave Hill Cemetery
Company, the other four to be elected by the Board
of Managers of the latter company. The duty of this
board is to invest and keep invested all the money
belonging to the company in the bonds of the
United States, the bonds of the State of Ken-
tucky, or the bonds of the city of Louis-
ville, and such other securities as the board may,
in writing, unanimously agree to, subject to the
consent of a majority of the Board of Managers of
the Cave Hill Cemetery Company. All the money
and property of this company is held to be a sacred
fund for the protection, preservation and ornamenta-
tion of the grounds of Cave Hill Cemetery. The in-
come arising from the property of the company after
paying its necessary expenses is required to be in-
vested and re-invested as above provided, and no
part of the principal or income arising therefrom can
be touched for any purpose whatever, except for
348
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
necessary expenses, until eight-tenths of the burial
lots, which are or may be laid of? are sold, or until
said investment fund shall be at its par value worth
two hundred thousand dollars. When these condi-
tions shall happen, the net income arising from the
funds and property of the company shall be utilized
for the care and improvement of the grounds, but no
part of the principal fund shall ever be used. It will
thus be seen that, by this wise provision, it is con-
templated to accumulate, while the property is pro-
ductive, from the sale of lots and other sources, a
fund of $200,000, to be held in perpetuity as a sacred
endowment, the interest upon which will, for all time,
be devoted to the care of the property. This fund
has already reached the sum of about $43,000, and
long before the centennial of the cemetery's exist-
ence, the fund will have reached the sum of $200,000,
when, independent of any other resource, the ceme-
tery will have the means of keeping the grounds in
order. This act also provides that the company may
receive donations, gifts, devises and bequests upon
such terms as may be consistent with the object of
the corporation, and under this provision a bequest
has been made of a fund, the interest on which is to
be used forever for the special care of the donor’s lot.
We have, at the risk of being regarded too technical
in a sketch like this, deemed it due to those who have
so much interest in this City of the Dead, as the place
of repose of their loved ones or as their own future
resting place, to explain this wise provision which
insures, as securely as anything resting upon human
action can, the perpetual care and preservation of
this spot even long after it shall cease to receive ac-
cessions to its buried hosts. It is only just also to
the trusted guardians of this sacred property that
recognition in this public and permanent form shall
be made of this thoughtful provision, devised by
their legal and financial skill. The officers and di-
rectors of the Cave Hill Investment Company, who
control its funds and are charged with the manage-
ment of this special endowment fund, are A. G.
Munn, president; J. H. Morton Morris, secretarv
and treasurer; Judge John W. Barr, F. N. Hartwell
and George W. Morris.
Thus far about forty per cent of the area of the
cemetery property, or one hundred acres, has been
laid off and sub-divided into lots, leaving about one
hundred and sixty-four acres for future use. The
whole property has, however, been plotted by Mr.
Benjamin Grove, whose map, executed for the com-
pany, shows the avenues, lots and other improve-
ments designed to be made as the demand requires,
according to a homogeneous plan. It is estimated
that it will be a half a century before the present hold-
ing of the company will be occupied as that now al-
ready improved, and that, even if there should be no
new acquisition of territory, the cemetery will suf-
fice for the use of these lot-holders for another half
century, or for a hundred years from the present
time.
As already stated, the first president of the Cave
Hill Cemetery Company was Dr. James C. John-
ston. His successor was James Rudd, who served
until 1858, when he was succeeded by Isaac Ever-
ett, with Bland Ballard as secretary, and Abraham
Hite as treasurer. In 1864, R. A. Browinski became
secretary and treasurer, and in 1865, J. H. M. Mor-
ris, now president, became associated with the com-
pany as his assistant. In 1876 Judge Ballard suc-
ceeded Mr. Everett as president and served until his
death in July, 1879. He was succeeded by the late
Thos. P. Jacob, upon whose death, in 1889, J. H.
M. Morris was chosen president, and has served con-
tinuously since, being longer connected with the
company than any other manager. He had been
made secretary and treasurer in 1876, upon the death
of Mr. Browinski, and when he became president in
1889, J. G. A. Boyd succeeded him and continues
to be secretary and treasurer. There are nine man-
agers of the company and since 1867, when they be-
came elective by the lot-holders and were first class-
ified in three-year terms, three have been elected each
year. The board, at that time, was as follows: T.
S. Bell, Thomas E. Wilson, James Trabue, the first
group; H. A. Griswold, Isaac Everett, John P. Mor-
ton, the second group; and George L. Douglass,
Bland Ballard and William Kendrick, the third
group. The present managers and the dates of their
election are as follows: A. G. Munn, 1878, succeed-
ing W. A. Richardson, resigned; W. H. Dulaney,
1879, succeeding Z. M. Sherley, deceased; John W.
Barr, 1879, succeeding Bland Ballard, deceased; Ar-
thur Peter, 1883, succeeding W. C. Hite, deceased;
John White, 1888, succeeding James Trabue, de-
ceased; J. H. M. Morris, 1889, succeeding John P.
Morton, deceased; E. W. Hays, 1892, succeeding
R. C. Hewitt, deceased; W. T. Rolph, 1892, succeed-
ing John K. Goodloe, deceased; A. P. Humphrey,
1893, succeeding Patrick Joyes, resigned. The ser-
vices of these gentlemen have been invaluable to the
company, especially in the public confidence in-
spired by their high character, representing, as they
always have, the very best social and business class.
But faithful as they have been, the credit of much
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
349
that appeals to the sense of the beautiful with all
who visit the spot is due to the skill of the super-
intendents who have had charge of the premises. Of
these, there have only been three in the long period
of nearly forty years. It was the good fortune of the
Skill and Taste of
Superintendents.
first Board of Managers to secure at
the outset the services of David
Ross, a Scotch landscape gardener
of admirable taste and skill, who laid out the
grounds upon a plan, the salient features of which
have been observed in their subsecpient extension.
In the prosecution of his work he threw into it all
the enthusiasm of a refined and cultivated taste, and
in the eight years, during which he labored so zeal-
ously, he succeeded in leaving a distinctive impress
upon the spot which will ever be a monument to his
skill. To him the community is indebted for the im-
posing entrance to the cemetery — the broad avenue
with its faultless roadway, so well planned and exe-
cuted that it has scarcely needed any repairs; the
graceful, wide-spreading lawn, unobstructed by tree
or shrub and bounded on either side by well selected
tree plantations, without stiff or formal lines, and at
its termination by native trees of natural growth.
The utilization of depressions, originally unsightly
sink-holes, for ornamentation with trees and shrubs
appropriate to their various slopes and shapes, and
the winding of the avenues to harmonize with the
topography of the grounds have been so skillfully
handled that no improvement of the original plan has
ever been made or thought of. It stands to-day as
it came forth perfect from the master mind. Upon
his death, in 1856, Mr. Ross was succeeded by his
brother, Robert Ross, who proved himself in every
way a worthy successor. In some of the elements
of a scientific and thoroughly educated florist and
landscape gardener, he was even the superior of his
brother. He came to his post of duty fresh from
Chatsworth, the noted estate of the Duke of Devon-
shire, where he had had his practical education, and
brought to his work the double zeal of one who
wished to excel in his calling and to continue the
good work of his brother, which had been arrested
by death. It is to the younger Ross that Cave Hill
is so largely indebted for the beauty of its trees and
shrubbery, the judicious selection and distribution
of rare trees, their heading in to give proper shape
and yet avoiding rigidity or formality, the massing
of some for fine effects, the thinning out of others to
make pleasing vistas or to give proper distribution
of sunshine and shade. Of all these arts so essen-
tial to the harmony of the landscape, he was a con-
summate master. And so of shrubbery and flowers.
He knew exactly what kinds were adapted to a ceme-
tery, those which would bloom the longest and
which, by their natural growth, their color or frag-
rance, were most suitable for adorning the lots. He
not only knew all this, but he also knew how to im-
part his knowledge to others. The consequence is
that the practiced eye is at once struck with this fea-
ture of Cave Hill. Except where they are of indi-
genous growth or in portions of the cemetery not
occupied by graves, trees of large habit of growth
are rarely found to disturb the sod, disarrange the
stone curbing, or mildew the monuments with their
shade. The willow is especially excluded for these
reasons, while such trees of smaller growth, as the
magnolia, attractive alike for the foliage, its flower
and fruit, the chittim wood, or Cladastris tinctoria,
with its racemes of white flowers, like locust blos-
soms elongated to twice their length, with its shape-
ly head and umbrella sky line; the various Japan
trees of dwarf or standard growth, as the Ginkgo
or Salisburia adiantifolia, and the red maple, the
dogwood, the red bud, and others of similar growth.
But where, with propriety and respect to good taste
the trees of larger growth are admissible, as fine
specimens of all kinds can be found in Cave Hill as
in any other part of America — the wild cherry, the
beech, the linden, the oak, the maple, the elm, and
the choicer varieties of evergreens. But it is in re-
gard to flowers that the taste of Mr. Ross was
notably impressed upon Cave Hill. He demonstrat-
ed that rank vines and straggling shrubbery were
not appropriate and required constant trimming or
frequent eradication, pointing out such as were more
desirable from their habit of growth, flowers and fol-
iage. He also discouraged the planting of annuals
as equally unsatisfactory, recommending perennial
plants which would bloom longest and have the
most inviting flowers. Especially was he the advo-
cate of the rose, taking pains to acquaint the lot-
holders with the hardy varieties which would make
the most generous return in blooms for the care he
faithfully bestowed upon them. No stranger of cul-
tivated taste, even if he be from California or the
South, where the rose is found in finest perfection,
enters Cave Hill without being struck with the
abundance, the variety and fragrance of the roses
to be found there in a normal season from early
spring until late frosts. The writer knows personally
of many rose bushes planted upon the recommenda-
tion of Air. Ross and tended by him, which are more
than a quarter of a century old and are still thrifty
350
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
bloomers; so skillfully trimmed that they look as if
planted out only a year or two. But this worthy
man in time followed his brother to the tomb, and
his name is but a memory. He died in 1890, after
nearly twenty-five years of continuous service. V er -
ily, if ever two men deserved to have an epitaph,
equally applicable to each, inscribed upon their tomb,
it would be this: “Si quaeris monumentum circum-
spice,” which, as the study of Latin is coming of late
somewhat into disuse, I venture to translate, to give
proper force to my meed of praise: “If you seek a
monument, look around.”
In the year following the death of Robert Ross,
a new superintendent was found in Robert Camp-
bell, who is likewise a native of the land of
Burns, whence America has drawn her most dis-
tinguished florists and gardeners. It is a singular
coincidence that both William R. Smith and Wil-
liam Sanders, the one in charge of the Botanical
Garden, and the other of the Agricultural grounds in
Washington, are Scotchmen, who have held their
positions for more than forty years, and to whom
Washington is indebted for its shade trees and the
artistic beauty of its parks and reservations. It must
be that this taste for the beautiful in nature and skill
in reproducing it by art is but another form of ex-
pressing the innate poetry of the race. Of Mr.
Campbell’s efficiency the best proof is to be found in
thfe excellent condition of the cemetery since he has
been in charge. Many improvements have been
made under his direction, such as the making of a
lake, which adds a picturesque feature to the land-
scape, and the extension of avenues, walks and lots
eastward. Since his accession the managers have
built a handsome stone superintendent’s office and
reading rooms, and a tastefid shelter house. He
keeps in his employment during the summer about
fifty men, and every portion of the large area has the
most thorough attention. In addition to the fact that
lots are exempt from taxation and not liable to exe-
cution for debt, there is no expense for keeping them
in order, but those of all, the rich and poor alike,
have the grass and shrubbery taken care of with
scrupulous fidelity. Some idea of the extent of the
expense and good management necessary for keep-
ing up the cemetery may be had from the following
brief statistics: This City of the Dead has its streets,
sidewalks, water service and sewers the same as a
city of the living. There are six miles of avenues
and drives, and ten miles of walks. There are nearly
five miles of water pipe, with half a dozen large hy-
drants for sprinkling carts, forty-five drinking hy-
drants and numerous water-boxes distributed all
over the grounds for attaching hose for watering the
flowers and grass. Nearly four miles of sewer pipe
have been laid to supplement the excellent natural
drainage and secure the avenues and walks from
washing after heavy rains. All this expenditure in-
dicates large additional expense in providing the
additional labor entailed by these judicious im-
provements. It also implies more skill and atten-
tion in the administration of the affairs of this silent
city, with its windowless tenements, the passive ten-
ants of which have no voice or care in what is going
on above them any more than the entombed fossils
in the rock beneath them.
And this brings 11s to speak of the geology of the
cemetery, to which it owes much of its natural
beauty. It is said that each distinct
cave°Hiif geological formation has its peculiar
slope. The primitive rocks, as gran-
ite and trap, from their resistance to the eroding ten-
dencies of the weather, are precipitous and angular
and so, generally, the slope becomes less, and more
nearly approaches a plane, as the material of the
successive ages is softer, until, in the alluvial depos-
its, the latest formation, such as the site of Louis-
ville, is level or approximates to a plane. It is in
the Silurian formation, where the limestone predom-
inates, which is easily disintegrated by exposure to
the elements, that the slopes assume the most grace-
ful shapes and most pleasing curves. There was a
time, even geologically remote, when the process of
erosion, by which several thousand feet were taken
off this and the Bluegrass region, when all the sur-
face of the denuded rocks was bare and without soil
or vegetation — when our now attractive state was
a geological skeleton, when in fact, so to speak, it
was naked to the bone and had no flesh. The process
of clothing it with soil and covering its nakedness
was slow, and the chief source from which this was
derived was from the disintegration of the rocks
themselves, except where, by the forces of nature
in the glacial epoch, there were localities in which
there was deposited a fine grained silt known as the
Loess formation, of which the bluff formation of
the Mississippi at Hickman, Memphis, Vicksburg
and Natchez are striking illustrations. The lime-
stone being composed more or less of sea shells,
rich in the elements of fertility, produces by disinte-
gration a soil correspondingly rich in propor-
tion to the nature of the shells and their
solubility. Hence, we find the richest soil in
the Bluegrass region where the limestone is softest
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
351
and the shells richest in the elements of fertilization
and most readily disintegrating and formed into
soil. It is a common error to say that we are here
or at Cave Hill in the Bluegrass region. It is flat-
tering to the pride of a Kentuckian to have that
charmed circle extended so as to embrace him in its
sphere. But the truth of geologic history requires
it to be known that we are not in the Bluegrass re-
gion, and that the limestone, which underlies Cave
Hill and the fine territory east of Louisville, is not
the blue limestone of central Kentucky. That is pe-
culiar to the Lower Silurian formation, upon which
lies Lexington and twenty or thirty counties, in
whole or part, which lie within a radius of thirty
or forty miles, more or less. The formation which
immediately underlies Cave Hill Cemetery is that
of the Devonian; a limestone, indeed, but not the
limestone of the lower Silurian, which here lies cov-
ered several hundred feet beneath, of an entirely dif-
ferent structure, and with fossils of different form
and character. The formation is known as the Corn-
iferous (from Latin, signifying “horn-bearing”),
from the numerous seams of horn-stone intercalating
the limestone. It is the same stratum which is found
on the falls just beneath the hydraulic limestone.
Where this latter has been washed off by the action
of the water, or stripped for conversion into cement,
the corniferous limestone is exposed, and when the
rocks are bared in summer when -the water is con-
fined to narrow channels, the fossils can be found
in great variety. Sir Charles Lyell, the distinguished
English geologist, visited Louisville about fifty years
ago for the purpose of examining this rare geologi-
cal section, and pronounced it the most remarkable
coral reef in the world. Prof. Dana, in his text-book
of Geology, says: “The limestone is literally an an-
cient coral reef. It contains corals in vast numbers
and of great variety; and in some places, as near
Louisville, Kentucky, at the Falls on the Ohio, the
resemblance to a modern reef is perfect. Some of
the coral masses at that place are six or eight feet in
diameter, and single polyps of the Cyathophylloid
corals had, in some places, a diameter of two and
three inches, and in one, of six or seven inches.”
The exposure of the formation freed by the action of
the river of the superincumbent stratification, enables
one to form a very fair idea of the rock which un-
derlies Cave Hill Cemetery as it appeared when the
period of its erosion ceased and before the process
of being clothed with soil began. While, as has
been said, the composition of this rock is harder
and not as rich in the elements of fertility or so eas-
ily disintegrated as the blue limestone of the lower
Silurian or Bluegrass formation, its fossils are yet
richer than those of almost any other limestone, and
wherever it is found, the soil resulting from its dis-
integration is fertile and productive. So marked is
this that it does not require a skilled geologist to in-
dicate its limit as one proceeds eastward, since it
is the formation from which the richest part of Jef-
ferson county derives its fertility. The change which
takes place from this to the yellow and poorer soil
near the eastern boundary of the county indicates a
corresponding change from the corniferous to a
silicious limestone, which is almost barren of fossils
and yields but little to disintegration. Nor is the
limestone on which Cave Hill rests the cavernous
limestone, as some have contended, because it has
caves or caverns as indicated by the indentations or
sink holes formed by the falling in of the roof of a
cavern. The cavernous limestone of geology be-
longs to the sub-carboniferous limestone, with its
best known development in the Mammoth Cave re-
gion. Its geologic horizon is as much above the
Corniferous of Cave Hill as the lower Silurian is be-
low. The fact that caves were found here has no
significance in fixing its identity, since all limestone,
when subjected to the action of running water
charged with acids, will wear into caves more or
less rapidly, according as it is more or less compact.
It is one of the characteristics of the Corniferous
limestone that it varies in its composition and dura-
bility, being more susceptible in some places to the
action of disintegrating or erosive forces. This will
account for the varying slopes of Cave Hill, from
the gentle and gradually ascending or descending
slope to the more abrupt and steeper acclivity. The
level grade of the front lawn and the ground west
ward to Beargrass may find its solution in the steep
and stoneless bluffs of clay which preserve their per-
pendicular form unaffected by frost or rain with such
marked features as suggest a deposit of Loess for-
mation of as yet undefined area, or a peculiar ad-
mixture of this ancient silt with decomposed clays
from non-fossiliferous upper Devonian shale. If this
shall prove a correct diagnosis, it will serve to ac-
count for the remarkably homogeneous soil so free
from stones or fossils as commonly occur where the
soil is the resultant from the disintegration of the
original rocks, since the fossils which are apt to be-
come silicated do not disintegrate equally with the
limestone in which they are imbedded.
Whatever the correct theory of the geology of
Cave Hill, one fact exists, consistent with every
352
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
theory which lias been advanced, and that is that be-
neath the cemetery which man has made with hands
is another cemetery in which lie embedded myriads
of creatures of a lower form of existence, which were
once instinct with life and motion. They may be
likened in their sepulture to the inhabitants of Pom-
peii. who were buried alive in the ashes thrown off
from Vesuvius and found by modern explorers, en-
veloped in the indurated dust, just as we find the
fossil coral on the Falls or in the rocks under the
cemetery imprisoned in the once soft mud which
formed the bottom of the warm sea in which they
lived. A gradual elevation of the sea level drained
the bottom, the mud hardened and became the tomb
in which the fossil is imprisoned. But here the simile
ceases. There is no fossil man. Human search has
failed to find any authenticated instance of the fossil
remains of a man. Dry land was submerged and
the bottom of the seas raised to form the highest
mountains, but when the earth became ready for
man’s existence, these convulsions ceased, and the
earth was clothed with beauty and rendered habit-
able for the new creation, distinctive from all other
living creatures by being made a sentient being,
with a soul as well as a body. And never does man
realize this composite structure more fully than when
he faces death or thinks upon the solemn act of pass-
ing from life. No race so high in the scale of civiliza-
tion, none so low, as not to dwell upon the problem.
With all the act of death carries with it not merely
the end of existence here, but the beginning of an-
other life beyond the grave. All forms of sepulture
have coupled with them the idea of another state of
existence, from the Greek funeral pyre of ancient
Rome to the Indian custom of placing food by the
side of the dead for the journey to the happy hunt-
ing ground. Nowhere is there a belief in a fossil-
ized state of perpetual entombment without the hope
of a future state. It is meet, therefore, that we should
illustrate our belief in the enlightened mode of sep-
ulture provided in this rural cemetery in such close
proximity to a form of burial which typifies a hope-
less doom. We occupy a higher stratum. We are
of the new earth, quickened by the regeneration and
refinement of the lower and older life, prizing exist-
ence upon a planet so well adjusted for our comfort,
yet looking upon death as a prelude to a higher life.
As the entrance to this newer existence, is it not,
therefore, natural and fit that the portals of our new
abode and the surroundings should be made attrac-
tive, so that, with those who cannot in the abstract
realize this as a conviction of soul and intellect, the
Total
Interments.
material view of an inviting temporary habitation
may lead them to fit themselves for the companion-
ship of the virtuous and just who have started on the
same route?
A catalogue of the distinguished and worthy dead
who rest in Cave Hill fill many pages. For here
rest not only the dead who have gone to their last
account since the founding of the cemetery, but
from far and near, from abandoned cemeteries and
private burial lots have been brought the dust of
the pioneers and early citizens who rescued the soil
from the savage. The total number of interments to
June i, 1895, were 28,175. To sin-
gle out a few of the most prominent
would be invidious, since here all
rank, pomp and glorious circumstance of war
are laid aside. The record embraces many who
are famed for their heroism in war, their worth
as statesmen, teachers of religion, and men
prominent in all the professions and callings of the
city. There are over four thousand Federal soldiers
buried in the western part of the cemetery in a plat
donated by the managers in 1861. Near by is the
Confederate burial ground, chiefly occupied by pris-
oners who died in the Louisville hospitals during the
war. The lots were purchased for this purpose by
Mr. E. L. Huffman and S. S. Hamilton, of Louis-
ville. They are in charge of the Confederate Asso-
ciation, which has purchased adjoining lots for the
interment of veterans for whom other provision is
not made. There are nearly three hundred graves,
representing twelve states. They all have neat mar-
ble head-stones, with the names of the dead, as far
as identified, upon them. More than two hundred
of these were placed there by Mrs. Huffman.
Many other charitable associations, church or-
ganizations and fraternal societies have similar plats
for the interment of their members, and the same
care and good order which marks the attention giv-
en to private lots, is maintained by those who have
these in their keeping. The same benevolence which
provides for the unfortunate in life follows them to
the grave and watches over their last resting place
with loving care.
The entrance to the cemetery is from Baxter ave-
nue, at the head of Broadway, where several electric
car lines converge. A handsome double gateway is
flanked on either side by cut stone buildings con-
taining offices, reception rooms and gate-keeper’s
lodge. A lofty campanile rises upon the west side,
provided with a tower clock and surmounted with a
life size copy in marble of Thorwalsden’s Angel,
HISTORY OF CAVE HILL CEMETERY.
353
vhile lower, in a niche over the front archway, is
■ copy of the same sculptor’s statue of Christ. The
iost of this structure was $18,500, and yet it is so
nodest in its size and elegant in all its appointments
hat it has nothing in its appearance, except to the
Tilled critic, to convey an idea of such cost. From
his entrance leads the grand avenue, nearly seven
Hundred feet long, bordered by a double row of Nor-
way maples. At this distance, it divides into two
roads which pass on either side and around a large
depression, symmetrical in shape, well set in trees
chiefly of natural growth and covered with a vig-
orous turf of bluegrass. It is not until this spot is
passed that any of the ground is used for interment,
but here the transition takes place, and the eye takes
in the greater part of the cemetery, with its monu-
ments and all adornments of art which go to make
up a striking effect, reproduced in varied forms as
the visitor progresses through the sacred grounds.
In order to provide for lot-holders too feeble to walk
or who have not private carriages, as well as to ac-
commodate visitors who wish to inspect the ceme-
tery, the managers have provided several neat car-
ettes or park-wagons, which convey them through
the grounds for a small sum. In fact, everything
which thoughtful suggestion can devise for the con-
venience of the public and the ornamentation of the
grounds has been so successfully utilized that noth-
ing seems to have been left undone necessary to
make Cave Hill Cemet-ery unsurpassed in every de-
partment of excellence — a very Valhalla for the
dead and Mecca for the living.
23
<■
CHAPTER XXXVI.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
BY THE
In the second as in the first volume of this his-
tory, the Editor proposes to devote a chapter to
the lives of those who have contributed to
the upbuilding of Louisville, and those whose tal-
ents or public services have made them conspicuous
figures in the community. Conscientiously as every
portion of this work has been prepared, and ably
as many of the subjects have been treated by those
who have given them the best thought and the
best talent of a city by no means unknown in the
world of letters, the editor feels assured that the
chapters which deal with the personality of men
who have left their impress upon the public mind
will not be the least interesting and entertaining.
Since families originated, and those endeared to each
other by ties of blood have delighted to gather
around the hearth-stone and talk of the deeds of
common ancestors, family history has had a charm
for the honest masses of mankind who revere the
shades of worthy progenitors, and live in the hope
of being blessed in their posterity. Those who take
pride in a good name are not likely to dishonor it,
and a degree of family pride is promotive of good
citizenship. In the following chapter, and in the
chapter of like character which closes the first vol-
ume, will be found much family history which will be
of interest not only to the members of such families
but to their associates and friends wherever they
may dwell. In these histories of individuals are mir-
rored too the times in which they lived, or that in
which they now live, and from the accounts of their
struggles, experiences and achievements, we may
glean details of historic interest overlooked in the
general history, comprehensive as we have endeav-
ored to make it. In the first volume our effort has
been to sketch the lives and characters of those who
have formed part and parcel of the general history
EDITOR.
set forth in that volume, and in the sketches follow- ;
ing this introduction we shall seek to make appro-
priate mention of those who have been, or are now,
conspicuously identified with that portion of the
city’s history presented in this volume. To treat all 1
according to their merits has been the aim and pur-
pose of the writer, and if too partial estimates have
been made of some, let the errors be regarded as of 1
impulse rather than design. If any have been given 1
space in these volumes who may appear to the public
to be unworthy of the honor, this, too, should be
regarded as one of those errors of judgment to
which we are ever liable. The men who live
“In loveliness of perfect deeds”
are hard to find, and the author has not looked for j
perfection in those whom he thought worthy of men- f
tion in this connection. He has aimed only to pre- |
sent those who were fairly representative of our !
good citizenship, and in writing of them has had j>
no interest in exalting them beyond their deserts.
In the balance of his own judgment, he has weighed
them as they appear to him, and the reader |
must bear in mind that he would have no occasion j
to say anything of them were he not convinced that
they are worthy of good report. Possibly some |
fault may be found with the prominence given to r
young men, and if the author be reproached with J
a weakness in this direction, he must plead guilty i
to a fondness for those who at the beginning of the f
battle of life win victories and evince their possession j
of the qualities which make successful and honored
citizens. In early life he had occasion to judge of
the mettle of a soldier by the manner in which he i
acquitted himself in his first battles. In like manner:
it has since been his custom to judge of men’s merits j
by their conduct of the first important affairs of life, ;
354
0
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
355
and inasmuch as young men are to-day foremost in
the management of many important business enter-
prises, heads of commercial institutions, and leaders
in professional circles in Louisville, they have been
thought worthy of historic mention, however brief
their lives or few the years of their activity. That
some of the honored dead, and some of the worthy
living, some of the old and some of the young, whose
histories should have graced these pages, have been
overlooked is undoubtedly true, but “as it is the
commendation of a good huntsman to find game in
a wide wood, so it is no imputation if he hath not
caught all.” It was by no means the intent of the
author to make this work a cyclopedia of biography,
and yet we introduce this chapter with the hope that
it will complete a work reasonably comprehensive
in this respect, as well as in the scope of its general
history.
; DETER BROWN MUIR, lawyer and jurist, was
j ^ born in Nelson County, Kentucky, near Barcls-
| town, October 19, 1822, son of Jasper and Isabella
Brown Muir. Both the Muir and Brown families
1 were among the pioneer settlers of Nelson County,
I Dr. William Muir, paternal grandfather of the sub-
j ject of this sketch, and Peter Brown, his maternal
; grandfather, having both established their homes
j there some time before the close of the last century.
! Both these noted pioneers came from the State of
| Maryland, and when they reached Kentucky settled
on adjoining farms. Both were men of high charac-
ter and marked ability, and both were men whose
lives were full of interesting incidents and exper-
iences. Dr. Muir, who was of Scotch nativity, was
educated in Edinburgh, and after his graduation
from the medical school, entered the British navy as
a surgeon. After some years of service in this capac-
ity he resigned from the navy and came to this
country, settling first in Maryland and later in Ken-
tucky, as already stated. He was a man of broad
learning, and his .wide and varied experience made
him a conspicuous and interesting figure among his
contemporaries of the pioneer period. Peter Brown,
his neighbor and friend, had also an eventful career,
having served for a time during the Revolutionary
j War as an aide on General Washington’s staff.
Judge P. B. Muir was reared in Nelson County
! and obtained his early education at the schools
taught in the primitive log schoolhouses of that
j region. He was later sent to the academy at Bards-
i town, and completed nis scholastic course of study
at Hanover College, of Hanover, Indiana, during
i the presidency of the distinguished educator and
| theologian, Rev. Erasmus D. McMaster, D. D. His
j resources being exceedingly limited, after he had
1 completed his college course he began the study
I of law without a preceptor, making his home, in the
meantime, at the farmhouse of a hospitable and
kindly relative. By diligent effort he qualified him-
self for admission to the bar, and after teaching
school for a short time to obtain the means to pur-
chase necessary lawT books and meet other expenses,
he began practicing law in Bardstown, famous in
those days and for many years before that for the
high character of its bar.
That was in 1845, and he was then twenty-three
years of age, a self-reliant, well-equipped young law-
yer, notwithstanding the fact that he had labored
under many disadvantages in fitting himself for his
calling. His talents, his industry, his good address
and admirable personal qualities commended him
both to the bar and the people of Nelson County,
and he was soon elected county attorney. A two
years’ term of service in that office brought to him
both prestige and clients, and he found his time so
much occupied with general practice that he declined
a re-election to the county attorneyship. In 1847
he formed a partnership with Hon. Thomas W.
Riley, and together they built up a very large law
business in the Bardstown district, where they con-
tinued to practice until 1852, when they removed to
Louisville. In the larger field which they found
here their practice was proportionately larger and
more lucrative than that which they had had at
Bardstown, and their co-partnership was continued
until January of the year 1858, when it was dissolved
by the election of Judge Muir to the circuit court
bench. At the time of his election to the judgeship
he was serving as a member of the Kentucky Legis-
lature, to which he had been sent as a representative
of the people of Louisville. The resignation of
fudge Bullock having created a vacancy in the office
of circuit judge, the election at which Judge Muir
was chosen his successor took place under a special
enactment of the Legislature making provision for
filling out the unexpired term.
That Judge Muir had made a most favorable im-
356
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
pression upon the people with whom he came in
contact in his new field of labor is attested by the
fact that, before this, he had been twice elected a
member of the general council of the city, and had
resigned a seat in that body to become a member
of the Legislature, resigning that position in turn
to become circuit court judge.
Entering upon the discharge of his judicial duties,
fitted for the great responsibilities which he assumed
by something more than a dozen years of practice
in the courts of the State, by thorough study of
the underlying principles of law and by his broad
knowledge of the statutory law of Kentucky, he at
once took a position among the leading jurists of the
State. After filling out Judge Bullock's unexpired
term, he was re-elected circuit judge for a full term
of six years. Before this term expired the common
pleas court of Jefferson County was created by legis-
lative enactment, that court having concurrent juris-
diction with the circuit court (excluding criminal
cases), and being designed to meet the demand for
an additional court resulting from the rapid growth
of Louisville and the subsequent increase of litiga-
tion. When this court was created, Judge Muir
resigned as circuit judge and was elected to the
new judgeship, and thus became the first judge of
Common Pleas in Louisville. After serving three
years as head of this court, he resigned to resume
the practice of law, retiring from the bench with
an enviable record for ability and fairness, and for
the impartial administration of justice which had
characterized his exercise of judicial functions.
While serving on the bench he was also a professor
in the law department of the University of Louisville,
his colleagues being Hon. Henry Pirtle and Hon.
W. F. Bullock. Hundreds of young men were pre-
pared for the bar under their preceptorship, and
many of these students have since become eminent
lawyers, jurists and statesmen.
Judge Muir resigned the Common Pleas judge-
ship in 1868 and his professorship in the law school
in 1869, and he has ever since been in active practice,
holding high rank among the lawyers of Kentucky.
His practice has been large and highly remunerative,
and he has devoted himself assiduously and con-
scientiously to the guardianship of the interests of
his numerous clients. As a practitioner he has de-
voted himself to no specialties, but has been, in the
broadest sense of the term, a well rounded, splen-
didly equipped common law lawyer. Untiring in
his researches and unflagging in his zeal in behalf
of clients, he has become noted for the careful prep-
aration of his cases, his skillful pleading, his tact in
the conduct of litigation, and his power as an advo-
cate. It has long been a subject of remark among
his contemporaries at the bar that he was never
known to enter upon the trial of a case unprepared
to make the best possible presentation of his client's
interests, and his devotion to a cause which he has
espoused is of that chivalrous kind characteristic
of the old school of Kentucky lawyers. It is now
almost thirty years since he left the bench to resume
his place in the ranks of his profession, and within
that time he has appeared as counsel in many of the
most famous cases tried in Kentucky courts, and in
numerous cases carried to the Supreme Court of
the United States. Nominally a Democrat in poli-
tics and generally a supporter of its policies and can-
didates, independence of thought and action have
always been rights which he reserved to himself,
and he has not hesitated to cross party lines to sup-
port men commending themselves to him by their
character and ability, or to endorse measures which
he thought would be conducive to the public welfare.
As a churchman he has affiliated with the Presby-
terians.
Judge Muir’s domestic life has been a peculiarly
happy one. His wife — who was Miss M. S. Rizer
before her marriage — was a young lady of great
beauty and loveliness of character, and in latter
years as wife, mother and friend she was greatly
beloved. A most exemplary Christian, her charities
have been numerous and her life work replete with
those kindly ministrations characteristic of noble,
sympathetic womanhood. Twelve children were
born to Judge and Mrs. Muir, four of whom died
in infancy, and the eldest son — Charles N. Muir — in
his young manhood. The surviving sons and daugh-
ters are Thomas R. Muir, Sid. S. Muir, Lfpton W.
Muir, Mrs. Harry Weissinger, and Mrs. A. L. Sem-
ple, of Louisville, Mrs. A. H. Smith, of Springfield,
Illinois, and Sophronia Muir. LTpton W. Muir is
associated with his father in the practice of law.
D USSELL HOUSTON, eminent as a member of
the Kentucky bar for more than twenty-five j
years, and for twenty-five years before that one of !
the leading members of the bar of Tennessee, was I
born in Williamson County, Tennessee, January 20,
1810, and died in Louisville, full of years and hon-
ors, October 1, 1895.
His father, David Houston — who was a son of
John Houston, of South Carolina — was a planter,
and married Hannah Reagan, of that State, in 179.S
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PERSONAL HISTORY AND RIOGRAPHY.
Shortly after his marriage he moved to Tennessee,
where he resided until the subject of this sketch was
eight years of age, at which time, having purchased
a large tract of land in Alabama, he moved his fam-
ily to and settled in that State. As soon as they
were settled in their new home, a teacher was en-
gaged and his sons were there prepared for college.
Russell Houston first attended college at George-
town, Kentucky, but subsequently entered the Uni-
versity of Nashville, from which’ he graduated.
He studied law with Mr. James Clark, a lawyer of
high standing at the Nashville bar, and began the
practice of his profession in 1835 at Columbia, Ten-
nessee. Among his first friends and clients in his
new home was ex-President James Iv. Polk, whose
friendship and kindness to him on the threshold of
his professional career was a recollection that he
ever delighted to recall. The Florida Indian War
breaking out shortly after he commenced the prac-
tice of his profession, he was one of the first volun-
teers from his State, enlisting in Colonel Cabal’s
regiment. Colonel Cahal was so impressed by
young- Houston's character and mind during the
months passed together in Florida that at the close
of the war he tendered him a partnership, which was
accepted.
In 1844 he married Grizelda Polk, daughter of
Dr. William J. Polk, who was a brother of Bishop
Leonidas Polk, and in 1847 he moved to Nashville,
where his reputation had preceded him. He soon
took high rank at the bar, which at the time num-
bered among its members some of the ablest lawyers
of the country. Besides Colonel Cahal, he had asso-
ciated with him as partner in his practice in Tennes-
see Judge A. O. P. Nicholson, of Columbia, Gover-
nor Neil S. Brown and Judge Nathaniel Baxter, of
Nashville, all of whom were lawyers of distinguished
abilities. Judge Houston was wholly without politi-
cal ambition and never offered for office but once.
He took great interest in the development of his
State, and to promote its development by assisting
in securing liberal legislation, he was induced to
offer for the Legislature, to which he was elected,
serving in the sessions of 1851 and 1852. When the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad was projected, he
took an active interest in it, and contributed much
toward achieving its successful consummation,
taking a leading part in obtaining such legislation
in Tennessee as was necessary to enable the Ken-
tucky corporation to extend the line of its road into
Nashville. He was one of the first directors of the
company in the State of Tennessee, and was contin-
uously connected with the corporation in different
capacities from that time to the day of his death.
I11 1864 Judge Houston moved to the city of Lou-
isville, and at the earnest solicitation of the Hon.
James Guthrie — who was president of the Louisville
& Nashville Railroad — accepted the vice-presidency
of the company, which he held until Mr. Guthrie’s
death, whom he succeeded as president, filling out
the former’s term. Soon after this, the law depart-
ment of the company was established, and Judge
Houston was tendered and accepted the position of
chief counsel, which he held continuously to the day
of his death.
In politics, Judge Houston affiliated with the
Whig party as long as that party was in existence,
and after the war with the Democratic party. When
the dominant political issue became union or dis-
union he took a firm stand for the Union, a strong
love and pride of country being one of his striking
characteristics. His commanding position at the
bar and his high character as a man gave him weight
and influence with the military authorities in Nash-
ville, which he exerted in behalf of his Southern
friends, saving many from hardships and trials they
would otherwise have been subjected to. When the
Supreme Court of Tennessee was reorganized under
the administration of Governor Andrew Johnson, he
appointed Mr. Houston to a position on that bench,
which the latter accepted at the urgent request of
the governor, consenting to serve only long enough
to get the judicial machinery into satisfactory opera-
tion. When he had accomplished this he resigned
the office and refused to accept any salary for his
services. Johnson had the highest opinion of his
ability as a lawyer and jurist, and after the former
became President, he again manifested his high
appreciation of Judge Houston by declaring it to be
his purpose to tender him a position in the Supreme
Court of the United States, should a vacancy on
that bench occur during his administration.
Vigorous physically and mentally far beyond the
age at which most men succumb to the weight of
years, he was a strikingly interesting man during the
latter years of his life. Acute in his observations,
rich in experiences and reminiscences, he was singiv
larly attractive to the younger men of his profession,
who entertained for him almost a filial regard.
The esteem in which he was held by his fellow-
citizens was evidenced at the time of his death by
the feeling tributes of respect paid his memory by
the entire press of the city, and in an eloquent mem-
orial by the bar.
35S
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
judge Houston left surviving him a family con-
sisting of Mrs. Houston and their four children,
Mr. Allen P. Houston and Mrs. Lytle Buchanan, of
Louisville, Mrs. George H. Hull of New York, and
Mrs. Joseph L. Ferrell, of Philadelphia.
p HARLES MYNN THRUSTON, lawyer, sec-
ond son of Colonel John Thruston and his first:
cousin. Elizabeth Thruston Whiting, was born at
“Sans Souci,” Jefferson County, Kentucky, Febru-
ary 26, 1793. Mr. Thruston was of Revolutionary
ancestry through two generations; while his grand-
father, Col. Charles M. Thruston, known in the an-
tiquities of Virginia as the “fighting parson,” was
engaged in the cause of liberty on the Atlantic coast,
his father, Col. John Thruston, when a boy of six-
teen years, was similarly engaged in the West, under
George Rogers Clark, in his operations directed
against Ivaskaskia and Vincennes. Thomas Whit-
ing, the father of Colonel John Thruston’s wife,
was one of the commissioners of admiralty appoint-
ed under the Virginia constitution of 1776. Of Eng-
lish lineage, the Thornbury Register, West Bristol,
states that this name, Thruston, is said to have come
into England with William the Conqueror, and has
undoubtedly been much longer in the parish of
Thornbury than any records can now be produced
to prove; for it appears by the entries of the name
in the ancient register of the parish, instituted by
Cromwell, earl of Essex, vicar-general to King
Henry VIII, in the year 1538, that the family was
then numerous in the parish. The family in this
country traces its origin directly to Malachias, the
father of John Thruston, born in Wellington 1606.
John Thruston was chamberlain of the city of Bristol
at the restoration of Charles the Second, dying in
office in 1675. Edward, one of the sons of the offi-
cial, the immediate ancestor of the American Thrus-
tons, came to Gloucester County, Virginia, about
1660.
The subject of this sketch finished his education
at Bardstown, Kentucky. His professional training
was received in the office of his brother-in-law, Wor-
den Pope, at that time clerk of the Circuit and
County Courts of Jefferson County, an honest offi-
cial, rigid disciplinarian and able lawyer. Mr. Thms-
ton could not have had a better guide or more able
instructor.
Under his guidance, he became a successful law-
yer, widely known for his ability at a bar conspicu-
ous for its talent. In early life he was a Democrat
of the Jackson school, and was a member of the
Legislature as such from Jefferson County, in 1832.
He differed with his party, however, on the question
of the United States bank, and in the congressional
race of that year was the opponent of Hon. Charles
A. Wickliffe, the Democratic candidate, who had
filled four consecutive terms. Although having en-
tered the race four months after Mr. Wickliffe had
announced his canvass, he succeeded in reducing the
Democratic majority in the district from 1,200 to
400, or thereabouts, after which and until the Whig
party ceased to exist, its supremacy was maintained.
Mr. Pope, his preceptor and friend, who was the
intimate friend of General Jackson, was much morti-
fied and chagrined at his political defection, and
true to his convictions of duty as a party organizer
and leader, he voted for Mr. Wickliffe on strictly
party grounds. When, shortly after the congres-
sional election, Mr. Wickliffe also abandoned Gen-
eral Jackson on account of his position on the bank
question, his indignation was almost too great for
utterance. At the next race for Congress, he guarded
against a repetition of such defection by seeing that
his son, Patrick H. Pope, a Democrat, was nomi-
nated and sent to Congress. Mr. Thruston, though
tendered the position, declined to be a candidate for
Congress again, and was never in public life, or a
candidate for office, except in 1844. As a legislator
he exerted a large influence, and it is said that the
charter of the Bank of Louisville was granted by the
Legislature as a special favor to Mr. Thruston, not-
withstanding the fact that there was much hostility
to such grants, in view of the financial distress
through which the State had just passed in conse-
quence of the financial reverses which had long pre-
vailed and had a few years before culminated in the
retirement of all the State banks. The second occa-
sion on which Mr. Thurston permitted himself to take
office was in 1844, when he was again' a member of
the lower House. He preferred the repose of domes-
tic life and the quiet pursuit of his profession to the
sacrifice of both, entailed by a political career.
His professional duties were not confined to the
local courts, but required his presence in other cir-
cuits and at the Court of Appeals, at Frankfort.
Although declining to be drawn into personal politi-
cal contests, he never wearied in rendering every ser-
vice in his power to promote the fortunes of Mr.
Clay, of whom he was a warm admirer and an inti-
mate personal friend, and in whose behalf he made
many brilliant speeches in the presidential campaign
of 1844, when Mr. Clay was a candidate. Not less
able were his speeches in behalf of emancipation,
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PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
359
of which he was a zealous advocate. He was the
friend of the negro and his chosen counsellor. For
the traffic in slaves he had the utmost aversion, and
for the trader a contempt he could ill conceal and
to which he not infrequently gave expression. Un-
compromising in his opposition to wrong, he nat-
urally made enemies among those with whom his
views came in conflict. But this very directness and
positive expression of his convictions enabled him
to wield a large influence, and when any public
movement beneficial to the city was projected, his
advocacy was eagerly sought. A notable instance
of this was when the initial steps were taken to
establish a school for the blind, afterward made a
State institution. A meeting was called to be held
at the old Baptist Church, corner of Fifth and Green
streets, to witness an exhibition of some blind chil-
dren from an Eastern institution. The public curios-
ity was enlisted, but it needed something more to
arouse their sympathies into practical action. The
meeting was large, and during its progress Mr.
Thruston was called upon for a speech. The novelty
of the exhibition and the beneficial result of the care
and instruction of the unfortunate pupils had
touched his enthusiastic nature with a natural sym-
pathy, which brought a ready response. He began
by repeating the famous stanza of Gray’s “Elegy”:
“Full many a gem of purest ray serene
Tlhe dark, unfathom’d caves of Ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its fragrance on the desert air.”
In an instant the audience was stilled to the pro-
foundest attention and sympathy, which gave the
eloquent orator complete control over their feelings,
and when he closed he had placed the movement on
the highroad to success. Another characteristic of
Mr. Thruston was his interest in young men, whom
he attached to him by the readiness with which they
could at all times approach him for advice, either
in the line of his own profession or upon anything
which concerned their interests, being assured in
advance of his fullest sympathy and most disinter-
ested counsel. To distress of all kinds he lent a
ready ear, and in the advocacy of a cause he did not
weigh his zeal for his client by the weight of his fee.
There was nothing sordid in his nature, and it was
a common saying among his friends that he man-
aged everyone’s affairs better than his own. With a
large and lucrative practice, he was indifferent to
the accumulation of wealth, and spent his money
lavishly upon his family and his friends. He was
scrupulous in regard to his obligations and at his
death owed no man. Contributing to his success
as an advocate and public speaker were the endow-
ments of a handsome person, graceful movement
and a clear, musical voice. His most effective
speeches were purely impromptu; he disliked sta-
tistics.
Upon the death of Mr. Thruston, which occurred
on the 7th day of January, 1854, every testimonial
of respect was manifested by the bar and the com-
munity in which he lived which admiration for his
talents or regard for his memory could suggest.
Feeling addresses were made by his late associates
in public meeting, reviewing his life and services,
and resolutions expressive of their regret at the loss
of the “oldest and ablest” of the bar were spread
upon the court records. The press eulogized him as
having, for thirty years, held the first rank at the
bar, who never suffered by contact with a Clay or
a Rowan.
Mr. Thruston was happily married, when young,
to Eliza Sydnor, eldest child of Judge Fortunatus
Cosby and Mary Ann Fontaine. Her father, who
survived her many years, was wont to declare that
she possessed more good sense, beauty and intellect
than any child or woman he had ever known. Her
memory was ever present with him and when he died
her name was on his lips. A sincere, unostentatious
Christian, gentle, modest almost to diffidence, a lov-
ing wife and mother, inflexible in her friendships,
fearless in condemnation as approval, when occasion
demanded, her early death was lamented hardly
more by her large connection than by the many
friends who admired and loved her.
\\7 ILL I AM FONTAINE BULLOCK, lawyer
^ * and jurist, son of Edmund and Elizabeth (Fon-
taine) Bullock, was born near Lexington, Fayette
County, Kentucky, January 16, 1807. His father
was a native of Hanover County, Virginia, who came
to Kentucky before its admission to the Union,
was a member of the Legislature from 1793 to 1798
and speaker of that body in 1796-97-98. He was a
State senator from 1805 to 1817, and when Lieuten-
ant-Governor Slaughter became governor in 1816
upon the death of George Madison, he was elected
president of the Senate. He was a presiding officer
of impressive dignity and a lawyer of prominence at
the bar of Lexington, which was composed of the
leading intellects of the State. His mother, who was
of French Huguenot descent, was the second daugh-
ter of the late Captain Aaron Fontaine, to whose
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
360
biography in these volumes reference is made for
further family history. Having received his early
education in the primary schools of his county, he
was graduated from Transylvania University in
1824, and studying law removed to Louisville in
1828, the year of its incorporation as a city. After
successfully establishing himself in practice, his qual -
ifications for usefulness attracted the attention of
his fellow-citizens, and in 1837 he was elected to the
Legislature. Here he at once made his mark by
his graceful oratory and his capacity for public ser-
vice. The subject of education, which had begun
to attract the earnest attention of the people, had
languished for the want of a properly organized sys-
tem of public schools, and various schemes proposed
during the preceding decade had failed for the lack
of a well considered and practical plan. To remedy
this defect Mr. Bullock directed his efforts and intro-
duced a bill which mainly through his instrumen-
tality created the common school system of Ken-
tucky. His argument in its behalf was long remem-
bered by those who heard it for its strength and
eloquence, and his success in the passage of the bill
gained for him the credit of being the father of the
system. Again in 1840 and 1841 he was returned to
the Legislature and gave his influence to the per-
fection of the system, which needed his watchful
care. The State had embarked in a wasteful scheme
of internal improvements and had invested the
school fund, derived largely from the distribution of
the proceeds from the sale of Federal lands, and the
general bankruptcy which prevailed in the country
had embarrassed the State, which had failed to pay
the interest on its bonds. Many politicians com-
mitted to the internal improvement system were
willing to sacrifice the school system in its stead,
and the latter being a mere creature of legislative
enactment, a proposition for its repeal was seriously
mooted and took practical shape in a bill for that
purpose in the Legislature of 1844. Judge Bullock,
though not a member, went to Frankfort, and being
permitted to address the Legislature on the subject,
defeated the scheme in a speech of great power.
His watchful vigilance preserved the system until it
was removed from the danger of legislative hostility
by being incorporated in the constitution of 1850.
After that upon every occasion which presented
Judge Bullock exercised his influence for the per-
fection of the system, taking an important part not
long before his death in so amending it as to include
in its equal benefits children of the blacks as well as
whites in separate schools. His services in behalf
of the blind were equally as marked, and in 1841
he secured from the Legislature an appropriation
of $10,000 for the founding of the State institution,
which is a lasting monument to his memory.
In 1846, Judge Bullock was appointed judge of
the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and in 1851, the office
having become elective under the new constitution,
he was chosen for a term of six years. In 1849 lie
became a member of the faculty of the Louisville
Law School as professor of the law of real property
including pleading and evidence, and served for
twelve years. In every position which he was called
to fill his service was characterized by the same
ability and fidelity to duty which was inseparable
from his nature. Although below the medium stat-
ure and of rather delicate physique, he had a com-
manding dignity and presence whether on the bench,
in the forum or in his daily intercourse with the
people. He was essentially the gentleman in its
derivative sense, courteous to all, of cultured man-
ners and a grace of oratory as pleasing as it was
persuasive. He died in Louisville.
Judge Bullock was twice married, first to the
daughter of Judge J. P. Oldham, of Jefferson
County — a son of which marriage, John C. Bullock,
of great prominence, died just after becoming estab-
lished in the practice of the law. He married the
second time Mary, daughter of James Anderson
Pearce, a grand-niece of George Rogers Clark. Of
this marriage were three sons — William F., Pearce
and Wallace, who reside in Shelby County,' Ken-
tucky.
TJENRY PIRTLE, lawyer and jurist, was born
*■ * near Springfield, Washington County, Ken-
tucky, November 5, 1795, the son of John and
Amelia (Fitzpatrick) Pirtle. His father was a native
of Berkley County, Virginia, where he was born in
1772, and when still a youth moved to southwestern
Virginia, near Abingdon. Here, at the age of
twenty, he married, and at once came to Kentucky
and settled in Washington County, which was his
home until his death, at an advanced age. At
twenty-one he became a Methodist preacher, and
was one of the pioneers of that church who zealously
advocated its cause in every portion of the State.
To the duties of a minister he added also those of
a teacher and surveyor. He was a man of strong
intellect, improved by study, and early implanted
in his son a love of knowledge which never flagged.
Supplementing the instruction given him by his
father with the opportunities afforded by the schools
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
361
of the neighborhood, Henry Pirtle succeeded in
obtaining a good education, coupled with habits of
patient study and investigation. The latter acquire-
ments were especially developed and fostered by his
father, who was a skilled mathematician, as evi-
denced by a manuscript work on mathematics as
applied to surveying, containing a full table of
logarithms calculated by himself for his own use.
His mother was a gentle, amiable woman, with
all the courage of a pioneer matron, who braved the
dangers of the wilderness to found a home in the
infant State of Kentucky. Blessed with such parents
and reared in the atmosphere of a pious and hospit-
able home, where all the leading Methodist preach-
ers and men of intellect found a hearty welcome,
young Pirtle grew up under influences which left
an indelible impress upon his character and formed
the key-note of his after life in his strong religious
convictions, his love of truth, and honorable ambi-
tion to excel in all things.
When eighteen years of age, John Rowan — then
one of the most prominent members of the Ken-
tucky bar — invited him to make his home with him
at his residence, near Bardstown, and study law.
Accepting this generous proposition, he pursued his
studies for three years, enjoying, at the same time,
the advantages of a large classical library and the
companionship and counsel of a profound scholar
and enlightened statesman. When, in 1819, he left
the roof of his friend and patron and received his
license to practice law, Judge Rowan pronounced
him the best equipped lawyer of his age he had ever
i seen. His first experience in the practice was in
Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky, where he early
took rank with the leading members of the bar and
soon acquired a business not limited to his county
or judicial district. While thus engaged, he was
attracted to Louisville by the growing prominence
of the city, and in 1825 he moved there and it be-
came his residence for the remainder of his life.
About the same time came Judge Nicholas from
Frankfort, and others who afterward became prom-
inent citizens. Mr. Guthrie had come from Nelson
County in 1821, and still earlier Judge Rowan, who,
after serving two years on the Appellate bench, was
elected, in 1824, to a full term in the United States
Senate.
Although but twenty-seven years of age, Mr. Pir-
tle was, shortly after becoming a member of the bar
of Louisville, appointed by Governor Desha judge
of the Circuit Court, a position which he filled for
seven years with acceptability to the profession and
honor to himself. Although the appointment was
during good behavior and practically a life office,
he felt impelled to resign on account of the meager-
ness of its salary, for in 1829 he had married, and his
pay was inadequate for his support. He resumed
his profession and soon had a large and valuable
practice, adhering to it strictly until 1850 — except
for a short interval in 1846, when he served as
circuit judge under a commission pending a per-
manent appointment, and two terms in the Legis-
lature, from 1840 to 1842. His first law partner was
Larz Anderson, Esq., brother of General Robert
Anderson, U. S. A., but upon the latter’s removal
to Cincinnati in 1835, he formed a partnership with
Hon. James Speed, afterward United States attor-
ney-general. This association — marked by the
largest success as well as the strongest friendship,
indicated by each naming a son after the other —
continued until 1850, when Judge Pirtle was elected
chancellor under the new constitution. After serv-
ing one term of six years on the bench, he resumed
practice with Bland Ballard, until i860, when he
entered into partnership with John Roberts. In
1862, he was again elected chancellor and served
until 1868. He had then served on the bench
twenty years and had reached the age of seventy,
but was still vigorous in mind and body, though
for the remaining years of his active life he confined
his legal practice to office consultation, and gave his
attention chiefly to his duties as a professor of law.
In 1846, upon the organization of the law depart-
ment of the University of Louisville, he was chosen
professor of equity and constitutional law and com-
mercial law, his colleagues being Preston S. Lough-
borough and Garnett Duncan, and he continued to
discharge the duties of a patient, honored and belov-
ed instructor until 1873, when he was made emeritus
professor, continuing as such until his death. As
a lecturer and teacher of law, Judge Pirtle had few
superiors in any country, and thousands of lawyers
in Kentucky and other States, who have brought
honor to their profession, have, in words as in prac-
tical results, borne testimony to his influence in stor-
ing their minds with sound precepts of law and im-
pressing upon them the lofty responsibilities attach-
ing to their profession. The very presence of the
distinguished judge inspired all with his own sense
of the sacred dignity of the law, while his benevolent
and kindly disposition invited the fullest confidence
in approaching him for explanation of any abstruse
points. He taught, not to display his own learning,
which was thorough and profound ; he lectured, not
362
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
to excite the wonder of his class at the depth of his
wisdom and the intricacies of the law, incomprehen-
sible to a novice; but, in all forms of communicating
with his class, he strove to make the principles of
law plain and their application easy of understand-
ing. Long familiarity with the law, its enactment,
its practice and its interpretation had fitted him with
admirable equipment as a teacher, although it was to
his experience and ability as a judge both of com-
mon law and equity that he was chiefly indebted for
his great success as an instructor.
As a jurist, Judge Pirtle early evinced the highest
capacity for original investigation and interpreta-
tion of the law. His mind was early skilled in logi-
cal reasoning, which enabled him to solve a legal
complexify as easily as a problem in Euclid. As
a lawyer, he was not one who relied upon anteced-
ent cases, but went down to fundamental principles
and applied them to the case in hand, whether simi-
lar questions had been adjudicated adversely or not.
This element of his judicial mind was well illustrated
in his decision in a Meade County case, in 1827,
when he held that upon the arrest of judgment for
defect in the indictment, the prisoner should not be
discharged, but be held to await a new indictment.
Prior to that time, in such cases, the accused had
been set free, under the constitutional clause that no
mah should be twice placed in jeopardy for the same
offense, and thus many vicious men were discharged
upon a technicality. Judge Pirtle maintained that
the party was not put in jeopardy on a bad indict-
ment, and, although there was temporary opposi-
tion to the new ruling, it has remained the undis-
puted law of criminal practice in Kentucky ever
since. His opinion in the case, well known to the
bar, was published in full as an appendix to the
seventh volume of T. B. Monroe’s Reports — a
worthy recognition of his judicial wisdom. In 1833,
Judge Pirtle published a digest of the decisions of
the Court of Appeals from its organization to date,
which was a valuable contribution for the bar.
In all matters affecting the good of society and
the advancement of knowledge and religion, Judge
Pirtle took an active and leading part. He was
president of the Old Kentucky Historical Society,
incorporated in 1838 — of which his friend, Judge
Rowan, was first president— and through his great
care and interest in its objects was preserved and
ultimately published the autograph letter of George
Rogers Clark to George Mason, of Virginia, giving
a detailed account of the capture of Kaskaskia and
Vincennes — written shortly after the latter event — •
being a complete history of the campaign and an
exceedingly valuable contribution to history.
A man of such character as is portrayed in this
sketch could not have been other than a good
Christian. One who knew him well has said of him
that “he studied theology as he did law, and was
deeply learned in the history of Christianity. 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. The
teachings of his pious parents had been engrafted on
a nature naturally inclined to religious thought and
devotion, and he accepted, after deliberate examina- I
tion for himself, the truth of revealed religion. Un-
obtrusive in his views and conscious of the difficul-
ties of belief, he was charitable to the doubts of ;
others and liberal to those who differed with him
in faith.” He was a Unitarian in religious faith and j
a member of the Church of the Messiah.
On the 25th of March, 1880, full of years and f
honor, Judge Pirtle sank to rest, universally honored [
and beloved. For more than half a century he had j
dwelt among this people and had seen the town of j
a few thousand inhabitants expand into a great city, |
with all the adjuncts and appliances of advanced
civilization. And, while he contributed largely to
every element of its greatness, the monument which
will long commemorate his name is the admirable
judicial system and equity jurisprudence which he at
once contributed so greatly to build up and adorn.
At his death there was every becoming manifesta-
tion of respect on the part of the bar, the bench,
the civil authorities and the community at large, and
his memory is still cherished as a grateful inherit-
ance.
"“THEODORE L. BURNETT, for eighteen years
* chief law officer of the city of Louisville, an able
lawyer, and a man who participated prominently in
the stirring events of the Civil War, was born Novem-
ber 14, 1829, in Spencer County, Kentucky, only
child of John C. and Marie (McGee) Burnett, both of
whom were natives of Kentucky. His paternal an-
cestors came from Scotland to America by way of
England, the line of descent being from Gilbert ? !
Burnet, who accompanied William of Orange to
England in 1688 as his chaplain and became Bishop
of Salisbury in 1689. Bishop Burnet’s eldest son.
William, lost his fortune by speculation in the shares
of Law’s South Sea Company, and came to America
in 1720 as Governor of the Colonies of New York
and New Jersey. He was afterward Colonial Gov-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
363
ernor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and
died in Boston in 1728.
Dr. Thomas Burnett, youngest son of the bishop
and his literary executor, spelled the name with two
‘t's’ as is shown by his manuscript endorsement in
“Vol. 1, Burnet’s History,” printed in 1724 and now
in the possession of the family. George Burnett, son
of Dr. Thomas Burnett, emigrated to Virginia in
1721 and was the father of John Burnett, who was
the grandfather of Theodore L. Burnett.
Both of the parents of Theodore L. Burnett died
before he was ten years of age, but his education
was looked after by careful guardians and when
he had been fitted for college he entered Transyl-
vania University, at which institution he completed
his scholastic course of study. He began reading
law under the preceptorship of Mark E. Houston,
of Taylorsville, in his native county, and was grad-
uated from the law department of Transylvania Uni-
versity in 1846. The same year he was licensed to
practice by the Court of Appeals, but soon after-
ward enlisted in the First Kentucky Cavalry Regi-
ment and was mustered into the United States Army
for service in the Mexican War. Returning from
the war in 1847, he was elected county attorney for
Spencer County, and entered upon a successful prac-
tice in that portion of the State, which continued
until the beginning of the Civil War.
At the opening of hostilities, he joined the Con-
federate military forces under General Albert Sid-
ney Johnston, at Green River, Kentucky, and re-
mained in the service until, under authority of the
Provisional government of Kentucky, he was elected
a member of the Provisional Congress of the Con-
federate States. He took his seat as a member of
that body early in the fall of 1861, and when it was
succeeded by the regular Congress of the Confed-
erate States, he was elected a member of the House
of Representatives. At the end of his first term he
was re-elected and served until the overthrow of the
Confederate government. He then returned to Ken-
tucky and resumed the practice of law at his old
home in Spencer County, but in 1866 removed to
Louisville and opened a law office in this city.
When he came to Louisville he had had nearly
twenty years experience in the practice of his pro-
fession, was in the prime of a vigorous manhood,
and his experience in public life and scholarly at-
tainments gave him at once a position at the bar
of the city which is usually attained only after years
of practice. In 1870 lie was made corporation coun-
sel of the city and by successive re-elections was
continued in that office eighteen years. Six times
he was elected by vote of the peole, and at no time
was a candidate for the honor pitted against him.
It is seldom that the fitness of any man for an of-
ficial position receives such emphatic endorsement
as in this instance, and it is said that he served a
longer term as corporation counsel than any man
has ever served in that capacity in a citv of over
one hundred thousand people in the United States.
In other departments of the practice he has met
with great professional success, and both as trial
lawyer and counsellor, has ranked among the lead-
ing members of the Kentucky bar. High-minded,
courteous, and thoroughly appreciative of the dig-
nity of his calling, his devotion to his profession has
been of the chivalrous kind’ characteristic of the old
bar of the Commonwealth, and reflecting credit upon
the school in which he was trained as well as upon
himself. Painstaking in his researches, he has coun-
seled clients with care, championed their interests
with rare force and vigor when occasion demanded,
and under all circumstances has shown himself the
well rounded, well balanced and well equipped
lawyer.
As a citizen, Mr. Burnett has made a no less pro-
nounced impress upon the public mind. Appar-
ently unambitious for any sort of official preferment,
his interest in public affairs has been active, his views
positive and his action the result of well defined
convictions. A Democrat of the Jeffersonian school,
he has participated prominently in many political
campaigns, striving with all the zealousness of his
nature and with marked effect for the success of his
party. He was chairman of the Democratic State
Central Committee of Kentucky in 1876 and evi-
denced his qualities of leadership, his executive
ability and organizing capacity in the majority of
sixty-two thousand votes by which the State was
carried for Democracy in that campaign. For sev-
eral years thereafter he was at the head of this same
campaign committee and there was no material
shrinkage of Democratic majorities under his cam-
paign management. His acquaintance throughout
the State was large, his knowledge of men broad
and accurate, and his judgments of the effect of
campaign measures and party policy were so invar-
iably correct as to bring him into close touch with
all the great leaders of Kentucky Democracy since
the war period. During the later years of his life
he has been less active in the field of politics, but
his interest in the public welfare has not flagged
nor has his devotion to the cardinal principles of
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
364
the Democratic faith been abated. His interest in
the cause of higher education has been evinced in
nearly twenty years of service as a trustee of the
University of Louisville and for full twenty years
he has been a director of the Louisville Water Com-
pany.
He married, in 1852, Miss Elizabeth S. Gilbert, of
Spencer County, and five children have been born
of their union. Of this family of children, one son
and one daughter are the survivors. John C. Bur-
nett, the son, following in the footsteps of his father,
is now a well known member of the Louisville bar.
The daughter is now Mrs. Mary Burnett Grant, wife
of Dr. W. Ed. Grant, also of Louisville.
] UDGE ALFRED THRUSTON POPE, second
^ son of Edmund Pendleton and Nancy (Johnson )
Pope, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, July 22,
1842, on Jefferson Street between Sixth and Seventh
streets, in the house where his grandfather and
other members of the family first suggested Gen.
Jackson for the presidency.
His grandfather, Worden Pope, was a member
of the large and influential family of Popes, who
lived for many years in Westmoreland County, Vir-
ginia, and removed to the “Falls of the Ohio" before
the town of Louisville was laid out. Pendleton Pope,
the third son of Worden Pope and father of Judge
Pope, was a prominent lawyer of Louisville, and
for thirty-six years clerk of the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County. His mother was the daughter of
Colonel James Johnson, lieutenant-colonel of the
mounted regiment of his brother, Vice-President
Richard M. Johnson, and a member of Congress
from the Ashland district, 1825-26. Judge Pope was
reared on his father’s country place, three miles
west of Louisville, and acquired the rudiments of
Lis education in the schools of this city. Develop-
ing an aptitude for study and early evincing the
mental qualities which afterwards gave him emi-
nence among his fellows, he was educated later
at Bethany College, Virginia, and at the Indiana
University, and graduated at the Louisville Law
School, under Chancellors Logan and Pirtle and
Judge W. F. Bullock. Thus well equipped for pro-
fessional work Judge Pope was admitted to the bar
before he had attained his majority, entering at
once upon a large practice and soon attaining a high
position as a successful lawyer. Of a commanding
physique and having matured early in mind as in
body, he soon assumed a rank and influence in his
profession, and in his intercourse with men com-
manded a degree of confidence and respect rarely
accorded to one so young. And this was readilv « i
conceded to him by the force of merit, rather than
by his self assertion. For, to the personal qualities
of a sound mind and captivating address, he added
a gentle modesty and unassuming demeanor in full
keeping with the substantial character which under-
laid them. In 1867, three years after graduating,
he was unanimously chosen orator and delivered an
address before the Alumni of the Law School. His
classical scholarship and graceful oratory at once
marked him as a public speaker of the first promise.
In 1869 he was elected, without opposition, a mem-
ber of the General Council of Louisville, and though tig
strongly solicited, declined a re-election. In the
same year, although engaged in a large practice,
his capacity for usefulness had so impressed his fel-
low citizens that he was called upon to represent
his party in the Legislature of Kentucky. Of a
family identified on both sides with the Democratic II
party of Kentucky from its inception, he was by
education and conviction deeply imbued with its
principles, and yielding rather to his conception of [H
duty than to the promptings of ambition, accepted j
the call. It was a time when Louisville sent her
best men to the councils of the State — a period fol-
lowing the war, when legislation of a high order was
required to meet the demands of the people reunit-
ing after the bitterness of a civil war, and requiring j
the adjustment of many questions of education,
finance and taxation to meet the new conditions.
After a spirited canvass, he was elected by a flatter-
ing majority over an able candidate of the oppos- i
ing party. Among his colleagues from the city of
Louisville during his term of two years were such i, j
men as John T. Bunch, speaker, W. F. Barret, Gen-
eral Basil W. Duke, Dr. W. B. Caldwell, Dr. Norvin
Green and Thomas L. Jefferson. Yet it is no dis-
paragement to any of these to say that Judge Pope
at once was recognized as one of the ablest mem-
bers of the body.
So acceptably did he discharge his trust during i
two long sessions (for, although the same provisions
for biennial sessions then existed as now, the I
exigency was regarded as sufficient to demand a
called session during the second year of his term)
that in 1871 he was elected to the Senate, being the
youngest member of the body and barely eligible to
a seat. With the same fidelity and ability with which
he had discharged his duties in the lower house,
he acquitted himself in the higher field to which the
confidence of his constituents had transferred him.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
365
His full and accurate information upon all questions
affecting the interests of the city and State, his strict
attention to duty, his strength in debate and the con-
fidence in his integrity of purpose with which he
inspired his fellow members of the Senate, gave him
a broad influence in legislation and remarkable suc-
cess in the passage of all measures which he ad-
vocated; for such was the estimate of his purity and
integrity that all knew that he was incapable of
lending his name to an unworthy object. In June,
1872, during the second year of his term, Judge
Pope was chosen district presidential elector on the
Democratic ticket, and his able speeches during the
campaign added greatly to his reputation. So
marked was this appreciation of his ability that his
name was mentioned in connection with Congress
in' such flattering terms that, had he encouraged
the suggestion, there is little doubt that he would
have been still further promoted. But the bent of
his mind and tastes forbade it and he declined all
consideration of the subject, and announced his in-
tention of retiring from politics. In pursuance of
this resolution, in 1873, he resigned his seat in the
Senate, in the middle of his term, and devoted him-
self exclusively to his practice.
While thus engaged, his name was proposed by
his friends as a candidate for judge of the Law and
Equity Court, and he was elected under circum-
stances which still further testified the estimation
in which he was held by the community. He en-
tered upon the discharge of his duties at the age of
thirty-six — the youngest chancellor who ever sat
upon the bench in Kentucky. He discharged the
responsible functions of this high office with the
judicial fairness, firmness and ability in keeping with
his purity of character and his mental capacity, pre-
siding over a court made notable in its history by
the eminence of his predecessors. But at the end
of four years and while there yet remained two years
of his term, he resigned from the bench and at the
same time retired from the practice of law. Pos-
sessed of an ample fortune and devoted to the quiet
enjoyment of domestic life, after a protracted tour in
Europe with his family, he settled down in his home
in Louisville and passed the remainder of his life
in the bosom of his family, devoting himself to the
cultivation of a refined taste for literature and to the
management of his estate. He took at all times
an interest in the welfare and progress of Louisville
and in educational and other public concerns, serv-
ing as trustee of the Louisville public schools, of the
Kentucky School for the Blind, and in other capa-
cities where no salary was attached. Although ro-
bust in person and apparently destined for a long
and useful life, he was attacked eight months before
his death by that insidious malady known as la
grippe, from which he never recovered and to which
he succumbed to the lasting sorrow of his many
friends, on the 26th of October, 1891. Thus, in the
early maturity of a well spent life, passed from earth
one of the noblest characters and brightest minds
in the community. The language of but just praise
of all that was admirable in him as the man, the law-
yer, the legislator, the jurist, the husband and fath-
er, would, to one who did not know him, seem but
the words of partial adulation. Yet he deserved
all of praise that could be said of him.
On the 26th of September, 1865, Judge Pope was
united in marriage to Mary Tyler Pope, daughter of
Colonel Curran Pope, of this city, of whom extended
mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Their
surviving children are Dr. Curran Pope, a promi-
nent young physician of Louisville; Pendleton Pope
and A. Thruston Pope.
D ENJAMIN FORSYTHE BUCKNER, lawyer
and jurist, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois,
August 19, 1836. Plis father, Aylett Hawes Buck-
ner, was born in Henderson County, Kentucky, of a
Virginia family, which emigrated to this State at an
early period, and has been distinguished in both
States by the prominence of its members in every
calling in life. His mother, Charlotte Forsythe, was
the daughter of Benjamin Forsythe, a substantial
Bourbon County farmer, of Virginia and Revolu-
tionary descent. His father was a lawyer by pro-
fession and lived the greater part of his life in Clark
County, of which, during the later part, he was clerk
of the Circuit Court. He died in 1867. The early
education of the subject of this sketch was chiefly at
the Kentucky Military Institute near Frankfort,
leaving which, in 1852, he served as deputy in the
Circuit Clerk’s office at Winchester, and read law
with his father in his intervals of leisure. In 1856,
he attended the law department of the University
of Louisville, under the tuition of Judges Pirtle,
Speed and Bullock, and in the following year was
admitted to the bar. In 1857, he began the prac-
tice of his profession in Winchester and was thus
engaged when the war broke out. In 1861, lie
entered the Federal service as major of the Twen-
tieth Kentucky Infantry, where his military educa-
tion proved of practical value to him. He partici-
pated in the battle of Shiloh, arriving with Buell's
366
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
army, on the evening of the first day. In the fall
of 1862, his regiment came to Kentucky, where he
remained with it until April, 1863, when he resigned.
While in command of a small detachment of twenty
men of the Twentieth Kentucky in process of forma-
tion, he captured in Clark County, in the fall of
1861, forty-nine men on their way to join the Con-
federate army in the South. Upon his resignation,
he resumed his practice in Winchester and, in 1865,
was elected to the Legislature from Clark County.
In 1870, he removed to Lexington and practiced law
there in partnership with Col. W. C. P. Breckin-
ridge. In 1874, he was elected judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, in the district embracing the coun-
ties of Bath, Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Madison,
Scott and Woodford, and in 1880 was elected
judge of the Circuit Court. In 1883, he resigned
this judgeship and moved to Louisville, where he
has since practiced law.
Judge Buckner was married March 5, 1863, to
Miss Helen B. Martin, daughter of Mr. Samuel D.
Martin, a prominent farmer of Clark County. Their
family consists of three children, Elizabeth, wife of
S. D. Goff, of Clark County, and Sarah M., unmar-
ried, and B. F. Buckner, Jr., who is just approaching
manhood. In his family relations, Judge Buckner
has led a peculiarly happy life, being domestic in
his tastes and congenially mated. He is a Mason
and Odd Fellow, and in politics, has been a Demo-
crat since the reorganization of the party in 1866.
With very decided convictions upon matters of polit-
ical principle, he has of late years taken no active
part in such matters, but confined himself strictly to
his profession. He enjoys a high position at the
bar, especially in commercial law and cases involv-
ing large amounts and intricate questions of law
before the Appellate Court. In 1886 the State Col-
lege of Kentucky at Lexington conferred upon
Judge Buckner the degree of LL. D., being the first
honorary degree conferred by the college.
T OHN KEMP GOOI3LOE was one of the great
^ lawyers of the Southern bar who lives in the
memories of his contemporaries, encircled with the
halo of a gracious presence, charming personality,
profound legal wisdom, purity of public and private
life, and the quiet dignity of an ideal follower of his
calling. He was many years in active practice at
the Louisville bar, and comparatively few men have
endeared themselves to so great an extent to their
professional associates and to those with whom thev
came in contact in the discharge of public duties.
Born in Columbia, Missouri, February 15, 1823,
he was of Kentucky parentage, and returning to this
State with his widowed mother, in early infancy,
he grew to manhood in the old Commonwealth of
which his ancestors helped to lay the foundations,
devoted many years of his life to her service and
rests with her distinguished dead. He was of pa-
trician origin, in the sense in which we use that term
in America to denote strains of blood which have
produced the best types of citizenship, which have
given to the country patriots, statesmen and soldiers,
and contributed in a large degree to the advance-
ment of Western civilization. His father was Kemp
Minor Goodloe, who was a soldier in the War of
1812, being a member of the famous company com-
manded by Captain Nat. Hart, which was mustered
into Colonel Lewis’ Kentucky Regiment, August
15, 1812. Henry Clay delivered an address to this
company at Georgetown, from which place it
marched to Big Bone Springs, in Boone County,
crossed the Ohio River with the regiment, and pro-
ceeded northward to give battle to the combined
British and Indian forces on the northern frontier.
Captain Hart and all but thirteen of the company
fell in the battle of the River Raisin, fought on the
22nd of January, 1813, which clothed the State in
mourning for the many brave and chivalrous spirits
stricken down in that disastrous contest. Kemp
Minor Goodloe was one of the survivors of Captain
Hart’s company, taken prisoner by the British and
their Indian allies, commanded by Colonel Proctor.
His father, Vivian Goodloe, who settled early in
Woodford County, was a farmer of the old Southern
school, who had large landed interests, and whose
wife was Dorothy Tompkins, sister of Judge Chris-
topher Tompkins, distinguished as lawyer and
United States Senator. Vivian Goodloe was one of
three brothers who settled in Kentucky during the
pioneer era, his two brothers becoming residents of
Hopkins County. They were the grandsons of
George Goodloe, who came — in company with his
brother Robert — Ironr England to America about
the year 1740, settling in Spottsylvania County, Vir-
ginia. George Goodloe married a Miss Minor, and
his son Henry — father of the Kentucky pioneers- -
married a Miss Kemp, a relationship which is in-
dicated in the names handed down in the family.
On the maternal side, John Kemp Goodloe was
descended, from an ancestry illustrious alike in Eng-
land and America. His mother, who was one of
the most brilliant and accomplished women in the
South, was Harriet Harris, a granddaughter of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
367
Colonel John Logan, who represented Kentucky
three times, before it became a State, in the Virginia
Legislature, was first treasurer of the State, and in
all respects, one of the most distinguished founders
of the Commonwealth. Mrs. Goodloe had seven
brothers, who were all noted lawyers and came of
a family which has been represented in one branch
or the other of our National Congress — frequently
in both — ever since that body came into existence.
The history of the Harris family, both in this coun-
try and in the Old World, is an exceedingly inter-
esting one. The earliest representatives of the family
of whom any authentic account can be obtained were
found in Glamorganshire in South Wales. They
were ancient Britons, who suffered persecution on
account of their religious faith and, in consequence
thereof, fled to Brittany. Retaining their language,
customs and religion, they remained in Brittany
after it became a part of France, and became num-
bered with those French Puritans who received the
name of Huguenots. When the Huguenots were
driven out of that country, the Harrises went to
England and rested there for a time. In 1690, John,
Edward and Jordan Harris came to Virginia, a tract
of land ten miles square on the James River, in
what later became Powhatan County, having been
granted to them by William and Mary, the reigning
monarchs of England. From John Harris was
descended Mrs. Kemp Minor Goodloe, whose
great-grandfather married Elizabeth Washington.
Through this union, she was a descendant also of
the illustrious English family which gave to this
country the first President of the Hinted States, and
which has a history extending back to a remote
period. It may be interesting in this connection to
note the fact that, before the thirteenth century, the
name of this family was de Hertburn, but having
been granted the manor of Wessington, the head of
the family changed this name to de Wessington,
which became successively de Wassington and
Washington. The Washingtons served with dis-
tinction under various English sovereigns and were
especial favorites with King Charles I. In 1657,
John and Lawrence Washington were participants
in a revolt against Cromwell and, soon afterward,
finding it necessary to leave the country, they came
to America and settled in what afterwards became
Westmoreland County, Virginia. From this John
Washington was descended, in direct line, Elizabeth
Washington, the great-great-grandmother of John
Kemp Goodloe.
Coming of this ancestry, John Kemp Goodloe in-
herited physical and mental endowments which de-
veloped a superb manhood. Reared on a farm, he
obtained his rudimentary education in a country
school, and later he had the advantage of a classical
course, where, with excellent training and thorough
preparation, was created that fine literary taste so
apparent in his writing and conversation. He was
eminently fitted for a professional course of study,
which began in the law office of Judge Thomas B.
Monroe, of Frankfort. Completing his law studies
under the preceptorship of that able and distin-
guished lawyer, he was admitted to the bar and be-
gan the practice, when he was twenty-one years of
age, at Versailles, Kentucky. He had fairly estab-
lished himself as a lawyer when the Mexican War
changed temporarily the current of his life. In 1846
he enlisted in the company of cavalry recruited by
Thomas F. Marshall — who was then a leading mem-
ber of the Versailles bar — which became a part of
Colonel Humphrey Marshall’s Mexican War regi-
ment. In the ensuing campaigns, he was conspicu-
ous for his gallantry, attaching himself to another
company to participate in the battle of Buena Vista
when he learned that his command was not to take
part in that engagement. In this battle he was in
the thickest of the fight and was badly wounded,
his conduct gaining for him the commendation of
his superior officers.
Returning to Kentucky in 1847, he resumed his
law practice at Versailles and soon took a prominent
position at the bar and also in public life. Elected
to the Legislature, he served continuously in the
House of Representatives from 1854 to 1861, and
from 1861 to 1864 in the Senate, during a period
covering the trying scenes immediately preceding
and in the midst of the Civil War. In the sessions of
the House of Representatives of 1859-60, the oppos-
ing parties were almost equally balanced, and his
fine courage, urbanity and calmness made his in-
fluence marked and decided. Before the war, he was
a recognized leader among the legislators of that
period, serving on the most important committees,
particularly the judiciary, and being instrumental
in formulating much of the legislation of the great-
est interest and value to the people. His greatest
service to the State and to the cause which was dear
to him as a Unionist was rendered, however, during
the war period. An emancipationist by instinct, he.
in the early vears of the war, offered freedom to his
slaves, which they refused: but, to the end of his
life, it was his pleasure, and he conceived it to be
his duty, to assist in providing for their maintenance.
3G8
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Chivalrous by nature, when the war began his in-
clination was to enter the military service, and he
received a staff appointment with the rank of colonel.
The Union leaders were, however, united in the be-
lief that he should not leave the State Senate — in
which his influence would be most potent in ad-
vancing the cause which they represented — to enter
the army, and he remained at his post to do all in his
power to save Kentucky to the Union and to pre-
vent the establishment of a permanent Southern
Confederacy. Though not in active military service,
he was aide to General Robert Anderson when in
command of the Union force in Kentucky, and in
the autumn of 1861 he joined Generals Shackelford,
Bristow and Jackson on Green River, and was en-
gaged in forming brigades, getting battalions ready,
etc. Loving the Union, he loved also the Southern
people, bound to him by the ties of blood and asso-
ciations of a lifetime, and he looked upon civil
war as something which should be avoided by hon-
orable and just concessions. His spirit was concil-
iatory, but the principle which dominated and gov-
erned his action was one of unswerving loyalty to
the National Government. As a leader of the
Senate, this idea was ever uppermost in his mind,
and his diplomatic methods, his courteous treatment
of those who differed with him in their political
views, his keen perceptions of the trend of events,
his constant vigilance and prompt action when neces-
sary, combined to make him one of the most power-
ful factors in shaping the events of' that period in
Kentucky. Strong as were his convictions that the
Rebellion should be suppressed, he would vote for
no legislation which he deemed unauthorized by the
State and National Constitutions, and hence he re-
fused to support what was termed the Expatriation
Law of 1862.
Notwithstanding the feeling of bitterness which
prevailed during these years, he commanded the
respect and admiration of his political opponents, as
well as those who were allied with him in the great
struggle. One who was most familiar with this por-
tion of his career has said: “I do not recall a single
instance of an unkind word being said about him in
my presence. If he had been an insignificant man,
of merely negative qualities, this might have been
in no wise astonishing; but, in thinking it over, it
has seemed to me that such a fact was, of itself, a
most exalted and rare tribute to a man of high in-
tellectual endowment, enriched by study and reflec-
tion, and whose convictions upon every great public
question were strong and positive, and of the char-
acter likely to be found in one who had inherited
moral and intellectual strength and fiber from the
good old pioneer stock, to which Kentucky is so
very much indebted. I attributed the fact I have
mentioned to the circumstances, namely, that his
characteristics of head and heart were of the noblest
sort, and that his justness, his cheerfulness and his
urbanity were abiding and unfailing.”
For a time before the close of the war, he served as
assistant United States attorney for Kentucky and,
in the closing days of the war, he was appointed
by President Lincoln United States district attorney
for the State of Louisiana. After serving with dis-
tinction in the latter capacity for one year, he re-
turned to Kentucky and located at Louisville, where
he continued in active practice to the end of his life.
For some years, he was associated professionally
with Hon. John W. Barr, who later became a judge
of the United States Court for the District of Ken-
tucky. Alexander P. Humphrey and Hon. John
Roberts also practiced in partnership with him.
Later, he formed a copartnership with John W. Barr,
the son of his old law partner, Judge Barr, and this
partnership continued until Judge Goodloe’s death,
which occurred February 12, 1892.
In all his associations with men, whether in a pro-
fessional, business or social way, he won their re-
gard, esteem and admiration in a marked degree.
He had naturally a clear, strong intellect and a re-
fined nature. Close study, extensive reading and ob-
servation made him a man of such fine general at-
tainments as give grace and beauty to charac-
ter.
“In his practice,” says a brother lawyer, “he had
a clientage of the best class. Men and women of ;
large estates consulted him and were guided by
his counsel. Large corporations intrusted their |
most important affairs to him. All recognized his
ability, his skill as a practitioner, his knowledge of
the law, his sound practical judgment, and his ab-
solute integrity. As an advocate, he was without
passion or excitement, but his calm, clear, incisive
arguments were full of convincing power. Courts j
and juries always gave him profound attention, con- :
scions that he held the highest allegiance to the
truth, that a statement made by him was a pledge j
and surety of an absolute sincerity, and that no man f
or cause could make of him a conscious instrument
or accomplice of injustice. When contending for
the rights of his clients, his fine countenance would
glow with animation and the strength of feeling, ap-
parent beneath the perfect self-control and calmness
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
369
of his manner, presented the finest type of true, ef-
fective oratory.”
Mr. Goodloe’s associations were naturally with
the foremost citizens in all walks of life. His com-
panionship was sought and prized by the leading
lawyers, judges, statesmen, clergymen, physicians
and business men. Among them he had no supe-
rior, and his expressions of opinion and judgment
were always listened to with respect and deference.
With all his ability, accomplishments and wisdom
in the affairs of the world, he was a sincere Chris-
tian, a member of the Christian Church, and a reg-
ular attendant upon all its services.
As a corporation lawyer, having a practice as
large, perhaps larger than any other member of the
Kentucky bar, he became closely identified with
corporate interests and held many official positions
in leading Southern corporations. Aside from these,
however, he declined all official preferment. He
loved his profession and was loved by those asso-
ciated with him in the field of professional labor.
Until within a few weeks of his death, he had been
in vigorous health and seen daily on the streets of
Louisville, his striking face and figure always com-
manding admiration. Stricken suddenly with a dan-
gerous illness, relief was sought in a more Southern
clime, and death came to him at Thomasville,
Georgia. Borne back to Louisville, his remains
were laid in their final resting place with such uni-
versal manifestations of sorrow as only mark the
passing away of those whose serenity of spirit and
nobility of soul have been diffused like sunshine
among the people brought within the sphere of their
influence. His associates at the bar and in other
walks of life paid tender tributes to his memory,
which seemed to linger like a benediction with those
who still survive. On that occasion, Judge Alex-
ander P. Humphrey reported a memorial — which,
by adoption, became the sentiment of the bar— in
which occurs the following testimonial to the
strength, beauty and lovableness of Judge Goodloe’s
character: “His natural endowments were a quick
and strong temper, and a warm heart, a gentle
l manner and a quiet courtesy. To control the first
land to make his life the flower and expression of
flhe other traits was the task which Nature had as-
signed him. We know nothing of the struggle, but
were daily witness of the victory. Kindness was the
motive of his life. He had a well-spring of affection
and a quick and generous sympathy which increased
by giving, and became richer by being a very spend-
dirift. We will remember him as of noble bearing,
24
his head crowned with white hair, his smile con-
straining confidence, and his countenance radiant
with that light of the soul which can only be kindled
from the immortal spark.”
Married first in 1848 to Miss Ann W. Lockett,
Judge Goodloe had by this marriage two children,
neither of whom survives. His wife died in 1852,
and, in 1863, he married Miss Mary L. Shouse, who,
with two sons and three daughters, survives her
husband. Mrs. Goodloe — whose early home was in
Woodford County — is a granddaughter of Goodloe
Carter, and a descendant of Robert Carter, of
Carter Hall, Virginia.
DOYD WINCHESTER, ex-Member of Congress
and ex-Minister to Switzerland, was born in
the Parish of Ascension, State of Louisiana, Sep-
tember 23, 1836. He was the eldest child of William
C. Winchester, native of Jefferson County, Ken-
tucky, and Aimee (Pedesclaux) Winchester, a na-
tive of Parish of Ascension, Louisiana. His father
was of American parentage, with full English ante-
cedents, and his mother of full French progenitors.
The founder of the Winchester family in America,
or of that branch of it to which the subject of this
sketch belongs, was William Winchester, born in
London, England, December 22, 1710. He came
to this country, landing at Annapolis, Maryland,
March 6, 1729, and made a permanent settlement at
White Level, now Westminster, Carroll County, of
that State. He was just nineteen years of age when
he reached America, but with apparent manhood,
he entered seriously upon the business of building an
estate and finding full establishment as an American
citizen. From the time of his arrival until 1749, the
details of his career are somewhat meager, but on
the 22nd of July, of that year, he married Lydia
Richards, an American lady of English extraction,
who was born in Maryland, August 4, 1727. Ten
children were the result of this alliance, six of whom
were sons, and to their increase is due the prevalence
of the name of Winchestet in several States of the
South. The father died September 17, 1791, but the
mother survived until February 9, 1809. Of the
six sons referred to, James, George and David were
soldiers of the Revolution. James was notably a
commissioned officer in the Third Maryland Regi-
ment and was taken prisoner by the British and
confined on Long Island until exchanged. He con-
tinued in regular service until the War of 1812, when
he was made a brigadier general and became famous
by his participation in the Harrison campaign and
370
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the disaster at the River Raisin, after which he was
a prisoner at Quebec. His military career is a
matter of general history. George was also a pris-
oner to the British and confined at Charleston. He
was afterwards a victim to the Indians in Tennessee.
James was the founder of the Tennessee family, his
home being in the vicinity of Gallatin, where, after
his retirement from the army, he lived prosperously
for many years. Richard was the sixth son of Will-
iam Winchester, the father of William C. Winchester
and grandfather of Boyd Winchester. He, with his
brother Stephen, made a settlement at Fredericks-
burg, Virginia, in 1806. They established large
flouring mills at that point and were fairly in the
line of prosperity when the difficulties preceding
the War of 1812 were inaugurated. President Jeffer-
son, in 1807, recommended an embargo which was
immediately approved by Congress, and its opera-
tion was such as to cause their financial ruin. In
1808, the brothers closed business and separated,
Stephen going to join his brothers in Tennessee, and
Richard coming to Kentucky. He settled upon a
considerable tract of land in Jefferson County about
nine miles from Louisville, and established the home-
stead which was known as the “V ale of Eden.” He
married Rebecca Lawrence, daughter of Benjamin
Lawrence, who was a prominent member of the
large pioneer family of that name. Richard was
born at White Level, April 7, 1759, and died at “The
Yale of Eden” homestead, in Kentucky, June 22,
1822.
Benjamin Winchester, the eldest son of Richard,
and William C. Winchester, the second son, both
became residents of Louisiana. Benjamin settled
in the Parish of St. James and became an extensive
sugar planter and prominent jurist some years be-
fore William C. went to that State. The latter set-
tled in Ascension Parish and married Aimee Pedes-
claux — who was born July 15, 1818, and died June
21, 1843 — October 5 , 1835. He became a -successful
sugar planter, a business in which he was engaged
when the subject of this sketch was born. In 1852,
William C. Winchester removed with his family back
to Kentucky. He became the purchaser of a farm
contiguous to the old homestead farm and was pros-
perously engaged in agricultural pursuits when Ins
death ensued, March 19, 1861. He was born Feb-
ruary 21, 1809.
The education of Boyd Winchester was com-
menced in private schools at New Orleans, when
he was quite young. At ten years of age, he was
sent to continue his studies under the supervision
of relatives at Shelbyville, Kentucky, which was
then a recognized educational center for Southern
people. He here became a pupil of the famous
classical tutor, S. V. Womack, and continued under
him until sent to Centre College, at Danville, in
1852, where he took the full course and graduated
in the class of 1855. The same year he went to the :
University of Virginia, taking the law course during 1
1855-56 and returning to Kentucky, where he fin- j
ished at the University of Louisville with the degree
of Bachelor of Laws, in 1857.
In 1857 he opened an office and entered the prac- j
tice of law at Louisville, in which business he con- ;
tinued with some interruptions for twenty-seven j
years, retiring in 1884 and devoting his life to lit- 1
erary pursuits. In i860, his health being impaired,
he went to Shelby County and passed one year,
when, by the death of his father, he was called to
take charge of the estate in Jefferson County, upon !
which he resided and managed until 1865. In 1863, j
at the solicitation of friends, he became a candidate j
for the Legislature to represent Jefferson County, 1
upon what was then known as the “Peace Ticket,” (
but was defeated with the rest of the ticket headed '
by Charles Wickliffe, candidate for governor. In ‘
August, 1867, he was elected to the State Senate j
from the Thirty-fifth District, then composed of the |
county of Jefferson and the First and Second wards *
of the city of Louisville. This position he resigned f
in 1868 to take his seat in the Forty-first Congress, j
to which he had been elected from the Fifth Con- j
gressional District, then composed of the counties !
of Jefferson, Henry, Oldham and Owen. He was J
re-elected and served through the Forty-second i
Congress, his term expiring in 1873. He resumed ,
the practice of his profession at Louisville and con- !
tinued in it until 1885, when he was appointed by j
President Cleveland Minister to Switzerland, which
position he held until 1889, when his successor was |
appointed by President Harrison,
Retiring from both political and professional life, ■
Mr. Winchester of late years has given himself •
wholly to his library and to literary pursuits. Ini- j
mediately after his return from Switzerland he pre- j
pared and published an admirable book, entitled
‘‘The Swiss Republic.” This volume, which con-
tains but twenty-one chapters, epitomizes the his-
tory of Switzerland in an accurate and attractive
manner. It begins with the origin of the republic
and closes with its relation as such to the countries
of Europe. Each chapter treats of an independent
subject and either may be read with absorbing in-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
371
terest without relation to the others. Comments
upon it in the Swiss journals have been of the
most flattering character, and it has been designated
by the highest European authorities as the ablest
expression of historical character yet made upon
the past and present of that remarkable country.
Since the preparation of this volume, Mr. Win-
chester has written seven lectures upon the Latin
poets, the high scholarly finish and classical char-
acter of which have attracted much attention. They
have been delivered before college and university
societies with great acclaim from the higher educa-
tional authorities, and his establishment as a man of
exceptional finish and scholarship is generally recog-
nized in the best intellectual circles.
In September, 1857, he married Alice Peck,
daughter of James Peck, of Louisville, who died in
January, 1866, leaving two children, Landry and
Alice, of whom the latter is surviving as Mrs. J. C.
Phillips, of Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky.
In September, 1867, he married Lillie Bowles
daughter of Joshua B. Bowles, of Jefferson County,
Kentucky, who died in January, 1873, leaving one
child, Lillie, who survives.
DENNETT H. YOUNG, who has been most
^ prominently identified with the development of
Southern railway enterprises, and who, in a multi-
tude of ways, has contributed vastly to the material
prosperity of the State of Kentucky, was born in
Jessamine County, May 25, 1843, son °f Robert and
Josephine (Henderson) Young, who were worthy
country people of Scotch-Irish descent. He was fit-
ted for college at Bethel Academy and was prepar-
ing to enter upon his collegiate course at Centre
College, Danville, when the Civil War began. With
other students he enlisted in the Eighth Kentucky
Cavalry, which became a part of the command of
General John H. Morgan. With General Mor-
gan’s command he was captured in the raid made
into Ohio in 1863, but after being imprisoned for a
time he effected his escape from Camp Douglas and
succeeded in making his way to Canada. There he
gathered together a number of escaped Confederate
prisoners and conveyed them back to the Confed-
eracy by way of the West Indies. He returned to
Canada later bearing a commission as a Confeder-
ate officer, and from that vantage ground organ-
ized a series of expeditions into the United States,
which at the time attracted much attention and oc-
casioned considerable alarm on the part of the Led-
eral authorities.
When the war ended Colonel Young went to
Europe and remained abroad three years, pursuing
his studies in the Irish and Scotch universities, in
which he supplemented his literary education by a
thorough law course. In Queen’s College, Belfast,
he took the first honors of his class in the law course,
and third honors in letters. He returned to Ken-
tucky in 1868 well ecjuipped by education, travel and
experience to enter upon a professional career, and
peculiarly well fitted to deal with the business prob-
lems which have demanded so large a share of the
attention of the ablest lawyers of the country during
the past quarter of a century.
Having married, in 1866, Miss Mattie R. Robin-
son, eldest daughter of Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson,
one of the most famous of Southern clergymen, then
pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Louis-
ville, he was attracted to this city and established
himself here in the practice of law. He soon im-
pressed himself upon both the bar and public as
an accomplished and resourceful lawyer, and built
up a large practice. In 1872 he formed a partnership
with St. John Boyle, and a few years later became in-
terested with him in railway construction and other
railway enterprises.
They operated together in the construction of the
Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railway — now
known as the St. Louis Air Line — and Louisville is
mainly indebted for this important railway connec-
tion to Mr. Boyle and Colonel Young. Later Col-
onel Young' was called upon to undertake the pur-
chase and reorganization of the Louisville, New
Albany & Chicago Railway, which was successfully
planned and carried out under his direction. He
was general counsel of this railway corporation for
some time prior to 1883, and then became president
of the company, a position which he resigned in
1884 to give attention to other affairs of great im-
portance to the city of Louisville and the State of
Kentucky, as public works. Chief among the en-
terprises which occupied his attention at that time,
perhaps, was the building of a second bridge across
the Ohio River, a project with which he became iden-
tified as the moving spirit. This enterprise, which
involved an expenditure of two and a half millions
of dollars, was pushed to completion by Colonel
Young with characteristic energy, and when finished
in 1886 was the largest cantilever bridge that had
ever been constructed. To make the operation of
the Kentucky 8c Indiana bridge a success, a South-
ern railway outlet was needed, and to this Colonel
Young next bent his energies. In company with
372
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
other Louisville capitalists and financiers, he inau-
gurated the Louisville Southern Railway project, de-
signed to connect with the Cincinnati Southern at
Burgin and to thus give Louisville another great
Southern railway outlet. The completion of this line
marked a new era in the development of Louisville,
and contributed vastly to its commercial importance.
The road was built without any aid from the city,
and without burdening herself with any obligation,
this city obtained a trunk line railway connection
with the South for one similar to which the city of
Cincinnati, not many years since, expended nearly
twenty millions of dollars.
At a still later date Colonel Young became in-
terested in the organization of the Richmond, Nich-
olasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad, but left its
construction to others, and, all in all, as a promoter
and builder of railways he has been one of the most
conspicuously active of Southern men. To the de-
velopment of Southern resources, the rehabilita-
tion and rejuvenation of the Southland, he has large-
ly devoted his time and energies during the most
active years of his life. Although he has never for-
saken the law and is still one of the leading practi-
tioners at the Louisville bar, a large share of his
time is devoted to the legal business of corporations
and court practice. A man of great resources, in-
tensely active and energetic, his services have been
in demand in connection with all movements de-
signed to promote the prosperity of Louisville. In
recognition of the services which he has rendered
this city and State, he was some years since elected
an honorary member of the Board of Trade, being
the youngest man upon whom this honor has ever
been conferred. He was honored also with the pres-
idency of the Southern Exposition in 1884.
In 1890, although he had, prior to that time, de-
clined to consider proffers of political preferment,
he was elected a member of the Constitutional Con-
vention, and was one of the most influential mem-
bers of the body which formed the present organic
law of the State.
In the multiplicity of his professional and business
affairs he has found time to devote to literary pur-
suits, and is the author of a “History of the Three
Constitutions of Kentucky,” a monograph on
“Evangelistic Work in Kentucky,” and another, en-
titled “A History of the Division of the Presbyterian
Church in Kentucky.” A prominent layman in the
Presbyterian Church, he has contributed greatly to
the advancement of the church work and to the up-
building of its charitable and educational institu-
tions. He established and largely endowed the
Bellewood Seminary and Kentucky Presbyterian
Normal School, at Anchorage, which has been one
of the most successfully conducted institutions of the
kind in the country. He was one of the reorganizers
of the Polytechnic Society, and since the death of
Rev. Dr. Robinson has been president of an insti-
tution which is the pride of the city.
In this relation it is worthy to note that, in the
midst of all the more practical features of his life,
he has shown a fondness for the study of nature and
a strong disposition to scientific research. He has
gradually picked up, from the various geological
formations of the State, the largest and rarest collec-
tion of fossils and pre-historic remains now in the
possession of any private citizen. His cabinet is
admirably arranged and classified, the location of
each article being correctly given, identity of char-
acter, genus and species accurately determined, so
that, as a whole, it has become a most interesting
and valuable contribution to the science of the
world’s life. His cabinet also contains many rare
specimens from other parts of the country and the j
world at large.
There is a very gentle, almost womanly, feature
in his nature, that has had the effect of drawing [
around him many warm admirers and friends. His
tastes and habits of life are extremely refined, and
all his social relations are such as render life agree-
able and worth living. His personal magnetism has
always been great, and his intercourse with men in
public and private life influential. He moves easily *
in the highest social element, and his home is a ■
center of social attraction.
Colonel Young’s wife died some years since, and |
in 1895 he was married to Miss Eliza T. Sharp, an ac-
complished lady, whose home was at Bardstown, I
Kentucky.
EORGE BARNARD EASTIN, lawyer and j
jurist, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky,
August 19, 1842, son of Augustine F. and Nancy «
(Bryan) Eastin. His paternal grandfather was an ;
officer in one of the Virginia regiments during the j
Revolutionary War, and his father came from Albe- j
marie County, Virginia, to Bourbon County, Ken-
tucky, as a boy in 1810. Augustine F. Eastin went
with the Kentucky volunteers into the War of 1812,
and was captured by the Indians at the battle of
Fort Meigs, or, as it is sometimes called, “Dudley’s
Defeat." He was held as a prisoner until ransomed
by some Canadian traders, generous enough to pur-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
chase his liberty with three barrels of cider, and then
returned to Kentucky, settling in Fayette County,
where he died in 1875. His wife — the mother of
George B. Eastin — was a granddaughter of Joseph
Bryan, one of the brothers who established the fort
at Bryan’s Station, in Fayette County, and her moth-
er— a Miss Preston before her marriage — came of
the famous Maryland family of that name.
Judge Eastin was fitted for college in the primary
department of Transylvania University at Lexing-
ton, Kentucky, and then entered the sophomore class
of Georgetown College. He remained at George-
town until he had finished the junior year of his col-
lege course and then went to Kenyon College at
Gambier, Ohio, graduating from that fine old insti-
tution of learning, at the end of a full classical
course, in the class of 1861. Immediately after he
obtained his bachelor’s degree he returned to Ken-
tucky, intending to enter at once upon the study
of law, but the war cloud which then hung over the
country changed his course for the time being. Early
in 1862 he enlisted as a private soldier in the Con-
federate Army, his company being a part of General
John H. Morgan’s command. Although he was at
that time but twenty years of age, he was a fine
specimen of manhood, and being — like most of the
young men reared in the Blue Grass region — an ex-
pert horseman, he soon developed into an ideal sol-
dier, a brave and dashing cavalryman. His tempera-
ment was ardent, and he possessed much of the mar-
tial spirit of his ancestors. Intelligent, alert and
ambitious he participated in the most daring ex-
ploits of Morgan’s command, and quickly rose from
the ranks to a lieutenancy, was promoted to cap-
tain, and breveted major for gallant and meritorious
service. His courage, good judgment and intrepid
valor won the admiration alike of his comrades and
superior officers, and, among all the brave young
men who fought the fight to a finish in defense of
cherished principles, there were no braver or more
chivalrous spirits than George B. Eastin.
At the close of the war he laid aside the uniform
of a soldier and returned to civil life, enriched by
his experience and better fitted than he would other-
wise have been for the duties of civil life by the
discipline which he had undergone during his mili-
tary career. In 1865 he matriculated in the law
department of the University of Louisville, and in
1867 was graduated from that institution with the
degree of bachelor of laws. Immediately after his
graduation from the law school he began the prac-
tice of his profession and at once made a favorable
impression upon the bar, the courts and the general
public. The same chivalrous instinct which had
made him a gallant soldier, fearless in the face of
danger, prompt in action and indefatigable in his ex-
ertions, made him a spirited defender of the rights
of his clients and a champion of their interests, who
could be trusted implicitly and relied upon under all
circumstances. Splendidly equipped by nature for
the profession he had adopted, his education had
been thorough and he readily adapted himself to all
the requirements of practice. Fie speedily acquired
a prominence which usually comes to a lawyer after
long years of practice, and while still a very young-
man, took his place" among the recognized leaders
of the Louisville bar. His care in the preparation
of cases, his painstaking research and judicious
counsels commended him to those who sustained to
him the relationship of clients, and the circle of such
clients constantly enlarged. His thorough knowl-
edge of the law made him the trusted adviser of large
corporations, and trustees of estates, widows and
orphans made him their counselor, his high charac-
ter and strict integrity being always a guarantee
that their interests were safe in his hands. While
his practice was general in the civil courts, he per-
haps showed a preference for court practice, and his
clean-cut, logical arguments always had great weight
with those tribunals whose decisions are influenced
alone by law and evidence.
Recognizing his fitness for the exercise of the
highest judicial functions his brethren of the bar
made frequent mention of his name in connection
with judicial positions during the later years of his
life, and when Governor John Young Brown ap-
pointed him a judge of the Court of Appeals of Ken-
tucky, to fill a vacancy, the wisdom of the selection
was universally conceded. Taking his place upon
the Supreme Bench of the commonwealth in Feb-
ruary, 1895, he served with distinction as a member
of that court until the expiration of the term for
which he had been appointed in December of the
same year. During this time he made an enviable
record as a jurist and was the candidate of the Dem-
ocratic party — with which he always affiliated — for
election to a full term as judge, at the general elec-
tion of 1895. The political upheaval of that year,
which gave Kentucky a Republican administration
for the first time in the history of the commonwealth,
retired Judge Eastin and lost to the State the services
of an accomplished and able jurist.
After the war Judge Eastin interested himself in
military affairs, only as a member of the Confederate
374
memorial "History of louisville.
Veterans’ Association, of which he was one of the
organizers, and with which he was identified as pres-
ident from the time the association came into exist-
ence. He always manifested a warm feeling of com-
radeship for the veterans with whom he shared the
perils of war, and few of the survivors of the great
struggle between the States were more popular with
the men who faced the same dangers and fought un-
der the same flag. He was a Presbyterian and a
member of the Second Church of Louisville.
In 1868 Judge Eastin married Miss Fannie Castle-
man of “Castleton,” near Lexington, one of the
belles of the Blue Grass region, noted alike
for her beauty and her accomplishments. Immedi-
ately afterward they established their home in Louis-
ville and were long the center of a refined and high-
ly cultivated social circle. Devoted to music, litera-
ture and art, and withal a talented linguist, Mrs.
Eastin has been a charming figure in the social
world. Portrait painting has been one of the pas-
times in which she especially delighted, and her
works evince rare artistic sense and skill. She has
presided with much grace and dignity over a home
which has had many of the best features of the
French salon, without the frivolity of the latter and
with all the geniality and domestic repose of the old-
time Southern homestead. Upon this ideal home-
stead the shadows fell when Judge Eastin’s health
began to fail as a result of his close application to
professional labors and the interests of his clients.
Hoping to benefit by rest and recreation he went
abroad, accompanied by Mrs. Eastin, in the early
part of 1896, but this effort to restore his health and
physical vigor failed, and on the 4th of June of that
year he passed away while sojourning in Rome.
\AJILLIAM BAIRD HOKE, lawyer, and for
’’ twenty-eight years judge of the Jefferson
County Court, was born near Fisherville, Jefferson
County, Kentucky, August 1, 1838, son of Cornelius
and Jane (Dunbar) Hoke. His immigrant ancestor
on the paternal side was George Hoke, who came
from Germany to this country some time before the
beginning of the Revolutionary War and settled
first in New York, removing at a later date to Penn-
sylvania. This George Hoke was a Revolutionary
soldier, as was also his son, who was a mere boy at
the time of his enlistment. He was severely wound-
ed not long after he enlisted in the Colonial Army
and was discharged on account of disability, his
son being discharged at the same time on account
of his youthfulness. Neither the father nor this son
lived long afterward, but other sons grew up in
Pennsylvania. One of the sons was George Hoke, j
Jr., father of Cornelius Hoke and grandfather of
William B. Hoke. George Hoke, Jr., left Pennsyl- |
vania about the year 1793 and, together with a party I
of friends bound for the Southwest, embarked on
a flat-boat, on which they floated down the Ohio
River. Braving both the hostile elements and the I
hostile Indians who in those days infested the coun- '
try on either side of the “beautiful river,” they set
out on their journey, and being favored by fortune,
traveled safely until they came to within a few miles
of the settlement of Louisville. About twenty miles
up the river from this place they were fired upon
by the Indians in ambush on one side or the other
of the river, and a brother of George Hoke was
killed. He himself escaped injury and arrived safe-
ly in Louisville, being the only member of his fam-
ily who came to Kentucky. He settled about fif-
teen miles from the village, purchasing lands in what
was known as Floyd’s Survey. County records
show that in 1802 he was appointed to re-survey !
some lands which had been previously surveyed
by William Boone. He lived and died on the farm
on which he originally settled, leaving several chil-
dren, all of whom emigrated from Kentucky with
the exception of the youngest son, Cornelius.
Cornelius Hoke married Jane Dunbar, who was
a daughter of John and Nancy (Calhoun) Dunbar,
both of whom came from Scotland to America, set-
tled in Kentucky and died here. John Dunbar was
a typical Scotch farmer, a devout Presbyterian and
a picturesque character in Kentucky, by reason of
the fact that to the end of his life he continued to
wear knee breeches of the eighteenth century style, j
with his hair done up in a queue, after the fashion
of the same period. After their marriage Cornelius
and Jane Dunbar Hoke continued to reside at the
old Hoke homestead, and William B. Hoke was
born there. He was reared on the farm and re- j
ceived his first educational training in a country
school. Later he attended Indiana University — now
De Parnv College — and completed his academic
course at Danville College, of Danville, Kentucky.
After leaving college he read law in the office of
Speed & Beatty, of Louisville, Hon. James Speed,
afterward Attorney-General of the United States,
being at that time senior member of the firm. At
the same time he attended the regular course of lec-
tures at the Louisville Law School and was gradu-
ated from that institution as valedictorian of his class,
before he was twenty-one years of age.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
375
After his admission to the bar he began the prac-
tice of his profession in Louisville as a partner of
Colonel S. S. English, whose daughter he soon af-
terward married. He was successful in practice un-
til 1866, in which year he was elected judge of the
County Court of Jefferson County, and entered up-
on a long and eminently creditable judicial career.
Seven times in all he was elected to this office by
the people of Jefferson County, each time for a
term of four years, and for twenty-eight years he
was the faithful servant of the public in that tribunal,
which is pre-eminently the people’s court. In the
course of this long term of service he was brought
into daily contact with all classes of people, and all
entertained for him the most kindly regard and the
highest esteem. His personal acquaintance extend-
ed all over the county, and his courteous treatment
of all who had business relations with him, his gen-
ial and kindly manner, made the circle of his warm
personal friends an exceedingly large one. In the
care and conservation of estates, in the guardian-
ship of the many important interests committed to
his care, and in the adjudication of matters coming
within the jurisdiction of his court, he was honest,
conscientious, able and impartial, and the frequent
endorsements of his official acts, which he received
at the hands of the people, have been honors well
deserved. During the administration of Governor
McCreary he was appointed a member of the State
College Board and served one term in that capa-
city, declining a re-appointment. A staunch Demo-
crat since he cast his first vote he has twice repre-
sented his district in Democratic National Conven-
tions, and has frequently served as a member of the
Democratic State Executive Committee, being at
the present time (1896) the representative of the
Fifth Congressional District on that committee.
Religiously Judge Hoke affiliates with the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, and in fraternal circles lie has
been exceedingly prominent as a member and offi-
cial of various orders. He is a past master of Ma-
sonic lodges ; a past high priest and past noble grand
master of Odd Fellows; past grand chancellor of the
Knights of Pythias; past supreme dictator of the
Knights of Honor of the World, and supreme chief
ranger of the Independent Order of Foresters.
As a citizen he has always been known as an up-
right, conscientious and honest man. He has been
suaviter in modo and fortiter in re, genial in man-
ner and, at the same time, resolute and fearless in
the discharge of his duties. His repeated elections
to the judgeship bear abundant testimony to the
fact that the public approved his acts as a public offi-
cial, and his fairness and impartiality as a judge were
never questioned. During his long judicial career
many of his decisions were reviewed by the highest
courts, and these decisions have stood the test of
being passed upon by the courts of last resort as
well as those of any judge in the State. A ready and
attractive public speaker, he has been conspicuous
at political and other gatherings for his pleasing-
oratory, and has delivered many notable speeches
and addresses.
Judge Hoke was married in 1859 to Miss Sarah
Wharton English, daughter of Colonel Samuel S.
and Nancy Demint English, of Louisville. Colonel
English was the uncle of the late William H. English
of Indiana — Democratic candidate for Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States in 1880 — and was for eigh-
teen years a member of the Kentucky Legislature.
Mrs. Hoke’s grandmother on the paternal side was
Sarah Wharton, only daughter of Revel Wharton,
who was captured on board an American vessel dur-
ing the Revolutionary W ar, and refusing to take the
oath of allegiance to Great Britain, was thrown over-
board and drowned. Her maternal grandfather
was William Demint, the first white male child born
in Louisville.
T SAAC W. EDWARDS, lawyer and jurist, was
born September 19, 1832, near Glasgow, Barren
County, Kentucky, son of Isaac N. and Annie E.
Edwards. His father was a worthy and somewhat
prominent citizen of Barren County, who served
many years as a local magistrate and was greatly
esteemed in the community in which he lived. The
son completed his education at Georgetown Col-
lege and then studied law, beginning the practice of
his profession in 1856. He practiced in Barren and
Hart counties until 1867, being associated in the
last named county with Hon. William Lampson,
who became a judge of the Kentucky Court of Ap-
peals in 1865, his election to that office dissolving
their partnership. He came to Louisville in 1867
and became a member of the firm of Barnett & Ed-
wards, which continued in existence four years with-
out change. At the end of that time Mr. Harding
was taken into the firm, and it became Barnett, Ed-
wards & Harding. Three years later this firm was
dissolved and Judge Edwards formed a partnership
with C. B. Seymour. In 1876 Mayor Jacob, without
solicitation on his part, tendered him the office of
chief of police, which he consented to fill on condi-
tion that he was to continue the practice of law. Pre-
376
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
vious to this time, when the office of vice-chancellor
of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County had been
created, Governor Leslie tendered to him the ap-
pointment to that office. He declined, however, to
accept it, preferring to continue the practice of law,
and Judge Harlan received the appointment. In
1878 he was made a candidate for vice-chancellor,
and made the race, but was defeated by a small ma-
jority by Judge Alfred T. Pope. In 1880 he be-
came a candidate for chancellor and defeated for
that office Hon. A. P. Humphrey and Hon. Emmet
Field, taking his place on the bench soon after his
election. This office he still holds and in the exer-
cise of judicial functions has proven himself a law-
yer and jurist of superior attainments and ripe judg-
ment. He has been a prominent member of the
Democratic party and prior to his election to the
bench took a somewhat active interest in political
campaigns. His religious affiliations are with the
Baptist church. He has been twice married, first
in 1858 to Miss Wiltberger of Chicago, who died
a year after their marriage. In 1865 he was mar-
ried to his second wife, who was Miss Julia Gilpin
before her marriage. His only son and only child
is Will S. Edwards, deputy bond recorder of Jeffer-
son County.
p EORGE MONTGOMERY DAVIE was born
in Christian County, Kentucky, March 16,
1848. His grandparents were from North Carolina.
His father, Winston J. Davie, a gentleman of more
than ordinary ability and character, was a planter
in Christian County in the ante-bellum days, and
served four years as the first agricultural commis-
sioner of Kentucky. His mother, whose maiden
name was Philips, was a native of Columbus,
Georgia.
The boyhood of Mr. Davie was passed in Chris-
tian County, but his education was begun early, and
carefully and systematically conducted. He was sent
to the best schools that the country in which he was
reared afforded; and when of an age to leave home
was sent to school at Memphis, Tennessee. He was
afterward at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky,
and finally graduated at Princeton College, New
Jersey, in 1868. His academic training was thor-
ough and complete.
He came to Louisville in 1869 and began the
study of the law. After finishing the regular course
in the law school he read for a year or two in the
office of Colonel Robert W. Woolley, a lawyer of
ripe learning and brilliant ability. He was an assid-
uous student under Colonel Woolley’s tutelage, and
became familiar with the practice while rendering
his preceptor valuable assistance both in office work
and in the courts. His capacity and industry very
soon attracted the attention and respect of the bar
of Louisville, and in 1874 he was offeied and ac-
cepted a junior partnership with Muir & Bijur, one
of the leading law firms of the city. This partner-
ship was dissolved in 1877, and the firm of Bijur &
Davie was then formed, continuing in active and
lucrative business until the death of Mr. Bijur in
1882. Mr. Davie then formed a partnership with
his brother-in-law, Colonel John Mason Brown, who
will be long remembered as one of the ablest jurists
of Kentucky. The name of Judge Alex. P. Hum-
phrey was added to this firm in 1885, and it is sim-
ple justice to declare that it presented a combina-
tion of intellectual power and professional skill and
learning which has been seldom equalled in the
bar of Kentucky or elsewhere. Colonel Brown died
in January, 1890, and the firm has been since con-
tinued under the style of Humphrey & Davie.
Mr. Davie was married on December 5, 1878, to
his present wife. She was Miss Margaret Howard
Preston, a daughter of General William Preston, of
Kentucky. Her father was one of the most talented
and distinguished representatives of the celebrated
Preston family of Virginia and South Carolina. He
was indeed a superb gentleman of the best South-
ern type and school, and distinguished by an ex-
ceedingly handsome person, and a presence and
bearing unusually impressive and attractive. His
chivalric bravery, high sense of honor and almost
romantic fidelity to every obligation gained for
him the soubriquet of “The Last of the Cavaliers.”
He was prominent in all circles for courtesy and
every social accomplishment and achieved distinc-
tion as a lawyer, orator, diplomat and soldier.
Mrs. Davie’s mother was a daughter of Robert
Wickliffe, of Lexington, who, in his day and gener-
ation, was among the foremost public men of Ken-
tucky. It is impossible to mention Mrs. Preston
without some tribute to the charming qualities and
exemplary womanly virtues which have command-
ed, throughout a long life, an influence for good over
her multitude of devoted friends, and, indeed, over
all who have approached her presence. Not often
has any one been held in such general affection,
esteem and admiration, nor has appreciation even
of a character so lofty, yet so amiable, been
so universal in this or any other city, town or
state. In Mrs. Preston’s face and manner the grace
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
377
and beauty of a lovely youth are preserved in an old
age even more beautiful.
Mr. Davie’s mental characteristics and training
have peculiarly and eminently fitted him for the
prosecution of his chosen profession, and he is im-
bued with a cordial and sincere love of his work,
which largely contributes to render it facile and thor-
ough. An intellect unusually acute and discriminat-
ing enables him to employ, with precision and ef-
fect, the store of information gathered by constant
and industrious research; and a very apt and perti-
nent power of illustration gives point and cogency
to his argument. Faithful and untiring application
and the most scrupulous attention to detail have char-
acterized the preparation and conduct of his cases
in the courts of Kentucky, as also in the Supreme
Court of the United States, where, too, he has earned
well merited reputation.
Mr. Davie has avoided political life, although
tempting opportunities to enter it have been offered
him, and notwithstanding his advice and active par-
ticipation in political affairs have been often and ur-
gently sought. He has doubtless been wise in re-
fraining from such pursuits, for, although his versa-
tile talents might. have readily commanded success
in the political arena, its habits and requirements
would never have accorded with his tastes and
inclinations. It is therefore well that he has devot-
ed himself exclusively to a profession in all re-
spects so agreeable to him, to which he himself is so
perfectly suited and wherein he is always sure of
ample reward.
Nevertheless, while he derives pleasure from his
labors at the law, and they have brought him suc-
cess and distinction, it is the opinion of those who
know him best that had he so chosen he would have
been more eminent in literature. He has essential-
ly the literary spirit and instinct, and unquestionably
genius capable of attaining high rank in the best de-
partments of letters. Fugitive and casual as have
been his literary efforts, they are unmistakably of
the first order. His productions both in prose and
verse exhibit an extraordinary literary facility and
merit that will be at once acknowledged as sustain-
ing favorable comparison with the best modern
American compositions. It can be truly said of him
as a writer that “the style is the man.” His style is
essentially characteristic, and a perfect reflection of
an intellect fertile of ideas and a nature yet more
full of warm, honest emotions. It is almost un-
rivalled, indeed, in its rich and fluent diction and its
union of grace and force, while it is never marred or
weakened by any coarseness or mediocrity. The
rythmic ease and charm of his verse and its singular
felicity of expression are best exhibited in his trans-
lations of the Odes of Horace, which have been com-
mended by scholars and critics as among the most
admirable and perfect of the oft-attempted reproduc-
tions of the exquisite originals.
Mr. Davie’s extremely amiable temper, yet sin-
cere and manly character, have made him hosts of
friends, and no man has ever been more popular in
Louisville. Socially he is, of course, a great and
universal favorite. His manner is frank, cordial and
sympathetic; his personal appearance attractive and
well calculated to inspire confidence, and his conver-
sation full of interest, thoughtful and suggestive, and
sparkling with a wit that never wearies.
It is, however, the more inherent qualities of the
man, the truth and fidelity of his nature, exceed-
ing kindliness of disposition and manly charity and
capacity for returning in double measure all friend-
ly feeling shown himself, which have made George
M. Davie so dear to those who have been nearest
to him.
T ORENZO H. NOBLE, lawyer and jurist, was
born in Paris, Maine, son of Daniel and Han-
nah Noble, both of whom were born and reared
in Norway, Maine. He was one of a patriarchal
family of thirteen children, ten of whom were
sons, and all of whom lived to maturity.
His mother, whose maiden name was Hannah
Knight, was of mixed English and Irish descent,
and his father descended from an immigrant an-
cestor— Thomas Noble — who was born in England
in 1632 and died in Massachusetts in 1704. His
grandfather, Nathan Noble, who belonged to the
fifth generation of the descendants of Thomas Noble,
was born in Stockwater, Maine, in 1761, and died
in Norway, in the same State, in 1827. For a hun-
dred and fifty years or more, the family has been
identified with the history of the “Pine Tree” State
and its antecedent colony, and for considerably over
two hundred years its annals have been a part of the
history of New England. From these annals we
glean the information that, while a fair proportion of
the representatives of the family have become dis-
tinguished for their educational, professional and
scientific attainments, they have generally been peo-
ple of moderate means, fairly well educated, richly
endowed with the common sense which is more to lie
desired than genius, and by instinct and training a
religious people.
378
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Coming of this sturdy stock, Lorenzo H. Noble
may be said to have begun life under favorable
auspices. He was physically, morally and intellectu-
ally healthy, grew up in an invigorating atmosphere
and was not deprived of any of his natural vigor by
the enervating influences of wealth. His father was
a manufacturer of and dealer in furniture, and he
was brought up to assist in the conduct of this busi-
ness, attending school only a portion of each year
in the town of Norway, where he spent all the years
of his boyhood. In 1840 he left home and went
first to Boston, Massachusetts, and came from there
to Kentucky the same year. His ambition was at
that time to acquire the means to complete a col-
lege course, and as he had a fair English educa-
tion, his purpose was to engage in school teaching
in Kentucky and thus to obtain the means neces-
sary to his higher education. With only four
dollars in his pocket he left Boston in the spring
of 1840, and with a five franc piece as his only cash
possession, he arrived at Maysville in September of
that year, having made numerous stops on the way
to replenish his resources by working at cabinet
making, as the furniture trade was called in those
days.
Within a week after he arrived at Maysville he
was teaching near the town of Lewisburg, Ken-
tucky. While teaching school he continued a pro-
cess of self-education, and after a time began study-
ing law with Hon. Richard H. Stanton of Maysville,
distinguished as a lawyer, jurist and member of
Congress. He was licensed to practice law by Judge
Farrar of Mt. Sterling, and Judge Walker of Wash-
ington County, Kentucky, but finding himself, at
that time, too short of funds to admit of his open-
ing an office and waiting for clients, he started for
Memphis, Tennessee, where he had been led to be-
lieve that he should find profitable employment as
a teacher. On his way South he stopped at Louis-
ville and here met a gentleman who induced him
to go to New Haven, Kentucky, and open a school
at that place. This proved to be a profitable ven-
ture and he not only gained local celebrity as an
educator, but added materially to his financial re-
sources. While teaching school at New Haven he
married and about a year later went to Cambridge,
Massachusetts, where he took a course in the Har-
vard Law School, under the famous Professors
Greenleaf and Kent, and was graduated from that
institution.
Immediately after his retunv to Kentucky he re-
moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and had practiced
there about eight months when a fire destroyed the
portion of the city in which his office was located,
and with it his office, the little law library which
he had gotten together and pretty much all his
earthly possessions. At this time the cholera was rag-
ing violently in the city, and, left without means and
with no prospect of business on account of the pre-
vailing panic, he returned to Kentucky. Removing
to Lebanon he took charge of a female seminary at
that place and conducted it successfully for two or
three years. At the end of that time he closed his
school, and for a time afterward was engaged in
the drug business, being elected first police judge
of Lebanon about this time. As soon as he found
himself in condition to do so he resumed the prac-
tice of law, and soon afterward was elected county
judge of Marion County. He was next elected com-
monwealth’s attorney for the term of six years, for
the counties of Green, Taylor, Marion, Nelson,
Washington, Mercer and Anderson, and entered
upon the discharge of the duties of that office as suc-
cessor to his law partner, Hon. Andrew Barnett. At
the expiration of his term of service as common-
wealth’s attorney he removed to Louisville, where,
after a time, he again became associated with his
former partner, Mr. Barnett, who had preceded him
to this city. This partnership continued until 1888,
and altogether Mr. Noble and Mr. Barnett were pro-
fessional associates and partners for nearly twenty-
five years.
In 1888 the impairment of his wife’s health
prompted Judge Noble to remove to Colorado, and
for three years thereafter he engaged in the prac-
tice of his profession in the city of Trinidad, in that
State. Returning to Louisville in 1891 he resumed
practice here as a member of firm of Noble & Sher-
ley, Mr. Swager Sherley, son of Thomas H. Sherley,
being the junior member of the firm. He contin-
ued in active practice from that date until early in
the year 1896, when he was appointed by Governor
William O. Bradley, judge of the Criminal Division
of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, to suc-
ceed Judge W. L. Jackson, Jr., deceased. As law-
yer and judge he has had a long and honorable ca-
reer at the bar, and both his talents and his charac-
ter as a man and a citizen command the respect of
his professional brethren and the public of
Louisville and of the state in which he has long
resided. He became a member of the Presby-
terian Church of which Rev. Dr. William Potts was
pastor, when he was a resident of St. Louis, and
has ever since been a staunch Presbyterian church-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
370
man, officially connected with the church as ruling
elder, both at Lebanon and at Louisville.
While teaching school in New Haven, Kentucky,
he married Miss Alice Ann Hogue, daughter of
Samuel and Mary Hogue, and sister of the late Rev.
Aaron A. Hogue. Mrs. Noble is also a granddaugh-
ter of Captain John McMurtry, whose name stands
second from the top on the military monument at
Frankfort, Kentucky. The children born to Judge
and Mrs. Noble have been Maty Chrisella Noble,
who married Colonel Thomas E. Burns, and died
in 1871; William Potts Noble, who married Ella
Duval and died in 1874; Charles Hogue Noble, who
married Fannie Beeler, and now lives near Louis-
ville; Dan A. Noble, who married Anna Sutton,
and is now living in San Antonio, Texas.
\ WILLIAM MIX, for many years an esteemed
’ ’ member of the Louisville bar, was born in Jef-
ferson County, on a farm which now almost touches
the southern city limits of Louisville, March 18,
1833, and died in this city October 30, 1894. He
was the son of William Mix, who came to Kentucky
from New Haven, Connecticut, and in early life was
engaged in the wholesale queensware trade in Louis-
ville, but in 1831 turned his attention to farming,
which occupation he followed until his death in 1859.
The elder William Mix was widely known as a suc-
cessful and scientific farmer and as the propagator
of certain choice varieties of fruits and vegetables.
He took prominent part also in promoting exhibi-
tions of farm products and was for many years sec-
retary of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society.
His wife was Miss Catharine Snead before her mar-
riage and she was a native of Jefferson County, the
farm on which she was born and on which also her
children were born having now been in possession
of the family more than one hundred years. Her
father, James' Snead, came to Kentucky from the
eastern shore of Maryland, crossing the mountains
on horseback to Pittsburg and coming thence down
the Ohio River by flat-boat. With him came his
wife, who was born a Miss Ericson and came of a
noted Maryland family, she being a lineal descend-
ant— four generations removed — of a sister of Gus-
tavus Erickson, of the House of Vasa, crowned king
of Sweden, as Gustavus I, in 1523. To the same
family belonged John Ericsson, the famous engineer
who designed and built the ironclad “Monitor,” at
the beginning of the Civil War, and rendered many
other important services to the United States Gov-
ernment. When James Snead and his family reached
the falls of the Ohio River they made a landing,
and the farm on which they settled at that early date
was the farm on which William Mix, the subject of
this sketch, was born. New Haven, Connecticut,
the birthplace of his father, was the original seat of
the Mix family in America. To that place its repre-
sentatives came from Wales with the early New
England colonists, and for generations they were
noted mariners, some of them being extensively en-
gaged in the East Indian trade. In the New Haven
Colony Historical Records, Captain Ebenezer Mix
is credited with having made the most successful
voyages of his time to the Indian seas, and with be-
ing the principal ship owner of the place. Other rec-
ords recount many thrilling adventures of these
seafaring men of the Mix family, one of whom, earlv
in the present century, fell a victim to the jealous
rage of the queen of the Sandwich Islands. This,
by the way, is an interesting historical incident,
mention of which is not inappropriate in this con-
nection. The king of the islands, ambitious to have
his son educated in the United States, had arranged
with Captain Mix to take him aboard his ship, and
the ship was about to sail. To prevent the carrying
out of this plan the queen induced the captain to
partake of a poisoned dinner, and in a few hours
he was dead.
Dr. Robert Mix, who was a surgeon on one of the
vessels of the fleet which co-operated with General
James Wolfe in the expedition against Quebec in
1759, also belonged to the New Haven family of
that name, and William Mix was one of his lineal
descendants. The mother of William Mix died
when he was four years of age and he was reared
under the loving care and guidance of his aunt, Miss
Nancy Snead, a woman noted for the strength and
beauty of her character, who did for him all that a
mother could have done. After being fitted for a
collegiate course in the schools of Louisville, he en-
tered Wabash College of Crawfordsville, Indiana,
and was graduated from that college in the class of
1854. As a student he stood high among his class-
mates and was especially conspicuous as a talented
and ready debater.
Returning to Louisville immediately after he had
completed his college course, he began the study
of law and was graduated from the law department
of the University of Louisville in the class of 1855.
He then entered the office of Judge Henry Pirtle,
and there obtained his first experience in active
practice. He was later associated with Alexander
Booth, a prominent old-time lawyer.
380
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
During the years 1862-63 he held the office of
county attorney, and at a period in which he was
called upon to deal with many vexatious questions,
he discharged the duties of the office with signal
ability. While he was a successful general practi-
tioner and a good criminal lawyer, the criminal prac-
tice was not agreeable to him, and he gradually
withdrew, in a large measure, from general practice
and devoted himself mainly to real estate and in-
surance law, becoming recognized by his fellow-
members of the bar as an authority on all questions
pertaining to these subjects. His two sons — Davies
and William Mix — were trained to the law, and in
the summer of 1894 were taken into partnership with
him, in the firm of William Mix & Sons, of which
he was at the head until his death.
As a lawyer Mr. Mix was a capable, high-minded
and honorable practitioner, and as a counsellor he
was especially popular among business men, who
not only valued his judgment, but had a high ap-
preciation of his candor, his fairness and his practi-
cal methods of dealing with business propositions
and adjusting business controversies. Brought into
intimate relationship with the business interests of
the city in his professional capacity, he became in-
terested also in various corporations as stockhold-
er and official, and had much to do with the conduct
and management of their affairs. He was long pres-
ident of the Oakland Plank Road Company, and a
managing director of and attorney for the Mutual
Life Insurance Company of Kentucky. When the
Kentucky National Bank was organized— with
Judge Bland Ballard as its president — Mr. Mix be-
came one of the directors of the bank and served in
that capacity for ten years thereafter. He was also
a member of the Board of Trade and a member of
the Commercial Club, always in close touch with
the commercial, banking and other interests of the
city, and ready at all times to contribute his full
share to promote the progress and prosperity of
Louisville.
His tenacity of purpose and strong will power
were marked characteristics, which contributed in
no small degree to the success which he achieved
both at the bar and in business, but he was withal
a most kindly man, possessed of much magnetism
and a charming cordiality of manner, which won
and retained friends under all circumstances. His
home in the country was notable for its unstinted
hospitality and for the number of those entertained
by its owner. During the war three Federal regi-
ments were stationed on the farm and in the imme-
diate vicinity of his home, and many of the officers
and men who wore the blue in those days cherish
pleasant recollections of their visits to this hospitable
farm house. Among the lasting friendships formed
at that time by Mr. Mix was one with Justice Har-
lan, now of the United States Supreme Court, with
whom he came near forming a law partnership in
later years. The old farm house, which served as a
sort of military headquarters and about which clus-
ter many historical associations, is an interesting
reminder of the war, and in the same vicinity may
be seen the remnants of the forts and defenses has-
tily constructed by the Union forces, when the Con-
federate Generals Bragg and Kirby Smith were
threatening Louisville in 1862. Mr. Mix was always
greatly attached to the old homestead, which had
been the scene of such thrilling events, and a pecu-
liar charm attached to the hospitality extended to
the friends who gathered around him there. His
charity was as broad and generous as his hospitality,
and during the later years of his life, many poor fam-
ilies were supported almost entirely by his bounty.
Always a close student of the Bible, Mr. Mix be-
came noted locally as a ripe biblical scholar. His
studies made him an orthodox churchman and a
warm friend and supporter, as well as a member, of
the Episcopal Church.
He married, in 1866, Alice Amelia Davies-
daughter of David H. Davies, a prominent and
wealthy merchant of Louisville — -whose artistic
tastes and accomplishments have given her great
prominence in art circles. Her artistic talent mani-
fested itself in her early childhood, and her parents
encouraged it by giving her the best masters in
drawing and painting. She received instruction at
the noted French school of Madame Desreyaux,
and some of her pictures have been painted at the
Polytechnic Art School of this city. Much of her
original work has been in flower studies, which have
received unstinted praise, but her favorite work has
been copying the old masters. In the perfect draw-
ing and true sense of color and execution which
have characterized her copies of such paintings as
Guido Reni’s masterpiece, the celebrated fresco of
“Aurora,” and J. G. Brown’s realistic picture, “The
First Cigar,” she has shown rare artistic skill and
talent. She has copied paintings of Gnercino, Cig-
nani and many other eminent artists in such a man-
nar as to win the highest commendation of the art
critics, and her executions of designs in wood carv-
ing have been hardly less notable accomplishments.
The surviving members of Mr. Mix’s family are
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
381
Mrs. Mix and Davies, William, Elizabeth and Lor-
aine Mix — three sons and one daughter. Davies
and William have succeeded to the law practice of
their father, and both stand high among the younger
members of the Louisville bar. Davies Mix, the
elder son, was for some years closely associated with
his father in the conduct of the business of the of-
fice, and both he and his younger brother gradu-
ated from the law department of the University of
Louisville in the class of 1893. The youngest of the
sons, Loraine Mix, a graduate of the City High
School, is now — 1896 — engaged in the study of law.
TUNIUS CALDWELL, lawyer, was next to the
^ youngest of four brothers who achieved great
professional distinction in Louisville and three of
whom were for many years leading members of the
bar. He was born March 2, 1820, in Columbia,
Adair County, Kentucky, son of William and Anne
(Trabue) Caldwell, both of whom were natives of
Virginia, the former of Scotch-Irish and the latter
of French Huguenot extraction. The parents of
both his father and mother settled in Kentucky early
in the history of the commonwealth, and his father
was for forty years clerk of the Circuit and County
Courts of Adair County, and for more than fifty
years clerk of the County Court of that county.
Junius Caldwell was educated in the schools of
Adair County and later at Georgetown College,
leaving college to succeed his father as clerk of the
Circuit Court of Adair County, the latter having re-
signed that office at the end of forty years’ service.
He entered upon the discharge of his duties as
clerk of the court in 1841 and continued to
hold the office twenty years, declining a re-election
at the end of that time. Like many of the foremost
lawyers of Kentucky he studied law while filling the
office of clerk of the Circuit Court, and the experi-
ence which he gained while serving in that capacity
doubtless contributed' largely to his success at the
bar. He had served as a deputy in his father’s office
before he went to college, and under the careful
training of that astute and capable court officer
learned lessons of great value to him in later years.
In 1863 — the year after his last term of service as
Circuit Court clerk ended — he formed a law partner-
ship with Judge James Garnett and began the prac-
tice of law at Columbia, the capital of Adair Coun-
ty, the town in which he had been born and brought
up and in which he had served a score of years as a
court officer. He continued to practice in Columbia
until 1865, when he removed to Louisville and en-
tered into a partnership with his elder brother,
Colonel George Alfred Caldwell, and his younger
brother, Isaac Caldwell, both of whom had
gained a commanding position at the bar of
this city. As a lawyer he was indefatigable
in his study and researches, and never rested
satisfied until he had exhausted every means
of information in the preparation of his cases. He
was one of the busiest lawyers at the bar, but his
studious habits enabled him to indulge in a wide
range of reading, and in this way he gained a broad
general knowledge of literature and the sciences.
He loved poetry, history and theological literature,
and the Bible was his favorite study. Devout by
nature, he united with the Baptist Church at Colum-
bia in 1837, when he was seventeen years of age.
When he removed to Louisville he became a mem-
ber of the Walnut Street Baptist Church, and
to the end of his life he was one of the faithful and
zealous churchmen of that congregation. He was
one of the deacons of the church for many years, a
teacher in the Sunday School, and in every way
used his means and influence to advance the cause
of Christianity. He was always a Jeffersonian Dem-
ocrat, but was too much absorbed in his profes-
sional labors to take an active interest in politics.
He married Miss Henrietta Rochester — daughter
of Charles H. and Mary Rochester, of Danville,
Kentucky — in 1864, and is survived by his wife only,
no children having been born of their union. He
died in Louisville December 16, 1891.
ILLIAM RUMSEY KINNEY was born in
Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky, on the 15th
day of September, 1834. His father was John Kin-
ney, son of Major John Kinney, of the Revolution-
ary Army, and one of the original founders of the
Society of the Cincinnati, of which Major Kinnev
is a hereditary member. His family on his father’s
side settled in this country at a very early day, one
of his ancestors having founded the second oldest
newspaper in the United States. It has descended
from sire to son for generations, and is now owned
by one of Major Kinney’s second cousins. On his
mother’s side he is a descendant of Charles Rum-
sey, who became an exile because of his participa-
tion in the Battle of Culloden, and settled in Cecil
County, in Maryland, he being the grandfather of
Dr. Edward Rumsey, who was the grandfather of
the subject of this sketch. James Rumsey, who built,
as it is claimed, the first steamboat in the United
States, and ran it on the Potomac from Shepards-
382
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
town, in Virginia, was Major Kinney’s great-uncle.
Major Kinney was licensed to practice law on the
15th day of March, 1851, when sixteen years and six
months old, by Judges Calhoon and Devereux, and
from that time has been engaged in a large practice
in the State of Kentucky, also being employed in
cases in other States. In 1856 he was elector for the
Second District on the Fillmore ticket. In i860 he
was assistant elector for the State at large on the
Bell and Everett ticket. He was an ardent Union
man during the war, enlisted in the army and was
made major of the Twelfth Kentucky Cavalry. In
1863 he was elected to the Legislature, and was
made chairman of the Committee on Retrenchment
and Reform. While in the Legislature he intro-
duced resolutions in favor of adopting the Thir-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the Unit-
ed States, and advocated them in a speech which at-
tracted attention throughout the country, the speech
being republished in many papers in the North and
East. He has not been an office-seeker or office-
holder, but when called to render any service to the
State has always responded without hesitancy. I11
1878, when Judge Burnett was killed by a mob in
Breathitt County and the judge of the Circuit Court
driven from the county, Governor McCreary request-
ed him to go to Breathitt and conduct the prosecu-
tions against the rioters. In response to that re-
quest lie went to that county and remained there
for about two months, indicting and prosecuting all
who were connected or had to do with those riots.
Subsequently he was requested by Governor Knott
to go to Letcher County to conduct the prosecu-
tions against the outlaws there. There had been no
court held in that county for several years. He,
with Judge William L. Jackson, Sr., went to Letcher
County, without soldiers, conducted the court to a
successful issue, trying every one whom they were
commissioned to try, and convicted all except one.
Upon his return home he was requested by Gov-
ernor Knott to go to Rowan County, where similar
troubles were existing, and did go, and performed
the duties required of him to the satisfaction of Gov-
ernor Knott. He has probably made more political
speeches than almost any man now living while not
an office-seeker himself, having taken part in every
canvass in his own State since 1855; and in the
States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana
and Delaware, since the war, speaking frequently
from two to three times a day, always to large audi-
ences, and giving satisfaction to his party. He was
elector for the State at large on the Cleveland ticket
in 1892, and made chairman of the Electoral College
of the State, being the oldest member and having
received the largest vote of any member. He is
still engaged in the practice of the law, being the
senior member of the firm of Kinney, Gregory &
Kinney in the city of Louisville.
He married Miss Fannie Allen, daughter of D.
B. Allen, a leading merchant of Louisville, January
31, 1856. Six children were born of their union, five
of whom are living. The children are Willis G.,
William A., Fannie and Mary Kinney and Mrs.
Henry O. Gray. Mrs. Kinney died in 1890.
T AMES R. W. SMITH, a prominent attorney and
^ acting judge of the Louisville City Court, was
born in New Albany, Indiana, August 28, 1842. His
father, Major Isaac P. Smith, was a native of Spring-
field, New Jersey, who removed to New Albany in
1835. He was an architect and builder, and was
appointed architect and superintendent of construc-
tion of State Prison at Jeffersonville. He built the
county jail and city hall in New Albany, and was
architect and builder of many of the finest buildings
of that city. During the Civil War he was quarter-
master of the Twenty-third Indiana Regiment until
the organization of the Seventeenth Army Corps,
when he was detailed by General James B. McPher-
son as acting assistant quartermaster-general of
transportation on General McPherson’s staff, and
served in that position until the death of General
McPherson at Atlanta. After the war he held an
important position in the quartermaster’s department
in Jeffersonville, until within a short time before his
death, which occurred January 7, 1887, in the eighti-
eth year of his age. Major Smith was a member of
the Second Presbyterian Church of New Albany for
many years and a resident of the city for over fifty
years. Abby H. (Campbell) Smith, mother of James
R. W. Smith, was a native of Newark, New Jersey,
and is now a resident of New Albany, greatly ad-
vanced in years; a member of the Second Presbyter-
ian Church and a lady of education and refinement,
beloved by a large circle of devoted friends, and
noted for her deeds of charity.
The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood in
New Albany, attending the public schools and fin-
ishing his preparatory education in a celebrated
academy of which Professor O. V. Tousley was prin-
cipal. He then began the study of law in the office
of Judge David W. LaFollette, and after reading
with him for two years, went to the Cincinnati Law
College and was graduated with the first honors of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
383
his class, April 19, 1865. Since May 1st of the same
year he has been a practitioner at the Louisville bar.
He has represented the Eleventh Ward in the Louis-
ville School Board a number of terms, beginning in
1876. In 1883 he was elected State Senator for a
term of four years from the Thirty-eighth Senator-
ial District, comprising the Eighth and Twelfth
wards inclusive. In this capacity Judge Smith dis-
tinguished himself as a man of ability and of the
highest integrity, taking a very active part in all
measures of importance, and not caring for a law
committee, was made chairman of the Railroad
Committee. He was State Senator during the mem-
orable senatorial contest for a caucus nomination
for United States Senator between Hon. John S.
Williams and Hon. J. C. S. Blackburn, and made a
reputation as a man of firmness and individual opin-
ion by refusing to change his vote from General
Williams to Blackburn, though petitioned to do so
by his constituents in an immense petition.
When the new city charter for Louisville was
adopted providing that the judge of the Police
Court should have a vacation during the months
of July and August each year and authorizing the
mayor to appoint a judge to preside during the
absence of the judge of the court, Mayor Tyler
appointed Judge Smith to this important position,
which he filled with signal ability during the months
of July and August, 1894 and 1895, and many
times also in the absence of the regular judge. He
demonstrated his fitness for the office by just and
fearless rulings, and by an administration of the
law without fear or favor for the protection of the
people against crime, criminals and deeds of vio-
lence. The criminal was punished and crime sup-
pressed, while justice was tempered with mercy to
the youthful offenders or those guilty of a first
offense or deserving mercy. The criminal and ha-
bitual law-breakers were very shy of the Police
Court when Judge Smith was on the bench, and
he made for himself a reputation as a criminal
judge that is not confined to Louisville, but known
and recognized throughout the country. The cele-
brated detective, William Pinkerton, when in Louis-
ville, visited the Police Court and expressed the
opinion that “Judge Smith was one of the best
men for such a position he knew and that no
thieves would come to the city with him on the
bench.”
He was married October 21st, 1869, to Anna E.
Baldwin, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Smith is a
graduate of Glendale Female College of Glendale,
Ohio, and a lady of considerable literary ability. She
is a member and president of the Ladies’ Missionary
Society of Covenant Presbyterian Church of Louis-
ville, and member of the Ladies’ Board of Man-
agers of Presbyterian Orphan Asylum, and also cor-
responding secretary of the Synodical Missionary
Society of Kentucky.
In politics Judge Smith is a Democrat, though of
conservative tendencies, and has taken a prominent
part in nearly every State and National contest since
he came to Kentucky, his services being in demand
in political campaigns. As a public speaker he has
.been a logician and argumentative speaker, or
dealer in facts, instead of a rhetorician. He prefers
the law to politics, and declined public positions
in consular service or that would take him away
from Louisville.
He was reared in the Presbyterian Church, both
of his parents having been members of that faith
for over fifty years. He is a member of no secret
orders except the Louisville Lodge of Elks and
Cherokee Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, of
Louisville. He has always resided in one locality
in the Eleventh Ward, in Louisville, and has been
popular with the people, though fearless, outspoken
and frank in his opinions.
\17TLLIAM P. D. BUSH, who has been a mem-
ber of the Louisville bar since 1888 and a
member of the Kentucky bar for a full half cen-
tury and who has achieved distinction as a soldier
and in public life as well as at the bar, was born
March 14, 1823, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His
father was Christopher Bush, a farmer of the high-
est respectability. The grandfather of W. P. D.
Bush, who was also named Christopher, came from
Holland and settled in Virginia about 1750. This
immigrant ancestor served his adopted country as
a soldier in the Revolutionary War and soon after
the close of the Colonial struggle for independence
came with Colonel John Hardin and other brave
and adventurous spirits to Kentucky. He assisted
in building a fort near Hardinsburg, and whilst liv-
ing in that fort one of his eldest sons was killed by
the Indians whilst he was out hunting for game.
He afterwards removed to a fort near Elizabeth-
town, in Hardin County, and whilst living with his
family in that fort Christopher Bush, the father of
W. P. D. Bush, was .born in 1790. Christopher
Bush, Sr., raised a large family of children on his
farm near Elizabethtown. One of his daughters,
Sally Bush Johnson, became the second wife of
384
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Thomas Lincoln, the father of President Abraham
Lincoln, who was much indebted to her and affec-
tionately devoted to her as his kind and affectionate
step-mother. Christopher Bush, the father of W.
P. D. Bush, also raised a large family of children.
One of his daughters, Mary Ellen, became the wife
and widow of the Hon. Martin H. Cofer, who, at
the time of his death, was Chief Justice of the Court
of Appeals of Kentucky.
On a large farm owned by his father on Valley
Creek, about four miles from Elizabethtown, W. P.
D. Bush was born. His mother was Polly Goodin,
a daughter of Isaac Goodin, a Revolutionary soldier
— a farmer of high standing.
During his boyhood William P. D. Bush attend-
ed the country schools and his education was com-
pleted in the seminary of Elizabethtown under the
preceptorship of Professor Robert ITewett, a justly-
celebrated teacher and scholar. Soon after leaving
the seminary he began teaching school and taught
three terms in Hodgenville, Larue County, Ken-
tucky. In 1845 he was appointed deputy clerk of the
Hancock County and Circuit Courts and held that
position nearly two years. During this time he com-
pleted the study of law, which he began while teach-
ing school, and upon proper examination in the
Circuit Court, was licensed to practice his profes-
sion in the courts of the Commonwealth in the year
1846. His professional career was interrupted at
the outset by the declaration of war on the part of
the United States Government against Mexico.
He was one of a large number of young Ken-
tuckians who promptly volunteered to take up arms
in defense of the honor and dignity of our Govern-
ment, and was mustered into the service as second
lieutenant of the company, commanded by Captain
Decius McCreery, of the Fourth Kentucky In-
fantry. The regiment was commanded by Colonel
John S. Williams, who still lives in the enjoyment
of a green old age, and who has been known since
the Mexican War as General “Cerro Gordo” Wil-
liams, on account of his conspicuous bravery at the
battle of Cerro, Gordo Heights. Judge Bush re-
mained in the service until the close of the Mexi-
can War and then returned to Hancock County,
Kentucky, where he again opened a law office. He
soon acquired prominence at the bar and built up a
large and lucrative practice. He served as county
attorney of Hancock County for several years, and
was also interested to a considerable extent in the
purchase and sale of real estate and in the operation
of coal mines. He lived on a farm containing
more than eight hundred acres of land, which ad-
joined the town of Lewisport, from i860 to 1867,
and he is still the owner of three hundred acres of
this land, including the old homestead. In 1853 he
was elected representative in the Legislature from
Hancock County as a Whig, and in 1861-1863 and
1865-1867 he represented the same county in the
Legislature as a Democrat. He was serving in the
Legislature in 1865 when the act repealing what
was known as the “expatriation act” of 1861, was
passed, and it is of interest to note in this connection
that he was largely instrumental in placing the re-
pealing act on the statute books of Kentucky. Soon
after the bill was passed and while it awaited the
signature of Governor Bramlette, the Governor
sent for Mr. Bush and informed him that he was
inclined to veto this bill, and believed the Legisla-
ture should pass in its place a bill which would re-
peal the expatriation act as to all persons who had
gone South, or into the Confederate Army, from
Kentucky during the Civil War upon the condition
that they should take an oath of allegiance to the
general government and have such oath recorded
in the clerk’s office of the county in which they
resided. To this Judge Bush replied that he had
favored and voted for the repeal of the expatriation
act, feeling that the war was over; that Kentuckians
were and must remain upon terms of perfect equal-
ity as one people; that every resident of Kentucky,
born anywhere in the United States, was legally a
citizen of Kentucky, and that to require such as had
espoused the cause of the South to take and have
recorded an oath of allegiance would justly be con-
strued as an attempt to humiliate them, and would
perpetuate the animosities growing out of the war.
Governor Bramlette listened attentively to his argu-
ment, admitted that he could not answer it, and on
the day following approved the bill as it had been
sent to him by the Legislature.
In 1868 Judge Bush was appointed reporter of
decisions of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and
held that office for twelve years thereafter. Four-
teen volumes of the reports of the courts were com-
piled and published under his direction, and his
work in this connection received the highest com-
mendation of the bench and bar of the State. Re-
moving with his family to Frankfort in 1868, he
engaged in the practice of the law in the Capital
City and remained there until 1888, and was re-
tained in many important cases in the Court of Ap-
peals. In the case of the Covington & Lexington
Railroad Company vs. Bowler’s heirs, involving the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
385
title of the Covington & Lexington Railroad (re-
ported in 9th Bush, 468), he was one of the coun-
sel for appellant. In the celebrated case of Hardin
County vs. the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Company, decided by the Court of Appeals Decem-
ber 19, 1891, in which the county recovered about
$275,000 in money and stock of the company, he
was the chief counsel of the county for some years,
and in each of the above-mentioned cases his fees
amounted to over $30,000. Since his removal to
Louisville he has continued in active practice in the
courts of this city and the higher courts, although
of late years his health has been impaired to some
extent and he has been unable to devote as much
time to professional work as formerly. At the pres-
ent time he is devoting a large share of his attention
to land and coal mining interests in different Ken-
tucky counties.
An interesting experience, and one to which it is
natural that he should recur with pride, was an in-
terview which Judge Bush had with President Lin-
coln during the Civil War. Soon after the last
draft of soldiers had been made in Kentucky, he
went to Washington on his own account and as a
private citizen and called the President s attention
to the fact that while Kentucky had sent many men
into the Union Army and many men into the Con-
federate Army, the names of all remained upon the
military rolls, and the small number of men left at
home was required to furnish the full quota of
drafted men without making any allowance for
these absentees. As a result, the draft bore heavily
upon the few Kentuckians of military age who had
remained at home, and was unjust to them and to
the State of Kentucky. This presentation of facts
appealed to the President to such an extent that he
directed the discharge of all the men who had been
drafted in Kentucky under the last call, placing the
order in the hands of Judge Bush, by whom it was
delivered in person to the commandant of the mili-
tary department of Kentucky. This was an impor-
tant service rendered to the State and to the large
number of men who had been drafted into the mili-
tary service at that time.
In addition to his prominence at the bar, Judge
Bush has been well known throughout the State
also as an editorial writer and newspaper publisher.
For several years he was connected with the “Louis-
ville Evening Ledger,” as part owner of that paper,
and for some time prior to 1876 he was sole owner
of that ably edited and popular publication. He
has been a stanch adherent to the Democratic
25
faith since the dissolution of the old Whig party.
At different times he has taken a prominent part
in the conduct of State and national campaigns, and
for several years was an active and influential mem-
ber of the Democratic State Central Committee.
He married, in 1852, Miss Carrie V. Ghiselin,
daughter of John D. Ghiselin, a prominent citizen
of Norfolk, Virginia. Happily mated to a lady of
congenial tastes, amiable disposition and superior
intellectual attainments, his domestic life has been
of an ideal character. He became a member of the
Methodist Church South at Hawesville, Kentucky,
in 1850, and has ever since been a worthy member
of that church and in all respects an honest, up-
right, high-minded, Christian gentleman.
C ONTAINE T. FOX, lawyer, was born June
1 10, 1836, in Somerset, Pulaski County, Ken-
tucky, son of Fontaine T. and Eliza (Hunton) Fox.
His father, who was prominent in public life, hav-
ing served as a member of both branches of the
Kentucky Legislature, Commonwealth’s Attorney
and Circuit Judge, was born in Madison County,
Kentucky, in 1803, and died full of years and hon-
ors, at Danville, Kentucky, in 1887. His paternal
grandparents, William and Sophia (Irvine) Fox,
were both natives of Virginia, as were also his ma-
ternal grandparents, Thomas and Ann Hill (Bell)
Hunton. His mother was born in Albermarle Coun-
ty, Virginia, in 1810, and is still living in Danville,
Kentucky.
Fontaine T. Fox, of the Louisville bar, received
his academic training at Centre College, of Danville,
Kentucky, and was graduated from that institution
in the class of 1855. For a time after leaving
college he taught school in Boyle and Shelby coun-
ties, and then studied law and was admitted to the
bar. During the Civil War he lived at Elizabeth-
town, Kentucky, and in 1866 came to Louisville,
where he has since been engaged in successful prac-
tice. During the years 1869-70 he served as a mem-
ber of the Louisville Board of Aldermen. He was
Assistant City Attorney in 1870-71-72, and Vice
Chancellor of the Jefferson Circuit Court in 1878.
Reared a Democrat, believing in a strict construc-
tion of the Constitution, and in sympathy with the
Democratic party on National questions which have
been at issue between the two great political parties
of the country within the past twenty-five years, he
has taken independent action on State and local
issues in some instances, and has labored with
especial zeal to bring about prohibition of the traffic
386
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
in intoxicating liquors. In 1885 he was the candi-
date of the Prohibition party for State Treasurer of
Kentucky, receiving thirty-nine thousand five hun-
dred and twenty-five votes for that office, that being
the largest number of votes ever cast for a Prohibi-
tion candidate for any office in any State of the
Union. In 1887 he was a candidate for Governor
of Kentucky on the same ticket, and again received
a vote which was flatteringly large compared with
the votes cast for Prohibition candidates in other
States.
Judge P'ox is the author of a legal work entitled
“The Law of Warranty in the Fire Insurance Con-
tract,” and of a literary work entitled “The Woman
Suffrage Movement in the LTnited States: A Study
by a Lawyer.” He is a member of Warren Me-
morial Church, and in his adherence to the Pres-
byterian faith has followed in the footsteps of his
ancestors, successive generations of which have been
Presbyterians for more than two hundred years.
His father was a lineal descendant of a Covenanter
and a Huguenot, and his mother is a direct descend-
ant of an English Non-conformist minister.
In 1882 Judge Fox married Miss Mary Barton,
daughter of Professor S. B. Barton, of Louisville,
Kentucky.
\X/ILLIAM T. HAGGIN, lawyer, was born in
’ ’ Mercer County, Kentucky, October 5, 1817,
son of John and Mary (Respass) Haggin, and died
in Louisville in 1862. His father was a prosperous
farmer of central Kentucky, and a brother to James
Haggin, of Frankfort, who was in his time one of
the most noted lawyers in the State and also a prom-
inent politician.
William T. Haggin came to Louisville in his
youth and studied law in the office of Terah T. Hag-
gin, another brother of his father and a lawyer of
fine attainments. He was admitted to the bar when
George N. Bibb was Chancellor and John J. Mar-
shall Circuit Judge. Having thoroughly mastered
all the legal points of his cause and thoroughly fa-
miliarized himself with the somewhat complex rules
of the Chancery Court, his early appearance in the
courts attracted to him the attention of older mem-
bers of the bar and excited favorable comment.
Young as he was in practice, he seemed to know
exactly when and how to obtain what his client
might be entitled to, and was never treated with
the apparent rudeness sometimes characteristic of
Chancellor Bibb’s intercourse with older members
of the bar. His success as a practitioner in the
Chancery Court was especially marked, and before
many years had elapsed he had built up a large
general practice. At a later date he became the
law partner of Alfred Harris, and in addition to a
varied local practice this firm obtained a large col-
lection business from Eastern merchants.
Mr. Haggin was not only a capable lawyer, but a
man whose integrity of purpose and his fidelity to
duty strongly attached to him those who had busi-
ness or professional relations with him. Once his
client, they continued to seek his services when
occasion required, having in him that implicit confi-
dence which is begotten by fair dealing and efficient
professional services. In politics he was a Demo-
crat when the Whig and Democratic parties were
the two great parties of the country. At one time
in his early life he was the candidate of his party
for representative in the Legislature, but all Louis-
ville was then intensely anti-Democratic and he was
defeated. Afterward he became a member of the
American party and was elected to the State Sen-
ate, but his taste for public life was soon satisfied.
He married, in 1851, Susan Elizabeth Brent, of Paris,
Kentucky. Mrs. Haggin was the daughter of Thom-
as J. Brent, prominent as a banker in Paris and one
of the early settlers of Bourbon County. Of six
children born to their union three are now living.
Mary D. Haggin, who married Lucien B. Quigley,
and Elizabeth A. Haggin, who married Louis Stew-
art, reside in Louisville. Susan Brent Haggin, who
married Horace C. Prince, resides in Savannah,
Georgia.
XX/TLLIAM L. JACKSON, lawyer and jurist, was
v ' born at St. Mary’s, Pleasant County, Virginia,
August 12, 1854, and died in Louisville, Decem-
ber 29, 1895. He was the son of General William
L. Jackson, who belonged to a distinguished Vir-
ginia family, served as Lieutenant-Governor of the
Old Dominion, commanded a brigade in the Con-
federate Army during the Civil War, achieved dis-
tinction as a practicing lawyer and member of the
judiciary, both in Virginia and Kentucky, and who
was, at the time of his son’s birth, Judge of the
Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Vir-
ginia. At the beginning of the Civil War the family
passed through the military lines and came to Louis-
ville— where the husband and father joined them
after the struggle ended — and the son, then but
seven years of age, grew up in the city in which
he was later to become so conspicuous as a citizen
and public servant.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
387
His education was obtained in the public schools
and completed at the Male High School, from which
he graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1874.
Immediately after his graduation from the High
School he began the study of law under the pre-
ceptorship of his father, and at the same time at-
tended the lecture courses of the law department
of the University of Louisville, being graduated
from the University in the class of 1876. After his
Graduation from the Law School he took a short
O
special course at the University of Virginia, and
then returned to Louisville, ready to begin active
professional work as a lawyer. He had inherited
from his father a love of the law and many of the
distinctive traits of character which had made the
elder Jackson a sound lawyer and an able jurist,
and, having prepared himself thoroughly for pro-
fessional work, began his career at the bar under
favorable auspices. Becoming senior member of
the firm of Jackson & Phelps, he soon established
himself in successful practice, commanding the con-
fidence of the public and enjoying a large share of
personal popularity from the start. In 1881 he was
elected to the Legislature, and at the close of his
first term was twice re-elected, his majority in each
election being emphatic testimonials of a popular
appreciation of his ability and worth. While he
was serving as a member of the Legislature, J. T.
O’Neal became associated with him in practice, the
style of the firm thus organized being changed to
O’Neal, Jackson & Phelps.
His father — who was then serving as Judge of
the Circuit Court of Jefferson County — died in 1890,
and almost immediately thereafter the suggestion
that the son should succeed to the honorable posi-
tion thus left vacant came from many members of
the bar. Hon. Asher G. Caruth, then a member of
Congress, came from Washington to attend the
funeral of Judge Jackson, Sr., and was one of the
first to call attention to the son’s fitness to wear
the mantle of the father. There seemed to be a
consonance of opinion among the members of the
bar on this subject, and William L. Jackson, Jr.,
yielded to the solicitation of his friends and ac-
cepted the Judgeship. When the time came for an
election, Judge Jackson was returned to the bench
without opposition, so ably and impartially had he
discharged his judicial duties in the interim. As a
Criminal Court Judge, his duties were necessarily
arduous and his ambition to serve the public faith-
hilly and efficiently made Judge Jackson , a hard
worker.
He had a profound appreciation of the responsi-
bilities which devolved upon him and labored con-
scientiously and assiduously to discharge every obli-
gation to both litigants and lawyers. His health
broke down under the strain of too constant appli-
cation and, although he struggled heroically to re-
gain it, the end came while he was still in the morn-
ing of life. His death robbed the bench of a just,
pure-minded and able jurist, and the bar of Louis-
ville of one who had done honor to his calling. In
the resolutions formally adopted by the bar and
spread upon the Court records, occurs this para-
graph: “In his death, the City of Louisville apd
the State of Kentucky have lost a citizen and a
judge, whose heart was filled to overflowing with
an affectionate regard for his people and his State;
and the poor and afflicted of the commonwealth
have suffered the loss of a benefactor and friend,
who has healed for them many a wound and who
has made the path of many a burdened one easier
to travel.” This was the testimony of men who had
been most intimately associated with him, who had
taken note of him as he came and went among the
people, and who had personal knowledge of his high
character and noble manhood. Other tributes were
paid, on the same occasion, to his modest demeanor,
his usefulness, the purity of his public and private
life, his innate love of right and justice, his just
judgments, and his devotion to duty when borne
down by the physical infirmities of his later life.
Seldom, indeed, has the death of a member of the
Louisville bar caused more profound sorrow among
his associates, all of whom admired his talents and
character, loved him as a man, and honor his mem-
ory.
Much might be added concerning the proceed-
ings of the bar at this memorial meeting, but lack of
space forbids the incorporation into an historic
sketch of this character of extended eulogies. In a
beautiful and touching tribute to his memory,
uttered by one who had known him most inti-
mately from boyhood up, we find, however, a sum-
ming up of his virtues and distinguishing charac-
teristics which may fitly close this sketch. Said this
speaker, a distinguished member of the bar:
“Believing in the omnipotence of the Ruler of the
Universe, I am ready to confess that he may here
after make for this world a better man, yet reverent-
ly and calmly I avow to you that as yet the Maker
has ne’er made and placed amongst us a nobler,
purer, better man than was William L. Jackson.
388
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
schoolmate, and whether in the schoolroom or on
the playground he was the same kind, popular,
generous being that you have known. In his
studies and in his play he was distinctively a leader ;
a boy who seemed born to lead his associates; a boy
who had about him a certain something which made
others look up to him and made them admire and
love him. As a citizen he so carried himself
amongst his friends and associates and before the
people generally that they learned to love him and
to know him as a man who had naught but good in
his nature and who would rather serve a troubled
or afflicted neighbor, who would rather ease the pain
of some troubled friend or supply the want of some
needy acquaintance than to win a crown for himself.
If we could but know the truth, there are in this
community many, many homes wherein his name
has been mentioned in prayer and has been blessed
and is revered as the name of a friend of the friend-
less. He made no proclamation of his kindly deeds
on the street corners, nor did the noisy trumpet of
applause herald the fact when some wound had
been healed or some needy one been relieved. His
was a benevolence ‘which droppeth like the gentle
dew from Heaven in the stillness of the night when
there is no eye to witness it save that of the All-
Good Father, from whom cometh every good and
perfect gift.’ His practice of charity and his distri-
bution of kindly deeds ‘was less conspicuous even
than the gentle shower which paints a rainbow of
beauty as it falls.’
“It was my good fortune to be associated with
him in the practice of our profession when we had
just begun our career and to continue with him as
his close friend and his partner and associate up to
the time when he was honored by this people with
a jndgeship. I need not tell you, my brothers, of
the good traits and the upright bearing of this man.
You knew him well. Yet I have seen him and
known him at times which would try a man’s heart;
I have seen him in hours of trouble, of affliction, of
adversity and success, and I bear witness now that
all the while he was the same courageous, kindly,
upright gentleman that you knew. No client ever
had a warmer or more interested advocate than he;
no friend ever gave to him a confidence that was
not well bestowed.
“I have seen and known him well in his home
life. No woman was ever blessed with a more
tender, more considerate or affectionate husband
than was his wife. No father and mother e’er had
a son so full of promise and hope or one who
brought to their hearts more of real comfort and
joy than did his parents. His devotion to his
father and mother was beautiful to behold. The
family tie to him meant much and he gave his love {
in abundance, and that, too, in a practical way, to
all his family. He loved his home and found there
a joy which sweetened his life and wiped away what-
ever of care and trouble he found in the outer
world. In speaking of home, I once heard him
refer in a tender way to that old legend which comes
from somewhere in the faraway East which says,
‘that when the end of the world had come and when
the gates of Heaven were opened and the floods
descended, when every creature was rushing hither
and thither in the mad attempt to find refuge, that
an angel from Heaven came to earth and plucked
from Eden’s choicest bower her choicest rose, and,
pinning it to her bosom, bore it away to Heaven.’
And the legend says ‘that the fragrance of that rose '
has been kept through all ages, and that even yet
it is given to man to at some time in his life inhale
its sweetness.’ He declared that he believed that [
the occasions when it was given to him to enjoy the
fragrance of that angel rose were the hours which f
he spent in the sanctity of his home.
“No better citizen, no truer friend e’er lived i
amongst us than he. But, alas! he’s gone, and we j
who loved him can but cast upon his bier a garland j
of tender remembrance. His faults we have written >
upon the sands; his virtues we shall inscribe upon
the everlasting tablets of love and memory.”
Brought up an Episcopalian, he lived and died a j
worthy churchman, his membership being in Cal- |
vary Church. He is survived by his wife — Miss j
Effie E. Brown, of New Orleans, Louisiana, before j
her marriage — and a daughter, Fannie M. Jackson.
j_J ORATIO W. BRUCE, distinguished as a law-
^ * yer, jurist and public man, was born February
22, 1830, near Vanceburg, Lewis County, Ken-
tucky, and belongs to the fourth generation in Amer- >
ica of a family whose Scotch origin is apparent in
the name. His great-grandfather was a Scotch
merchant who settled in Virginia some time before
the middle of the last century, and his grandfather,
John Bruce, was born in Pittsylvania County, Vir-
ginia, in 1748. John Bruce, who married a daugh-
ter of Henry Clay, Jr., of Mecklenberg County, Vir-
ginia, and who was one of the pioneers of Ken-
tucky, died in Garrard County in 1827, and his son,
Alexander, the father of Judge Horatio W. Bruce,
was born in that county in 1796. Alexander Bruce
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
389
married Amanda Bragg, also a native of Kentucky,
who was of English extraction and Virginia parent-
age, and Judge Bruce was one of the children born
of this union. The elder Bruce was a lawyer, farm-
er, merchant and mill owner, who represented Lewis
County in the Kentucky Legislature at the session
of 1825-26 as an “Old Court Man.” Just thirty
years later the son represented Fleming County in
the same Legislature as a member of the American
party.
Judge Bruce obtained his academic education in
private and subscription schools of Lewis County,
and Manchester, Ohio, and, although later in life
he held a collegiate professorship for several years,
he was never himself an attendant at a public school,
college or university. His studies were not, how-
ever, confined to such as received his attention in
the schools — which included the higher mathematics
and Latin — but extended over a much broader field,
in which he labored to a considerable extent with-
out the aid of the “living teacher.” When in his
sixteenth year he became a salesman, book-keeper,
etc., in a general store in Vanceburg, and was em-
ployed several years in that capacity. In 1849 and
1850 he also taught two terms of school — one in
Vanceburg and the other at Quick’s Run. He was
studious by nature, and while employed in these
capacities, he applied himself diligently to the ac-
quisition of useful knowledge, his design being to
fit himself for the profession in which he has since
achieved signal distinction. He began reading law
in Lewis County and completed his studies under
the preceptorship of Hon. Leander M. Cox, of Flem-
ingsburg, a very able lawyer and a man of varied
and extensive erudition.
In 1851 he was admitted to the bar and entered
upon the practice of his profession in Fleming
County. The same year he was appointed examiner
for Fleming County — when the office was first cre-
ated in the civil code of practice — that being the first
office he had ever held. He was soon afterward
elected a trustee of the common schools in the
Flemingsburg district, and in 1855 was sent to the
Legislature. In 1856 he was elected common-
wealth’s attorney of the Tenth Judicial District, com-
posed of the counties of Mason, Lewis, Greenup,
Rowan, Fleming and Nicholas. This office he held
until early in 1859, when he resigned on account of
his having removed to Louisville in December, 1858.
After his coming to this city he was associated
with General Ben Hardin Helm in the practice of
law until the beginning of the Civil War. The
war terminated this association and severed, for a
time, his connection with the Louisville bar. Born
and brought up a Whig, politically, he became an
active, working member of that party in his young
manhood, and made his first political speeches in
favor of Scott and Graham, the Whig candidates for
President and Vice-President respectively, in 1852.
V hen that party ceased to exist he became a mem-
ber of the American party, and, as already stated,
was sent to the Legislature by that party. In the
presidential campaigning of i860 he supported the
Bell and Everett ticket, but after that allied himself
with the State’s Rights party, being its candidate for
C ongress in the Louisville district at the special
election held in June, 1861.
When the Southern States determined to secede
from the Union he found himself in full sympathy
with the movement and was a member of the South-
ern Conference held at Russelville, Kentucky, from
the 29th to the 31st of October, 1861, and of the
Sovereignty Convention, which met at the same
place on the 18th of the following November, pur-
suant to a call issued by the conference. That con-
vention, it will be remembered, adopted — in connec-
tion with a preamble giving reasons therefor — the
following ordinance: “Therefore, Be it Resolved,
That we do hereby forever sever our connection
with the Government of the United States, and in
the name of the people, we do hereby declare Ken-
tucky to be a free and independent State, clothed
with all power to fix her own destiny and to secure
her own rights and liberties.” The convention also
adopted a constitution and established a provisional
government for the State, with which Judge Bruce
was connected until 1862 as a member of the Legis-
lative Council. In 1862, Kentucky having been
admitted by the Confederate Congress as a member
of the Confederacy and authorized to send twelve
members to the Confederate House of Representa-
tives, Judge Bruce was elected to and served in
that body until it was dissolved by the fortunes
of war.
At the close of the war he returned to Louisville
and resumed the practice of law as head of the firm
of Bruce & Russell. In 1868 he was elected Cir-
cuit Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, composed
of the counties of Jefferson. Oldham, Shelby, Spen-
cer and Bullitt, and in 1873 lie became chancellor
of the Louisville Chancery Court by appointment.
Fie was soon afterward elected to that office to fill
out an unexpired term, and in 1874 was re-elected
for a full term of six years. In March of 1880 he
390
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
resigned the chancellorship to return to the practice
of his profession, accepting, at that time, the attor-
neyship of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Company, which he has ever since retained, suc-
ceeding Judge Russell Houston as chief attorney
of the company after the latter’s death. For eight
years he held a professorship in the law department
of the University of Louisville and contributed his
full share toward establishing its high reputation
as a law school.
As general practitioner and jurist he enjoyed a
high standing at the Louisville bar, and as legal
counselor of the great corporation with which he
has been so long connected, he stands equally high
among Western and Southern corporation lawyers.
His entire life has been devoted to his profession
and to the public duties he has been called upon
to perform, and having been a close student of the
law — “a jealous mistress” — he has had little time
to devote to public enterprises in any other than a
professional capacity. He was married, in 1856, to
Elizabeth Barbour Helm, who was a daughter of
John L. Helm — of “Helm Place,” Hardin County —
and Lucinda Barbour Helm. Two sons and three
daughters are the living children of Judge and Mrs.
Bruce.
T AMES P. HELM, who has been a member of
^ the Louisville bar since 1871, was born Janu-
ary 7, 1850, at “Helm Place,” near Elizabethtown,
Hardin County, Kentucky, son of Hon. John L. and
Lucinda Barbour (Hardin) Helm. Those familiar
with the history of Kentucky know how conspicuous
a part the Helm, Hardin, Barbour, Pope and LaRue
families bore in laying the foundations of the com-
monwealth, and there is a commingling of all these
strains of blood in the veins of the accomplished
Louisville lawyer now rounding out a quarter of
a century of continuous and successful professional
labor.
His great-grandfather, Thomas Helm, immigrated
to Kentucky from Prince William County, Virginia,
in 1782, and first settled on the site of Louisville
with William Pope and Henry Floyd, who accom-
panied him from Virginia. A year later he removed
to what has since been known as “Helm Place,” a
mile and a quarter from Elizabethtown, and erected
a fort there to protect himself against the Indians.
He married Jenny Pope, ,who was a near relative
of the Popes who had settled at Louisville, and one
of their sons was George Helm, who, in 1801, mar-
ried Rebecca LaRue, born in Frederick County,
Virginia. Her parents also settled in Kentucky
long before it became a State. John L. Helm was
one of the sons born of this union, and through his
marriage to Lucinda Barbour Hardin — a daughter
of the great pioneer lawyer, Ben Hardin — the Bar-
bour and Hardin strains of blood were handed
down to his descendants. Ambrose Barbour, the
grandfather of Mrs. Helm, who immigrated to Ken-
tucky at an early date, was a son of James Barbour,
one of the first vestrymen of St. Mark’s Parish, in
Culpeper County, Virginia, and the progenitor of a
very distinguished Virginia family. The Hardins
were seated originally in Virginia, and in the
French and Indian wars and the campaigns against
the Indians which followed, the name appears fre-
quently in the military and other historical records.
John Hardin recruited a company of sharpshooters
and joined the Continental Army as a second lieu-
tenant at the beginning of the Revolutionary War,
and being soon after promoted and assigned to the
rifle corps of General Daniel Morgan, served with
that command until 1779. He came to Kentucky
first in 1780, and in 1786 removed his family
hither. From that time until he met his death at
the hands of the Indians, not far from Fort De-
fiance, in 1792, Colonel John Hardin was a leader I
among the gallant spirits who wrested a vast terri-
tory from the savages and opened the way for the
westward march of American civilization. From the
day that they first set foot on the soil of Kentucky,
down to the present time, the members of this family
have been noted for high courage and broad in- |
tellectuality, and descent from such ancestors can
not be regarded otherwise than as a rich heritage.
John L. Helm, the father of James P. Helm, was
one of the most prominent men of his generation,
and “in practical usefulness in the development of
the material resources of Kentucky,” says Thomas
M. Green, in his “Historic Families of Kentucky,”
“was surpassed by no other man.” The same au- j
thor says: “John L. Helm preferred to devote his j
attention to the material interests of the people and 1
of the commonwealth, rather than to the discussion
of National issues. Eleven times he was elected ;
from Hardin County to the House of Representa- r
tives, his terms of service extending from 1826 to
1843, and times was chosen speaker of that
body. He was elected to the Senate in 1844-48.
During the time he was in the Legislature the sys-
tem of internal improvements was commenced and
prosecuted; the turnpikes built, which preceded the
railroads, and the slack-water navigation pushed
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
391
forward; the Louisville & Lexington Railroad con-
structed— all by the aid of the State. Of all these
measures, which added greatly to the wealth of
Kentucky, Mr. Helm was an earnest, an influential
and sagacious advocate. His services to the State
in shaping the laws and devising the means for
meeting the large expenditures incurred, in cre-
ating the Board of Commissioners of the Sinking
Fund, and providing for the extinguishment of the
large debt entailed by this wise policy, were highly
important.” In 1849 he was elected Lieutenant-
Governor on the ticket with John J. Crittenden, and
when Mr. Crittenden resigned to become attorney
general in President Fillmore’s cabinet, Mr. Helm
filled out the unexpired term of the Governorship.
For some years afterward he was president of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and was
one of the leading spirits, if not the master spirit,
in carrying forward the construction of the line of
railway which renders so much of the South tribu-
tary to Louisville. In 1865 he was again elected
to the State Senate, and in 1867 was elected Gov-
ernor of the commonwealth, but died five days after
his inauguration.
James P. Helm was one of the younger sons of
this remarkable man. After finishing his academic
course of study he matriculated in the Law Uni-
versity of Louisville and was graduated from the
Law School in the class of 1870. Immediately after-
ward he began the practice of law at Elizabethtown,
his old home, but a year later he removed to Louis-
ville and formed a partnership with Samuel Russell.
This association and co-partnership continued until
1884, when it was dissolved by Mr. Russell’s retire-
ment from practice. Mr. Helm then associated with
himself his nephew, Mr. Helm Bruce, son of Judge
Horatio W. Bruce, and this association has con-
tinued up to the present time, the firm being recog-
nized by the bar of Kentucky as one of the ablest
law firms in the State.
Since he entered upon the practice of law he has
devoted all his time and attention to his profession,
and has been identified with a vast amount of im-
portant litigation. He has been one of the leading
corporation lawyers of the city, in the larger sense,
and has devoted himself assiduously and with great
success to corporation and commercial law. While
not what is called the corporation attorney of the
L. & N. Railroad, he frequently appears in impor-
tant cases for the road, both in the lower and Ap-
pellate courts. Pie is known for the careful prepara-
tion of his cases, being thorough in marshaling his
evidence and exact in the statement of his case. To
this he adds a pleasing address, a forcible delivery
and a winning courtesy to both bench and bar. To
both his associates and opponents in a case he is
civility itself, and at the opening of a suit in court
his bearing to the opposing counsel reminds one
of the suavity and high-toned courtesy of a mailed
knight, cordially saluting his antagonist, against
whose breast his spear is soon to impinge in the
clash of the tournament. When well into it he
knows how to give as well as receive blows, and
will face any peril for his client or the right. But
such is his firm adherence to his cause and so little
does his ardor partake of personality that his con-
flicts at the bar have no sting and make no estrange-
ments. Public life has had for him no allurements,
and his activity in politics has consisted mainly in
the championship of Jeffersonian Democracy and
the advocacy of free trade and a sound currency as
cardinal principles of the Democratic faith.
He married, in 1874, Miss Pattie A. Kennedy,
who was born and reared in Jefferson County, and
lias a family of two sons and two daughters.
T AMES STOCKTON RAY, lawyer, was born
^ near Edmunton, Kentucky, November 19, 1846,
son of Presley S. and Brady (Stockton) Ray, his
descent being from Maryland and Virginia ancestry.
He was educated at Centre College, of Danville,
Kentucky, graduating from that institution in the
class of 1867. Immediately after leaving college he
studied law at Columbia, Kentucky, under the pre-
ceptorship of Judge James Garnett, and in 1870
was licensed to practice by Circuit Judges T. T.
Alexander and Fontaine T. Fox. He began the
practice of his profession at Springfield, Kentucky,
and remained there until 1875, when he removed to
Louisville. In 1874 he was appointed Master Com-
missioner of the Circuit Court for Washington
County, and held that office until he removed to
Louisville. He was in active and successful practice
in this city from that time until 1888, at which time
he abandoned the practice to give attention to pri-
vate business interests. Becoming president of the
Pine Mountain Coal & Iron Company, he continued
at the head of that corporation until 1891, when
the company sold its lands and mines to the South-
ern Land & Improvement Company, a Kentucky
corporation, in which the largest shareholders were
Minneapolis, Minnesota, capitalists.
When he retired from the management of the
land and coal company he did not resume the prac-
392
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tice of law, but retired to a farm in Jefferson County,
on which he has since continued to reside. His
only active connection with city interests since that
time has grown out of his appointment as receiver
of the Columbian Fire Insurance Company of Amer-
ica, which failed in 1894. He was appointed re-
ceiver of this corporation by the Circuit Court of
Jefferson County in July of 1895, and has since been
engaged in winding up its affairs. His political
affiliations are with the Democratic party, and he is
a Presbyterian churchman, a member of Falls City
Lodge No. 376 of Master Masons, and of DeMolay
Commandery No. 12 of Knights Templar.
He was married in 1869 to Miss Susannah Star-
ling Davidson, daughter of Edward L. and Cameron
(Stites) Davidson, now of Louisville, but formerly
of Springfield, Kentucky. His wife died in 1887,
and of six children born to them three sons are
now living.
P DMUND FRANCIS TRABUE, lawyer, son of
Stephen Fitz James and Alice Elizabeth (Berry)
Trabue, was born at “Weehawken,” his father's resi-
dence in Franklin County, Kentucky, March 25,
1855. His father, who in his seventy-fifth year is
still hale and vigorous, was the son of Chastine H.
Trabue, descended from a Huguenot family which
early settled in Virginia, whose father and all of the
family able to bear arms were soldiers in the Revo-
lutionary War, and their descendants in the War
of 1812. His grandmother, Elizabeth Trabue, was
the daughter of James Trabue, commissary under
George Rogers Clark in his Illinois campaign. The
Trabue family came to Kentucky in 1783, some of
them settling in Woodford County, from which
branch the subject of this sketch is descended; oth-
ers settling in Adair County, from which the late
James Trabue, of Louisville, and Colonel Robert P.
Trabue, of the Fourth Confederate Regiment, were
descended. Stephen Fitz James Trabue was a grad-
uate of law in Transylvania University and has long
been prominent in central Kentucky as a lawyer
and politician, having, in 1847, 1849 and 72, run
as an independent candidate for Congress, being-
defeated in 1849 by Charles S. Morehead, the Whig
nominee, afterwards governor, by only sixty-seven
votes. His wife, Alice Elizabeth Berry, was the
daughter of Edmund T. and Sarah Frances Berry,
a lady of every womanly virtue and strong, culti-
vated mind.
Edmund Francis Trabue received his early educa-
tion in neighborhood schools and at the Kentucky
High School, an incorporated college at Frankfort,
Kentucky, of which E. M. Murch and J. W. Dodd
were at different times principals. From this insti-
tution he was graduated with the degree of A. B., 1
in June, 1874. He then entered the Law School of
the University of Louisville, and received the de-
gree of LL. B., in March, 1875. In the same year
he was admitted to practice by the Court of Appeals,
and in December of that year he moved to Louis-
ville, where he has since followed his profession.
After several years of practice he took the summer
law course under Professor John B. Minor, at the |
University of Virginia. Mr. Trabue early attained !
a good position at the Louisville bar, and has de- j
voted himself largely to the department of corpora- |
tion law. This has led to his practice largely in !
the Federal Courts in this and other States. In the
Supreme Court of the United States he was ad- j
mitted to practice October 15, 1883. In 1881, when l
twenty-six years of age, he was engaged in the rail- !
road express cases at Indianapolis before Judges I
Harlan and Gresham, associated with such veterans
as Hendricks, of Indianapolis, and Isaac Caldwell,
of Louisville. He has been counsel for many large |
corporations, such as the East Tennessee, Virginia j
& Georgia Railway Company; the Cincinnati, New j;
Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Company; the j
Illinois Central Railroad Company; the Louisville, [
New Albany & Chicago Railway Company, and oth- j
ers. In 1890 he was counsel in the Louisville
Bridge Company-Louisville, New Albany & Chi-
cago and Ohio & Mississippi litigation before Judge j
Gresham, at Indianapolis. These recitals indicate
the bent of Mr. Trabue’s well-trained legal mind.
With more than twenty years’ experience at the
Louisville bar, lie is regarded as one of the best-
equipped attorneys in his special field of practice.
He is a member of the law firm of Pirtle & Trabue.
In 1893, when Judge Howell S. Jackson of the judi-
cial circuit embracing Kentucky was promoted to
the Supreme bench, Mr. Trabue was strongly en-
dorsed and recommended as his successor by the
judges of the Court of Appeals and Superior Court
of Kentucky, by his preceptor, Hon. John B. Minor,
of the University of Virginia, and by many prom-
inent lawyers of Kentucky and other States, with j
whom he had been associated in important cases.
Mr. Trabue is a liberal Democrat in his political as-
sociation, but he has never been a candidate for
elective office, nor has he ever been diverted from
his profession by active participation in political
affairs. He was reared in the Episcopal Church,
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
39:
having been baptized in Ascension Church, Frank-
fort, Kentucky, by Rev. John N. Norton. By mar-
riage he is connected with the Presbyterian Church.
On the 1st of October, 1883, he was married to
Miss Carrie Cochran, daughter of Gavin H. and
Lucinda (Wilson) Cochran, of Louisville, and a
woman of the very highest order of intellect and
attainments. They have one child living, Lucinda
Cochran Trabue.
T OHN C. BLTLLITT, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
^ vania, distinguished as a jurist, statesman and
man of practical business affairs, was born in Jeffer-
son County, Kentucky, February 10, 1824. He
comes of a stock sturdy in mental as well as physical
strength. The paternal ancestor of the family in
America was Benjamin Bullett, a French Huguenot,
who, with others, fled from the historic Province of
Languedoc, after the revocation of the edict of
Nantes, to escape the persecutions that followed
during the troublous days when France was the
bloodiest ground in all Europe. His father was
William C. Bullitt, and his mother Mildred Ann Fry,
the daughter of Joshua Fry, who came to Kentucky
in 1788, and was the grandson of Joshua Fry, who
was, at the time of his death, in 1754, in command
of the Colonial troops, and was succeeded by George
Washington, then his lieutenant-colonel. His pa-
ternal grandfather, Alexander S. Bullitt, removed
to Kentucky about 1783 and was president of the
convention which framed the first constitution of
the State; his father, William Christian Bullitt, was
a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849,
which framed the third State constitution, while
other members of the family were noted for their
distinguished services to the State.
John C. Bullitt spent his boyhood days in the
vicinity of his birthplace. He was educated at Cen-
tre College, Danville, Kentucky, and was gradu-
ated from that institution at the age of eighteen,
carrying off the honors of his class. A natural
taste for the law led him to its study, and he took
a three years’ course at Transylvania University, of
Lexington, Kentucky. Immediately upon attaining
his majority he was admitted to the bar in Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and in September of that year re-
moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, where he begran
the practice of the profession in which lie has proven
an ornament and an ennobling influence from that
day to this.
In 1849, Mr. Bullitt, having determined to seek
a broader field, removed to the city of Philadelphia,
whose bar was then graced by famous lawyers
whose names have passed into history as the giants
of their profession. He was then twenty-five years
of age, and his first important case was in taking
charge of the assets of the Schuylkill Bank, an in-'
stitution which had been decreed to the Bank of
Kentucky to make good the losses of the latter by
reason of the overissue of their stock by the cashier
of the former bank. Virgil McKnight, the presi-
dent of the Bank of Kentucky, had implicit confi-
dence in the ability and integrity of Mr. Bullitt, and
felt sure that, while quite a young man to entrust
with such a responsibility, his judgment was ripe
beyond his years. vAnd so it proved. The prop-
erty consisted of bonds, stocks, real estate in Phila-
delphia, and coal lands in Schuylkill County. The
young lawyer conducted the sale of these assets
with rare skill. Everything was left to his judg-
ment, and he proved his business ability and lawyer-
like tact to his clients by securing or paying to them
the sum of $900,000. This gave him a deserved
reputation, and business men and bankers who had
litigation to look after eagerly sought his services.
It was about this time that Mr. Bullitt began to
take an active interest in politics. He was educated
a Whig and was an ardent supporter of the doc-
trines of Henry Clay. In the political agitation
which ensued in the year 1850, growing out of the
admission of Texas and the organization of the
Territories acquired from Mexico, he sustained Mr.
Clay in his celebrated compromise resolutions and
made his first appearance as a speaker before a
monster mass-meeting held in Philadelphia by the
friends of that statesman, in which he distinguished
himself and made a permanent reputation as an
orator. When the Whig party was dissolved, Mr.
Bullitt became a Democrat and was as courageous
in the maintenance of his views as he had previously
been with every question with which he had had to
deal. While he opposed secession, he opposed the
extreme views taken by the Republican party, and
held that the Civil War was precipitated more by
the blind enthusiasm of contending factions than by
any other cause. In an opinion given in 1862 on
the “Habeas Corpus” controversy, he displayed
especial argumentative powers in response to an
argument by the late Horace Binney. This was
entitled “A. Review of Mr. Binney ’s Pamphlet on the
Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus Under the
Constitution,” and was acknowledged by lawyers
in general, and Mr. Binney in particular, as a mas-
terpiece of controversial logic. His legal practice
394
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
grew steadily, for, although he took part in all po-
litical movements of importance, he in nowise neg-
lected the business of his clients. Especially has
he been most successful in the conduct of cases of
large magnitude growing out of the settlement of
the business of railroad and other corporations, in-
volving nice distinctions of law. In the complicated
cases of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad and
the Northern Pacific he took a leading part, and
was chiefly instrumental in their successful reorgani-
zation. In the celebrated Whitaker will case in
which it was attempted to gain possession of prop-
erty valued at a million dollars, by the forgery of a
will, attended with circumstances which made it al-
most as famous as the Tichborne case in England,
Mr. Bullitt succeeded in exposing and defeating the
scheme and sending the conspirators to prison. An-
other notable case in which Mr. Bullitt's great
energy, ability and skill were conspicuous was that
of General Fitz John Porter, who had been aspersed
and deprived of his rank by court martial upon a
charge of unsoldierly conduct and cowardice on the
battlefield of the second Bull Run, in 1862. For
sixteen years he had vainly pleaded for justice and
sought a reversal of the verdict which placed such
a stigma upon him, by a restoration of his rank in
the army. Mr. Bullitt, with many others, believed
him the victim of partisan persecution and made a
sacrifice to appease the popular wrath aroused by
the incompetence of his superiors. When applied
to by General Porter, he readily took charge of his
case and labored with characteristic energy to re-
lieve his friend from the charge under which he had
so long rested. Finally he succeeded in having: a
Board of Inquiry appointed, which sat for eight
months. After the most rigid investigation, Mr.
Bullitt succeeded in proving that General Porter,
instead of having been derelict in the performance
of his duty, was deserving of the highest praise, and
that the facts were totally at variance with the evi-
dence given at the court martial. By the finding
of the court, General Porter was fully vindicated,
and by act of Congress in 1885-86 he was restored
to his former rank.
In the municipal affairs of Philadelphia Mr. Bul-
litt has exerted a large influence for good, being
prominent in matters of municipal reform and tlfte
author of the “Bullitt Bill,” under which the city
government was reformed and the methods of its
administration made simpler and purer. He has
ever declined office, preferring to pursue his prac-
tice without such diversions, and only mingling in
public affairs for the public good. His large prac-
tice has not only made him a leading member of the
Philadelphia bar in point of professional promi-
nence, but has yielded him a handsome fortune.
One of the finest buildings in the city, erected by
him, is known as “Bullitt Building.”
Mr. Bullitt married Miss Therese Langhorne,
who died April 30, 1881. He has seven children !
living: Therese L., widow of Dr. Coles, of the f
United States Navy; William C., vice-president of
the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company; Logan
McKnight, formerly vice-president of the Northern
Pacific Coal Company, but now president of the
Virginia Development Company; Julia; Helen,
wife of Walter Rogers Furness, of Philadelphia;
Rev. James F. Bullitt; and John C. Bullitt, Jr.,
studying medicine.
HARLES S. GRUBBS, lawyer, was born in
Maysville, Kentucky, April 11, 1848, son of
Rev. William M. and Zerelda Grubbs. His father
was a minister, who was for many years a member
of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Epis- j
copal Church South, later was transferred to the [
Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and still later was a member of the South- [
east Indiana Conference. His mother was a daugh-
ter of Rev. Jonathan Stamper, a Methodist minister
of great force and power, who was widely known
throughout the State in the early history of Ken-
tucky. For many years he preached in this State,
and then removed to Illinois, where he died in 1864.
Mr. Grubbs comes of two very old Kentucky
families, both his paternal and maternal grandfath-
ers having settled early in what constitutes the |
present State. Both these ancestors came from Vir-
ginia and both were prominent as pioneers. His
great-grandfather on the paternal side, Higgson
Grubbs, settled in what later became Madison
County, and was a member of the first Kentucky
Constitutional Convention. He was active in pub-
lic life, as was also his son, John Grubbs — grand-
father of Charles S. Grubbs — who removed to Logan
County when that county was first settled and was
a prosperous farmer of high standing in the com-
munity in which he lived, once or twice represent-
ing his county in the Legislature. Mr. Grubbs’
great-grandfather on his maternal side was one. of
the early settlers in what is now Madison County.
Rev. William M. Grubbs was one of the able and
popular members of the Methodist Church, who
filled pulpits in some of the leading cities of the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
395
three states in which he labored as pastor, among
these cities being Louisville, Covington and Mays-
ville, Kentucky, and Bloomington and Carlinville,
Illinois. About i860 he removed to Logan Coun-
ty, Kentucky, and for a time lived on a farm. The
changes of location, made necessary under the itin-
erant system of the Methodist Church, interfered to
some extent with the continuity of his son’s educa-
tional training, and his early education was obtained
in the schools of several cities. When fitted for col-
lege, he was sent to Bethel College, at Russellville,
and there completed his academic course. Having-
selected the law as the profession he would follow,
he then came to Louisville and was prepared for ad-
mission to the bar in the law department of the
University of Louisville. After his admission to
practice he went to Russellville, and about 1870 en-
tered upon an active professional career, which has
continued up to the present time. In 1874 he was
elected presiding judge of the Logan County Court
and at the end of his first term of four years was re-
elected, serving in all eight years in that judicial ca-
pacity. He was also, for eight years, commissioner
of the sinking fund of Logan County, several times
a member of the town council, and held other local
offices.
At the end of his second term on the bench he
severed his connection with the Russellville bar to
enter a broader field as a member of the Louisville
bar. He came to this city in 1882, equipped for the
best class of professional work by a dozen years of
active practice and his judicial experience, and he
at once took a prominent position among the law-
yers of this city. Having little taste for the pyro-
technics of the profession, he addressed himself
mainly to those branches of the law which deal with
and affect the business interests of the country, a
field of practice which, in this material age, fur-
nishes abundant scope for the best legal talent and
occupies the attention of the best legal minds. His
knowledge of the law, his habits of research, and the
judicial cast of his mind combined to make him an
able counsellor, and his conscientious methods and
fair treatment of clients have made him a popular
and trusted counsellor. Trusts committed to his care,
commercial and corporation business, have given
him a large and valuable practice, and in every de-
partment of his profession he has shown himself the
capable lawyer and honorable practitioner.
As a citizen he is no less highly esteemed by the
general public than by his brethren of the legal pro-
fession. He has contributed his full share toward
forwarding all movements for the moral betterment
of the community, and for several years has been a
vestryman of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church.
Since he cast his first vote for the nominees of the
Democratic party, at Russellville, he has been a
member of that party, although not an active parti-
san.
He was married in 1876 at Frankfort, Kentucky,
to Miss Nannie Rodman, daughter of General John
Rodman, at one time attorney-general of Kentucky.
The only child born of this marriage is John Rod-
man Grubbs, now a student at the University of Vir-
ginia.
VyATSON ANDREWS SUDDUTH, lawyer,
was born near Sharpsburg, Bath County,
Kentucky, March 3, 1855, ^ie only son of William
Lane and Juliet Dorsey Andrews Sudduth. His
father was the fifth William Sudduth in direct de-
scent, his middle name being taken from that of his
mother, Lucy Lane, daughter of William Lane, who
moved from Culpeper County, Virginia, in the earlv
part of this century. The Sudduths and Lanes were
both of English extraction.
William Sudduth, the paternal great-grandfather
of the subject of this sketch, came to Kentucky in
1783, landed at Limestone (now Maysville) from
a canoe, and walked to Strode’s Station, in what is
now Clark County. After being in Kentucky sev-
eral months he went back to Virginia, and in 1785
returned with his father and his father’s family, set-
tling at Hoods Station, Clark County, Kentucky.
Here were born to him eleven children, two
daughters and nine sons, all of whom, except Ben-
jamin, the youngest son, married and had large fam-
ilies; and yet, such has been the course of events that
Watson Andrews Sudduth is the only one of the
name (save his children) now living in Kentucky.
It is a singular coincidence that a few years ago,
a connection of the family, who visited England in
the vain search of a fortune, found the old burying
ground where many of the Sudduths were buried,
but there was no living person bearing the name in
England. The elder William Sudduth, here men-
tioned, was a prominent man in his section of the
country. He was an expert surveyor and surveyed
a large part of Eastern Kentucky ; many plats, sui-
veys and entries made by him are now on file in the
land office at Frankfort.
William M. Sudduth, his son, was a lawyer bv
profession, and was for a long time the clerk of the
Bath County and Circuit courts, but early in life
■39fi
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
moved to the farm near Sharpsburg, where he lived
until his death, July 30, 1859. He was a cultivated
gentleman, well educated for the times, and well-
known throughout that part of the State. William
Lane Sudduth, his only child, was educated by pri-
vate tutors, and even at this day would be consid-
ered a highly educated man, having been well train-
ed in the classics. He was in all respects an estim-
able citizen, and a gentleman greatly beloved for all
the social graces and domestic virtues. All who
knew him still speak of him as one of the most cul-
tivated gentlemen they ever met. Coming into pos-
session of a handsome estate, he was a prosperous
farmer, with fine herds of the choicest cattle, and a
man known even beyond the bounds of this State for
his refined and liberal hospitality. In his wife, Juliet
Dorsey Andrews (to whom he was married Septem-
ber 4, 1850) he found a congenial partner, noted
equally for her skill as a housewife and for her in-
tellectual endowments and culture. There were born
to William Lane Sudduth and Juliet Dorsey An-
drews, his wife, five children, Watson Andrews, the
subject of this sketch; Lucy Lane, who is married
to A. L. Botts, of Flemingsburg; Margaret Pickett,
who is married to Harry Andrews, of Flemings-
burg; and Emily Howard and Betsey Dorsey, who
are unmarried, and reside with their brother. Mr.
Sudduth’s mother has the distinction that any mother
might envy, of having herself educated all of her
children. With the exception of a few months at
school, the subject of this sketch received all of his
instruction from his mother before he entered col-
lege. Her maternal grandmother, for whom she
was named, was Juliet, the third daughter of Colo-
nel James McDowell, son of Judge Samuel McDow-
ell, president of eight of the ten conventions which
preceded Kentucky’s statehood, and brother of the
distinguished surgeon, Dr. Ephraim McDowell. She
married Dr. Edward Dorsey, an early physician of
great distinction, who lived in Flemingsburg, Ken-
tucky, and they had two daughters, one of whom,
Elizabeth, became the wife of Hon. Landaff Watson
Andrews, and these were the father and mother of
Mrs. William Lane Sudduth. Of her father, Landaff
Watson Andrews, no words of praise can do justice
to his noble character without semblance of flattery
to those who did not know him. He was a son of
Robert Andrews, a native of Pennsylvania, of Scotch-
Irish descent, who came to Kentucky in 1792, and
settled in Woodford County, Kentucky. He was a
tanner by trade, and finding oak bark getting
scarce in Woodford County, moved to Fleming
County, settled within one mile of Flemingsburg,
and built the old Andrews homestead, which is now
more than a century old, where all of his children
were born. Judge L. W. Andrews was one of the
youngest children, being born February 3, 1803. He
was educated at Transylvania University, spending
eight years there in the preparatory school, in the
college and in the law school. He graduated dur-
ing the prosperous days of the university and un-
der the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Holly. He
was admited to the bar in 1826, and began the prac-
tice of law in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, where he
resided until his death, December 4, 1888. He serv-
ed as county attorney at intervals from 1828 to 1833,
was a member of the lower house (in which his
father had served in 1800 and 1801) in 1834, 1838
and 1861-63; and was a member of the Senate from
1857 to 1861. In 1838 he was elected as a Whig
to the Twenty-sixth Congress, and was re-elected in
1840 in a district which was largely Democratic; his
election being due to his superior qualities as a
politician and his extraordinary, and almost un-
equalled power as a “stump speaker.” He carried
with him to Congress the reputation of an accom-
plished lawyer and a politician of note, and enjoyed
the close friendship of Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster.
In August, 1862, his wife died, and in the same
month he resigned his seat in the Legislature to as-
sume the duties of circuit judge of the (then) Tenth
Judicial District, to which he was elected in August,
1862. In this capacity he served six years, enjoying
the reputation of an able and upright judge. His
term embraced a critical period of Kentucky’s his-
tory, when too often military excess was in conflict
with law, but while Judge Andrews was devoted to
the Union cause, he “never forgot,” in the language
of the biographer, “that loyalty to the Federal and
State Constitutions and laws must subordinate the
capricious passions and impulses of the hour if vic-
tory should preserve anything of liberty.” No man
ever lived more in the esteem, the confidence and af-
fections of the people of Kentucky than this vener-
able patriarch of the waning nineteenth century.
Upon the expiration of his judicial term, he resumed
the practice of the law with extraordinary success,
conducting a large practice throughout the Four-
teenth Judicial District until a short time before his
death in the eighty-sixth year of his age.
Watson Andrews Sudduth, after receiving his
early education under the tutelage and direction of
his mother and father, and after spending a few
months in the schools of Flemingsburg, entered
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
397
Centre College, at Danville, Kentucky, in 1872, and
-was graduated second in his class June 18, 1874.
During his college course he had read law diligent-
| ly, and after graduating he pursued the study of the
law with characteristic diligence under his grand-
father with the intention of entering Harvard Law
School. On the 8th of July, 1875, his father, whose
fine estate had been swept away by unfortunate en-
| dorsements for his friends, died suddenly, and left
his wife and four daughters dependent upon his only
I son for support. He therefore relinquished his pur-
, pose of going to Harvard and immediately entered
| upon the practice of law, establishing in a short time
a very lucrative practice in the section of country
where he lived, supporting his mother from that
time until her death, June 13, 1895. He also had the
gratification of caring for his sisters, two of whom in
this interval had married. He continued the prac-
tice of law in Flemingsburg, in connection with his
grandfather, until the time of the death of the latter
near the close of 1888; and in August, 1889, he re-
moved to Louisville. Here he formed a partnership
with the Hon. H. L. Stone, under the firm name of
Stone & Sudduth, which has continued since that
time, the firm having a large practice in the State and
Federal courts. Mr. Sudduth, while yet a young
man, has had nearly twenty-one years of legal ex-
perience such as has fallen to the lot of few men of
his age. Of a highly intellectual cast of mind, im-
proved by broad reading outside of the line of his
profession, he early mastered the intricacies of the
law and took rank at once with the ablest and most
experienced lawyers of his circuit, practicing in the
Federal court at the age of twenty-five, and success-
fully conducting complicated cases involving large
sums of money and intricate questions of law at an
age when few young lawyers have drawn a brief.
Encountering the gravest responsibilities, the man-
hood of his nature was early spurred to the fullest
development, with the best results. With many of
the best elements of his distinguished grandfather,
tempered with the gentle attributes of a noble moth-
er, he presents a personal character in keeping with
the high position he enjoys as an able advocate and
an upright lawyer. On the 17th day of December,
1879, lle was happily married to Miss Mary McCon-
nell, daughter of George W. V. McConnell, a prom-
inent citizen of Woodford County, and a descendant
of the pioneer family of that name, who were the
first founders of Lexington and McConnell’s Sta-
tion, now in that city’s limits. Their children are
George McConnell Sudduth, now fifteen; William
Lane Sudduth, thirteen; and James Sudduth, in his
third year. The two first are named respectively for
their maternal and paternal grandfathers, and the
youngest for a granduncle of Mr. Sudduth, Major
James Sudduth, who was a distinguished soldier both
in the Mexican and the late Civil wars, and who fell
in service as a distinguished colonel of a Federal
regiment.
VXJ ILLIAM OTHO DODD, who was identified
v v with the Louisville bar from 1869 to 1886,
and achieved honorable distinction in his profession
and as a citizen, was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi,
December 25, 1843, and died in Louisville, Decem-
ber 13, 1886. He was the son of Allen and Char-
lotte (McKee) Dodd, and on the paternal side was
descended from non-conformist English ancestors,
who came to America more than two hundred years
ago and settled in Virginia. His grandfather,
George A. Dodd, came from Virginia to Kentucky
in 1790. His father was born in Mercer County,
Kentucky, in 1808, removed to Mississippi in his
young manhood and died there in 1890. His mother
was also born in Kentucky — Garrard County being
the place of her birth — and died in Mississippi in
1894. Her antecedents were Scotch-Irish, her
grandfather having immigrated from the north of
Ireland and settled in Virginia in 1735, the family
coming thence to Kentucky in 1796.
The father of William O. Dodd was a prosperous
Mississippi planter prior to the Civil War, and the
son was well trained and well educated, largely un-
der the tutorage of his uncle, Rev. Dr. John L. Mc-
Kee, of Columbia, Kentucky. He was preparing to
enter upon a collegiate course when the war be-
gan, but like the great majority of the chivalrous
young Southerners of that period, he put aside the
business in hand and responded to the call to arms.
Enlisting in the Confederate military service in 1861,
he was mustered into the Fortieth Mississippi In-
fantry Regiment and soon became a participant in
the stirring events of the war. In September of
1862, at the bloody battle of luka, Mississippi, he
received a serious wound, which later led ro his be-
ing transferred to another branch of the service.
Rejoining his regiment before he had fully recov-
ered from his wound, he was in Vicksburg during
the siege and was, with the Confederate forces, sur-
rendered to General Grant. After being held for a
time as a prisoner of war, he was returned to the
Confederate service through an exchange of pris-
oners, and then found himself suffering from his old
39S
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
wound to such an extent that he sought and ob-
tained a transfer to the cavalry service. Being as-
signed to the command of General N. B. Forrest,
he served faithfully and bravely under the command
of that brilliant and daring officer until the close of
the war.
When he laid aside the uniform which he had
worn while battling in defense of principles which
he believed to be right, he did so with the feeling
that the controversy which had been waged from
the foundation of the government was finally and
forever settled. He had believed in the rig’ht of se-
cession, but wasted no time grieving over its failure
to succeed. Becoming a liberal Democrat in poli-
tics, he occupied that position to the end of his life,
interesting himself always in the success of his party,
but never offering as a candidate for any office. To
accept defeat philosophically and make the best of
the situation was what seemed to him the wise
course to pursue after the surrender at Appomattox,
and this view governed his own action.
His father’s fortune, which consisted largely of
slave property, had been swept away, and when he
returned to his home he found himself without the
means to continue and complete his collegiate edu-
cation, but adopting the motto, “Brains spurred by
necessity make the man,” he looked about for a way
to accomplish what he desired. He had already a
good education, which had been greatly broadened
by his experience as a soldier, and he sought and
obtained a position as tutor in a private family in
Oxford, Mississippi. This enabled him to enter the
University of Mississippi, and supporting himself
by teaching, he completed his college course, being
graduated in 1868 at the head of his class. At the
college he was popular with both the faculty and
students, and among his warmest friends was L. O.
C. Lamar, then professor of law at the university —
later United States senator and supreme court jus-
tice. Lamar gave him great encouragement and
assistance in completing his education, and under
the preceptorship of that eminent jurist and states-
man he was prepared for the bar.
The unfortunate condition of affairs in his native
State during the reconstruction period led him to
seek another field for professional labor after his ad-
mission to the bar, and in 1869 he located in Louis-
ville, declining a flattering proposition to associate
himself with Judge Lamar in the practice at Ox-
ford. As a member of the Louisville bar he soon
gained prominence and acquired a large and prof-
itable practice. He gave special attention to com-
mercial and corporation law, and became a distin-
guished practitioner in these departments of profes-
sional work, having appeared in some of the
most notable civil cases which have been tried in
the courts of Jefferson County. One of these cases,
which was a cause celebre, was the suit brought by
B. F. Avery & Sons against Thomas Meikle &
Company to restrain the defendants from using cer-
tain trade marks and imitating goods manufactured
by B. F. Avery & Sons to their detriment and loss.
This litigation was long drawn out and most hotly
contested, and as one of counsel for complainants he
was associated with John Mason Brown and Judge
P. B. Muir in carrying the case to the highest courts,
where they gained a victory for their clients.
Successful at the bar, he accumulated a com-
fortable fortune, and was thus enabled to gratify
naturally generous instincts by liberal contributions
to commercial, educational and other enterprises
tending to promote the welfare, material prosperity
and moral betterment of his adopted city. For the
welfare of the Confederate veterans of the war he
was always deeply solicitous, and was instru-
mental in organizing the Confederate Association of
Kentucky, of which he was the first president, a po-
sition which he still held at the time of his death.
He was a Presbyterian churchman and always a
firm adherent to that faith. His professional stand-
ing was high, and in all the relations of life he was
a most estimable citizen. The purity of his private
life, his domestic tastes and social graces were char-
acteristics of the man, which endeared him to all
those who were brought into intimate relationship
with him and especially to his own family circle. He
was devotedly attached to his family, and this tender
sentiment was fully reciprocated by those who had
lived in the genial atmosphere which always sur-
rounded him.
Mr. Dodd was married in 1872 to Miss Lottie
Lee Pearce, a daughter of Charles B. Pearce, of
Maysville, Kentucky, and a great-granddaughter of
Richard Henry Lee, of Revolutionary fame. Mrs.
Dodd survives her husband, with one son, Charles
Pearce Dodd, and two daughters, Marie Pearce and
Lottie Lee Dodd.
C NOCH EDWIN McIvAY, lawyer, was born in
^ Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky, April
7, 1835. Both his parents were natives of Nelson
County, and his father — Enoch Hebb McKay — was
a grandson of Richard McKay, who came with a
colony from the eastern shore of Maryland to Ken-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
399
tucky in 1796, settling in Nelson County, on Plumb
.Run, a tributary of Simpson Creek. His mother,
whose maiden name was Amanda Anderson, was a
daughter of Charity Elliott Anderson, who was the
first person in Bloomfield, Kentucky, to fall a victim
to the cholera scourge in the fearful epidemic of
1833. Mrs. Anderson’s father was Captain George
Elliott, who commanded the Virginia Navy in the
Revolutionary War and was a participant in the
siege of Yorktown and capture of Cornwallis.
Enoch E. McKay grew up and received his edu-
cation in the town of Bloomfield, being fitted for
college under the preceptorship of Samuel S. Ful-
ton and Thomas Baird, two noted Kentucky edu-
cators. He was graduated from Centre College, of
Danville, Kentucky, in the class of 1857, and then
studied law at Lexington under the preceptorship
of the distinguished lawyer and jurist, George Rob-
ertson, at one time chief justice of Kentucky.
In i860 he began the practice of law at Bards-
town, Kentucky, and continued a successful profes-
sional career in that city — which has long been fa-
mous for the high character of its bar — until 1875.
At that time he established an office in Louisville,
and for twenty years past has been prominent as a
member of the bar of this city, although he has con-
tinued to reside at his beautiful country home,
known as “Lucknow,” near Bardstown. His prac-
tice here has been large and lucrative, his standing
as a lawyer high, and his relations to the profes-
sion and to the public testify to his ability and high
character. From 1868 to 1874 inclusive he held the
office of county attorney and commonwealth’s at-
torney for Nelson County, but with this exception —
and this was in the line of his profession — he has
held no public offices, preferring to devote himself
entirely to his chosen calling. While serving as
county attorney he drafted a bill, which was enacted
into a law by the Legislature, authorizing the build-
ing of turnpikes in Nelson County, and in compli-
ance with the provisions of that law almost every
public highway in the county has been made a turn-
pike.
From boyhood up to the present time he has been
a Democrat of the strictest school, giving, without
abatement, his hearty support to the measures and
candidates of that party. At the beginning of the
Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate army and
joined the command of General John H. Morgan,
then organizing at Camp Charity, near Bloomfield,
Kentucky. Soon afterwards he was sent by Gen-
eral Morgan to Bardstown to ascertain and report
the number of Federal soldiers at that place under
the command of General M. D. Manson. The mis-
sion proved a hazardous one, and he was captured
and held as a spy. He was later released on parole,
and no subsequent action being taken by the mili-
tary authorities in his case, he was debarred from
again entering the Confederate service during the
war.
Brought up a Presbyterian, he has always ad-
hered to that religious faith. He became a mem-
ber of the Masonic order in 1878, and has served as
worshipful master of Duvall Lodge No. 6, of Bards-
town, Kentucky. He married, in 1863, Miss Ophelia
Wilson, the beautiful and accomplished daughter
of Tyler Wilson, Esq., of Bardstown, and a mem-
ber of one of the old families of the commonwealth.
T OHN WATSON BARR, eminent as lawyer and
^ jurist, was born in Versailles, Woodford Coun-
ty, Kentucky, December 17, 1826, and belongs to
that class of public men — no small number of whom
have shed lustre on the history of Kentucky by
their achievements — who have sprung from the
plain people. So far as the writer is informed, none
of his immediate ancestors were ever in public life
or held any public station, but they were sturdy,
honest, upright men, successful as men of affairs,
and good citizens. He is descended from English
and Scotch-Irish ancestors — the English predomi-
nating— who gravitated to Kentucky from the
States of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. His
paternal grandfather, Thomas Barr, married Mary
Barclay, in the city of Philadelphia, and from there
they came to Kentucky in 1787, settling in Fayette
County, where his father, William Barr, was born
in 1796, and where they spent the remainder of their
lives. His mother’s family came to Kentucky from
Virginia, but her father, Dr. John Watson, was a
native of Maryland. Dr. Watson married Ann
Howe, a daughter of Major Edward and Nancy
(Lyne) Howe, of Virginia, and their daughter, Ann
(Watson) Barr, was born in that State. Both the
grandparents and the great-grandparents of Judge
Barr on the maternal side came to Kentucky early
in the history of the State, and all died in this State.
His maternal grandfather, Dr. John Watson, was a
well-known pioneer physician of Woodford County,
and died there in 1821. Judge Barr’s mother also
died in Woodford County in 1829, when she was
less than twentv-one years of age, and when the son
was less than three years old. 1 1 is father, who was
a man of high character and sterling worth,
400
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
a prosperous merchant, and later a cotton planter,
died in Mississippi in 1844.
Judge Barr was educated in the private schools
of Woodford County, among his instructors being
Rev. Lyman Seeley, a Baptist minister, who was
somewhat noted in those days as an educator. It
can hardly be said he was fond of study as a boy,
but it may be said that his favorite studies, which
were mathematics and moral philosophy, indicated
the analytical bent of his mind and gave promise of
the development of reasoning powers which have
distinguished him at the bar and on the bench. He
read law in the office of Aaron K. Woolley and
George B. Kinkead, who were associated together
in the practice at Lexington, Kentucky, and, after
attending both the junior and senior courses of lec-
tures at Transylvania, received the degree of bach-
elor of laws from that institution, graduating in the
class of 1847. In the fall of the same year he opened
a law office in his native town of Versailles, becom-
ing, as he has sometimes naively observed in re-
ferring to the beginning of his professional life, “a
candidate for the practice of law.” While he suc-
ceeded fairly well in this field, he was not satisfied
with the breadth and scope of his opportunities, and
in 1854 removed to Louisville, where he formed a
professional association and partnership with Jos-
eph B. Kinkead. This partnership lasted ten years,
and within that time Judge Barr had impressed his
strong individuality upon the bar of the leading citv
of the State, and had become known to the public,
as well as to his professional contemporaries, as a
lawyer of fine attainments and high character.
In 1864 his old friend, John Kemp Goodloe, who
had also begun the practice of his profession at Ver-
sailles, removed to Louisville, and they formed a co-
partnership which continued until Judge Barr aban-
doned the practice to enter upon the discharge of
judicial duties. Judge Alexander P. Humphrey
was also a member of the firm for some years prior
to his appointment as judge of the chancery court,
in 1880, and the firm of Barr, Goodloe & Humphrey
was recognized throughout the State as one of the
ablest law firms in the commonwealth. For twenty-
six vears Judge Barr was in active practice as a
member of the Louisville bar, and in every depart-
ment of his profession he acquitted himself ably and
creditably under all circumstances. He was espe-
cially distinguished for his comprehensive knowl-
edge of the law, his sound and logical reasoning,
both in pleadings and arguments, his capacity for
research and investigation, his accurate judgments
and judicious counsels. He was an earnest, con-
scientious and digmified practitioner, as well as an
able and successful lawyer, and when he was called
to the exercise of high judicial functions, the selec-
tion was commended both by the bar and the gen-
eral public.
Prior to 1880 he had devoted himself assiduously
to professional work. Politics, which robs the bar
of so many capable lawyers, had had for him no at-
tractions, although he had always had well defined
political opinions and had not hesitated to give
forcible expression to his views when occasion re-
quired. He was reared under Whig influences and
became a Whig voter when he attained his major-
ity. When, however, the American party absorbed
the Whig party, he became a Democrat and voted
for Buchanan for President of the United States in
1856, and for Stephen A. Douglas in i860. But the
institution of slavery had always been obnoxious to
him, and as far back as iSqqhe had voted forThomas
F. Marshall for member of the convention which
framed the Constitution of that year, Marshall be-
ing the “open clause” candidate and favoring the
gradual emancipation of slaves in Kentucky. When
the controversy over the question of slavery led up
to civil war, he became an unconditional Union man
and co-operated with the loyal element that kept
Kentucky from joining the other Southern States in
the secession movement. He was active, at the be-
ginning of the war, in organizing the Home Guards,
and acted as adjutant-general of the brigade raised
under and by authority of the city of Louisville, of
which Hon. James Speed took command. He also
mustered into the State service several regiments of
troops raised under authority of the State Military
Board. The war issues brought him into hearty
sympathy with the Republican party, and when the
war ended he continued to act with that party, be-
lieving in a protective tariff and sound money, as
cardinal principles of his political faith. He never
took an active part in party management or political
campaigns, however, and never was a candidate be-
fore the people for high office. He was several times
a member of the city council and was also president
of the board of sinking fund commissioners of Lou-
isville, and one of the men who organized that
board. These official duties were such as did not
divert his attention from his professional labors, and
it was not until he was tendered the position of
judge of the United States District Court for the
District of Kentucky, that he abated his activity as
a practitioner of law. He accepted this appoint-
ifleiiiiiffiiiiwii!
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
401
ment, which came to him from President Playes, in
April of 1880, and since that time he has graced the
bench as he had previously honored his profession
as a practicing lawyer.
Judge Barr entered upon the discharge of his du-
ties as a judge of the United States courts peculiar-
ly well fitted to exercise the functions of that office.
The purity of his private and professional life, the
judicial quality of his mind, the knowledge of the
law of which, as a practicing lawyer, he had shown
himself to be possessed, his sense of fairness and
even temper, all combined to give him the full con-
fidence of the people and to make him an able, im-
partial and upright jurist. During his career on the
bench he has heard and decided many noteworthy
cases, many of his decisions illustrating, in a remark-
able degree, his fearlessness and judicial firmness.
Some of the matters with which he has had to deal
have required large administrative, as well as legal
ability to bring about their adjudication, and in dis-
posing of these cases Judge Barr has never failed
to prove himself master of the situation.
Mr. Walter Bagehot, in his Essay on Lord
Brougham, divided jurists into judges for the law-
yers, and judges for the parties. Adopting this
classification, Judge Barr should be ranked among
the “judges for the parties,” because he has always
been much more intent on doing exact justice be-
tween litigants than in delivering learned opinions.
He never loses sight of the object of the law, which
is to administer justice in the case at bar, and be-
lieves it to be the mission of the judge to overleap
barriers which may thrust themselves in the wav
and reach the heart of the controversy. Direct and
accurate in his perceptions, courteous in his treat-
ment of members of the bar, whether young or old,
fair in his rulings and just in his judgments, he has
earned and occupies a high place among the jur-
ists of the present day.
Judge Barr married Miss Susan P. Rogers, of
Louisville, in 1859. She was the daughter of Colo-
nel Jason and Josephine Preston Rogers, her ma-
ternal ancestors being of the noted Virginia family
of Prestons.* Her father was a graduate of West
Point Military Academy and a gallant soldier, who
participated in the War of 1812 and the Mexican
War. Mrs. Barr died in 1871, and Judge Barr, five
daughters and two sons are the surviving members
of the family. Socially he has been no less highly
esteemed than as a member of the bar, and his
home has been the abiding place of a genial gentle-
man.
O f. JOHN BOYLE, lawyer, was born in Dan-
^ ville, Kentucky, September 6, 1847. His par-
ents were Jeremiah Tilford and Elizabeth Owsley
(Anderson) Boyle. His father, whose sketch will
be found elsewhere in these volumes, was the son of
Judge John Boyle, six years member of Congress,
and sixteen years chief justice of Kentucky. His
mother was the daughter of Hon. Simeon H. Ander-
son, of Garrard County, Kentucky, also a member
of Congress, her mother being a daughter of Gov-
ernor William Owsley.
The subject of this sketch, receiving his prelimi-
nary education in the schools of his native town, en-
tered Centre College, at Danville, and was gradu-
ated therefrom in 1866. He then attended Harvard
Law School, and was admitted to the bar and be-
gan the practice of his profession in 1868 in Louis-
ville, where he has since continued. He early be-
came associated with his father in the construction
and management of street railways in Louisville,
and in the building of the Evansville, Henderson &
Nashville Railroad, and has since, in connection
with a large law business, been connected with the
management of many leading railroad and other
corporations, as director, receiver and counsel.
With the City Street Railway System he has been
closely associated, both before and since the consoli-
dation of the two systems, and is now — as he has
long been — general counsel for the Louisville Rail-
way Company. From 1874 to 1879 he was receiver
for the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad,
and has, for two years, been receiver, in conjunction
with General John Echols, of the Chesapeake, Ohio
& Southwestern Railroad. When the Louisville,
New Albany & St. Louis Railroad was projected
Mr. Boyle was one of the leading movers in the
work, and it is largely owing to his exertions that
the road was built, he being president of the corpo-
ration from 1879 to 1881. He has also been promi-
nently identified with the construction and manage-
ment of a number of street railways in other cities,
and also with railroad enterprises within, as well as
without, Kentucky. As a corporation attorney, in
the highest sense, Mr. Boyle stands in the very front
rank, combining with this distinction a rare capacity
for railroad management in all its intricacies and de-
tails. Possessing legal acquirements of the highest
order, supplemented with a mind of fine judicial
caste, few lawyers of his age have had as extensive
or as responsible engagements in this line. 1 lis rec-
ognized ability as a lawyer, his conservative judg-
ment and practical knowledge in all matters relat-
26
402
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ing- to railroad and other corporations have, for a
long time, made his counsel and co-operation
sought in many of the largest enterprises that have
been projected since he entered upon active life.
Of quiet and unostentatious mien and personal-
ly popular with all who know him, he is a most ef-
fective advocate in court by reason of his clearness
of statement and the directness with which he ap-
plies the principles of law to the case at issue. With
no strained effort at oratory, and dealing in no
superfluity of diction or rhetoric, he wields an in-
fluence at the bar in keeping with that which he ex-
erts over all who come in contact with him, either
in business relations or in the social circle. The
combination of strong mental force and aptitude for
exerting it effectively in his profession and in the
practical affairs of life, with that certain gentleness
of personal demeanor which attaches friends to him,
is as rare as it is significant of a genuine manhood.
That such a man should be popular, even with the
sharp antagonisms which arise in the life of every
positive man of active engagements, follows as a
natural conclusion; and had Mr. Boyle been as am-
bitious as he is capable, he might have aspired to
very high honors. But, while always manifesting a
proper interest in the success of his party — the Re-
publican— he has confined himself to his profession
and rarely had his name connected with a candidacy
for public office. In 1890 he was complimented
with the nomination of his party for Congress. In
1894, as an expression of a sense of his fitness for
the position, he was nominated for appellate judge,
and received a most flattering vote. The result was
so close that it had to be decided by the State
contesting board and he only failed of being ac-
corded the seat by the casting vote, where every
member of the board of five was of the opposite po-
litical party. During the late session of the Gen-
eral Assembly of Kentucky, Mr. Boyle received the
caucus nomination of his party for United States
senator, in a contest noted for its length and political
excitement. The Democratic and Republican par-
ties were a tie upon joint ballot, with two Populist
voters holding the balance of power. Mr. Boyle re-
ceived the united and enthusiastic support of his
party, but the dead-lock, which had prevailed from
the beginning, remained unbroken at the end of the
session, and the General Assembly adjourned with-
out an election. The strength developed by Mr.
Boyle and the qualities of leadership displayed by
him augur well for him in the field of politics should
he aspire to further honors in the future.
On the 7th of April, 1874, Mr. Boyle married
Miss Anna McKinley, daughter of Andrew McKin-
ley, Esq., and granddaughter of Mr. Justice McKin-
ley, of the United States Supreme Court; also grand-
daughter of Mrs. John J. Crittenden. They have
five children.
TTENRY LANE STONE, lawyer and soldier,
1 1 who has occupied d place among the leading-
members of the Louisville bar since 1885, at which
time he came to the metropolis of Kentucky, hav-
ing previously achieved distinction in his profession
at Owingsville and Mt. Sterling, where he had prac-
ticed successfully for nearly twenty years, was born
in Bath County, near Sharpsburg, January 17, 1842,
and both his paternal ancestors (Stone-French) and
his maternal ancestors (Lane-LIiggins) were among
the pioneers of Virginia and Kentucky. On his
father's side Mr. Stone is a descendant in the third
generation from Josiah Stone, a native of England,
who in the early part of the last century, came to
America as a cabin boy. His only recollection of
his family was of his mother, who came to the ves-
sel and wept at his departure. On his arrival in
Prince William County, Virginia, the captain of the
ship left him until his return from another voyage,
but his vessel was lost at sea with all on board. Jo-
siah Stone was thus, when a mere lad, left alone in
the world, and was apprenticed to Mrs. Philadel-
phia Magaw, a wealthy lady, who raised him to man-
hood, and at her death bequeathed to him a consid-
erable estate. He married a Miss Coleman, who
bore him three sons and four daughters. Some of
these and their descendants remained in Virginia,
while others emigrated to Kentucky, Mississippi,
Missouri and Texas, and some of whom have dis-
tinguished themselves in almost every avocation of
life.
Valentine Stone, the third son of Josiah Stone,
and grandfather of Mr. Stone, was a soldier in the
War of the Revolution. He was married twice, and
the father of five sons and five daughters. His sec-
ond wife was the daughter of William French, of
Virginia, the grandfather of Hon. Richard French,
the distinguished judge and congressman of Ken-
tucky. In 1790 Valentine Stone settled near Boones-
boro, in Madison County, Kentucky. He subse-
quently acquired title to two thousand acres of land
on Bald Eagle Creek, in what is now Bath Coun-
ty, which was then, and is now, perhaps, as rich a
body of land as lies within the borders of Kentucky.
In 1799 Valentine Stone removed from Madison
n. j3u/.C? A S-LtJ? ^I'A/r-tXC’/J
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
403
County to this tract of land in Bath County, when
his son, Samuel Stone, was but two years of age.
General Samuel Stone, the father of the subject of
this sketch, was born December 26, 1797, near
Boonesboro, in Madison County, Ky. His educa-
tion was the best afforded in his day. He entered
political life at an early age, and became an active
member of the party of Jefferson and Jackson. He
was frequently elected to office, and served four
terms in the Legislature from Bath County, his first
election to that position occurring in 1824, when he
was but twenty-seven years of age, and he was re-
elected in 1827, 1833 and in 1836. From 1823 to
1841, a period of eighteen years, he was magistrate
of Bath County, and in the latter year he became
sheriff of that county. From 1816 to 1846, a period
of thirty years, he was connected with the Kentucky
State Militia, beginning as ensign and rising by pro-
motion to the position of brigadier-general, which
he held from 1836 to 1846, and at one time was in
command of all the militia of Bath, Bourbon and
Montgomery Counties. He possessed an attractive
physique, and when in full dress uniform presented
a fine appearance. His courteous and soldierly
bearing commanded the respect of all his subordi-
nate officers, and implicit obedience from his men.
He was an able and popular politician, and his
speeches were impressive and convincing. He was
noted for his firmness, good judgment and discre-
tion. He was very fond of anecdotes, and could
tell one as well and as laughably as any man in Ken-
tucky. In October, 1851, he removed with his fam-
ily to Putnam County, Ind., where he carried on his
farm, and lived a retired life up to the breaking out
of the late Civil War. Many of his friends and rela-
tives (among them his cousin, General John B.
Hood, whose mother was a French) had enlisted
in the cause of the South, and although at that
period too advanced in years himself to take an ac-
tive part in military affairs, yet being Southern born
and raised, it was but natural that he should sympa-
thize with the South in its struggle for independ-
ence.
Of his six sons, three entered the Union Army,
one being the late Major Valentine H. Stone, of the
Fifth United States Regular Artillery, who was
twice promoted by the personal recommendation of
General Grant, for gallant conduct on the field of
battle, and whose battery was the first to enter Pe-
tersburg, Virginia, in April, 1865. Major Stone had
immediate charge of President Jefferson Davis, in
the latter part of his confinement as a prisoner of
war at Fortress Monroe, whom he treated with
much kindness and courteous consideration. He
died at Key West, Florida, a victim of yellow fever,
contracted during the epidemic of September, 1867,
while in command of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas.
Another son of General Stone, Dr. Richard
F rench Stone, now a prominent physician and med-
ical author of Indianapolis, Ind., was an assistant
surgeon in the Federal Army.
General Stone died in his seventy-sixth year, near
Bainbridge, Indiana, January 11, 1873, where he
was buried with Masonic honors, having been a
member of that order for over fifty years.
The mother of Mr. Stone, the subject of this
sketch, Sally (Lane) Stone, was born in Montgom-
ery County, Kentucky, March 15, 1816, and is vet
living, her residence being with him, and although
past eighty years of age, she retains her intellectual
vigor, literary taste, and conversational powers to
a remarkable degree. She was the youngest daugh-
ter of Colonel James Hardage Lane, who built the
first house in Montgomery County, and is a sister
of the late Hon. Henry S. Lane (the uncle for whom
the subject of this sketch was named), the first Re-
publican governor of Indiana, and subsequently
United States senator from that State.
Henry Lane Stone attended the neighborhood
schools before his removal with his father to In-
diana, when he was nine years of age, and afterwards
was taught the English branches in the common
schools, and an academy at Bainbridge, Indiana.
When seventeen years of age he ceased attending
school and began teaching, and through a period
of three years taught nineteen months at different
places in the northern part of Putnam County, In-
diana, his last session being in the winter of 1861-2
at Bainbridge. Until eighteen years of age he work-
ed on his father's farm during the cropping season.
In the winter of 1859-60 he attended the law school
at Indianapolis, Indiana, taught by the late Hon.
Jonathan W. Gordon and Hon. John Coburn. Aft-
er reading law for two years, when not engaged in
teaching, and a while in the office of Hon. 1). R.
Eckels, a distinguished judge and lawyer, at Green-
castle, Indiana, lie was admitted to the bar in that
State in May, 1862, and took the oath as a prac-
ticing attorney-at-law in the Putnam f ircuit Court,
when he was but twenty years of age.
In the presidential campaign of i860, at the age of
eighteen, he canvassed Putnam Count)- for Breckin-
ridge and Lane, holding joint discussions with three
voting champions of the other presidential candi-
404
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
dates. He fully coincided with his father in his views
of State rights, and after hostilities began he de-
termined to embrace the first opportunity to go
South and do battle for that cause, which, with all
his ardent nature, he believed to be right. Two of
his brothers had then gone into the Federal Army
(a third going afterward), and on September 18,
1862, after the occupation of Kentucky by the forces
under Generals Bragg, Smith and Marshall, he laid
aside the study of law, bade farewell to father and
mother, and left Indiana to join the Confederate
Army. He went through Cincinnati while it was un-
der martial law, passed the pickets above the city
as a countryman in a market wagon, got in a boat
at New Richmond, Ohio, and landed at Augusta,
Kentucky, from which point he made his way afoot
to Cynthiana, where Colonel Basil W. Duke’s com-
mand was quartered. On October 7, 1862, he en-
listed in Captain George Madison Coleman’s com-
pany at Sharpsburg, in Bath County, composed
chiefly of his boyhood schoolmates, and belonging to
Major Robert G. Stoner’s battalion, which subse-
quently was consolidated with the battalion of Ma-
jor W. C. P. Breckinridge, thus forming the Ninth
Kentucky Cavalry Regiment in General John H.
Morgan’s command, Captain Coleman’s company
being Company D in that regiment. He was made
sergeant-major of Major Stoner’s battalion, and aft-
er the consolidation mentioned, became ordnance
sergeant of the regiment.
Sixty days after his enlistment, he was engaged in
his first battle at Hartsville, Tennessee. He was
with General Morgan on his celebrated raid during
the Christmas holidays in December, 1862, into
Kentucky, and participated in the capture on Mul-
draugh’s Hill of an Indiana regiment, which had
been recruited principally in Putnam County, many
of its members being his old friends and acquaint-
ances.
He was on General Morgan’s famous Indiana and
Ohio raid in July, 1863, and engaged in the several
fights and skirmishes which occurred on the route
from the crossing of the Cumberland River near
Burkesville, Ky., to Buffington Island, Ohio, where
he was captured. He was in the advance guard,
commanded by Captain Thomas PI. Hines, on that
raid, and met with numerous attacks by the Home
Guards after crossing the Ohio River at Branden-
burg. He was first incarcerated in Camp Morton at
Indianapolis for one month, and was then taken
to Camp Douglas at Chicago, where he was confined
for two months, when on the night of October 16,
1863, accompanied by one of his messmates, he 1|
made his escape by climbing over the twelve-foot f
prison fence between two guards.
His brother, Dr. Stone, was then attending Rush ^
Medical College, at Chicago, and rendered him
needed assistance in getting out of the city. He
made his way back to Bath County, Kentucky,
where in November, 1863, he was captured in the ■
house in which he was born by a squad of home
guards in charge of Dr. William S. Sharp, who was |
his father’s family physician when he lived in Ken- j
tucky. He was taken to Mt. Sterling and there
lodged in jail for two weeks, when he was started
with other prisoners in charge of a lieutenant and
thirty mounted guards to Lexington. On the road t
at night in Winchester, he again made his escape. \
Finding no safe opportunity to reach the South
through the Federal lines in Eastern Kentucky, he,
by the assistance of friends, went to Canada, where ’
he remained four months, or until April, 1864. He
then returned to Kentucky, and on General Mor-
gan s last raid, joined a part of his command near 1
Mt. Sterling, and reached Virginia in June, 1864. He [
attached himself temporarily to Captain James E. •
Cantrill s battalion, being a remnant of General
Morgan s old command, with which he remained I
until the following October, when at the battle of
Saltville, he got with his old regiment, then forming f
a part of General John S. Williams’ brigade. He was t
at Greenville, Tennessee, when General Morgan was j
killed in September, 1864. Afterward he returned i
with his regiment to Georgia, where it became a part j
of the cavalry command of General Wheeler, which j
followed in the rear of General Sherman’s army on j
its march from Atlanta to Savannah. After the sur- |
render of his own brigade at Washington, Georgia, j
he rode to Augusta, Georgia, and there surrendered
to the Eighteenth Indiana Regiment, then occupy- j
mg that city, and received his parole on May 9, 1865. !
He returned to Bath County, Kentucky, and from
July to November, 1865, clerked in a dry goods store i
at Ragland’s Mill on Licking River, occupying his i
spare time, when not engaged in the store, in re-
viewing his legal studies. After clerking a short j
while in a drug store at Owingsville, the county
seat of Bath County, he began practicing law there
on January 1, 1866.
At the August election, 1866, he was elected as
a Democrat to the office of county attorney of Bath
County, and served in that capacity for a term of four
years. He formed a partnership, under the firm
name of Reid & Stone, with Hon. Newton P. Reid,
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
405
formerly circuit judge of that district, in August,
1870. This partnership was dissolved by mutual
consent in 1875. In 1872 he was selected as the
Democratic elector for his congressional district,
and made an active canvass, speaking in all except
one of the fourteen counties composing the district,
and in some of them more than once. His vote in
the electoral college was cast for Thomas A. Hen-
dricks for President, and B. Gratz Brown for Vice-
i President, Horace Greeley having died after the No-
vember election and before the assembling of the
electors.
In August, 1873, lle was elected as a Democrat to
! the Legislature from Bath and Menefee counties
: and served on several important committees in the
, session of 1873-4. In 1876 he was again chosen as
the Democratic elector of his district, and made sev-
| eral speeches in behalf of Tilden and Hendricks.
After practicing law at Owingsville twelve years,
in March, 1878, he formed a partnership, under the
| firm name of Reid & Stone, with Hon. Richard Reid,
and removed to Mt. Sterling. This partnership con-
tinued until the election of Judge Reid to the su-
, perior court of Kentucky, in August, 1882. I11
April, 1885, he removed from Mt. Sterling, after
practicing his profession there seven years, to Lou-
isville, Kentucky.
In August, 1889, he formed a partnership, under
the firm name of Stone & Sudduth, with Watson
Andrews Sudduth, who removed from Flemings-
burg to Louisville. This firm has continued ever
since.
Mr. Stone married in Montgomery County, Ken-
tucky, February 21, 1866, Pamela Lane Bourne,
who is living. They have two children, Miss May
and Junius Stone. Mrs. Stone's father Walker
Bourne, was a soldier of the War of 1812, and an
eminent teacher. Her paternal ancestors (Bourne-
Gore) and maternal ancestors (Jameson-Smith) were
from Virginia and settled in Kentucky at an early
day. Her grandfather, James Bourne, was a sol-
dier of the War of the Revolution.
Mr. Stone has always been a Democrat, but of
late years has seldom taken an active part in political
affairs. He has been a member of the First Chris-
tian Church for the last ten years. He is an ardent
advocate of the cause of temperance and opposed to
the liquor traffic in every form.
LTELM BRUCE, one of the younger members of
* 1 the Louisville bar, who has achieved profes-
sional distinction through something more than a
dozen years of active practice, in the course of
which he has appeared in some of the most import-
ant litigation occupying the attention of Kentucky
courts, was born in Louisville, November 16, i860,
and may be said to have been bred, as well as
trained, to the law. He is a son of Judge Horatio
W. Bruce, the present distinguished chief attorney
of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company,
who served in his young manhood as a member of
the Confederate Congress, returned to the practice
of law at the close of the Civil War and ivas for
many years a prominent member of the State judi-
ciary. His paternal grandfather, Alexander Bruce,
who represented Lewis County in the Kentucky
Legislature, as an “old-court” man, in 1825-26, was
a lawyer, and his maternal grandfather was Gover-
nor John L. Helm, who was both lawyer and states-
man. One of his great-grandfathers on the ma-
ternal side was the illustrious Ben Hardin, who, as
trial lawyer and advocate, has had few peers at the
Kentucky bar.
Helm Bruce belongs to the fourth generation of
the descendants of a Scotch merchant, who settled
in \ irginia early in the eighteenth century, and his
great-grandfather, John Bruce, was one of the early
settlers of Kentucky. His mother, Elizabeth Bar-
bour Bruce, bears the name of an ancestress — Eliza-
beth Barbour — who was a double first cousin of
Governor James Barbour, of Virginia, and of Jus-
tice Phillip Barbour, of the United States Supreme
Court. Mrs. Bruce, who is a daughter of Governor
John L. Helm, was born at “Helm Place,” near
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on the estate granted to
her great-grandfather, Thomas Helm, by the State of
Virginia, and which has ever since been a possession
of his descendants, being now owned and occupied
by John L. Helm, brother of Mrs. Bruce. Thomas
Helm was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War
and was a brother of Captain Leonard Helm, who
commanded a company in General George Rogers
Clark’s expedition into the Illinois country, which
resulted in the “winning* of the Northwest Terri-
tory.”
After being fitted for college in the public schools
of Louisville, Helm Bruce was sent to Washington
and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia, and
was graduated from that institution with the de-
gree of bachelor of arts. Elis inclination to the law
as a profession was inherited, and he never thought
of taking up anv other calling. As soon as he com-
pleted his scholastic education, he entered the law
department of the University of Louisville, and was
406
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
graduated therefrom with the degree of bachelor of
laws. In the spring of 1882 he was admitted to the
bar and began the practice of law, admirably
equipped for it both as to natural qualification and
educational attainments. Two years later, he formed
a co-partnership with his uncle, James P. Helm, at
that time well established in practice, and then, as
since, standing high at the bar, and the association
then formed has continued to the present time un-
der the firm name of Helm & Bruce. Becoming at
once an active practitioner and a participant in the
conduct and management of cases which attracted
general attention, he has since occupied a prominent
position among the lawyers of the Louisville bar,
acquitting himself ably in all departments of prac-
tice. The firm has frequently been called upon to
represent the State of Kentucky in litigation to
which the commonwealth was a party, one of the
notable cases in which they appeared for the State
being that brought against the Louisville Water
Company, involving the constitutionality of an act
exempting property from taxation. This case they
won at the end of a contest which was carried to the
United States Supreme Court. With Messrs.
Humphrey & Davie, they represented Louisville
banks in resisting municipal taxation contrary to
what has been known as the “Hewitt Law,” passed
in 1886, which they claimed to be of the nature of a
contract. In these suits they also won in the Ken-
tucky Court of Appeals, where final judgment was
rendered in their favor. For some years they have
represented the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Company in much of its important litigation. They
represented this corporation in the suit brought by
the commonwealth of Kentucky to enjoin it from
purchasing the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern
Railroad, the contention of the State being that the
Louisville & Nashville Company proposed to ab-
sorb a parallel and competing line. This case they
lost, however, after having carried it through the
courts of Kentucky to the Supreme Court of the
United States.
Mr. Bruce’s devotion to professional work has
been steadfast and continuous since he began the
practice of law, and he has therefore had little time
to devote to politics, although he has interested him-
self, from time to time, in promoting the interests of
the Democratic party, with which he has affiliated
since he cast his first vote. In 1895 Washington &
Lee University conferred upon him a distinguished
honor by electing him a member of its board of trus-
tees. He became a member of the Second Presby-
terian Church (South) of Louisville during the pas-
torate of Rev. Stuart Robinson, and has ever since
been a member of that church.
He was married, in 1886, to Miss Sallie White,
daughter of Professor J. J. White, of the faculty of
Washington & Lee University. Mrs. Bruce is a
lineal descendant of Samuel McDowell, who pre-
sided over nine of the ten sovereignty conventions
held by the pioneers of Kentucky in their struggle to
separate from Virginia and enter the Union as an in-
dependent State, and who was president also of the
convention which adopted the first Constitution of
Kentucky, in 1792.
FA AVID MURRAY RODMAN, lawyer, was
born January 25, 1840, in Hodgenville, Ken-
tucky, son of Dr. Jesse Head Rodman, and grand-
son of David Rodman, who came to Kentucky in
1777 and settled in Washington County. His mother
was Catharine Jane Murray before her marriage,
and the famous Jesse Head, the “fighting preacher,”
who married the parents of Abraham Lincoln, was
the minister who solemnized the marriage of David
Rodman and Elizabeth Head. Both the Rodmans
and the Murrays came from the County Antrim, in
Ireland, and settled among Penn’s colonists in
Pennsylvania, the Rodmans affiliating with the
Quakers, while the Murrays adhered to the Presby-
terian faith of their Scotch-Irish ancestors.
David M. Rodman was educated at Centre Col-
lege, of Danville, Kentucky, graduating from that
institution in the class of 1861. He then read law
and was admitted to the bar by Judge James Stuart
and Judge Asher W. Graham in 1864. In 1865 he
came to Louisville and has ever since been promi-
nent as a member of the bar of this city. He has also
been actively identified with various important cor-
porate and other business enterprises, prominent
among them being the Hodgenville & Elizabeth-
town Railroad, which was constructed in 1887, and
the Crescent Hill Railway, built in 1883. He was
one of the promoters of both these railways and
was a director of the Crescent Hill Railway Com-
pany, which built and put into operation one of the
principal suburban railway lines of Louisville.
Mr. Rodman has long been conspicuous among
Southern members of the Masonic order, being a
member of the Grand Consistory of Kentucky of
Scottish Rite Masons, a member of Louisville Com-
mandery No. 1, Knights Templar, of King Solomon
Chapter No. 18, Royal Arch Masons, and of Abra-
ham Lodge No. 8. He affiliates with the Demo-
t
i
I
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
407
cratic part}' politically and was brought up in the
Presbyterian faith.
He married, in 1869, Sidney Anderson Kennedy,
daughter of Thomas S. Kennedy, of Jefferson Coun-
ty, Kentucky. Their children are Kate Kennedy
Rodman — now Mrs. William H. Field— Patty An-
derson Rodman, Lee Rodman and Thomas Ken-
nedy Rodman.
C RNEST MACPHERSON, who became a mem-
^ ber of the Louisville bar in 1875 and has since
held a prominent position among his contemporaries
of the legal profession, was born in Lexington,
Missouri, October 10, 1852, son of Rev. Cornelius
Gregory Macpherson, D. D., a noted Presbyterian
divine and educator, of whose life and services to
the church extended mention will be found else-
where in these volumes. His mother was Mariah
E. Gorin before her marriage, remarkable as a
young woman for her beauty and in every way a fit
companion for her worthy husband. Both his par-
ents are still living, and at ninety years of age his
father is still mentally and physically vigorous, a
splendid type of the old school gentleman. His
name indicates his Scotch extraction and he has
many of the distinguished characteristics of the
sturdy people from whom he traces his descent.
Ernest Macpherson pursued his studies in early
life under the tutorship of his father, and at fifteen
, years of age, entered that varied school of experi-
ence, the field of journalism. Becoming a reporter
on a Memphis newspaper, in the telegraph and com-
mercial department, he continued his journalistic
work with flattering success until he was nineteen
\ years of age, when he abandoned it to complete his
scholastic education. He had long been desirous of
taking a complete course, and his journalistic labors
had supplied the means to this end. In 1871 he
entered the West Tennessee College at Jackson,
Tennessee, and applied himself to his studies with
the zeal and ardor of a devotee. In college, he not
only demonstrated that he had talents of a high or-
der, but showed that remarkable capacity for hard
work which somebody has characterized as the best
type of genius. In one year he completed the studies
prescribed for both the junior and senior years in
the college curriculum and was graduated in the
class of 1872, taking the degree of master of arts.
Fie then entered the law department of Cumberland
University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, and was gradu-
ated with the degree of bachelor of laws from that
institution, famous throughout the United States for
the many distinguished members of the bar who
have been numbered among its alumni. As a stu-
dent he not only stood high in his classes, but was
considered the best debater in the college, and in
many ways evinced a peculiar fitness for the calling
to which he had determined to devote himself.
Coming to Louisville in 1875 he established him-
self in the practice of law, George Gary, charged
with murder, being one of his first clients. In this
case he evinced marked ability for so young a prac-
titioner, and in his first appearance at the Louisville
bar gained a legal victory, securing the acquittal of
his client. He next defended Henry Jost in a cele-
brated murder trial and again secured a verdict of
acquittal. These cases established his reputation as
a trial lawyer and advocate of superior ability, and
the years that have elapsed since that time have
brought to him greatly increased prestige and a con-
stantly widening circle of clients. While he has been
retained in noted criminal cases, he has attained
greatest prominence as a practitioner in civil law.
Studious by nature, he is painstaking in his re-
searches, fertile in resources, careful in the prepara-
tion of cases and able in their presentation both to
courts and juries, and in all respects a lawyer whose
methods of practice, as well as his success, com-
mands for him respect and admiration.
A man of varied accomplishments, he has always
had a special fondness for music, and although his
compositions have never been given to the public,
he has from time to time delighted his musical
friends with finished productions, notable for their
artistic excellence. In fraternal circles he has been
prominent as a member of the Masonic order, being
a Knight Templar and having been for three years
master of Mt. Moriah Blue Lodge. While he has
affiliated with the Democratic party since he became
a voter, he has not taken a specially active part in
politics, preferring to concentrate his energies on
his profession and finding the diversion, which some
men find in public life, in an exceedingly active con-
nection with military affairs.
As a boy he was full of the martial spirit, but gave
up the idea of becoming a soldier and took to the
law at the earnest solicitation of his father. His
childish inclination toward a military career was
evinced at nine years of age, when he was captain of
a juvenile military company in Memphis, known as
the “Gay Cadets.” Although the struggle to obtain
an education and fit himself for the active duties of
life occupied his mind and his time during his young
manhood, lie did not lose his interest in military af-
408
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
fairs. When the Louisville Legion was organized in
1878, he became one of the most active members of
a company which had on its roster forty lawyers. He
was unanimously elected second lieutenant of this
company, and within a few months thereafter was
chosen with the same unanimity captain of Com-
pany D. He resigned his captain’s commission aft-
er a time to give attention to other affairs, and for
several years was not active in military matters. In
1885, however, he again entered the legion as first
lieutenant of Company A, and in June of that year
was promoted to captain of the same company.
With this company he participated in the prize drill
at Philadelphia the following July, and carried away
from there the American flag given as a prize to
“the best all-around company” participating in the
contest. His connection with the Louisville Legion
and Kentucky State Guard has been continuous
and it is not too much to say that no other man in
the State has rendered services of equal value to
the military organizations of Kentucky. He has
participated in all the notable demonstrations of the
Louisville Legion, and has seen active and hazard-
ous service as an officer of the State Guard. He
was placed in command of the troops called out
by Governor Buckner in 1887 to quell the bloody
Tolliver-Craig feud in Rowan County, and the same
vear was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and ap-
pointed judge advocate-general of the Kentucky
State Guard. He was reappointed judge advocate-
general in 1888, with the rank of colonel, and again
reappointed by Governor Brown in 1891. Gover-
nor Brown also appointed him a commissioner to
revise and codify the military laws of Kentucky, and
acting in that capacity, he drafted the chapter of
military laws now in effect. When the late Consti-
tutional Convention was in session he went before
the committee on military affairs and submitted for
adoption a chapter of provisions relating to the mi-
litia of the State. These provisions were adopted by
the committee without change, with the exception
of two sections, and one of the rejected sections was
reincorporated in the Constitution by the convention
when action was taken on the committee’s report.
Colonel Macpherson was therefore the author of
that portion of the organic law of the State pertain-
ing to the militia, and it stands as drawn by him
originally, with the exception of one section. His
aim and purpose have been to give to the common-
wealth a thoroughly organized and efficient force of
citizen soldiery, and his effort has contributed large-
ly to that result. He has also co-operated with the
officers of the National Guard throughout the !
United States to inaugurate improvements of the ;
militia system, to perfect the discipline and equip- [
ment of State troops, and to make the National Mi-
litia what it is designed to be, a safeguard for the
public, always ready to aid in the enforcement of the
law or to protect the rights and liberties of the peo-
ple. His public services in this connection have
won for him warm commendation of his fellow-citi-
zens and added naturally to the prestige which he
has gained as a member of the bar. In addition to
his other services in behalf of the military arm of j
the service Col. Macpherson is the author of the f
history of the Louisville Legion in these volumes.
7 ACH PHELPS, lawyer and member of the con-
^ vention which framed the present Constitution
of Kentucky, was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky,
son of James Shipp Phelps, who came to Louisville
about the time the Civil War began, and has ever
since been known as a leading tobacco warehouse-
man of this city. His mother was Mary J. Glass be-
fore her marriage, daughter of Zachariah Glass, of
Hopkinsville. His grandfather, whose ancestry was
English, came early to Kentucky from Virginia, and
both his father and mother were natives of this
State, born in Christian County.
His father removed from Hopkinsville to Louis-
ville in 1861, and the son entered the schools of this
city, completing his education in the high school — -
which then had a college course — from which he
was graduated in 1877. After his graduation, hp
continued his studies for a year under a private
teacher, and was then compelled to seek a change of
climate on account of impaired health. Going to
Salt Lake City, Utah, he located there temporarily,
and while there read law in the office of Judge J. C.
Hemingray. After passing an examination, con-
ducted by Justice Shaefer, of the United States
courts, he was licensed to practice, and, returning to
Louisville, entered the law office of Judge W. L.
Jackson, Sr., in 1879. He was married in 1881, and
on the day of his marriage formed a law partnership
with Judge Jackson’s son, W. L. Jackson, Jr., under
the firm name of Jackson & Phelps. As thus con-
stituted the firm soon became prominent among the
law firms of the city, and a rapidly growing prac-
tice caused the two partners to associate with them
J. T. O’Neal. This partnership continued until the
death of Judge Jackson. Almost immediately after
this distinguished jurist passed away, his son was
chosen his successor on the circuit bench, and since
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
409
then Mr. Phelps has associated with himself W. W.
Thum in the firm of which he is senior member.
Engaged in general practice since he became a
member of the Louisville bar, fourteen years ago,
he has held himself in readiness to respond to all
demands made upon him by his clients, and has not
sought to make a specialty of any branch of the law.
As counsellor and trial lawyer, as adviser and advo-
cate, in competition with the leading lawyers of the
Kentucky bar, he has ably represented the interests
of his clients in a wide and varied field of profes-
sional labor. As an examiner of witnesses, he has
acquired special distinction, and if he has shown a
preference for any branch of the practice it has been
shown for that part of a lawyer’s work which re-
quires the greatest skill, tact and resourcefulness.
He has been prominent in numerous political
campaigns as a public speaker and party manager,
championing with zeal and ability the cause of De-
mocracy. He has served frequently as a member of
Democratic campaign committees, and has been
chairman of the city executive committee.
In 1890 he was chosen to represent the First Dis-
trict of Louisville in the Constitutional Convention
charged with the responsibility of revising the or-
ganic law of the State and framing a new instru-
ment better adapted to changed conditions and the
present stage of development. Chafing under the
restrictive provisions of the Constitution of 1850, the
most progressive element of the population of Ken-
tucky had demanded the submission of a new Con-
stitution, and when the convention met in Frankfort,
on the 8th of September, 1890, there was much work
to be done, and it was work which would be far-
reaching in its effects. In the debates of the conven-
tion Mr. Phelps took a prominent part, 'and as a
member of leading committees he had a large share
in framing the Constitution, which was submitted
to and ratified by the people of the State. As one
of the representatives from the metropolis of Ken-
tucky, he watched with especial care measures af-
fecting the commercial, manufacturing and other in-
terests of Louisville, and although many conflicting
interests had to be harmonized, and conflicting-
theories of taxation and government reconciled, he
succeeded by dint of earnest effort in incorporating
into the Constitution various provisions which have
been of material benefit to the city and to the State
at large.
In fraternal circles, Mr. Phelps is known as a past
exalted ruler of the Louisville Lodge of Elks, hav-
ing had paid to him the very unusual compliment of
being chosen ruler, from the floor, without going
through the minor offices. It is said that this is a
distinction never conferred upon any other mem-
ber of the order. He is also a member of the Ma-
sonic order, and has been an officer of Compass
Lodge of Louisville. His marriage, as already
stated, occurred on the same day that he formed his
law partnership with the late Judge Jackson, Janu-
ary 1, 1881. Airs. Phelps was Aliss Amy Kaye be-
fore her marriage, and she is a daughter of John and
Amanda Kaye, of Louisville. They have four chil-
dren.
C HACKELFORD MILLER, lawyer, was born
^ in Green County, near Springfield, Missouri,
February 28, 1856. His father was John A. Miller,
who was born at Lower Ponds — now called Val-
ley Station— -Jefferson County, Kentucky, in 1824,
and grew to manhood in that county. His mother
was Barbara Anne Nevill before her marriage, and
was a daughter of Colonel Solomon C. Nevill, of
Montgomery County, Tennessee. His parents were
married in Hickman County, Kentucky, and in 1858
removed to Missouri, where the son was born three
years later, being the second of six children now liv-
ing. His paternal grandfather, Robert Miller, was
born in King and Queen County, Virginia, in 1774,
and he and his twin brother, Buckner Aliller, walked
from that county to Kentucky in 1796, coming
through Cumberland Gap. Robert settled at Lower
Ponds, Jefferson County, and died there in 1863, at
the age of eighty-nine years. Solomon Corbin Ne-
vill, the maternal grandfather of Shackelford Miller,
was born at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1808,
came to Montgomery County, Tennessee, as a child,
grew up there and married Frances Slaughter Ball
Long, of Logan County, Kentucky.
Shackelford Miller spent the early vears of his
life in Missouri and attended country schools until
1873, when he came to Louisville to live with his
grandfather Nevill. Here he entered the sophomore
class of the Male High School — the university of the
public schools — and, at the end of his first scholastic
year, distinguished himself by winning the “Alumni
Prize” for the highest average standing in his class.
He was graduated from the High School — then pre-
sided over by the noted educator, Jason W. Che-
nault — in the class of 1877, and, soon afterward, en-
tered theLaw Department of theUniversity of Louis-
ville, from which he was graduated in the spring of
1879. At the end of his first year in the Law School
lie had entered the law office of Hon. Isaac Cald-
410
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
well, at that time the leader of the Kentucky bar,
and, under the preceptorship of that renowned law-
yer, received a share of his training for the practice
of law. Soon after his graduation from the Law
School he became associated with Judge James S.
Pirtle, and thus began the active practice of his pro-
fession. This association was continued until 1887,
when Mr. Miller formed a co-partnership with By-
ron Bacon, Escp, which was in existence until Sep-
tember 1, 1888. At that time he became a member
of the law firm of Barnett, Miller & Barnett, of which
Judge Andrew Barnett was senior member, the
junior member of the firm being his son, Tyler Bar-
nett, who had been Mr. Miller’s classmate both in
the High School and Law School. The firm thus
constituted is still in existence, holding high rank
among Southern law firms and having a large prac-
tice, principally in the Equity, Common Law, and
Federal Courts of Louisville, and in the Court of
Appeals at Frankfort.
Called upon frequently to act as special judge in
the Louisville Courts, Judge Miller has demon-
strated, on the bench, as 'well as at the bar, that he has
a comprehensive knowledge of the law and its under-
lying principles, a well-trained mind and sound judg-
ment. Successful as a practitioner, he has been a
close student of the science of law as a whole, as
well as of the law applicable to cases with which he
has been identified as counsel. He has been a thor-
ough student also of English and American consti-
tutional history, and has devoted much time to the
study of the early history of Kentucky. His read-
ing has been largely along these lines, and his library
contains nearly all the standard historical works,
which admirably supplement a large and well-
selected law library.
Ever since he attained his majority, Judge Miller'
has been active in politics as a member of the Demo-
cratic party. The tariff became a prominent politi-
cal issue about the time his interest in politics be-
gan, and he became greatly interested in the study
of this important economic problem. The result of
his studies was a conviction that a tariff for revenue
only is right in principle and the only tariff which
Congress can constitutionally levy, and he has been
an able champion of this doctrine. He took an act-
ive part in the campaign of 1876 as an advocate
of Mr. Tilden's election to the Presidency, although
he was not then a voter. In 1884 he was assistant
Democratic elector for the Fifth Congressional Dis-
trict of Kentucky, and, in 1888, was chosen one of
the electors from Kentucky on the Democratic ticket
and cast the vote of his district for Cleveland and
Thurman. In both these National campaigns, he
entered actively into the discussion of the issues pre-
sented to the people and was popular and effective as
a campaign speaker. He has been, since 1891, a
director of the Polytechnic Society, and has always
taken a keen interest in the advancement of local
public enterprises, although too much absorbed in
professional pursuits to become officially connected
with corporate or social organizations. He is an
eider of the First Presbyterian Church of Louisville,
and a director of the Presbyterian Orphanage, lo-
cated at Anchorage. He is also a member of the
Filson Club, and vice-president of the Watterson
Club. From 1878 to 1881 he was a member of
Company “C,” of the Kentucky State Guard, serv-
ing under Captain John H. Leathers.
He was married, in 1888, to Mary Floyd Welrnan
— youngest child of Floyd C. Welrnan, formerly
marshal of the Louisville Chancery Court — who, for
seven years prior to her marriage, had been a teacher
of Latin and mathematics in Hampton College, of
this city. Their children are Welrnan Miller,
Shackelford Miller, Jr., and Nevill Miller, Jr.
D OBERT JACKSON ELLIOTT was born in
A ' Louisville, March 2, 1824, son of William and
Eliza (Fowke) Elliott, both of whom came from
Loudoun County, Virginia. His parents were
married in Louisville in 1815 and resided here to
the end of their lives.
Robert J. Elliott was educated chiefly in Louisville,
attending different private schools, St. John’s Clas-
sical Academy, and what was known many years
ago as Louisville College, located at the southwest
corner of Eighth and Grayson streets. In these
schools and under the preceptorship of private tu-
tors, he received a finished education, including a
knowledge of the higher mathematics and of the
Greek, Latin, French, and German languages. Af-
ter quitting school he studied law in the office of
Hon. William J. Graves and General William Pres-
ton, who were then associated together in practice.
Later he attended.the regular courses of lectures in
the Law Department of Transylvania University, at
Lexington, and was graduated from that institution
with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in the class of
1846, with James B. Beck and Theo. L. Burnett. He
was licensed to practice by Judge Daniel Breck and
Judge Thomas A. Marshall, of the Kentucky Court
of Appeals, and was regularly admitted to the bar
in Louisville in the spring of 1847. He began the
v
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
411
practice of his profession at that time and has ever
since been a member of the Louisville bar, being
now one of the oldest active practitioners in the city.
In 1855 he was elected City Prosecuting Attorney
of Louisville, and, by subsequent re-election, held
that office for six years. In 1863 he was elected to
the City Council from what was then the Third
Ward, but resigned after a time, and was at once
elected City Attorney of Louisville. The latter office
he held in all a little over four years, serving from
March 24, 1864, to April 16, 1868. As head of the
city law department he discharged his duties faith-
fully and diligently, and was a most capable and effi-
cient officer. He was also a successful general prac-
titioner and, from the time he began his career as a
lawyer in this city up to the present, has commanded
the respect and esteem of his contemporaries at the
bar. As a citizen he has been identified with many
important public institutions, and has rendered to
the public valuable services in many capacities. He
was elected, by the General Council of Louisville, a
trustee of the University of Louisville, in 1866, and
has ever since been a member of that board. In
the old days when Louisville was protected against
the fire fiend by the volunteeer fire companies, Mr.
Elliott was for several years a member of Mechanic
Fire Company No. 1, and for three years was an
assistant pipe director when Colonel A. Y. Johnson,
afterward Chief of the Fire Department of Louis-
ville, was chief pipe director. He was made a mem-
ber of Chosen Friends Lodge of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of Louisville, in 1846, and,
in 1848, was one of the founders of Fonda Lodge
No. 48, later merged into Home Lodge, of which
he has since been a member. He was made a Mas-
ter Mason in Clarke Lodge No. 51, of this city, in
1853, and continued to be a member of that lodge
until 1886, when it was consolidated with Abraham
Lodge, with which he has since been affiliated. In
his boyhood and young manhood he was identified
with tw'o military companies, first with the organiza-
tion of college youths known as the “Kosciusko
Cadets,” and later with the “Washington Blues,” one
of the companies of the old Louisville Legion.
For more than twenty-five years Mr. Elliott has
been a member of the Broadway Methodist Episco-
pal Church South, and since 1871 he has been a
trustee of that church. His political affiliations have
been steadfastly with the Democratic party. He
married, in 1847, Miss Nancy O’Neal, who was born
in 1828, and died in 1851. The children born of
this marriage were John William Elliott, who died
in 1857; Eliza Fowke Elliott, who died in 1850; and
Nancy Eliza Elliott, who died in 1853. In 1855
Mr. Elliott married Miss Annie E. Van Osten, who
survives, the companion of her husband in his old
age. The children of this marriage have been Ed-
win J. Elliott, Robert J. Elliott, Jr., Nellie Elliott,
Katie Elliott, Hattie Elliott — now the wife of Charles
H. Shackelton; Annie L. Elliott, Lila Elliott and
Emma Elliott, all of whom now reside in this city.
Margaret and Mary Elliott died in infancy.
T YTTLETON COOKE, District Attorney of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company for
the State of Kentucky, was born at the home of his
father, now known as Buena Vista, in King and
Queen County, Virginia, October 28, 1831. His
father, Henry Cooke, was born in the same county
about the year 1801 or 1802. He had 110 profession
but was fairly well educated, and was a merchant in
said county until after his marriage to Louisa Johns-
ton, of Gloucester County, which took place some
time during the year 1830. After his marriage, he
and his wife having inherited quite a large number
of negro slaves, he purchased a farm or plantation,
and led the quiet life of a country gentleman until
his death.
Louisa Johnston was the only child of her pa-
rents who survived infancy. She was born in Glou-
cester or Matthews County, Virginia, (the latter
county having been formerly a part of Gloucester
County), in 1811, and died in 1858. Her father
was Mr. Thomas Johnston, and her mother was a
Miss Kemp. They owned an estate on the Pian-
katank River, where they both died, the mother
when their daughter, Louisa, was less than two, and
the father when she was about five years old. The
Johnstons were of Scotch descent.
Henry Cooke was a son of Capt. Dawson Cooke,
who was an officer in the Virginia or Continental
Navy during the Revolutionary War, having served
as such first on the brig Liberty, and afterward on
the ship Gloucester; and he was present at York-
town at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He was
undoubtedly of English stock, but was doubtless
born in the colony of Virginia, as the Cooke family
— a large and influential one — appears from the pub-
lic records to have been settled in and scattered over
Tidewater, Virginia, early in the 17th century, and
to have intermarried with many of the oldest and
best families in that section of the country. Among
the names borne by the Cookes as Christian names
are the surnames of Giles, Buckner, V artier, Armis-
412
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tead, Dawson, and Lyttleton, and which are sup-
posed to have been derived from intermarriages
with, or descent from families of those names, but
the most common and popular names with the tribe
seem to have been Mordecai, and Giles Buckner,
the latter having been the name of Henry Cooke’s
younger brother.
Henry Cooke having diedwhen quite ayoung man,
and his widow having married again, his only son, Lyt-
tleton Cooke, was sent from home to attend school,
and passed the greater portion of his youth in board-
ing schools and academies until he commenced
the study of law, which he did at the early age of
seventeen, being determined to leave Virginia and
seek a home in the W est so soon as he could possi-
bly do so. He was thus separated to a great extent
from his relations and family connections, and has
had but little communication with them since; and
having no special disposition or ambition for the in-
vestigation of genealogy, has not taken the time or
labor necessary to fully inform himself in respect to
his ancestors. At the age of eighteen he entered the
Law School of the University of Virginia, but did
not graduate therefrom, having a few days before
the examinations commenced consented to act as
the second of a friend who had been challenged by
another student to fight a duel; and in consequence
thereof the parties involved in the affair were quietly
informed not to present themselves for examination
in any of their classes.
After leaving the University of Virginia, Mr.
Cooke — although not having attained his majority
— in the early part of the year 1851, went to St. Louis,
Missouri, having been previously examined and de-
clared competent to be admitted to the bar by Judge
John B. Clopton, of the Williamsburg, Virginia,
Circuit Court, and Judges Cabell and Brooke, of the
Court of Appeals of Virginia. After familiarizing
himself with the code of practice and statute law
of Missouri, he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis,
without being required to stand any further examina-
tion.
At this time the contest between the Benton and
the anti-Benton wings of the Democratic party in
Missouri was at its height. Mr. Cooke, who was
born a Democrat, warmly espoused the cause of the
anti-Benton wing of the party in that contest, and
in 1854, although not eligible because of his youth,
he was nominated as one of the anti-Benton Demo-
cratic candidates to represent the city and county
of St. Louis in the Legislature of Missouri. But
the anti-Benton wing being in a hopeless minority
in that city and county, he was defeated with the jj
other candidates of his party. However, in 1856, j|
he was nominated by the Democratic State Conven- J
tion of Missouri as a candidate for Presidential Elec-
tor, and was elected, and cast his vote in the electoral *
college for James Buchanan for President and for
John C. Breckenridge for Vice-president. Eleven
years later, in 1867, having in the meantime married
and settled in Louisville, he was nominated and
elected as a Democrat to the Kentucky Senate from
the Thirty-seventh District, composed of the central
wards of the City of Louisville, and served in that !
body for four years, and was a member of the Judi-
ciary Committee, chairman of the Committees 011
Railroads, and on Banks and Insurance. This
would have terminated his public service, but in
1874, his friends and neighbors deeming his pres-
ence at Frankfort as a member of the Legislature
of importance to the interests of Louisville, while
he was absent from the State on professional busi-
ness, he was elected a member of the House of Rep-
resentatives and served one term. This interfered to
such an extent with his practice as a lawyer that '
he declined further public office. His services in the |
Senate comprised the sessions of the General As- l
sembly while John W. Stevenson was Governor, and j
which sessions were noted for the number of able j
and distinguished men who were members of that
body, among whom may be mentioned ex-U. S. ,
Senator Jesse D. Bright, Gen. Wm. Preston, John
G. Carlisle, Gov. Preston H. Leslie, John B. Clark,
William Lindsay, William Johnson, Oscar Turner, (
William A. Dudley, E. C. Phister, James A. Me- \
Kenzie, James B. McCreary, and Norvin Green, all j
then or since distinguished in the State and country j
at large. He was intimately associated with these |
gentlemen and enjoyed the respect and esteem of i
them all, was a close personal friend of Governor
Stevenson, and one of his most trusted friends and
advisers in respect to public matters. Mr. Cooke’s
services as a Senator commencing soon after the
close of the war between the States, covered a period
of unusual excitement in state politics, and many
matters of great interest and importance came be-
fore the Legislature during' that time, in all of which
he took a prominent and active part ; and among
which may be mentioned the change in the laws in
respect to evidence in the courts of Kentucky, and
that authorizing the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, to
construct a railroad through the State of Kentucky.
Notwithstanding the people were at this time being
greatly worried and harassed by criminal prosecu-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
413
tions and civil actions in the Federal Courts, grow-
ing out of contests of one sort or another with ne-
groes, there was still a wide-spread and deep-rooted
prejudice and opposition throughout the State,
against this race being allowed to testify in the State
courts. There was also much opposition to parties
being permitted to testify in causes in which they
might be interested, and these questions came promi-
nently before the Senate in 1871. Mr. Cooke took
an active and leading part in their discussion as a
champion for the widest latitude in the admission of
evidence, and on March 10, 1871, (See Senate Jour-
nal 1871, page 530), moved as a substitute for a
bill, which was then pending and under discussion
for the giving of negroes and mulattoes a qualified
right to testify in certain cases and on certain condi-
tions, a bill which became a law on the 30th day of
January, 1872, and which is still the law in respect
to those questions in Kentucky, the seventh section
of said bill being as follows:
“No one shall be incompetent as a witness because
of his or her race or color.”
And this was the first law which authorized ne-
groes to testify on an equality with white people in
the courts of Kentucky, and is still a part of the
statute law of that State. The bill to authorize the
City of Cincinnati to construct a railroad through
the State of Kentucky stirred the people of the State
from center to circumference. The cities of Coving-
ton and Newport, and the counties through and ad-
jacent to those in which it was proposed to construct
said railroad, became the ardent advocates of the
bill, and were backed by all the political, social, and
money power which the City of Cincinnati could
command or bring to bear. On the other hand, the
City of Louisville, and those sections of the State in
sympathy with it, opposed the bill with all the power
and resources at their command. Among the able,
powerful and influential men who were enlisted to
advocate the passage of this bill before the joint
committee of the General Assembly, and who were
not members of that body were Gen. John C. Breck-
enridge, and Mr. Madison C. Johnson, of Lexing-
ton, while the City of Louisville was represented by
its own distinguished citizen, Hon. Isaac Caldwell.
The debate upon this bill between Messrs. Brecken-
ridge and Caldwell was one of the most noted which
ever took place in respect to a public measure in this
State. Mr. Cooke, as Chairman of the Senate Com-
mittee on Railroads, presided over these discussions,
which took place before immense audiences of the
leading people of the State, in the hall of the House
of Representatives, and received the thanks of both
sides for the fairness and impartiality with which he
presided over these discussions. But when the bill,
after having been passed by the House of Represen-
tatives, came up before the Senate, he cast aside the
impartiality of the presiding officer and became the
warm and earnest champion of his constituents, all
of whom were opposed to the passage of the bill;
and on the floor of the Senate, he and Hon. John
G. Carlisle became the respective leaders of the op-
posing forces, Mr. Carlisle advocating, and Mr.
Cooke opposing, and the proposed bill was defeated
for that session. However, the effort for its pas-
sage was renewed at the next session of the General
Assembly, of which Mr. Cooke was not a member,
and its passage secured. In 1868, pending his serv-
ice in the State Senate, he was chosen a delegate
from Kentucky to the National Democratic Conven-
tion in New York, which nominated Seymour and
Blair for President and Vice-president of the United
States. At that convention he was the friend of
Hon. George H. Pendleton (who was at that time
a prominent candidate for the nomination for Presi-
dent), and with Governor John W. Stevenson and
Hon. R. H. Stanton, of this State, was among Mr.
Pendleton’s most trusted friends and advisers, and
was uncompromising in his opposition to the nomi-
nation of Salmon P. Chase, or any other Republican
as the Democratic candidate, as was proposed and
advocated by many members of the convention. He
has since shown much interest in Democratic suc-
cess, but has taken no steps in the direction of his
own political advancement. He became absorbed
in the performance of his professional work, and in
1873, was employed by the Louisville & Nashville
Railroad Company as its District Attorney for Ken-
tucky, a position which he has held continuously
since, and which engrosses nearly all his time.
Both as a legislator and lawyer, Mr. Cooke has
shown great earnestness and force. As a speaker,
his words are direct, his points clearly made, and his
purpose openly declared. He is a fair and manly
debater, and has a convincing power of expression
that gives him character and influence. His law-
cases are prepared with great care and integrity, and
his success has been largely due to untiring exertion
in the interests of his clients. He is recognized as
one of the ablest lawyers at the bar of Kentucky.
On Tune 12, i860, he was married at Lousville to
Miss Alice Wilson, third daughter of Dr. Thomas
F. and Caroline (Bullitt) Wilson — the ancestors of
whom were among the earliest settlers and founders
414
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
of the City of Louisville, and whose characters and
high social position form a notable part of its his-
tory. Mrs. Cooke died in 1890, leaving two daugh-
ters, Alice and Caroline Wilson. Alice married Mr.
David A. Keller in 1883.
The identity of Lyttleton Cooke with the inter-
ests of the City of Louisville has been shown in num-
berless public and private acts. Though born in the
Mother State, the greater part of his life has been
passed here, and he is socially, morally and politi-
cally, a part of Louisville.
JOHN CREPPS WICKLIFFE, lawyer and sol-
^ dier, was born in Nelson County, Kentucky,
on the nth day of July, 1830. His father, Hon.
Charles A. Wickliffe, was member of the Legisla-
ture of 1812, ’13, ’20, ’33, ’34, ’35, and speaker 1834;
member of Congress from 1823 to 1833 and 1861-
63; lieutenant-governor in 1836 and succeeded to
the office of governor in 1838 upon the death of
Governor James Clark, serving until 1840; post-
master-general from 1841 to 1845 and member of the
Border States’ Peace Commission in 1861. Flis
mother was Margaret, daughter of Christian Crepps,
an early pioneer and Indian fighter of Bullitt Coun-
ty, who fell at the hands of the savages in a desperate
fight on Salt River in 1778.
The subject of this sketch obtained his early edu-
cation in the schools of Bardstown, Frankfort and
Washington City, and his collegiate education at
Centre College, Danville. Having studied law, he
was admitted to the bar in 1853. In 1857 he was
elected to the Legislature from Nelson County and
in 1859 was secretary of the Senate. Pending the
breaking out of the war he took an active part as a
member of the State’s Rights party, and in Septem-
ber, 1861, went South as the captain of a company of
infantry. At Bowling Green his command became
Company B of the Ninth Regiment of Kentucky In-
fantry. He was afterward promoted to lieutenant-
colonel and served with distinction during the war
to the close. He resided in Florida from 186^ to
1869, in which latter year he returned to Bardstown
and resumed the practice of law, and in 1870 was
elected judge of the Nelson Circuit Court to fill a
vacancy, and was re-elected for a full term, his serv-
ice on the bench being until 1880. In 1885 he was
appointed by President Cleveland United States dis-
trict attorney for the District of Kentucky and served
four years. Since that time he has been engaged
in the practice of law in Louisville, but retaining his
residence in Bardstown. In 1894 he served for a
short time as adjutant-general of Kentucky under
appointment of Governor Brown.
Descended from a family conspicuous for its in-
tellectual force and handsome physique, Judge Wick-
liffe has inherited both. Tall in stature and of clas-
sic features, he is a striking figure in any assemb-
lage, and in mental qualities and force of character,
he worthily maintains the prestige of his family.
He is a brother of the late ex-Governor Robert C.
Wickliffe, of Louisiana. Colonel Wickliffe is a
Knight Templar and a member of DeMolay Com-
mandery, Louisville.
He married, November 2, 1853, Eleanor Hunt
Curd, daughter of Richard A. and Eleanor (Hunt)
Curd, of Lexington, Kentucky.
'"THOMAS WALKER BULLITT, who for
A many years has been a prominent member of
the Louisville bar, and equally prominent in his
connection with various important business en-
terprises, was born May 17, 1838, at “Oxmoor,"
his father’s beautiful country home in Jefferson
County. He belongs to one of the historic famil-
ies of Kentucky, and inasmuch as “the family is
the unit of the state and the foundation upon which
rests the whole superstructure of society,” a brief
outline of the family history is appropriate in this
work, which is designed to be a presentment of the
living and the dead who have made their impress
upon the history of Louisville, as well as a record of
events.
Of French origin, the family was seated in Mary-
land in 1685, when the Huguenot, Benjamin Bullett
purchased lands near Port Tobacco, in St. Charles
County. This immigrant ancestor died there in
1702, and his only son, Benjamin Bullitt — the spell-
ing of the name appears to have been slightly
changed by the first Benjamin — purchased land in
Fauquier County, and established his family in Vir-
ginia. One of his sons was Colonel Thomas Bul-
litt, the distinguished soldier, explorer and friend of
George Washington, who made the first surveys
of the falls of the Ohio in 1773. Another son was
Cuthbert Bullitt, who married Helen Scott — a daugh-
ter of Rev. James Scott, an Episcopalian minister — of
Prince William County, Virginia, and removed to
that county, in which he became distinguished as
a lawyer and jurist. One of his sons was Alexander
Scott Bullitt, who occupies a distinguished place in
the history of Kentucky pioneers. He settled on
the “Oxmoor” farm near Louisville in 1784, and
lived there until his death in 1816. He was a mem-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
415
ber of the convention which formed the first con-
stitution of Kentucky, president of the constitutional
convention of 1799, first lieutenant-governor of the
State, and a pioneer legislator of great prominence
and influence. His wife was Priscilla Christian, a
daughter of Colonel William Christian, who settled
in Kentucky in 1785 and was killed in an engage-
ment with Indians in 1786. Her mother was a sister
I of Patrick Henry.
William Christian Bullitt — one of the two sons
of Alexander S. and Priscilla Bullitt — inherited the
“Oxmoor” estate and was the father of Colonel
Thomas W. Bullitt. His wife was born Mildred
Ann Fry, a daughter of Joshua and Peachy (Walker)
Fry, and a descendant of Joshua Fry, an English
gentleman, who after his graduation from Oxford
went to Virginia and became a professor of mathe-
i matics in the College of William and Mary. The
elder Joshua Fry was colonel of the regiment of
Virginians which was sent on the first expedition
against Fort Duquesne in 1754, and George Wash-
ington— lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment —
succeeded to the colonelcy after Colonel Fry’s death.
His grandson, Joshua Fry, a noted pioneer educator,
was the first of the family to settle in Kentucky, the
family seat being in Mercer County. Mrs. Bullitt
was also a granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Walker,
commissary-general of Braddock’s army, and one of
the first six white men to penetrate the wilds of Ken-
tucky, his first exploration of this region having
been made in 1750. Colonel Thomas Walker Bul-
litt was named after this distinguished ancestor, the
i first of Kentucky pioneers. The father of Colonel
I Bullitt was a member of the old bar of Louisville as
well as a man of fortune, but retired from active
practice in early life and lived thereafter at the coun-
try home, which in his time as well as in that of the
first owner of “Oxmoor,” was famous for its gen-
erous hospitality. He was a member of the Ken-
tucky constitutional convention of 1849 and a schol-
arly and accomplished gentleman of the old school.
After completing his course of study at Centre Col-
lege of Danville, Kentucky, Colonel Bullitt fitted
himself for the bar in the Law Department of the
University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. He
graduated from the law school in 1861 at file end of
a two years’ course of study, and began the practice
of his profession in Philadelphia with his brother,
John C. Bullitt. Their association continued until
1862, when he returned to Kentucky and enlisted in
1 die Confederate army, joining General John IT.
Morgan’s command at Knoxville, Tennessee, in
June of that year. He entered the army as a private
soldier in Company C of Colonel Basil W. Duke’s
regiment, but a few months later was promoted to
first lieutenant of his company. During the winter
of 1862-63 he was on detached duty, serving as regi-
mental commissary, but in the spring of 1863, he
returned to the line and was wounded and captured
in the memorable raid into Ohio. In company
with General Morgan and about seventy-five Con-
federate army officers captured on that raid, he was
confined first in the prison at Columbus, Ohio, but
was later removed to Fort Delaware, where he was
held as a prisoner until March of 1865. With other
sick and disabled Confederate soldiers he was then
sent through the lines for exchange, but as the war
was drawing to a close, the exchange never took
place and he was on parole until the cessation of hos-
tilities.
With the return of peace he resumed the practice
of his profession, becoming a member of the Louis-
ville bar in the fall of 1865. Since that time, and
during a period of more than thirty years, he has
been identified with a large share of the most im-
portant litigation which has occupied the attention
of the courts of Jefferson County, and in the higher
State and Lederal Courts of Kentucky. While giv-
ing careful attention to a large law practice he has
been active also in the field of business enterprise,
and associated with other gentlemen, he has built up
institutions of vast benefit to the city. He was the
originator of the idea of establishing the Fidelity
Trust and Safety Vault Company, and was one of
the organizers of that corporation, of which he has
ever since been a director. He suggested and as-
sisted in the organization of the Kentucky Title
Company, and has served continuously since its or-
ganization in its directory. He was also one of the
promoters of the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge pro-
ject and served as a director of the company, and
has been officially connected with the Louisville
Southern Railroad Company and the Richmond,
Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad Com-
pany as a director. These enterprises have been
among the most important undertakings in Louis-
ville since the war and have conferred great bene-
fits upon the city.
Politically Colonel Bullitt lias affiliated with the
Democratic party since he cast his first vote for John
C. Breckinridge for the Presidency in i860, but has
never offered for a political office, having no taste
for public life, and being, moreover, engrossed in
professional work. Born and brought up a Presbv-
416
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
terian, he has adhered to that faith in his church
connections.
He was married in 1871 to Miss Annie Priscilla
Logan, daughter of Hon. Caleb Logan and Agatha
(Marshall) Logan, of Louisville. Mrs. Bullitt’s
mother was a daughter of Dr. Louis Marshall, who
was a brother to Chief Justice John Marshall.
C"'1 EORGE DU RELLE, lawyer and jurist, was
born in the town of York, Livingston County,
New York, October 18, 1852, son of Dr. George O.
J. and Frances M. (Peirce) Du Relle. His paternal
ancestors, who were probably of French Huguenot
extraction, were among the early colonists of New
England and his great-grandfather, Nicholas Du
Relle, was one of the first selectmen of the town of
Lee, New Hampshire. His maternal ancestors were
also New England people, and many of them achiev-
ed marked distinction during the Colonial era, and
others were prominent in public life at a later date.
One of his ancestors in the maternal line was Capt.
John Whiting, who held a commission in the Rev-
olutionary Army. John Haynes, the first governor
of Connecticut, was another of these ancestors. Still
another was William Pitkin, founder of the Ameri-
can family of that name, who was appointed by the
British crown attorney-general for the Colony of
Connecticut. One of the sons of this William Pit-
kin was Chief Justice Pitkin of Connecticut, who
was for twenty-six years consecutively a member of
the colonial council. The elder William Pitkin was
for fifteen years a representative in the Colonial As-
sembly, was treasurer of the colony in 1676, and the
same year was one of the commissioners who ne-
gotiated a peace with the Narragansett Indians. In
1693 he was appointed one of the commissioners to
run the division line between the Massachusetts and
Connecticut colonies, and from 1690 until his death
was a member of the Colonial Council. His sister
was Martha Pitkin, who married into the Wolcott
family and became one of the progenitors of the il-
lustrious representatives of that family. Colonel
Joseph Pitkin, who belonged to the third genera-
tion of the Pitkin family in America, was musterer of
the Crown Point expedition and a distinguished
soldier. Other illustrious members of this family
were Captain Richard Pitkin, a Revolutionary sol-
dier, Governor William Pitkin, who served as lieu-
tenant-governor, governor and chief justice of Con-
necticut, and Eleazur Pitkin, who was high sher-
iff of Hartford County, Conn., toward the close of
the last century.
Judge George Du Relle came to Louisville in
1859, when he was seven years of age. His father
died when the son was in his infancy and his mother
afterward married Prof. S. B. Barton, of Centre Col-
lege, Kentucky. Professor Barton removed to Lou-
isville with his family as above stated in 1859 and
became principal of the Presbyterian Female School
in this city. In this school Judge Du Relle received
his earliest instruction and later studied under the
preceptorship of his stepfather at the Walnut Hill
school, near Lexington. At a later date he at-
tended school in Elizabeth, N. J., and in 1868 was
graduated from the Hopkins grammar school of
New Haven, Conn., and entered the class of 1872 at
Yale College. Leaving college at the end of his
sophomore year he came to Louisville, and after
some employment in a clerical capacity, engaged in
school teaching in the Sixth Ward school. While
teaching school he read law, and after attending the
full course of lectures in the law department of the
University of Louisville, he was graduated from
that institution in 1874. He was admitted to the
bar immediately afterward, and at once began the
practice of his profession in the office of Colonel R.
W. Woolley. Later he formed a partnership with
Mr. H. C. Brannin, and practiced successfully in the
courts of this city, impressing himself upon the bar
as a lawyer of fine attainments and admirable adap-
tability to his profession. In 1882 he was appoint-
ed assistant United States District attorney for Ken-
tucky and continued to serve in that capacity until
June 8, 1886, when he resigned. In 1889 he was
reappointed to the same position under the admin-
istration of President Harrison and served until 1891,
when he again resigned to give attention to his
private practice. His practice in the Federal courts
evidenced his fitness for the exercise of judicial func-
tions, and he was frequently designated to act as spe-
cial master commissioner in the hearing of import-
ant railroad and other cases of corporate litigation.
In the important contested election case of Boyle vs.
Toney for the judgeship of the Kentucky Court of
Appeals, growing out of the election of 1894, he ap-
peared as counsel for Colonel St. John Boyle, and
distinguished himself by his able conduct of that
case. In 1895 he was nominated as the Republican
candidate to succeed Judge George B. Eastin of the
Court of Appeals. Judge Eastin was the regular
Democratic nominee for that office and Judge John
G. Simrall ran as an independent candidate for the
same position. At the election of 1895 Judge Du
Relle was chosen by a majority of 1,300 votes over
I
1
1
I
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
417
both his competitors and received a plurality of
2,575 votes over Judge Eastin. At the beginning of
'the year 1896 he entered upon his term of service as
the judge of the Court of Last Resort in Kentucky,
and as a member of that court has shown himself to
be the peer of the eminent jurists with whom he is
associated.
I A firm believer in the principles of the Republican
party, Judge Du Relle has acted with that organiza-
tion since he became a voter, and prior to his as-
sumption of the judicial office took a somewhat ac-
tive interest in politics and political campaigns,
j Since then he has refrained from participation in
political movements, as becomes the jurist who
keeps his mind free from partisan bias. Reared a
Presbyterian, he has adhered to that faith and is an
attendant of Warren Memorial Church. He is iden-
tified with fraternal organizations as a member of
the Masonic and Ancient Essenic Orders, and is
also a member of the Filson Club, and the Sons of
the American Revolution.
Judge Du Relle was married in 1886 to Miss
Louise Leib, daughter of Frederick Leib, for many
years a prominent citizen and business man of Lou-
isville. Mrs. Du Relle, an accomplished lady, who
was greatly beloved in the social circles of Louis-
ville, died November 23, 1895. Their children are
Frederick L. and Louise Marie Du Relle.
D ANDOLPH HARRISON BLAIN, lawyer, was
born August 16, 1842, at Glentiwar, near
Greenwood, Albemarle County, Virginia, son of
Rev. S. W. and Susan Isham Blain. His paternal
| grandfather, Rev. Daniel Blain, who was of mixed
] Scotch-Irish and French Huguenot descent and a
native of Abbeville, South Carolina, was a prominent
minister and educator, and, at the time of his death,
was professor of languages at Washington College
— now Washington and Lee University, of Virginia.
His father was born in Lexington, Virginia, was
graduated from Washington College, practiced law
for a time at Lewisburg, Virginia, and afterward en-
tered the Presbyterian ministry. After graduating
from Union Theological Seminary, he was for many
years a pastor in Virginia and, from 1869 to 1876,
pastor of a church at Carrollton, Kentucky. In the
year last named he removed with his family to Louis-
ville and lived with his son, R. H. Blain, until his
death, which occurred in 1891. He and his wife
celebrated their golden wedding at the home of their
son in 1887. His wife was Susan Isham Harrison,
daughter of Randolph Harrison, of Clifton, Cum-
27
berland County, Virginia, who married his cousin,
Mary Randolph. Randolph Harrison and his wife
were both first cousins of President Thomas Jeffer-
son, and first cousins also of Governor James Pleas-
ants, of Virginia, and General William Henry Har-
rison. He was a descendant of Benjamin Harrison
and of Robin (King) Carter, of Virginia. Two of
his brothers, Robert and Peyton Harrison, settled
early in Kentucky, the former near Lexington, and
the latter at Russellville. Carter H. Harrison, of
Chicago, and General John B. Castleman, of Louis-
ville, were descendants of Robert Harrison. Pey-
ton Harrison has many descendants in Kentucky at
the present time, prominent among them being the
late Randolph and John Caldwell, of Russellville.
Other children of Randolph Harrison besides Mrs.
Blain were Rev. Peyton Harrison, Mrs. John S. Mc-
Ivim, of Baltimore, Mrs. William Randolph, of
Clark County, Virginia, Mrs. W. B. Harrison, of
Brandon, Virginia, and others.
Randolph H. Blain was reared in Virginia and
had just completed his collegiate course and re-
ceived his bachelor’s degree from Washington Col-
lege when the Civil War began and carried him into
the military service for the next four years. In the
summer of 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Third
Richmond Howitzers, then at Yorktown, and was
engaged with that battery in the seven days’ fight
around Richmond. In 1862 he was commissioned
a first lieutenant in the Confederate service by the
governor of Virginia, and the same year was elected
senior first lieutenant of Jackson’s battery of horse
artillery. He participated in the battles of Gettys-
burg, Harrisburg, Strasburg, Gordonsville, and
other engagements in which the Army of Northern
Virginia took part, and received six wounds from
fragments of a mortar shell in the battle at Totopota-
mie Creek, near Richmond. During the winter of
1864-65, he commanded a battalion of artillerv.
which he disbanded at Lynchburg, Virginia, the day
after the surrender at Appomattox. He saw four
years’ service with the Army of Northern Virginia,
and no better or braver soldier fought under the
gallant commanders of that army of brave men.
In 1865 he returned to his Virginia home with ten
dollars — which had been presented to him— v-in his
pocket, and his army horse, which he had been per-
mitted to retain in accordance with the terms of sur-
render, as his only possessions. Taking charge of
his father’s farm near Williamsburg, he undertook
to reclaim it from the desolation of war. There
were many pathetic incidents connected with this
418
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
home coming and the effort to restore the home-
stead. Some of the old slaves of the family, hear-
ing that the son had returned, came to him, a few
of them walking as much as sixty miles to reach
their former home. Although made aware of the
fact that they were free, they insisted on casting their
lot with the young master of former days, without
promise of reward other than that of again finding a
home. With borrowed capital a good start was
made, and his father's family was soon re-es-
tablished on the farm, but the first season’s crop
was a partial failure and left nothing to apply on
the indebtedness which had been incurred. Fear-
ing other failures might follow and believing that
he might find elsewhere remunerative employment
which would enable him to pay this debt, he left
home in 1868 and went to Baltimore, Maryland.
There he went to work at the first employment he
could find, and for a week shoveled lime on the
wharf. Then his employer got him a position with
the Messrs. Camden & Thompson, of Parkersburg,
West Virginia, oil refiners, and for some time he
was foreman in their warehouse, and now and then
took charge of and ran the refineries during the
“night watch.” In the autumn of 1868, he was given
a position with the firm of Carley & Wells, and
came with that firm to Louisville. After remain-
ing here a year he removed to Delaware, Kentucky,
where he built and operated a large hardwood saw-
mill for the firm of Hall, Moore & Burkhard.
Thus, by hard work, he succeeded in accumulating
the means necessary to enable him to fit himself for a
profession, and in 1871 he returned to Louisville and
began the study of law, completing his course at
the University of Louisville, and graduating from
the Law Department with the degree of Bachelor
of Laws in 1873. Immediately after completing his
course at the Law School, he began practicing in this
city, and twenty years of earnest and successful ef-
fort have given him a prominent place among the
members of the Louisville bar. In 1882 he rend-
ered an important service to the city by compiling
and publishing an edition of the school laws of the
city and State. In 1879 he was elected a member
of the City School Board and, in 1881, was made
attorney for the board, a position which he has con-
tinued to fill ever since, and in which he has rend-
ered services of great value to the cause of popular
education. While he has adhered steadfastly to the
political faith of his father, and has always been
known as a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, he
lias never been an active politician, preferring to de-
vote so much of his time as can be spared from pro-
fessional labor to humanitarian and kindred work in
connection with which he has been a conspicuous
figure. Since 1884 he has been president of the
Louisville Charity Organizations, and in this capa-
city has been the leading spirit in making provision
for the systematic relief of the city poor. 'He is an
active member of the Filson Club and the Confed-
erate Association, and a Past Master of Falls City
Lodge of Free Masons. He is a member of the
Second Presbyterian Church of Louisville, and has
been a ruling elder in that church since 1890.
Mr. Blain has never married, but made a home for
his parents in Louisville in 1876. Since the death
of his father and mother, his sisters, Miss Mary Ran-
dolph and Miss Lucia Cary H. Blain, have made
up the family circle, of which he has been the head
for a score of years.
Al\ ARMADUKE BECKWITH BOWDEN,
1 1 lawyer, was born July 7, 1866, in Russellville,
Logan County, Kentucky, son of Judge James H.
and Nannie (Morton) Bowden. His father was the
son of John Bowden, of English nativity, whose wife
was Mary Fauquier, a native of North Carolina, and
of French extraction. Left a half orphan at an early
age by the death of his father, James H. Bowden
came to Louisville, where he was first a carrier and
later a compositor on “The Courier” newspaper,
then owned by W. N. Haldeman. While working
to maintain himself and helping to support his
mother, he educated himself, later taught school,
and still later studied law. He began practicing law
at Tompkinsville, Kentucky— where he was a part-
ner of Governor P. H. Leslie — -and later removed to
Russellville, where he has long been a prominent
practitioner. He represented Logan County in the
Kentucky Legislature from 1875 to 1877, and in
1882 was elected one of the first three judges of
the Superior Court of Kentucky and became first
presiding judge of the court. He served eight years
on the Superior Court bench and declined a re-elec-
tion at the end of that time. The maternal ancestors
of M. B. Bowden were among the earliest settlers of
Logan County, and his grandfather, Marmaduke B.
Morton, was cashier of the Southern Bank of Ken-
tucky during the entire period of its existence, and,
for many years afterward, cashier of the bank of
N. Long & Company, which succeeded the South-
ern Bank of Kentucky. He came to Kentucky
from Louisa County, Virginia, and lived to be ninety
years of age.
|i
!
1
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
419
M. B. Bowden obtained his academic education at
Bethel College, giving special attention to the study
of geology and kindred sciences, and receiving a
certificate of graduation in Latin, Greek, English,
and the special studies above referred to. In his
early boyhood, during a school vacation, he had
worked on “The Russellville Enterprise” as “print-
ter’s devil” and compositor, and when between six-
teen and seventeen years of age he had a brief ex-
perience as local reporter on the same paper. In
1889, in company with W. F. Browder and others,
he became part owner of “The Russellville Ledger,”
and, for a time, was the nominal editor of that pa-
per, although not engaged regularly in editorial
work. During the open months of 1883 and 1884,
he was connected with the Kentucky Geological
Survey, engaged in field work, spending a portion
of the time collecting specimens of Kentucky build-
ing stones, and a portion in making topographical
maps of Warren and Butler Counties. Quitting the
Geological Survey in the fall of 1884, he completed
the study of law and was admitted to the bar in the
Logan County Circuit Court in July, 1885, on his
nineteenth birthday. Some time later he spent several
months at Frankfort, Kentucky, where he assisted
E. W. Hines, official reporter, to prepare abstracts
of Appellate and Superior Court decisions for the
Kentucky Reports and Kentucky Reporter. Be-
coming a member of the bar of Russellville, he prac-
ticed there until 1889, when he removed to Louis-
ville, and has since been in active practice at the bar
of this city. Reared a Democrat, he took a warm
interest in politics from early boyhood. In 1888
he was elected a member of the Town Council of
Russellville, but resigned in the spring of 1889 and
was elected mayor of the village. This office he re-
signed the following autumn, on account of his re-
moval to Louisville. Since he became a resident of
this city he has given less attention to politics, and,
while still acting with the Democratic party in all
campaigns in which national issues are involved, has
not hesitated to endorse non-partisan action to se-
cure good municipal government. Since his com-
ing to Louisville he has held no public office of a
political character, but has been prominently before
the public as president of the Commercial Club, to
which office he was elected in 1893 and again in 1895.
He has also been conspicuous as an officer of the
Order of Knights of Pythias, of which he became a
member in 1888, while still residing in Russellville.
He became a member of Andrews’ Division of the
Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, at Russellville,
in 1889, and transferred his membership to Alpha
Lodge and Alpha Division, of Louisville, in 1891.
He was elected first captain of Alpha Division and,
in December of 1895, was made colonel of the First
Kentucky Regiment of the Uniform Rank, Knights
of Pythias. He was elected to the position last
named for a term of four years as successor to
Colonel Archie Johnson, who died in the spring of
1895. I he First Regiment is one of five which con-
stitute the Kentucky Brigade, and is composed of
six divisions, two of which are in Louisville, and the
others at Cloverport, Somerset, Lancaster and Ver-
sailles respectively. v As an officer of this semi-mili-
tary organization, he has achieved merited distinc-
tion, his experience during a three years’ term of
service in the Third Regiment of the Kentucky State
Guard having been advantageous to him in this con-
nection. He has been, in all respects, a thoroughly
progressive and public spirited man and, in all move-
ments like that which brought to Louisville the
Grand Army Encampment of 1895, and the “Bicycle
Meet” of 1896, he has been a leading spirit. He was
one of the promoters of the Louisville Newsboys’
Home and is now a director of that institution.
Mr. Bowden was married, in 1888, at Logan Fe-
male College, at Russellville, to Emma Lee San-
difer, daughter of Judge Nicholas and Mary Green
Sandifer. Mrs. Bowden was born at Lancaster,
Kentucky, and her father was for twelve years judge
of the Garrard County Court.
I AMES SPEED PIRTLE, lawyer, son of Judge
^ Henry Pirtle and Jane Ann (Rogers) Pirtle, was
born in Louisville, November 8, 1840. His father,
a sketch of whose life will be found in this volume,
was a native of Washington County, Kentucky,
whose parents were of early pioneer stock from Vir-
ginia. For more than fifty years he was a leading
lawyer and jurist of Louisville, having served on the
bench for twenty years with great distinction. Hi''
mother was the sister of Dr. Lewis Rogers, long at
the head of the medical profession in Louisville,
whose father, Dr. Coleman Rogers, was also emi-
nent in the calling. The subject of this sketch was
educated in the public schools of Louisville and (lie
first graduate, in 1859, of the Louisville High
School, the collegiate department of the Universit\
of Louisville, in which so many of her younger pro-
fessional and business men have received their edu-
cational training. Having finished his academical
education, lie entered the Law School of the l Di-
versity and in 1861 was graduated thence, reeeiv-
420
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
jng the degree of LL. B. He then entered upon
the practice of his profession and has resided in
Louisville continuously since. In 1881, he served
for four months as special judge of the Law and
Equity Court and, from 1873 to 1881, was professor
of Equity Jurisprudence and Commercial Law in
the University of Louisville, was president of the
Louisville City National Bank from 1882 to 1895,
and president of the Board of Visitors of the Ken-
tucky Institution for the Education of the Blind
from 1888 to 1896. All of these positions of the
highest trust indicate the estimate in which Judge
Pirtle is held in the community and speak more for-
cibly than any mere words of commendation from
his biographer. As a lawyer he is recognized as
one of the leaders of the bar in its highest sense.
His mind is of a decidedly judicial cast and re-
sembles strongly that of his father, fitting him for
practice in those higher branches of the law which
have of late become so important to the commercial
world and are as distinctly specialties as are certain
sub-divisions in the medical profession. The crim-
inal law, which furnished such a field for the older
lawyers who attained eminence through its practice
in the display of high sounding oratory before the
jury, in the discrimination required for the selection
of a jury and in the cross-questioning of witnesses,
has become a secondary department in the profes-
sion, as the popular orator has lost consequence in
the wider circulation of the press, whereby the public
receives instruction upon political matters rather
through the eye and mind by reading than by oral
instructions. Commercial law, and the law of corpo-
rations, whereby large interests are adjudicated be-
fore the Chancellor and the Appellate Courts, where
corporations require safe counsel for immediate ac-
tion, where heavy sums are at stake and the business
of many investors may be made or marred — accord-
ing to the good or bad legal advice given — these are
the specialties which call for the highest legal talent
and most accurate legal information, and it is in
these lines that Judge Pirtle’s services are in the
greatest request. His thorough knowledge of the
principles of the law, his strong and well balanced,
analytical mind enables him to grasp the subject at
issue with great readiness and to discover the rem-
edy with the skill of a medical specialist who knows
what medicine to prescribe after a correct diagnosis.
He is not what is called a case lawyer, for although
familiar with the decisions of the courts and know-
ing how to apply them, he is never at sea when a
point is raised upon which there has been no adju-
dication, his knowledge of the principles of the law
enabling him to apply them to the new issue and to
point out the grounds for new precedents in judi-
cial decisions. As counsel at, the bar he is noted
for the thorough preparation of his cases when they
come up for argument, whether in the primary
courts, the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court
of the United States. As a speaker, he is clear and
concise, dealing in no flights of oratory, but logi-
cally marshaling his points and arguing them in
that most effective style, which is but a degree re-
moved from the constitutional, and which is most
effective with the bench as the grade of the court be-
comes highest. He is stated counsel for many large
and important corporations which rely with implicit
confidence upon his advice, and, in the conduct of
such business, he has had conspicuous success.
Limiting himself to a strict attention to the affairs
of his clients, he has always declined to be diverted
from his practice by collateral undertakings or politi-
cal ventures. A Democrat in politics he has never
sought or held an office by popular election,
although fitted for such service in the highest sphere.
He is an attendant upon the Episcopal Church at
Christ Church Cathedral, a Past Master of Falls
City Lodge of Masons and a member of the Salma-
gundi and Filson Clubs. On May 22, 1878, Judge
Pirtle married Emily M. Bartley.
HARLES M. THRUSTON, son of Charles
Mynn and Eliza Sydnor (Cosby) Thruston, was
born in Louisville, Kentucky, December 24, 1832.
His father, for whom he was named, was one of the
leading lawyers of Louisville, and his mother the
daughter of Hon. Fortunatus Cosby, for some time
judge of the Circuit Court.
His early education was received in the best
schools of the city, and at sixteen years of age he
became a deputy in the office of the Jefferson County
Court clerk, then filled bv his cousin, Colonel Cur-
ran Pope. He remained in this position until 1854,
when he was elected clerk of the court. He was
re-elected for the two succeeding terms, filling the
place until 1862, when he removed to New York
City. Here he resided but two years, when he re-
sumed his citizenship in Louisville, and in 1870 was
again elected to his old office and was re-elected in
1874, serving the full term until 1878, making his
occupancy of the clerkship sixteen years. In this
race he received the largest majority ever given for
a candidate in the city. Worden Pope having held
the position forty years, and his son, Curran, six-
/
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
421
teen years, it had thus been in the family seventy-
two years, with an intermission of only eight years.
At the close of his last term he declined to be a can-
didate for re-election, and his health having been
impaired by his close application to business, he de-
voted himself to travel in Europe and to the more
quiet pursuits of domestic life.
In politics he was a Democrat and was one of the
most active and useful men of his party, both in
local and State politics. A man of sound business
judgment, of attractive personal appearance, and
great amiability of character, he stood high as a suc-
cessful, energetic and honorable citizen, and drew to
himself the most cordial attachment of a large circle
of friends.
His qualities of mind and personal character were
such as to fit him for success in the higher walks
of political life, but he was as modest as lie was meri-
torious and preferred rather to promote the aspira-
tions of his friends than to seek his own advance-
ment.
The following tribute from one who knew him
long and well portrays his character in fitting words.
It is from the pen of Hon. Boyd Winchester, who,
while Minister to Switzerland, receiving intelligence
of his death, thus expressed his estimate of his
friend’s worth, which found an echo in the hearts of
all who knew him: “Faultless in honor, fearless in
conduct, stainless in reputation — a kindly soul and
the dignity of a man, what a delicacy and refinement
he possessed! The one was constitutional — the
other, if a grace, was so harmonious with his nature
that it seemed a part of it; not a garment upon his
character, but inherent in it. His love of friends was
remarkable for its strength and disinterestedness.
He clung to them with increasing devotion as the
years went by. His generosity toward them was
constant and his fidelity in hours of trial and sorrow
was romantic in its chivalry. Many hearts outside
of his family circle bleed with bitter grief at the death
of so upright, tender and manly a man — one so help-
ful to all good causes, so true to family, country
and friends. It is not all of such a man to die; the
example and influence he leaves behind make his
life one of the permanent and precious forces of hu-
manity. But it was in the beauty and simplicity
of his private life that he could be properly under-
stood and appreciated, in that which Wordsworth
calls
“ ‘The best portion of a good man’s life,
His little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness
and of love.’ ”
After travelling several years in Europe, indulging
a refined taste in the contemplation and study of
the art and literature of its capitals, and seeking to
restore the vitality which had, in his better days,
made his life a charm, he returned to his native
city and resumed with renewed devotion the society
of his old friends. But to them, it was only too evi-
dent that his search of a restored health had been in
vain. Ihere was no apparent malady, but suddenly
his great heart, which had pulsed so warmly and
strongly for others, failed in its functions, and he
dropped into eternal sleep April 22, 1888.
On the 5th of April, 1862, Mr. Thruston was mar-
ried to Miss Leonora Keller, an accomplished lady
— daughter of Jacob Keller, of this city — who sur-
vives him without children. When he was last in
Rome he connected himself with the Catholic
Church, of which his wife is a member, and was ever
a prominent attendant upon its services.
A NTHONY J. CARROLL, lawyer and legislator,
^ was born September 2, 1864, in the town of
Buckners, Oldham County, Kentucky, son of An-
thony and Elizabeth Carroll. His father was a na-
tive of Ireland who immigrated to this country in
early life and came to Kentucky where he became
a prosperous farmer and large land owner. His
mother was Elizabeth Collins before her marriage
and she also was a native of Ireland, the town of
Ennis and County Clare being her birthplace.
A. J. Carroll obtained his early education in the
public schools of Oldham County and was gradu-
ated from Funk Seminary, of La Grange, Kentucky,
in 1881. Soon after completing his scholastic edu-
cation, he came to Louisville and became a reporter
on the Louisville Courier-Journal, with which he
continued to be connected until 1888. In that year
he accepted the position of city editor of the Louis-
ville Times, which he held until 1891, becoming-
recognized as a journalist of fine attainments. In
the meantime he had taken an active interest in poli-
tics and had become a leader of the younger element
of the Democratic party in Louisville. In 1891 he
was put forward as a candidate for member of the
State House of Representatives in the district com-
posed of the Sixth and Seventh wards. He was
elected and served with credit during the ensuing-
session of the Legislature and in 1893 was re-elected
from the same district without opposition. LTpon
the organization of the House of Representatives lie
was made the Democratic caucus nominee for
Speaker by acclamation and filled that position by
422
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
election of the House during the session of 1894.
He made a most admirable presiding officer, show-
ing himself a skillful parliamentarian and winning-
general commendation for his fairness and courtesy,
no appeal ever being taken from his decisions dur-
ing the session. Having read law during his jour-
nalistic career and while serving as a member of
the Legislature, he was admitted to the bar in 1894
and is now engaged in the practice of his profession
as senior member of the firm of Carroll & Hagan.
The same brilliancy which he evinced as a journalist
and legislator has given him prominence at the bar
ancl he has entered upon a promising career as a
lawyer. In 1895 he was a third time elected to the
Legislature, again without opposition, but refused
to accept the certificate of election on account of the
clandestine withdrawal of his Republican opponent
from the contest. A special election was ordered as
a result of this declination and he again became the
candidate of his party in a contest which was of
great importance inasmuch as the election of a
United States senator depended on the result. At
the election held on December 7th he was again re-
turned to the House of Representatives, receiving a
large majority over a popular Republican candidate.
He was made the caucus nominee of the Demo-
cratic representatives for speaker of the House, but
inasmuch as his party was in the minority, the nomi-
nation was only complimentary. At the ensuing-
session, which was one of the most notable in the
history of Kentucky, he was conspicuous for his
fidelity to principle, his earnest advocacy of the elec-
tion of a sound money Democrat to the United
States Senate and his uncompromising opposition
to the election of a candidate whom he did not con-
sider a good representative of the cardinal principles
of Democracy.
He was married in 1894 to Miss Sarah F. Holt, of
Frankfort, Kentucky, daughter of Judge W. H.
Holt, ex-chief justice of the Commonwealth.
p EORGE HANCOCK ALEXANDER, lawyer,
was born in Louisville, November 15, 1857,
son of Colonel Thomas Ludwell Alexander, of the
United States Army, and Sallie (Rudd) Alexander,
daughter of one of the distinguished pioneers of Jef-
ferson County. After obtaining his early education
in the schools of Louisville, he completed his studies
at Georgetown College, of Washington, D. C., and
at the Lmiversity of Virginia. Quitting college with
a finished classical education, he read law and en-
tered upon the practice of his profession in Louis-
ville, and has since been a member of the bar of this
city. His professional labors have, however, been
to some extent interfered with by his public services
and by the necessity which existed for him to devote
a large share of his time to the care and manage-
ment of his father’s estate. In his early manhood,
he became actively interested in politics and has long
been one of the recognized leaders of the Demo-
cratic party in Louisville. In 1891 he was elected
to the State Senate from the Thirty-sixth Senatorial
District, and served one term in that body, being
recognized as one of the ablest members of the up-
per branch of the Legislature. He was the warm
personal, as well as political, friend of the governor,
and one of the most active champions of all admin-
istrative measures. In 1894 he was appointed one
of the commissioners of the Central Kentucky Lu-
natic Asylum for a term of six years, and in 1895
became the candidate of his party for state railroad
commissioner to represent the Second District,
which includes Louisville and is the most important
in the State. In the exciting contest which followed
and which culminated for the first time in the his-
tory of the State in a Republican victory, Mr. Alex-
ander conducted a vigorous campaign and ran ahead
of his ticket in his district, being defeated by a small
majority at a time when his party was overwhelmed
by a tidal wave of combined opposition in the State.
Since then he has devoted himself to the practice of
his profession, giving special attention to corporate
interests. As a public man he has taken a warm in-
terest in the eleemosynary institutions of the State
and has rendered valuable services to the public in
the way of ameliorating- and bettering- the condition
of the wards of the Commonwealth. For some
years he was closely identified with State military
matters and, from 1879 to 1881, was a second lieuten-
ant in one of the Louisville companies of State
Guards. Socially and politically, he is exceedingly
popular, has a wide acquaintance throughout the
State, is an attractive conversationalist and a pleas-
ing public speaker.
'T HADDEUS W. SPINDLE, lawyer, was born in
*■ Metcalfe County, Kentucky, March 4, 1856,
son of William Edward Spindle, who was born in
Prince William County, Virginia, and who came to
Louisville as a young man and engaged in merchan-
dizing. Afterward he removed to Metcalfe County,
where he was engaged in farming until his death,
which occurred in 1863. He was of German des-
cent, his grandfather having been among the Ger-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
423
man immigrants who settled in Virginia prior to the
Revolutionary War. The mother of the subject of
this sketch was Mary Eliza Duff before her
marriage. She was also a native of Virginia, of
Scotch-Irish extraction. She died in Metcalfe
County the same year that her husband passed
away.
Coming to Louisville when he was nine years of
age Thaddeus W. Spindle entered the public schools
and obtained his education in “the people’s college.”
He began his business career as a messenger for the
Western Union Telegraph Company, and, in 1872,
obtained a position with Captain Stephen E. Jones,
who was then an assignee in bankruptcy. In 1875
he accepted a better position with the firm of Gard-
ner & Irwin — composed of the late Willis Gardner
and Captain H. S. Irwin, present railroad commis-
sioner from this district — who were also assignees
in bankruptcy. In 1877 this firm was succeeded by
the firm of Gardner, Stucky & Spindle, Mr. Spindle
being the junior member. When the bankruptcy
law was repealed, in 1879, the firm was dissolved,
and Mr. Spindle then began the study of law in the
office of Bijur & Davie. He was a student in this
office two years and, after being admitted to the
bar, began the practice of law in 1882. In 1884 he
formed a partnership with Arthur Cary, which lasted
until 1889, when Mr. Spindle retired from the prac-
tice of law to take charge of the business of the Ger-
mania Safety Vault & Trust Company, organized in
that year. Being made a member of the directorate
of this corporation he was elected vice-president and
general manager, and served in that capacity until
1892, when he was elected president of the company.
He continued to be the official, as well as the execu-
tive, head of this successful and well managed corpo-
ration until 1894, when he resigned the position to
return to the active practice of the law, as a member
of the firm of Kohn, Baird & Spindle.
In addition to his connection with the Germania
Safety Vault & Trust Company, he has been promi-
nently identified in a business way with the Ken-
tucky & Indiana Bridge Company and the Louis-
ville & Jeffersonville Bridge Company, two enter-
prises of large magnitude and great importance to
the city. When the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge
Company was reorganized in 1888, he was made a
director and shortly thereafter a member of the
executive committee of the company’s directorate.
His connection with the active management of this
corporation continued until 1891, when lie resigned
his directorship to accept a like office in the East
End Improvement Company. This step was made
necessary by his representation of large interests
held by the Masonic Savings Bank and Jacob Ivrie-
ger, Sr., in the East End Improvement Company
and the Louisville & Jeffersonville Bridge Com-
pany. He continued to act as a director of the East
End Improvement Company until after the con-
tract made by that company with the Big Four
Railroad Company had been so far carried into effect
as to insure the success of the enterprise, and is
entitled to a share of the credit for bringing it to
a successful issue. He has never been a politician,
but has voted with the Republican party on national
issues. His church- membership is in the College
Street Presbyterian Church. He was married, in
1878, to Miss May Long — only daughter of John
M. Long, a prominent merchant of Charleston, In-
diana— and has two children, Alma and Olive Spin-
dle.
WILLIAM WAGNER WATTS, lawyer, was
v born at Galesburg, Illinois, March 20, i860,
son of William Owen and Mary Rebecca (Wagner)
Watts. His father was a native Kentuckian, born
at New Castle, Henry County, and soon after the
birth of his son he returned to this State, establish-
ing his home first near Bardstown, and later in
Louisville. Soon after his return to his native State,
the elder Watts enlisted in the Union army and re-
mained in the military service until the close of the
Civil War. When the war ended, he removed his
family to Louisville and was engaged in the practice
of law in this city until his death, which occurred
in 1881. He was the inventor and patentee of the
“Watts Acoustic Telephone,” which he sold to a
Boston firm.
William W. Watts was educated in the public
schools of Louisville, and, after his father’s death,
attended the Louisville Law School for a time, but
did not graduate from that institution for the reason
that circumstances made it necessary for him to
engage in some regular and remunerative employ-
ment. Entering the law office of Rodman & Brown,
he continued his law studies under their preceptor-
ship while serving* them in a clerical capacity, and
in due course of time passed his examination, and
was admitted to the bar. After that, he remained
another year with Rodman & Brown, and then
opened an office and began the practice of law on
his own account, Almost immediately he came into
a practice which insured his success as a lawyer,
his first year of professional labor bringing him a
424
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
net income of eighteen hundred dollars. Since that
time, close application and conscientious devotion
to his profession have been rewarded by a steadily
increasing business and a prestige and prominence
at the bar of which a much older practitioner might
well be proud. Among the younger members of the
bar of Louisville he is a recognized leader, and
older members have great respect for his talents,
his capacity for research and investigation, and his
chivalrous championship of every cause with which
he becomes identified.
Co-equal with his reputation as a lawyer and a
business man is the fame of Mr. Watts with the
organized wheelmen, not only of Louisville and
Kentucky, but of the whole United States. It is
probable that no name or face is more familiar to
the fifty thousand members of the League of Ameri-
can Wheelmen than that of W. W. Watts. This is
due to his ability as an organizer, as a fighter for
what he believes to be for the general welfare, his
attractiveness as a raconteur, and his good fellow-
ship. His active connection with the League of
American Wheelmen began some seven years ago,
when he took the management of a heated campaign
in Kentucky division for the chief consulship. He
won the fight for the friend for whom he worked,
and the following year was elevated to the chief con-
sulship himself. He was a delegate to the national
assembly of the League of American Wheelmen,
held at Columbus, Ohio, in February, 1892, and at
once made a strong impression upon the brainy
men composing that law-making body. He has
been a delegate or attendant at every national as-
sembly since, going to Philadelphia in 1893, Louis-
ville 1894, New York 1895, and Baltimore 1896.
It was at Philadelphia that he began the fight for
the drawing of the color line in the league, which
fight made him famous. By a close vote, the
amendment was defeated at that time, but the next
year, at Louisville, he was successful, the white
amendment to the constitution going through. At
New York, the succeeding year, an attempt was
made to undo this work, but through Mr. Watts’
efforts it was frustrated. The wisdom of his action
was demonstrated by a large increase of league
membership, not only throughout the South, but
the country generally.
Mr. Watts is not only a talking wheelman, but
he is an active and enthusiastic rider as well. He
was probably the first lawyer of Louisville to use a
bicycle in going to and from his office, and was
ridiculed at the time therefor, his brother barristers
considering this undignified and unbecoming to a
lawyer. Opinion has changed, however, and to-day
there are many lawyers in Louisville who wheel for
business and recreation. Mr. Watts is deservedly
popular with wheelmen, and he is probably the best
informed lawyer on bicycle jurisprudence in the
United States, having made this an especial study.
He is president of the Fountain Ferry Cycle and
Athletic Association, which owns the Fountain Ferry
bicycle track, the fastest in the world, on which all
old records have been broken and new ones made,
and which has a world-wide renown among wheel-
men. He was president also of the Louisville “ ’96
Meet Club,” which was successful in bringing to
this city the national meet of the League of Ameri-
can Wheelmen for 1896.
He is a Republican in his political affiliations, a
Methodist churchman, and a member of Doric
Lodge of the order of Odd Fellows. He was mar-
ried, in 1887, to Miss Ida May Steinberg, daughter
of Joseph Steinberg, long a prominent and success-
ful wholesale tobacco merchant of Louisville.
| OHN C. STROTHER, lawyer, was born in
^ Trimble County, Kentucky, February 25, 1846.
His father, Rev. French Strother, who was born in
Trimble County in 1811 and died there in 1870, was
a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South,
a man of eminent piety and usefulness in the church.
His grandfather, Rev. George Strother, was born in
Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1776, and married
there, in 1796, Mary Duncan, removing immediately
afterward to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he
continued to reside until 1802, when he removed to
Trimble County, in which county he lived until his
death in 1864. Through Rev. French Strother and
Rev. George Strother the subject of this sketch is
descended from Francis and Susannah (Dabney)
Strother, who came from England and were among
the early colonists of Virginia. Their descendants
have been conspicuous in the annals of the “Old
Dominion,” and have been connected by blood and
marriage with such illustrious families as the Pen-
dleton, Gaines and Gabriel Jones families, of Vir-
ginia, and the Taylor, Bruce, Gray, Pryor and other
noted families of Kentucky. The mother of John C.
Strother was Lucinda Owsley Maddox, who was
born in Trimble County, Kentucky, in 1823, and
died there in 1883.
After being educated in the public schools of
Trimble County, Mr. Strother studied law under
the preceptorship of Hon. W. S. Pryor, chief justice
J
I
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
425
of Kentucky, and Hon. Joseph Barbour, late of the
Superior Court of Kentucky, and was graduated
from the law department of the University of Louis-
ville in the class of 1869. In May of that year he
began the practice at Owenton, Kentucky, and the
same year was elected school commissioner of Owen
County to fill out the unexpired term of Hon. J. H.
Dorman, who had been elected to the Kentucky
Senate. He held the office of school commissioner
seven years, being elected three times to that posi-
tion. In 1873 he became a candidate for common-
wealth's attorney in his district, having for his com-
petitors Hon. Ira Julian, of Franklin County; Hon.
Newton Hogan, of Grant County; Hon. John J.
Orr, of Owen County; and Hon. Warren Montfort,
of Henry County. The campaign which followed
was a memorable one and resulted in the nomina-
tion of Hon. Warren Montfort, at the celebrated
Sparta convention of 1874, but Mr. Strother was
only a few votes behind the successful candidate,
having defeated all his other competitors. He had
taken a prominent position at the Owenton bar
early in his career as a lawyer and practiced suc-
cessfully in Owen and adjoining counties until 1885.
In that year he was appointed chief deputy in the
office of Hon. Attilla Cox, collector of internal rev-
enue, at Louisville, and removed to this city. During
Mr. Cox’s administration as collector, Mr. Strother
was charged with the performance of various impor-
tant duties, and he discharged these duties with
such ability as to gain him high business, as well
as legal, standing.
At the close of his term of office, in 1889, he
opened a law office in this city, and at once took
a prominent place at the Louisville bar. His talents
and ability have commanded a liberal patronage,
and in a comparatively short time he has built up a
large and lucrative practice. He formed a partner-
ship with Judge Thomas R. Gordon, formerly of
Owen County, under the firm name of Strother &
Gordon, and this association is still in existence.
Politically, he has been a staunch Democrat and
lias contributed actively to the success of his party
wherever occasion offered. Following in the foot-
steps of his father, he has been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South since early boy-
hood, and in fraternal circles he is known as a lead-
ing Odd Fellow, having held all the official posi-
tions in the subordinate lodge and encampment —
including noble grand and chief patriarch — and hav-
ing frequently been a representative in the Grand
Lodge. He is an influential member of the Watter-
son Club and a member of the Filson Club. As a
business man, the most important enterprise with
which he has been connected is the Louisville Sav-
ings, Loan & Building Company, the largest and
most successful of its kind in Kentucky. In com-
pany with Mr. Charles R. Long, he organized this
corporation, which is the pioneer savings, loan and
building company in the State.
He was married, in 1871. in Covington, Kentucky,
to Mary Frances Greenwood, who is nearly related
to the Pryors of Trimble and Henry counties, and
the Youngs of Trimble and Bath counties, Ken-
tucky. Their children are Shelby F., Kate P.,
Eugene T., and Ralph G. Strother.
p EORGE WEISSINGER SMITH, son of
Thomas Flovd and Blanche (Weissinger)
Smith, was born in Louisville, October 10, 1864.
His father was appointed lieutenant in the United
States Army, through the influence of Hon. Teffer-
son Davis, at whose wedding his grandfather — of
the same name — was an attendant. His mother was
the daughter of George Weissinger, Esq., partner of
George D. Prentice, of “The Journal.” At the be-
ginning of the late war, his father resigned his
commission in the army for the purpose of raising
a company in Missouri for the Confederate Army,
but was prevented by military interference. He died
in Oldham County, Kentucky, July 10, 1890, pre-
ceded by his wife three years.
The subject of this sketch received his early educa-
tion in various private schools, and graduated at
the Louisville high school in 1883. In the autumn of
that year he entered the University of Virginia,
where he remained three years, studying ancient
and modern languages and the sciences the first two
years, and law the third. He then returned to Louis-
ville, and, attending the law school of the university,
took the degree of bachelor of laws in the spring
of 1887. He at once entered upon the practice of
law, in which he has since continued, and is recog-
nized as one of the rising young lawyers of Louis-
ville. In political association, Mr. Smith is a Jeffer-
sonian Democrat, who lias never sought nor held
office, save that of trustee, for two terms, of the
town of Pewee Valley. He is a member of Azur
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and, from 1881 to 1884, was a
private in Company F of the Louisville Legion.
His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian
Church.
In 1890 he married Ellen Carpenter Hunt, only
daughter of George Robertson Hunt, of Louisville,
426
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
whose maternal great-grandfather was Thomas Pra-
ther, one of Louisville’s earliest and most prominent
merchants, and also a lineal descendant of a sister of
George Rogers Clark. They have three children,
Blanche Weissinger, Hunt Choteau, and Karl Yung-
bluth.
p H ARLES G. RICHIE, lawyer, was born in
Louisville, January 18, 1868, son of Henry
Clay Richie and Sophia (Spurrier) Richie, the for-
mer a native of New Albany, Indiana, and the latter
of Sumner County, Tennessee. He was brought up
in Louisville and educated in the city schools, after
which he began the study of law and completed his
preparation for the bar in the law department of the
University of Louisville. In 1889 lie began the
practice of his profession as an associate of Hon.
Walter Evans, making a favorable impression upon
the bar and the public at the beginning of his
career. In 1892 he became a member of the firm of
Speckert & Richie — which took a prominent place
among the younger law firms of the city — and this
association continued until he was called to the exer-
cise of judicial functions. Having proven himself
a lawyer of character and ability, and having also
attracted to himself a large circle of friends, both in
his profession and out of it, he was made the candi-
date of the Republican party for county judge, in
the fall of 1894. Although he had never taken an
especially prominent part in politics, he proved him-
self an active and vigorous campaigner, and was
elected over an able and popular competitor who
had held the office for many years.
Entering upon the discharge of his judicial duties
soon after his election, Judge Richie has more than
filled the expectations of his warmest personal and
political friends, and has commended himself to
those who opposed his election by his fairness, his
business-like methods, and his administrative ability.
The county court is, in the broadest sense of the
term, the people’s court, and Judge Richie has dem-
onstrated that he has both the ability and the dis-
position to conduct its affairs in such a manner as to
subserve the best interests of the people.
He was married, in 1895, to Miss Margaret R.
Pierce, of Sumner County, Tennessee.
FA AVID W. BAIRD, lawyer, was born January 1,
1864, in Delaware County, Iowa, son of David
and Sarah (Ewart) Baird. His father, who has been
for many years one of the leading wholesale mer-
chants of Louisville, and of whom extended men-
tion will be found elsewhere in this History, became
a resident of Louisville when the son was four years
of age, and the latter was brought up and educated
in this city. After completing his studies at the
high school he engaged in newspaper work as a
member of the reportorial staff of “The Louisville
Commercial.” At the end of several months’ ser-
vice on “The Commercial,” he became a member of
“The Evening Post” corps of reporters, and was
connected with that paper nearly five years. During
this time he established a reputation as a bright and
versatile newspaper man and clever writer, and,
had he chosen to continue his labors in the field of
journalism, he would unquestionably have achieved
distinction in that profession. He preferred, how-
ever, to devote himself to the law, and after attend-
ing full courses of lectures in the law department
of the University of Louisville, was graduated from
that institution.
Immediately after his admission to the bar, he
began the practice of law, and has since devoted
himself assiduously to that calling. That he was
well adapted to the legal profession has been demon-
strated by the success which has attended his efforts
and which has given him a prominent place among
the younger members of the bar of Louisville. He is
now a member of the law firm of Kohn, Baird &
Spindle, at the head of which is one of the leading
lawyers of the State, and which has a large and con-
stantly increasing business in all departments of the
practice. As a member of a law firm charged with
many responsibilities, he has come prominently be-
fore the public in connection with the preparation
and trial of numerous important cases, and has
acquitted himself creditably under all circumstances.
D ENJAMIN F. GARDNER, lawyer, was born in
Harrison County, Indiana, January 4, 1863, son
of Jacob Iv. and Elizabeth (Fullenlove) Gardner.
His grandparents on both sides were natives of
Kentucky, the Gardners having been early settlers
of Hardin County, and the Fullenloves — the name
was formerly spelled Fullilove — of Fayette County.
One of his paternal ancestors was John Gardner,
an educated Irishman who taught school in Hardin
County — in which he established his home soon
after coming to America — where he married a Miss
Hendricks, a distant relative of Thomas A. Hen-
dricks, of Indiana. Among his ancestors on the
maternal side were the Gwinns and Vaughns, of Vir-
ginia, and his great-grandmother was a first cousin
of Thomas Jefferson.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
427
He came with his parents to Jefferson County,
Kentucky, when he was three years of age, and
grew up in the country, receiving his early education
in the common schools and completing his academic
1 studies in East Cedar Hill Institute, at Fisherville.
He then began reading law under the preceptorship
i of Judge Andrew Barnett, and, after attending the
full course of lectures at the Louisville Law School,
I was graduated from that institution in the class of
! 1884. Soon after his graduation, he passed a civil
service examination and was appointed to a clerk-
ship in the War Department at Washington, enter-
ing upon his work in this connection in November
: of 1884. At the expiration of a probationary term
| of six months, he was transferred to the general
land office and appointed one of the law clerks to
investigate and report upon contested land cases.
At the end of four years in the Government service,
: in the course of which he gained knowledge and
I experience which have since been of much value to
him in his profession, he resigned his clerkship and
returned to Louisville to begin the practice of law.
In 1891 he was elected a member of the Kentucky
House of Representatives and served as a member
of that body during the session at which the stat-
utory laws of the State were adjusted to the require-
! ments of the present constitution of the common-
wealth. He was chairman of the House Committee
. on Circuit Courts, and in that and other capacities
, rendered valuable services to the State. He declined
a renomination. He was elected as a Democrat,
and has been, from early youth, a believer in the
doctrines of that party, earnest and consistent in his
championship of State’s rights, a low tariff and a
sound currency. He is now head of the law firm
of Gardner & Moxley, which has built up a good
practice and achieved special distinction for the zeal
and ability shown in defending the wife-murderer,
, Dennis McCarty, in a case which attracted much
attention by reason of the new points interposed in
a vain endeavor to save the murderer’s life.
Mr. Gardner is a member of the Order of Elks
and of the Cadmus Club, a young people’s literary
association. He has been interested to some extent
in business enterprises, and is one of the projectors
! of the movement to build an electric railway from
Louisville to Fairfield, Kentucky.
' He was married, in 1884, to Miss Stella E. Hall,
of Bullitt County, Kentucky, who died in 1889, leav-
ing three children born of this union. He was again
married, February 15, 1896, to Miss Mary Scott
Snead, of Louisville.
T OHN P. FULTS, JR., was born in the city of
Louisville December 30, 1870, the son of John
Page and Florence Viola (Parker) Fults. His father,
a Knight Templar and member of the Scottish Rite,
thirty-second degree, was born in Madison, Jefferson
County, Indiana, enlisted in the Eighty-third Illinois
Infantry, but was discharged for physical disability.
Prom 1864 to 1872 he was chief clerk and general
freight agent of the J. M. & I. Railroad, and later
cashier of the Fifth Internal Revenue District, in-
spector of customs under J. P. Fuse, surveyor of cus-
toms, and for some seven years bookkeeper in the
First National Bank. His mother, Florence Viola
Parker, was a native of Jeffersonville, Indiana. His
first American paternal ancestor was one of three
brothers who came over during the early settlement
of Plymouth. Another was a celebrated animal
painter, and one still more remote was a Protestant
reformer at the time of Martin Luther. His paternal
grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812, in
Winfield Scott’s regiment. He spelt his name Foltz,
but changed it to the present style of spelling it,
Fults; his father having been an American soldier
in the Revolution.
Young Fults received his education in the graded
schools of Louisville and at the high school, the
State Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Lex-
ington— by appointment from Jefferson County — and
at the law school, at Louisville. As a further means
of enlarging his practical sphere of knowledge, he
learned the trade of cabinetmaker. During a short
residence in Mexico he also acquired a knowledge
of the Spanish language. He then became a news-
paper correspondent and reporter and department
editor, and later a promoter of various enterprises,
and still later a commercial traveler in different lines,
visiting the principal cities of the United States and
Mexico. He then settled down to the practice of
law, his firm being that of Fults & Woods. He was
thus engaged when, in November, 1894, he was
elected county attorney of Jefferson County, Ken-
tucky, which office he now holds. In politics he is
a Republican, a member of the Ancient Essenic
Order, a Mason, a member of the Commercial Club,
and a member of the Junior Order American Me-
chanics. In 1886 he enlisted in the First Regiment
Kentucky State Guard, Louisville Legion, and in
1891 was commissioned second lieutenant, Com-
pany C. In March, 1894, he was made first lieuten-
ant, Company E, which position he now holds. He
served in two active campaigns with this company
in the mountains of Kentucky, and has attended all
428
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the encampments of the Legion since his enlist-
ment. Few young men of his age have led as active
and diversified a life. In religious association he
is a Protestant, though connected with no church,
and is unmarried.
D ENJAMIN RUSH PALMER, physician, and
for many years a leading member of the pro-
fession in Louisville, was born in Clarendon, Ver-
mont, in 1813, and was trained from boyhood up
to the profession in which he achieved such signal
distinction. After being graduated from Dartmouth
College he read medicine under the preceptorship
of his father, a noted New England physician, and
took his doctor’s degree from Woodstock Medical
College in 1834. Some time afterward he estab-
lished himself in the practice of his profession in
Massachusetts, and within a few years thereafter
became prominently identified with medical educa-
tional work in New England. He delivered his first
course of lectures at Woodstock Medical College
in 1841 and soon after was appointed to the chair
of anatomy and physiology in that institution. He
was later a professor also in Berkshire Medical Col-
lege of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and in Buffalo Med-
ical College. In 1852 he was called to Louisville
to deliver a course of lectures in the medical depart-
ment of the University of Louisville, and this led
to his removal to this city in 1853. Here he at once
took high rank both as physician and educator,
and his connection with the University of Louisville
continued to the end of his life. During the last
four years of his life he occupied the chair of sur-
gery in that institution. He died July 4, 1865. His
wife was Miss Araminta Graves before her marriage,
and she was the daughter of Rev. Increase Graves,
a prominent Congregational minister of Brandon,
Vermont.
TTARRY STUCKY, who was conspicuously iden-
A 1 tilled with the city government of Louisville for
a long term of years, was born in Jefferson County,
Kentucky, September 27, 1827, son of Frederick
and Louisa Hite (Meyers) Stucky. He was edu-
cated under the tutorship of Bishop W. T. Leacock
— whose reputation as a great teacher still survives
him — and in 1846 became a deputy clerk of the Jef-
ferson County Court. He served in that capacity
eight years and then acted as deputy clerk of the
Louisville Chancery Court three years. In 1861
he was elected auditor of Louisville for a term of
two years, but resigned that office in 1862, becoming
a candidate for the office of clerk of the Chancery
Court. At the ensuing election he was chosen to
the clerkship for a term of six years, and immediately
after his retirement from that office was elected sec-
retary and treasurer of the Louisville Sinking Fund
Commission for a term of two years. He was re-
elected to that office for four consecutive terms, and
thus was identified in a most important capacity
with the financial affairs of the city. In December
of 1876 he was elected alderman from the Sixth
Ward, and, by subsequent re-elections, held that
position eight consecutive terms of two years each,
declining a ninth election. He was president of
the board of aldermen four years, and was one of
the most capable and useful members of that body.
Always a Democrat, he has taken an active interest
in politics and has been prominent in the councils
of his party. - He is a member of the Broadway
Christian Church and a member of the Masonic
Order and the Order of Odd Fellows. As a public
official, a man and a citizen, he has met the full
measure of his obligations and enjoys the high es-
teem of his neighbors and fellow-citizens.
He was married, in 1856, to Miss Sallie Kemp
Sweeny, daughter of Joseph A. Sweeny, well known
throughout Jefferson County as a farmer and
minister of the Christian Church. The children
born of their marriage are two sons, Dr. Joseph Ad-
dison Stucky, of Lexington, and Dr. Thomas Hunt
Stucky, of Louisville, and an only daughter, Vir-
ginia Stucky.
FA AVID WENDEL YANDELL, physician, son
of Dr. Lunsford Pitts and Susan Juliet (Wen-
del) Yandell, was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
September 4, 1826. He came of a family of physi-
cians, being the third in the direct paternal line
whose name became prominent in the profession.
His father for more than half a century was con-
spicuous in the practice in Tennessee, and as a
medical professor in Transylvania University, in
Louisville, and in Memphis; a scientist whose in-
vestigation and publications in geology gave him a
cosmopolitan reputation ; a bibliographist whose
writings covered the whole field of medical history,
science and biography; and withal a man of the
highest social and religious caste, who, at one time,
relinquished his professional calling to preach the
Word of God. In the whole catalogue of distin-
guished names which adorn the profession in Louis-
ville, none stands higher in the virtues and merits
which make men loved and honored. The paternal
.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
429
grandfather of the subject of this sketch was also
a physician of eminence in Tennessee, practicing
in several counties and honored by all for his faithful
and upright character. His maternal grandfather
Wendel, whose name in part he bears, was a mer-
chant of Murfreesboro, of high standing and great
probity.
Sprung from such immediate ancestry, it was nat-
ural that David Yandell should be inclined to follow
in their honorable footsteps and that he should pos-
sess the mental and moral qualities to fit him for
success in the same calling. His father having be-
come established in Louisville as professor of chem-
istry in the Medical Institute, the early education of
David was obtained under that noted teacher, Noble
Butler, who knew well how to develop the latent
mental capacity of his pupils. Having been pre-
pared under his careful tutorage, he matriculated at
Centre College, Danville, and for some time prose-
cuted his studies there. But he had already chosen
medicine for his profession, and leaving Danville
before he was graduated, became a student in the
college of which his father was professor, and was
graduated from the medical department of the Uni-
versity of Louisville — to which its name was changed
— in 1846. Shortly afterward he went to Europe
and studied medicine in Paris for nearly two and
a half years. Returning to Louisville, he began the
practice of his profession, and from the start took
a position which well foreshadowed his future prom-
inence. Young, thoroughly equipped for service,
and with the most engaging address and a thorough
devotion to his profession, he early won his way to
the confidence alike of the community and the
notable medical men in the colleges and in the
practice. He was soon appointed demonstrator of
anatomy in his alma mater and early made his mark
in the line of surgical knowledge and skill, which
in time placed him at the very head of that specialty.
He was thus engaged in the full flush of successful
practice and teaching, when, in the winter of 1851,
his health failed and he deemed a change necessary.
He accordingly purchased a farm near Nashville,
Tennessee, and followed the pursuit of agriculture
for two years, when he returned to Louisville and
resumed his practice. He remained actively engaged
in his profession until the outbreak of the war, when
he left Kentucky to serve in the Confederate Army.
For a time he was associated with the Orphan
Brigade of Kentucky Infantry, but when General
Albert Sidney Johnston advanced to Bowling
Green, lie was made medical director of his armv
and became closely allied to him as one of his most
confidential and trusted staff officers. In fact, from
the very nature of the duties of a medical director
charged with the preservation of the health of his
command and the establishment of hospitals in
advance or retreat, the relations must of necessity
be close between the general and the head of his
medical staff. This was demonstrated upon the re-
treat from Bowling Green, when on the march
which none knew whither it tended, Dr. Yandell
asked General Johnston where he would next estab-
lish his hospitals. “At Corinth, Mississippi,” was the
ready reply, showing that his chief had already
studied out the problem and fixed in his mind the
point at which lie would halt and assume the offens-
ive. At the battle of Shiloh, shortly before the fatal
shaft struck down his friend, Dr. Yandell was riding
by his side in anxious solicitude while the battle
raged about them and when nearly all of the staff
but he were off on duty, the commander saw a
wounded Federal soldier lying near, and turning to
Yandell, told him to get down and see if lie could
do1 anything for the relief of the poor fellow. He
passed on to the front while the doctor obeyed, and
in a few moments his femoral artery was severed
by a minie-ball and he died before those around
him were aware that he was wounded, the victim
of his own humanity; since, if his surgeon had been
with him, his life could easily have been saved.
Upon General Johnston's death, Dr. Yandell served
for a time on the staff of his successor, General
Beauregard, but subsequently became medical di-
rector of the staff of General Hardee and remained
with that distinguished division and corps com-
mander until the last year of the war, serving with
him on General Bragg’s Kentucky campaign and
at the battles of Murfreesboro and Chickamauga.
When General Joseph E. Johnston assumed com-
mand of the Army of Tennessee lie became bis chief
medical director until the latter part of the war,
when he was transferred to the west side of the
Mississippi and became chief medical officer to Gen-
eral E. Kirby Smith. He was thus engaged when
the surrender took place, having served four years
continuously in the field, with a fidelity and effi
ciency rarely equaled.
Upon his return to Louisville in 1865, he re-
sumed his practice, welcomed home by everyone,
and enjoying,- as did his comrades, an era of good
feeling which was as grateful as it was unexpected.
In 1867 he was elected to the chair of “ 1 lie Science
and Practice of Medicine" in the University of Lou
430
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
isville, and in 1869 he was made professor of clinical
surgery, which he has held continuously since. In
addition to the eminence that he has attained as a
professor and practitioner, Dr. Yandell has achieved
distinction in medical journalism and medical biog-
raphy. Few writers are more able in either depart-
ment, his productions being marked by a breadth
of philosophical learning and a graceful style which
make them valuable contributions to literature. The
profession, both in this country and in Europe, has
recognized his great services in these fields, and he
has been honored with many marks of distinction.
He was the first president of the Louisville Sur-
gical Society, and has been president of the State
Medical Society; in 1871, was elected president of
the American Medical Association, which met in
San Francisco, and was elected president of the
American Surgical Association at its meeting in
Washington in 1890. In 1895, the degree of LL. D.
was conferred upon him by the University of Louis-
ville.
Before the war, Dr. Yandell always voted with
the Whigs; since then, with the Democrats. He has
never taken an active part in politics, devoting him-
self exclusively to his profession, and never held
any public office, except to serve for a limited period
as a member of the school board, in response to a
popular demand. While never having joined any
church, his training was in the Presbyterian faith,
and he has always given liberally of his means both
to the church and to many charitable institutions.
He has ever entertained great respect for the min-
istry of Christ and given his services to such freely
and cheerfully.
Leading a life of great professional activity, Dr.
Yandell has yet always been noted for his fine social
qualities. His acquaintance has covered a wide field,
embracing in his intimate friendship the most con-
spicuous men of all callings during nearly half a
century. As a companion, his society has always
been most enjoyable. An enthusiastic lover of field
sports and a fine shot, his cabinet shows trophies
of his skill, from every section of the country from
the Ohio to the Rocky Mountains, to which latter
region it was long his custom to take annual hunts.
A lover of the drama, he has for many years main-
tained among his friends the leading members of
the profession, his relations with Joe Jefferson being
especially intimate. As a conversationalist, he has
had few equals, with an interesting repertoire of
anecdote and war reminiscence. Several years ago
lie suffered a severe attack of the grippe, from the
effects of which he has never recovered, rendering
o
him a valetudinarian and limiting him latterly to the
society of his immediate family.
He was married, in Nashville, Tennessee, April
10, 1851, to Frances Jane, daughter of Foster Gray
and Maria (Cage) Crutcher. Their surviving chil-
dren are: Maria, wife of Dr. W. O. Roberts; and
Susan Juliet, wife of James F. Buckner, Escp, of ’
this city.
OBERT O’BRIEN DURRETT, of Newsteacl, }
Jefferson County, son of William and Elizabeth
(Rawlings) Durrett, was born near New Castle,
Henry County, Kentucky, December 30, 1827. His
father was of French descent, the name being orig-
inally spelled Duret, and his lineage can be traced
in direct line to the early part of the sixteenth cen-
tury. A number of his ancestors were scholars and
authors, who have left historical and professional
works, which are in the possession of the family.
The exact date at which the American ancestor im-
migrated to this country is not fixed, but enough is 1
known to place it at a period anterior to the middle [
of the last century.
William Durrett was a native of Virginia, as was 1
his wife, Elizabeth Rawlings. The former was born
April 14, 1776, and the latter November 13, 1789.
On the 20th of January, 1811, they were married, and f
came immediately to Kentucky, making the journey
of six hundred miles on horseback — a bridal trip
which then required a month, but which can now
be made in twenty-four hours. Coming by way of
Cumberland Gap, they settled in Henry County,
near New Castle, and lived there until their death.
William Durrett, shortly after his arrival, built there
the first brick house in the county, and it still stands
in a good state of preservation. Ten children were
the issue of this marriage, three daughters and seven
sons, the subject of this sketch being the seventh
son. The three survivors of this large family are:
Mrs. Elizabeth Mitchell, of Henry County, now |
eighty-four years old ; Reuben Thomas Durrett, the i
historian, of Louisville; and Robert, who was born L
after the death of his father. f
After receiving his primary education at the sem-
inary in New Castle — which was early an educational
centre — in 1845, Robert entered the junior class in
Hanover College, Indiana, where he remained until
the second term of the senior year, when his health
became impaired and he was compelled to relinquish
his studies. In the fall of 1847, ’n order to recu-
perate his strength, lie went to the far West, where, j
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
431
in hunting and fishing, he succeeded in re-establish-
ing his health. In the fall of 1849, having deter-
mined to pursue the medical profession, he came to
this city and entered the medical department of the
University of Louisville, and was graduated from
that institution in 1851. Shortly after receiving his
diploma lie was elected resident physician of the
city hospital and remained in this position eighteen
months. He then entered into private practice, his
knowledge of German giving him many advantages
in his profession. The writer recalls him vividly
at this period of his life, when, with a strikingly
handsome person, a cordial and attractive address,
and an enthusiastic love of his calling, he was one
of a group of young medical men notable for their
brilliancy and success in after life, among whom
David W. Yandell and Robert J. Breckinridge were
the most conspicuous. The older medical men who
have given to Louisville such prominence in the pro-
fession were still in their prime. The two Rogers,
Dr. Samuel D. Gross, the elder Yandell, Dr. J. B.
Flint, Dr. Henry Miller, the elder Palmer, Dr.
Llewellyn Powell, and other learned professors, were
in the zenith of their usefulness. It was under such
instructors and in such association that Dr. Durrett
was educated and trained in his profession. Espe-
cially was he near to Gross as a friend and preceptor,
and under whom, as assistant for several years in the
treatment of surgical cases, he acquired great skill
in that branch of the profession, which had not then
become, as now, so much of a specialty. From the
evidence thus given of his capacity, it cannot be
doubted that if he had devoted himself exclusively
to surgery, he would have made himself the worthy
successor of his great preceptor. But he followed
general practice, and, marrying, became a farmer,
and surrendered the field to younger and more as-
piring members of the profession. During his active
medical life he was one of the original members of
the State Medical Society and an active member of
the Jefferson County Medical Society; and, although
devoting himself to agricultural and horticultural
pursuits, he has continued to be the medical advisor
of his neighbors, and has kept up his interest in all
matters pertaining to the profession. Of later vears,
he has contributed both to the medical and secular
journals interesting sketches of his cotemporaries,
full of reminiscence and pleasing anecdote.
In politics, he is a Democrat of the old school,
and in religious affiliation he and his family are of
the Roman Catholic Church.
On the 2d of December, 1859, he married Sallie,
daughter of Samuel and Joana (Clark) Phillips, of
a family long settled in Jefferson County. At the
time of his death, her father was the largest land and
slave owner in the county. Thomas Phillips, his
father, married Sallie Botts, of Loudoun County,
\ irginia, and his father, Jenkins Phillips, married
Hannah Butcher. They were all well connected and
left to their children large landed and money estates.
Dr. and Mrs. Durrett have six living children:
Robin, Llewellyn Powell, Charles Eustace, Reuben
Thomas, Lydian Phillips, and Sallie I., all of whom
reside with their parents at Newstead, their resi-
dence in Jefferson County.
I EWIS ROGERS, M. D., physician and surgeon,
■*“' son of Dr. Coleman and Jane (Farrar) Rogers,
was bom at Bryant’s Station, Fayette County, Ken-
tucky, October 22, 1812. His father, Dr. Coleman
Rogers, was a native of Culpeper County, Virginia,
where he was born March 6, 1781, and was brought
to Fayette County, Kentucky, when he was six years
old. He was the seventh son of twelve children,
eleven of whom were boys, and, although over six
feet tall and weighing two hundred pounds, he was
the smallest of his father’s family. A graduate of
Transylvania University, he was the pupil in medi-
cine of Dr. Samuel Brown and Dr. Charles Caldwell.
He completed his medical education at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania and entered into partnership at
Danville with Dr. Ephraim McDowell, the father of
ovariotomy. After some years practice and another
course of lectures in Philadelphia, upon the organi-
zation of the medical department of Transylvania, he
was appointed adjunct professor of anatomy.
Thence he moved to Cincinnati and became a part-
ner of Dr. Daniel Drake, and professor in the Ohio
Medical College, but, the connection not being con-
genial, he removed in 1823 to Louisville, and soon
established a large practice. In 1833 he took part
in the organization of the Louisville Medical Insti-
tute and became professor of anatomy. A skillful
surgeon and successful teacher, he was one of the
most noted physicians of his day in Kentucky and
was respected by all for his great personal worth.
He died in Louisville, February 16, 1855, leaving one
son and five daughters.
Dr. Lewis Rogers, the subject of this sketch, fob
lowed directly in the footsteps of his father in his
educational and professional career. In 1831 he
graduated in the academical department of the Tran
sylvania University, delivering the salutatory ad-
dress in Latin, and entered upon the study of medi
432
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
cine with his father. In the fall of 1833 he entered
the' medical department of the university, and on
his return to Louisville in the following year was
appointed resident physician to the city workhouse
and poorhouse. After four years study with his
father and some of the best Kentucky medical teach-
ers he entered the University of Pennsylvania in
1835 and graduated there the following year. In
1836 he was appointed clinical assistant to Dr.
Charles Caldwell in the Louisville Medical Institute
— which afterward became the medical department
of the University of Louisville — and devoted him-
self to the advancement of that school until com-
pelled by his health to give up all unnecessary labor.
In 1849, his reputation having become established
and his position recognized as at the head of his
profession, he was appointed to the chair of materia
medica and therapeutics in that school as successor
of Dr. Charles W. Short, deceased. This position he
filled with characteristic ability and some years after
he was transferred to the chair of the theory and prac-
tice of medicine to succeed Professor Austin Flint,
but in 1867 was restored to his former chair. After
this he served through but one term, delivering a
course of lectures during the winter of 1867, at the
end of which he resigned. His arduous labors as
physician and professor had overtaxed a physique
never robust. His health had failed him and he
was compelled to have the operation of iriodectomy
performed by Dr. Agnew, of New York. After this
he devoted himself exclusively to his private prac-
tice— which was the largest of any physician in the
city — until March 13, 1875, when he paid his last
professional visit, and died at his home in Louis-
ville, June 13, 1875. One of his biographers has
succinctly summarized the characteristics of Dr.
Rogers as follows: “He had an uncommon mem-
ory, never carrying any helps to that faculty; was
never known to forget or fail to keep an appoint-
ment, notwithstanding he commanded, for more
than forty years, the largest general practice done
by any one man in the city of Louisville; was en-
dowed with remarkable powers of observation ; had
full reasoning faculties; was painstaking, thorough
and patient; had great courage under trying cir-
cumstances; inspired his patients with unbounded
confidence toward himself; his whole mind was
engaged in his calling; was eminently a man of
peace and kept out of the way of medical gossip and
scandal; never allowed his personal feelings to enter
into his business; had little time for authorship,
being wholly engaged in his laborious practice.
His religious belief was brief and expressed in these
words: ‘Fear God and do your duty to the sick.’ ”
Dr. Rogers was married January 29, 1839, to Mary
E. Thruston, daughter of the distinguished lawyer,
Charles M. Thruston, of Louisville. They had ten
children, of whom six survive him, one son and five
daughters.
I OHN THRUSTON, physician, second son of
^ Charles Mynn Thruston and Eliza Sydnor
Cosby, was born in this city, January 28, 1826.
Early evincing an inclination for the sea, when six-
teen years of age, during the administration of Pres-
ident Tyler, he was fortunate in obtaining a com-
mission as midshipman in the navy. Happening
soon after the death of his mother, his father being
in ill health and very despondent, at his urgent
solicitation he was prevailed upon to resign the ap-
pointment— an offering at the shrine of filial duty.
Having quit school and not wishing to resume
his studies, he entered the mercantile house of John
N. Johnson & Company (its principal having been
at one time associated with George D. Prentiss m
the conduct of the old Louisville Journal), with
whom he remained a year. Displaying some apti-
tude for business, at the invitation of Mr. Johnson,
he accompanied that gentleman to New Orleans to
fill a position in the newly-established commission
house of Fellowes, Johnson & Company, and was
placed in charge of the produce department of the
house, a positin he filled for five years.
Returning to Louisville, he shortly after assumed
charge of the books of the auction house of Thomas
Anderson & Company. After several years spent
with them, and a year in a similar capacity with
Armstrong & Allen (who then declined business),
he was induced by his brother-in-law, Dr. Lewis
Rogers, to undertake the study of medicine. After
his graduation, he was associated with his preceptor
for a period of ten or eleven years. The Civil War
having commenced, inclination and consistency de-
manded (he having been an outspoken Union Dem-
ocrat) that he should endeavor to render the cause
more demonstrative service. Accordingly, when
General Robert Anderson came to Kentucky, he
made application for the position of surgeon to the
Fifteenth Kentucky Regiment Infantry, then being
raised by his cousin, the late Colonel Curran Pope.
Unfortunately, his desire for government service
was again thwarted; the health of his associate be-
ing so seriously threatened as to necessitate his
going abroad, the probable jeopardy of an extensive
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
433
business and the inevitable loss of a large moneyed
interest induced him, out of a sense of obligation
to bis partner, together with the argument that he
could render as good service at home as in the field,
to withdraw the application. Immediately after-
ward, in association with the late Dr. J. B. Flint,
he was appointed to the charge of Military Hospital
No. 2, at the corner of Eighth and Green streets,
in which he rendered faithful and most laborious
service for nine months, until the establishment was
closed.
Soon after this, upon the reorganization of the
medical department of the University of Louisville,
lie was offered the chair of physiology, but declined
the honor, preferring to devote his entire time to
his practice. For many years he has prosecuted his
profession alone, resorting to no extraneous meth-
ods, doing the business that came to him — never
going after it. In this spirit, he has preserved the
even tenor of his way, content to possess the fullest
confidence of his patrons, who rarely leave him or
desire other counsel — numbering among his friends
several families of which he has had charge for four
generations.
Dr. Thruston married Ellen Pope, daughter of his
cousin, the late Patrick H. Pope, and has two chil-
dren, Mrs. W. A. Hughes, of Louisville, and Dr.
Charles Mynn Thruston, practicing his profession
in Texas.
T LEWELLYN POWELL, M. D., long a leading
' physician and medical professor in Louisville,
was a native of Alexandria, Virginia, where he was
born in 1802, the eldest son of Cuthbert and Cath-
arine (Sims) Powell. The genealogical record of
the family dates back to the tenth century to a Welsh
prince who was slain in a battle with the Normans.
The first appearance of the name of Powell in Vir-
ginia is found in Smith’s “History of Virginia.”
From this and other colonial history we learn that
Captain Wiliam Powell sailed with John Smith from
Blackwell, December 19, 1606, and entered Chesa-
peake Bay April 20, 1607. He is always spoken of
as “a man of character and worth, a gentleman of
great name and fortune,” and as “one of Smith’s
trusted friends.” He was one of the largest planters
in the colony and represented James City in the
first House of Burgesses which assembled in James-
town on the 30th of July, 1619. Levin Powell, the
grandfather of Llewellyn Powell, was a personal
friend of Washington and active in the Revolution,
first in command of “minute-men” and in 1777 as
28
lieutenant-colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment Vir-
ginia Continentals. In 1788 he was a member of
the Virginia convention that ratified the Federal
Constitution, and was elected to Congress in 1798.
Cuthbert Powell, of Llangollan, his son and the
father of the subject of this sketch, represented the
Loudoun district of Virginia in the Federal Con-
gress in 1842 as a Whig. Of him Chief Justice Mar-
shall said: “He is the most talented man of that
talented family.” He died in 1849, leaving a large
family. His brother, Rear Admiral Levin Myne
Powell, died in Washington in 1885, aged eighty-
five years.
Llewellyn Powell was educated mainly under pri-
vate tutors until old enough to go to Yale, where he
completed his education in 1821, and thence went
to Philadelphia to study medicine at Jefferson Col-
lege. Upon graduating there with honor, he was
appointed resident physician to the Philadelphia
Hospital, which place he filled for two years. From
Philadelphia he moved to Florence, Alabama, and
after two years spent there, in which he had already
begun to attain eminence, he moved to Louisville,
which he regarded as a good place for a physician,
as from the scourges of malarial fever before it was
well drained it was called “the graveyard of the
West.” Here he -soon established himself in his
profession, and from that time until his death he was
one of the leading physicians of the city. His pri-
vate practice was large and embraced the most prom-
inent families of the city. He was a strikingly hand-
some man, scrupulously neat in his toilet, with an
eye of peculiar brightness and with remarkably fine
conversational powers. His first public position was
as physician of the LTnitecl States Marine Hospital,
from 1848 to 1853, and he was elected first professor
of obstetrics in the Kentucky School of Medicine.
This position he filled until 1858, when he was
elected to the same chair in the medical department
of the Louisville University, filling it ably for ten
years, until 1868, when he resigned on account of ill
health. When the Louisville Medical College was
inaugurated he was tendered a chair, but bis health
would not admit of his acceptance. He was twice
president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
and declined election a third time to give wa\ , as lie
said, to others.
In politics, he was "an old line V big. adhering
always to the fortunes of Henry Clay with indexible
devotion. He was a staunch Unionist until Virginia
seceded and President Lincoln called out troops,
when, sympathizing with his mother State, he be
434
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
came a strong Southern man and gave three sons to
the Confederate Army. He was a consistent member
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and lived and
died in firm faith in the Christian religion.
In 1827, immediately after leaving Philadelphia,
he married Elizabeth Harrison, of Virginia, and
their bridal trip was made to their new home in Flor-
ence, Alabama, requiring many days of stage coach
travel to make the journey. The young wife was a
beautiful woman of sterling strength of character,
who survived her husband a number of years, ten-
derly beloved by her family and cherished in memory
by many friends for her amiability and her Christian
worth. By blood and marriage, he was related to
many of the most prominent families in Virginia.
Captain Thomas Harrison, her brother, had been
breveted on the field for distinguished bravery. Col-
onel Bushrod Washington, a grand-nephew of Pres-
ident Washington, was a brother-in-law, while both,
she and her husband — who were remote cousins —
were related by marriage to General Robert E. Lee.
Of three sons in the war, one of them, Cuthbert, was
captured and died from the effects of his imprison-
ment. Catharine Powell, their eldest daughter, was
for seventeen years a teacher in the Louisville Fe-
male High School in the branches of English litera-
ture and rhetoric, and died in 1894. She was the
first lady member of the Filson Club and “a daughter
of the Revolution.”
FAR. WILLIAM B. CALDWELL, for twenty-
five years one of the leading members of the
medical profession in Louisville, and a man of large
wealth, who had many important connections with
business enterprises and public institutions, and left
the strong impress of his individuality upon the his-
tory of the city, was born in the town of Columbia,
Adair County, Kentucky, April 3, 1818, and died in
Louisville May 19, 1892. His parents were William
and Anna (Trabue) Caldwell, both natives of Vir-
ginia, the former of Scotch-Irish and the latter of
French Huguenot extraction. Both his paternal and
maternal grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers,
and both the Caldwell and Trabue families were
represented among the noted pioneers of Kentucky.
William Caldwell was a resident of that portion of
Kentucky which became Adair County, before the
county was organized, and when the county was
created, in 1801, he became clerk of the Circuit and
County Courts and held the office continuously for
forty years thereafter. He resigned the clerkship of
(lie Circuit Court in 1841, but continued to act as
clerk of the County Court until 1850. He was a
court official of the old regime under which clerks of
the courts held their offices for life or during good
behavior, and was one of the few men holding such
positions who favored the adoption of the Constitu-
tion of 1850, under which the office of clerk of the
courts became an elective office. He held the office,
in all, an even half century, and besides being promi-
nent as a public official, was, in other respects, a
most interesting and worthy pioneer. He was
brought up in Kentucky — his early home being
about five miles from Danville — and was mainly self-
educated. He had a great fondness for books, and
gleaned from his small but well selected library a
vast fund of general and historical information. He
was a Jeffersonian Democrat in politics, and few of
the public men of Kentucky were more familiar than
was he with the writings and teachings of the great
American statesman who founded the Democratic j
party.
The Scotch-Irish pioneers of Kentucky were a
vigorous people, physically and intellectually, and 1
they transmitted to their descendants qualities which t
have made them leaders in the upbuilding of the *
Commonwealth. Four of the sons of William Cald-
well became identified with the history of Louis- f
ville, and all were men of great ability, who achieved
unusual distinction in professional life. Of George
Alfred, Isaac and Junius Caldwell, famous as mem-
bers of the bar, appropriate mention will be found
elsewhere in this volume. |
His father being a man of comfortable fortune, j
William B. Caldwell had, as a boy, the best educa-
tional advantages afforded by the Kentucky schools i
of that period, and after completing his academic |
course of study, read medicine in Columbia. He !
then entered the medical department of Transylvania
University, and was graduated from that institution i
in the spring of 1841. Immediately after his gradua-
tion he began the practice of medicine at Columbia,
but during the early years of his professional life de- [
voted a considerable portion of his time to broaden- ;
ing his knowledge of medicine by courses of study in [
the medical colleges and hospitals of Louisville and j
Philadelphia. He first took a post-graduate course
in the University of Philadelphia and later in the
medical department of the University of Louisville,
and having thus fitted himself to take a position
among the leaders of his profession, he removed to
tins city in 1846. He was something less than thirty
years of age and in the prime of a vigorous young
manhood when he began his professional labors in
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
435
Louisville, and for twenty-four years thereafter he
allowed nothing to divert his attention from the du-
ties and responsibilities which devolved upon him
as a physician. He was a devotee to his calling, thor-
oughly appreciative of the obligations incident there-
to, high-minded and conscientious, and admirably
equipped in every way to win and retain the confi-
dence of patrons and the general public. He was
always a student, not only of the science of medi-
cine, but of other sciences cognate to his profession,
and availed himself of all the facilities offered by
modern progress and development for adding to the
breadth and scope of his professional attainments.
With deep solicitude for the welfare of patients, he
coupled a profound regard for professional ethics
and was beloved alike by his patrons and those who
were contemporary with him as practitioners of med-
icine.
Dr. Caldwell led a busy and versatile life. He was
most actively engaged in the practice of medicine
until 1870 — when failing health compelled him to
retire from professional work — ever ready to answer
the calls of a large and devoted clientele, and also
gave attention to many business and other interests.
In 1869 he was made a director of the Jeffersonville,
Madison & Indianapolis Railroad Company. He
succeeded Hon. James Guthrie as a director of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company and
served as a member of the board until 1881. He
also succeeded Hon. James Guthrie as president of
the Louisville Cement Company, and continued to
fill that office until his death. He was one of the or-
ganizers of the Birmingham Rolling Mill Company,
and served as a director of the company from its
organization until his death. In each of the two
last named corporations, he was a large shareholder
and had other investments which made him one of
tile wealthiest men in the city and, at one time, the
largest individual tax-payer in Louisville. In 1869,
a nomination for membership of the Legislature
came to him unsolicited from the Democratic party,
with which he always affiliated, and being elected to
that body, he took rank among the most capable and
influential legislators, impressing his associates and
contemporaries especially with his comprehensive
knowledge of the transportation interests of the
State, its commerce and manufacture, and his solici-
tude for the development of its splendid resources.
Me retired from public life at the end of one term of
service in the Legislature — declining a re-election —
and about the same time from the practice of med-
icine, and devoted the remaining years of his life to
his business interests and to religious and philan-
thropic enterprises, in which he had long taken a
deep interest.
He became a member of the Baptist Church
in 1837, while a student at Columbia, Ken-
tucky, and to the end of his life he was
a consistent churchman of that faith and a
potent factor in promoting church extension
and building up its educational and charitable insti-
tutions. Soon after he came to Louisville, he be-
came a moving spirit in bringing about the union of
the First and Second Baptist Churches, and the
organization of the Walnut Street Church, one of
the most famous of Southern Baptist Churches. He
contributed largely to the erection of the church
edifice which became the home of this congregation,
and in later years aided largely in building up other
churches to which the Walnut Street Church sus-
tained a parental relationship. For many years he
was president of the Board of Managers of the
Louisville Baptist Orphans’ Home, and among all
the worthy men and women who helped to build up
that splendid charity, none has done more to make
it what it is than Dr. Caldwell.
Though reserved for mention at the close of this
brief sketch of a busy and useful life, an important
event occurred early in Dr. Caldwell's career in this
city. In 1847, he led t° tlie altar Miss Ann Augusta
Guthrie, daughter of Hon. James Guthrie, who was
not only distinguished as Cabinet Officer and United
States Senator, but was Kentucky’s candidate for
the Presidency in the National Democratic Conven-
tion of i860. Mrs. Caldwell was a woman of fine
attainments, deep piety and philanthropic impulses,
a noble woman, who is remembered as a public ben-
efactress. She died in 1872, twenty years before her
husband passed to his reward.
Dr. and Mrs. Caldwell had nine children, two of
whom died in infancy. William B. Caldwell, a thor-
oughly accomplished young man, named for his
father, died in 1880, two years after his marriage
to Miss Mary Norton, a daughter of George W.
Norton. Lawrence Smith Caldwell, another son,
unmarried, also died in 1880. The other children
were Annie Eliza, James Guthrie, Augusta Guthrie,
Junius, and Mary Phoebe Caldwell. Each of the
three daughters, at her marriage, dropped her mid-
dle name and retained the family name. The eldest.
Mrs. Annie C. Norton, is the widow of Ernest J. Nor-
ton, and the others are respectively Mrs. Augusta ( .
Bright, wife of Horatio S. Bright, and Mrs. Mary C.
Johnston, wife of R. P. Johnston. II is son, James
436
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
Guthrie Caldwell, married Miss Nannie Standiford,
of Louisville, and Junius Caldwell married Miss
Ella Payne, of Georgetown, Kentucky.
ILLIAM BAILEY, physician and educator,
’ ' was born in Bridgeport, Franklin County,
Kentucky, November 4, 1833, son of Shelah and
Mary (Church) Bailey, the former born in Virginia in
1795, and the latter in Elkhorn, Franklin County,
Kentucky, the same year. His father came to Ken-
tucky in 1808, and both his parents were, therefore,
residents of the State very early in its history.
Dr. Bailey was born and reared on a farm, remain-
ing at home until he was sixteen years old, when he
matriculated as a cadet in the Kentucky Military In-
stitute, near Frankfort. He was graduated from the
institute with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the
class of 1853, and a year later the degree of Master of
Arts was conferred upon him by the same institution.
For three years after his graduation he continued to
be connected with his Alma Mater as assistant to
the professor of mathematics, and in the meantime
began the study of medicine. In 1856 he matricu-
lated in the medical department of the LTniversity of
Louisville and attended courses of lectures at that
institution and the Kentucky School of Medicine,
obtaining his doctor’s degree from the last named
institution in 1857. Immediately after his gradua-
tion from the Medical School, he engaged in the
practice of his profession at Shelbyville, Kentucky,
remaining there until the close of the year 1862, when
he became surgeon of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry
Regiment of the Union Army, with which he was in
active service during the following- year.
He came to this city in 1863, at the end of six
years of successful practice and, immediately after
locating here, supplemented his education and expe-
rience by taking a post-graduate course in the med-
ical department of the University of Louisville, which
conferred upon him its doctor's degree in 1864.
This thorough preparation for the practice of medi-
cine was not slow in bearing fruit in a community
which has never failed to show its appreciation of
cultivated talents and zealous devotion to a calling,
and it was not long before Dr. Bailey had taken a
prominent place among the physicians of the city.'
The same zeal and earnestness which he had mani-
fested in fitting himself for professional work con-
tinued to be a prominent feature of his professional
life, and from the date of his location in Louisville
up to the present time he has been conspicuous
among the physicians of the city, who have never
ceased to be students, who give close attention to all I
the developments of the science of medicine and col- 1
lateral sciences, and who profit by wide reading and j
investigation. His early experience as a teacher in-
clined him to educational work and, in addition to
meeting all the requirements of a large practice, he
has been for more than a quarter of a century prom-
inent among the professors of medicine connected
with the medical colleges of the city. He was elected
professor of the theory and practice of medicine in |
the Kentucky School of Medicine in 1869, but had ■
only delivered two courses of lectures when the j
school suspended. When the Hospital College of
Medicine was organized he was called to the same
professorship in that institution that he had held
in the Kentucky School of Medicine, and filled the
chair of “theory and practice of medicine” until 1883.
For some time prior to that date — after the death
of Dr. E. D. Foree — he was president of the Hos- !
pital Medical College. In 1885 he severed his con-
nection with that institution, having been elected
professor of materia medica, therapeutics, and public i
hygiene in the LTniversity of Louisville. Entering «
upon the discharge of the duties incident to this posi- '
tion immediately afterward, he has since occupied !
one of the most important chairs in a medical college ?
which has no superior in the United States, and has j
graced and honored the position in which he was '
placed by members of his profession who recognized 1
his ability as physician and instructor. In the va- i
rious associations of physicians which are prolific f
of good results in elevating to a high plane the prac- '
tice of medicine, in disseminating knowledge among j
medical practitioners, and in improving the ethics j
of the profession, Dr. Bailey has been no less promi- 1
nent than as a physician and educator. He has been j
a member of the Kentucky State Medical Society ,
ever since the organization of that society after the 1
war, has been president of the Medico-Chirurgical
Society of Louisville, and is at the present time j
(1896) president of the Academy of Medicine. In t
1879 he became a member of the American Pub-:
lie Health Association, and has since been prominent ;
as a sanitarian and in promoting those hygienic re-j
forms so essential to the public health. In 1894, at
the meeting of the Association held in Montreal, !
Canada, he was elected to the presidency of this
notable organization, and presided at the annual
meeting held in Denver, Colorado, the following
year. He has been, for many years, a member of the j
State Board of Health of Kentucky, and his services;
in that connection have been of great value to the;
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
437
State at large, as well as to the city of Louisville.
His activities have all been in the line of his pro-
fession and in kindred pursuits, and, in this field,
his labors have been crowned with abundant success.
He has been, from early boyhood, a member of the
Christian Church, was reared under Whig political
influences and, since the war, has been a Republican.
In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree
rank, and is a Past Grand Master of Falls City
Lodge No. 376.
Dr. Bailey was married, in 1859, to Miss Sue
Owen, of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and of five children
born to them four sons are now living.
p FORGE WOOD BAYLESS, M. D„ youngest
's-^ son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Wood) Bay-
less, was born in Mason County, Kentucky, January
17, 1817. Having received a thorough education
he began the study of medicine at the age of twenty
at the Medical Institute in Louisville, Kentucky.
Subsequently he attended lectures in Philadelphia,
where he was graduated from the medical depart-
ment of the University of Pennsylvania. He then
entered upon the practice of medicine in Louisville,
and soon after became demonstrator of anatomy in
the Medical Institute, but in two years resigned to
become professor in the Medical College of Ohio at
Cincinnati. This position he also resigned in the
spring of 1850 on account of failing health, and, re-
moving to Missouri, devoted himself for a time to
agricultural pursuits. Not finding this congenial to
his tastes, he resumed his practice, and returning to
Louisville was for many years professor in the Ken-
tucky School of Medicine and the University of
Louisville, filling the chairs of physiology, anatomy
and the principles and practice of surgery, and was
one of the most skillful and successful operators in
the country. In 1870 he was afflicted with a stroke
of paralysis, from which he partially recovered, but
not sufficiently to permit him to resume his practice,
and ultimately died of apoplexy September 8, 1873.
Upon his death the profession of which he was an
honored member testified its respect in every form
of public expression and private tribute to his mem-
ory. Fie was, in addition to his skill as a surgeon
and his proficiency as a physician, a man of most
estimable qualities, with a countenance so amiable
and manners so pleasing that his presence in a sick
room was like a benediction to a patient, so that he
was a practitioner greatly beloved by the families in
which he practiced and successful in the treatment
of those who had the benefit of his skill. Few who
enjoyed his acquaintance will ever forget the charm
of his unaffected manners or the virtues which
adorned his character.
Dr. Bayless was married October 20, 1842, to Vir-
ginia Lafayette Browne, daughter of Judge William
Browne, of Virginia, who, with seven children, sur-
vives him.
C DWARD RL1SH PALMER, physician, ■was
' born in Woodstock, Vermont, November 8,
1842, and died in Louisville July 6, 1895. He was
the son of Dr. Benjamin Rush Palmer, and his
mother’s maiden name was Araminta Graves. From
both paternal and maternal ancestors he inherited
a love of the science to which he devoted all the
years of his mature life, and, even in early childhood,
there was no mistaking the trend of his intellectual
development. Both the Palmer and the Graves fam-
ilies have contributed numerous representatives to
the medical profession, and some of these representa-
tives have achieved great distinction. Both families
were prominent in the Green Mountain State. Dr.
Palmer’s grandfather Graves was born in Vermont
and was pastor of a Congregational Church in that
State for more than forty years. The only son of the
latter studied medicine and became an eminent phy-
sician in Corning, New York.
The Palmer family is one of the oldest in New
England and traces its descent from Walter Palmer,
who came from Nottinghamshire, England, and set-
tled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, where he built
the first house, in 1629. Dr. Edward Rush Palmer
belonged to the ninth generation of the descendants
of this Massachusetts colonist, whose posterity may
now be found in every State in the Union, being
especially numerous in the States of Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. Both the
father and grandfather of Dr. Palmer were noted
physicians. His grandfather was Dr. David Palmer,
who, for many years, occupied the chair of chemistry
in the medical college at Woodstock, Vermont, and
was also a lecturer on chemistry in the medical col-
lege at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His father, Dr.
Benjamin Rush Palmer, was also for many years a
professor in Woodstock Medical College, and when
he left Vermont to come to Kentucky had attained
great prominence in his native State as a physician
and surgeon. He came to Louisville in 1853, in con-
sequence of his having been called to the professor-
ship of anatomy in the medical department of the
University of Louisville, then as now a noted
educational institution, and for many years there-
438
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
after was one of the noted medical practitioners of
this city.
His son was eleven years of age when the family
moved to Kentucky, and obtained all but his rudi-
mentary education in the schools of Louisville. As
a boy, he had a remarkable fondness for the study
of medicine, which he began in his father’s office and
under the preceptorship of that able and accom-
plished physician, who gave him every facility for
laying the foundation for a thorough medical educa-
tion. After completing his course of study at the
Louisville High School he matriculated in the medi-
cal department of the University of Louisville
and received his doctor’s degree from that institution
in 1864. Immediately after his graduation he en-
tered the Government military service as an assist-
ant surgeon, and was assigned to duty at the hospital
in Louisville. The war was then drawing to a close,
but he remained in the service until the cessation of
hostilities, and the experience which he gained in
this capacity was of great value in fitting him for the
successful practice of his profession.
When the war closed, he engaged in civil practice,
entering the office which his father had long occu-
pied at 721 West Jefferson Street, and succeeding to
the practice of the elder physician. Almost imme-
diately he became recognized as a physician of broad
capacity and superior educational attainments, and
in 1868, when he was but twenty-six years of age,
he was made professor of physiology in the medical
college from which he had been graduated only
four years earlier. His connection witlj the most
famous of the medical educational institutions in the
South was continuous from that date to 1895, and he
was a member of the faculty of the University of
Louisville at the time of his death. Successful as a
practitioner, he was equally successful and popular
as instructor and educator. As a lecturer, he had a
happy faculty of instructing arid entertaining his aud-
itors at the same time. What he said to his classes
always commanded attention and evidenced such
thorough research and original investigation that
it impressed also the profession at large. Many
of these lectures were printed as monographs, and,
in this form, were given wide circulation among
members of the medical profession. He was a fre-
quent contributor to the medical press and co-oper-
ated actively in all movements designed to elevate
the standard of his profession and to provide for the
more thorough education and equipment of med-
ical practitioners. He was a member of the Amer-
ican Medical Association, fellow of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Louisville, member of
the Kentucky State Medical Society, member of the
Medico-Chirurgical Society, and president of the
Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons of Louis-
ville. He was also a member and one of the organ-
izers of the Surgical Society of Louisville, and may
be said to have had a fondness for the practice of
surgery, although he was an accomplished practi-
tioner in all the departments of his profession. His
admirable social qualities ma.de/ him many friends,
and in social as well as professional circles he was
for many years a conspicuous figure. He was a
member of the Pendennis and Watterson Clubs, a
pleasing after-dinner speaker, an attractive conversa-
tionalist, and always a charming entertainer. At
club meetings and banquets he frequently entertained
his friends by singing “Old Kentucky Home” and
other popular melodies, and under all circumstances
was a most lovable and companionable man. He
served for a number of years as a member of the
Louisville School Board, and, in that capacity, did
much to advance the educational interests of the city
and improve the public school system. He also
served one term as a member of the Board of Aider-
men.
Dr. Palmer married, in 1868, Miss Lucy J. Brent,
who was born in Paris, Kentucky. Mrs. Palmer,
who survives her husband, is a daughter of Thomas
Y. and Almyrah (Taylor) Brent, and a granddaugh-
ter of Jonathan Taylor, who was commissioned a
lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army by General
Washington at seventeen years of age, and was later
promoted to major. Both of her great-grandfathers j
on the maternal side — Jonathan Taylor, Sr., and
Nathaniel Ashby — were officers of the Colonial
forces during the Revolutionary War, and her great-
great-grandfather, Captain Jack Ashby, commanded
a company of the Third Virginia Regiment in the
struggle to establish the independence of the colo-
nies. Captain Jack Ashby had had military expe-
rience as a soldier under General Braddock, and ;
:
was serving under command of the British general 1
when the latter met his great defeat in the expedition
against Fort Duquesne, in 1755. When the war of j
the Revolution began he raised and equipped the
company which he commanded at his own expense,
and appointed his son, Nathaniel, an ensign under
him. He was famous also as an Indian fighter, and
Ashby Gap, in Virginia, was so named in his honor.
Mrs. Palmer's paternal great-grandfather, Major
Hugh Brent, was also a Revolutionary soldier.
The two sons of Dr. Palmer are following in the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
439
footsteps of their father, grandfather, and great-
grandfather, and are both practicing physicians.
The eldest son bears his father’s name, and the
younger is named Jack Brent. One daughter, Belle
Brent Palmer, and the two sons are the only children
of Dr. and Mrs. Palmer.
pARY BOSWELL BLACKBURN, physician
and politician, son of Governor Luke P. and
Ella Guest (Boswell) Blackburn, was born in Wood-
ford County, Kentucky, April 29, 1837. His father,
physician and philanthropist, and Governor of Ken-
tucky from 1879 to 1883, was of a pioneer family
from Virginia which has numbered among its mem-
bers many prominent names in State and Federal
service. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Joseph
Boswell, an eminent physician of Lexington, Ken-
tucky.
Having received his early education in Natchez,
Mississippi, and in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he
completed his academical studies in 185.8, he then
went to Philadelphia and began the study of medi-
cine under the famous Dr. S. D. Gross, being grad-
uated from the medical department of the University
of Pennsylvania in 1861. Following the traditions of
his family, he soon after entered the Confederate
Army, first as a lieutenant, then as lieutenant-colonel,
and afterward as surgeon, his most valuable service
being rendered in the latter capacity. When peace
was restored and in 1865 the yellow fever made its
fatal appearance at Natchez, Mississippi, he hastened
to the scene of the scourge and battled bravely
against it, combating the malady with heroism and
skill. In 1868 he returned to Louisville and, resum-
ing his practice, continued his residence here the re-
mainder of his life, dying suddenly in the midst of a
large and active practice on the morning of Decem-
ber 4, 1895. He was a popular physician, and not-
withstanding the fact that he had a large and re-
munerative practice, he never neglected a call, even
when he knew the patient was unable to pay his fee.
He was in the broadest sense a charitable man and
was recognized by all as the poor man’s friend.
Early after entering upon his practice he became a
member of the Charity Board. He was a member
of the Board of Councilmen from 1884 to 1893, be-
ing president of the board in 1885, and was alderman
in 1894-95, giving close attention to his public du-
ties and serving the public with the strictest fidelity.
For many years he was one of the medical staff of
Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital, giving his ser-
vices gratuitously and cheering his patients with the
gift of fruits and other delicacies. ITe was a quiet
and thoughtful man and yet a cheerful companion,
binding his friends to him with hooks of steel. He
was unmarried, but had a tender fondness for chil-
dren and was helpful to deserving young men, en-
couraging them in their efforts to succeed in the
world. He was a sturdy Democrat in his political
sentiments, wielding a wide influence in the councils
of his party and tolerant of those holding adverse
views. In religious affiliation he was a Roman Cath-
olic, exact in the discharge of his religious duties.
He was buried in the beautiful cemetery at Frank-
fort, where sleep his parents and other members of
his family. The press of the city bore ample testi-
mony to his worth, and among many tributes the fol-
lowing voiced the sentiments of those who knew
him best:
“We may at least hope that there entered, when
the portals of heaven swung open this morning, the
gentle, generous and guileless soul of Dr. Cary Ik
Blackburn, for we are assured by Holy Writ that
of such as he is that kingdom composed. Without
father, mother, brother, sister, wife or child, all hu-
manity was all of these to him, and if, when the Book
of Life is opened at the Louisville page, his name
doesn’t appear pretty well up ahead of all the rest
those who knew it best here will be the most sur-
prised there; for during all his life he loved his fel-
low-man, refused no call, day or night, to minister
unto the afflicted, withheld the almsgiving hand from
none who needed alms, and emerged, after walking
for years in the fiery furnace of municipal politics,
without the smell of fire upon his garments or the
suspicion of a stain upon his conscience. With those
who only half knew, or knew him not at all, these
poor words will pass for overdrawn panegyric; but
the few who knew him, even as he knew himself, will
accept them in at least partial payment of the large
meed of praise which this community owes to the un-
selfish man, the beloved physician, and sincere Chris-
tian who has been called over the river to rest under
the shade of the trees.”
T OSEPH BENSON MARVIN, physician, was
^ born in Monticello, Florida, August 3, 1852, son
of Joseph Manning and Mary Louisa (Linton) Mar-
vin. In the paternal line he belongs to the eighth gen-
eration of the descendants of Mathew Marvin, who
sailed from England in the bark “Increase," Robert
Lea master, April 15, 1635, anti who settled in Hart-
ford, Connecticut, being one of the earliest settlers
in the Connecticut colony founded by the famous
440
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
non-Conformist minister, Rev. Thomas Hooker.
The genealogist of the family, William Theophilus
Rogers Marvin, of Boston, Massachusetts, says: “It
is probable that the ancestral home of the New
England Marvins is to be sought in the southern
counties of England — Dorset, Hants, Wilts and
Somerset. In each of these were branches of an
ancient family bearing our name, whose principal
seat was at Fonthill Abbey, near the borders of
Wilts, where it was established in the time of Henry
VI. Richard Mervyn — or as the name is also spelled
in the visitations, Marvyn — died there in the sev-
enteenth year of that monarch’s reign, and his grand-
son, John, acquired the manor and estates of Font-
hill-Giffard, which gave its name to the Hungerford
family. Among his descendants were William Mer-
vyn, of Peetwood, sheriff of Wilts and Dorts in the
time of Henry VII. ; Sir John, member of Parliament
for Wilts in 1554; Lucy, wife of the Earl of Castle-
haven, who died in the time of James I.; Sir Henry,
of the Durford Abbey branch, knight, and admiral
and captain-general of the Narrow Seas, who died in
1643 ; the Rev. Edward, “Parson of Bramshot,” Sus-
sex; Sir Audley, Speaker of the Irish House of Com-
mons in 1661, and many others of prominence and
influence.
Mathew Marvin, immigrant ancestor of J. B. Mar-
vin, was one of the original proprietors of Hartford,
Connecticut, and was one of the leading men of the
town in the beginning. He was deputy to the Gen-
eral Court in 1654, and in the list of estates in 1655
is rated as one of the wealthiest of the original pro-
prietors. Many of his descendants and the descend-
ants of his elder brother, Reginald Marvin, have
been distinguished in the annals of New England,
New York and the Southern States, and physically
and intellectually, theirs has been a vigorous stock.
The paternal great-grandfather of Dr. Marvin re-
moved from New England to South Carolina and
there married a Miss Pryor, who was a native of
North Carolina. Through his mother he is de-
scended from the Lintons and Bensons, the former
an old North Carolina family, and the latter an
equally old and well-known Virginia family.
After being fitted for college in his native State,
Dr. Marvin was sent to the Virginia Military Insti-
tute, from which institution he was graduated in
1870. Taking a post-graduate course for the pur-
pose of expanding his knowledge of the sciences, he
received the degree of Bachelor of Science from the
same institution in 1871, and two years later came to
Louisville as an analytical chemist. Here he began
the study of medicine, and, after attending two full
terms of lectures, was graduated from the Hospital
College of Medicine in 1875. The same year he took
a post-graduate course in New York, seeking to
profit to the fullest extent possible from the clinical
advantages afforded by the hospitals of that city.
Returning to Louisville, he began the practice of
medicine, and his scientific attainments and thor-
ough equipment for professional work soon attracted
the attention of both his profession and the general
public, and he has since enjoyed the high esteem of
the one and the liberal patronage of the other. While
he has been eminently successful as a practitioner,
he has gained still wider celebrity as a scientist and
educator, having been very prominently identified
with medical education in Louisville and with some
of the leading scientific societies of the country.
Interested especially in microscopical investigations,
he has been president of the Louisville Microscopical
Society, and was one of the founders of the American
Microscopical Society. He was formerly professor
of medical chemistry and nervous diseases in the
Hospital College of Medicine, and is now professor
of medicine and clinical medicine in the Kentucky
School of Medicine. He has been president of the
Louisville Medico-Chirurgical Society, and, in 1894,
was president of the Kentucky State Medical Society,
the honors thus conferred upon him by his profes-
sional brethren testifying to his accomplishments as
a physician and his popularity and high character as
a man. Able as he is in all departments of his work
as a physician, it may perhaps be said that as a
teacher he is seen at his best. Possessed always of a
thorough knowledge of his subject, he has the rare
quality of being able to impart this knowledge to his
classes. As a clinician he has no superior in the
South, and he has acquired much of his fame through
his aptitude in teaching that most difficult of all sub-
jects, physical diagnoses. Clear and concise in style,
and positive in his utterances, he holds the attention
of his auditors and succeeds in conveying to them
his own perceptions, which is a sine qua non in med-
ical teaching. In manner he is a trifle brusque, but
this very brusquefulness is an evidence of the sincer-
ity and candor which are among his dominant char-
acteristics. His actions are controlled always by pos-
itive convictions of right, anti only the argument or
scientific demonstration which changes his convic-
tions can change his course of action Small of
stature and of nervous temperament, he is big
brained, indefatigable in his researches and seems
never to tire in his round of professional labor. A
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
441
member of the Baptist Church, he has also been
honored in that connection and is now president of
the Baptist Orphans’ Home and vice-president of the
Baptist Book Concern. He is a physician to the
Baptist Orphans’ Home and other kindred institu-
tions, and is also physician to the City Hospital, hav-
ing always been an active worker in the charitable
and philanthropic department of medical practice.
He has been a vigorous, independent thinker, as well
as a tireless worker, and has always had pronounced
views on political issues and other matters of public
moment, although he has had no taste for active
participation in political campaigns. He was reared
a Democrat and believes that free trade and sound
money are cardinal principles of the party faith, and
in State and city elections he votes for men fitted
to fill the offices, regardless of their politics. His
spirit is in harmony with that of the age in this re-
spect, and his independence of thought and action is
in line with that of the most progressive men of the
present generation.
He was married, in 1879, to Miss Juliette Henry
Norton, daughter of George W. Norton, and has
three children, named respectively: Joseph Benson,
Jr., Martha, Henry, and Minnie Norton Marvin.
I OHN ALBERT LARRABEE, physician, was
^ born May 17, 1840, at Little Falls, Gorham,
Maine. His father was John Rogers Larrabee, a
manufacturer of cotton goods in Maine, who held
many positions of honor and trust, lived to the age
of three score and twelve years, and died in 1869.
His mother, who was Martha Coombs, before her
marriage, lived to the advanced age of ninety-one
years. The name Larrabee is of French origin and
some members of the family have figured conspicu-
ously in French history. They were Huguenots
and fought with Coligny under Henry of Navarre.
When the exodus of the Huguenots from France
took place, they were among those who sought ref-
uge in other countries, and four brothers eventually
j made their way to the American colonies. One of
the brothers, Greenfield Larrabee, settled at Say-
brook, Connecticut, in 1627; William Larrabee set-
| tied at Malden, Massachusetts; Stephen Larrabee at
North Yarmouth, Maine, and John Larrabee — who
was a sea captain — died in London, England. Cap-
tain Benjamin Larrabee, who was a son of Stephen
Larrabee, was appointed by the Pejepscot proprie-
tors to command of Fort George, Maine, and later
laid out the town of Brunswick on the same site, and
also later, neighboring towns. Captain John Larra-
bee, who belonged to the same family, was in com-
mand of the fort at Boston Harbor, and old records
show that he was distinguished both as a soldier and
man of affairs in the Massachusetts Colony prior to
and during the French and Indian wars. Dr. Lar-
rabee belongs to this branch of the Larrabee family
and is a descendant of the Huguenot immigrant,
Stephen Larrabee.
Dr. Larrabee was educated at Bethel Hill, Gor-
ham, and Brunswick academies in his native State,
and received his doctor’s degree from the Maine
Medical School — medical department of Bowdoin
College — being graduated from the institution last
named in the class of 1864. During the Civil War
he had entered the United States military service as
a medical cadet, and had been assigned to Louisville
in the fall of 1862. After serving in the department
of Kentucky one year, he became acting assistant
surgeon on land and sea in the department of Vir-
ginia until December of 1864, when he again re-
ported for duty at Louisville and served in the medi-
cal director’s office here until the close of the war.
After that, he engaged in the practice of medicine
in Louisville and, in 1870, was elected to member-
ship in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He
was one of the founders of the medical department
of Central University, and was elected professor of
materia medica and therapeutics, and clinical lecturer
on diseases of children in the Hospital College of
Medicine in 1873. He was elected to the chair of
theory and practice of medicine in 1889, professor of
hygiene, obstetrics and diseases of children in 1892,
and president of the faculty of the same institution
in 1893. He was one of the original members of the
Medico-Chirurgical Society of Louisville, of which
he has been president, and is a member and ex-sec-
retary of the Kentucky State Medical Society. He
is a permanent member of the American Medical As-
sociation, and ex-president of the section of dis-
eases of children, and has been honored with mem-
bership of the Ninth and Tenth International Medi-
cal congresses. He is a member also of the Associa-
tion of American Medical Colleges, and member and
ex-vice president of the Mississippi \ alley Medical
Association. His contributions to medical literature
have been numerous and valuable, and he is a recog-
nized authority on diseases of children, l ie has been
a member of the Louisville Board of 1 Iealth, was the
originator of the Childrens bresh Air bund and
Children’s Encampment; is physician to the Home
of the Innocents, and was the originator and pro-
moter and is now a trustee of the Children’s Free
442
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Hospital, a worthy charity reflecting credit upon its
founder.
He was married in 1865 to Miss Harriet Winslow
Bulkley, daughter of Henry Bulkley, Esq., of Louis-
ville, and a descendant of Rev. Peter Bulkley, who
came from England and settled at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, in 1635, removing later to Concord,
Massachusetts, where he organized and became first
pastor of the first church established at that place.
On the maternal side, Mrs. Larrabee is descended
from Sir Richard Lee, whose descendant, Thomas
Sim Lee, was twice governor of Maryland, was a
delegate to the Continental Congress in 1783, and
to the Maryland convention called to ratify the Con-
stitution of the United States, in 1786. Two sons
and one daughter were the children born to Dr. and
Mrs. Larrabee. John H., the eldest son, born in
1866, was educated for the medical profession and
was a young physician of great promise when death
ended his career in 1888. He was married to Miss
Susan H. Lovell, daughter of General Charles S.
Lovell, of the United States Army, the year prior
to his death. Joseph U. Larrabee, the second son,
was graduated from the law department of the Uni-
versity of Virginia in 1888, and was admitted to the
Louisville bar the same year. Hattie Lee Larrabee
is the only daughter of Dr. Larrabee.
T OSEPH M’DOWELL MATHEWS, M. D., son
^ of Judge Caleb and Frances S. (Edwards)
Mathews, was born in New Castle, Henry County,
Kentucky, May 29, 1847. Both of his parents were
native Kentuckians and of families identified with
the best traditions of the State. Judge Mathews was
long a prominent lawyer in his portion of Kentucky
and a man universally respected for his sterling in-
tegrity. One of his daughters was the wife of Judge
William S. Pryor, of the Appellate Court, and all of
his descendants have done honor to his memory in
the relations they sustain to the communities in
which they live.
The subject of this sketch — named for his rela-
tive, General Joseph McDowell, a member of the
distinguished family of that name, who was a gal-
lant soldier in Wayne’s army — received his scholas-
tic education in the Academy of New Castle, long
known as an important educational center, and read
medicine in the office of his brother-in-law, Dr. W.
B. Oldham, the leading physician of his native town.
In 1866, he came to Louisville and entered the medi-
cal department of the University of Louisville. In
1867, he received his diploma from this institution
and, returning to New Castle, became a partner of
Dr. Oldham in the practice of his profession. Here
he remained for several years, when, preferring a
broader field for his energies, he removed to Louis-
ville and soon established a remunerative practice.
In 1878, after some time spent in New York to
avail himself of the better clinical advantages there
afforded, he went to Europe and prosecuted his sur-
gical studies chiefly in St. Mark’s Hospital, under
the guidance of Mr. William Allingham, the senior
surgeon of that institution, between whom and his
pupil there grew up a mutual personal and profes-
sional friendship of the closest character. Upon his
return to Louisville, Dr. Mathews made surgery a
specialty and has devoted himself to that branch
of the profession continuously since. For a year, he
was lecturer upon his specialty at the Hospital Col-
lege of Medicine, but, in 1879, he resigned to ac-
cept the professorship of surgical pathology in the
Kentucky School of Medicine, a chair then newly
created. His connection with this institution has
continued from that time, and he now fills the chair
of surgery.
In addition to his very large private practice, Dr.
Mathews has been a prominent contributor to the
medical literature of Louisville. For a number of
years he was associated with Dr. Dudley S. Rey-
nolds as editor of “The Medical Herald,” one of
the leading medical journals of the West, and has
made extensive contributions upon subjects relating
to his specialty, and his views have been embodied in
many American and foreign treatises. In the last
edition of Mr. Allingham’s work, his old preceptor
recognized the services of his pupil to the profes-
sion by devoting an entire chapter to him and his
contributions in the surgical field. In 1881, Dr.
Mathews was appointed visiting surgeon of the
Louisville City Hospital, and has occupied the posi-
tion continuously since. Few men of his age have
filled as many positions of honor in his profession,
or have found time, amid the exactions of his daily
duties, to contribute his services so largely and gra-
tuitously to the medical charities of Louisville, and
at the same time to keep in touch with the general
profession in the discussion of its progressive ideas
and the labors of the societies created for the dif-
fusion of medical knowledge.
In addition to the positions filled by him, of which
mention has already been made in this sketch and
which would seem to exhaust his capacity for fur-
ther labor, he is president of the Board of Health of
Kentucky; visiting physician of Sts. Mary and Eliza-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
443
beth’s Hospital; consulting surgeon of the Louis-
ville City Hospital; consulting surgeon of the Jen-
nie Casseday Free Infirmary for Women; president
of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association; presi-
dent of the Louisville Clinical Society; president of
the Louisville Surgical Society; member of the In-
ternational Medical Congress, of the American
Medical Association, of the Southern Surgical and
Gynaecological Association, and of the Kentucky
State Medical Society. In 1891, he was the orator in
surgery of the American Association. He is now
also editor of “Mathews’ Medical Quarterly.” As
further evidence of his industry and literary activity,
he has contributed to these volumes a valuable chap-
ter on “The Medical History of Louisville.” His
principal publication upon which will rest his repu-
tation as a medical author is his work upon surgery,
published by D. Appleton & Co., New York. It
is the largest of the kind now published, a standard
of authority in the profession and is now in its sec-
ond edition.
Admirable in his personal character, as well as in
his professional eminence, he moves so quietly and
methodically in the discharge of his multiform duties
that each one with whom he comes in contact — -
whether as patient or beneficiary in the many fields
of his active life — is apt to think that the special
service in which he is for the time engaged must be
the main object of his life; and yet, few realize the
wide scope of his labors which make up his daily
routine. In the prime of matured manhood and the
zenith of a distinguished career, the wish, as well
as the expectation, of all who know him is that still
higher honors await him as the crown of his pro-
fessional life.
On the 29th of May, 1877 — the thirtieth anniver-
sary of his birth — he was married to Mrs. Sallie E.
Berry, of Woodford County, Kentucky.
\WILLIAM H. WATHEN, A. M, M. D., LL.D.,
’ was born January 23, 1846, in Marion County,
j Kentucky, son of Richard and Mary (Abell) Wat-
hen, and is of mixed English, German and Scotcli-
Irish descent. His paternal grandmother was Mary
Spalding before her marriage, and she was aunt to
Archbishop Martin John Spalding, who was one of
the most distinguished members of the Catholic hier-
archy, and would probably have been appointed first
American cardinal had he lived a few months longer.
The Wathens are descended from John Wathen, who
came from England to America, and settled in Mary-
land in 1675- They, with the Abells and Spaldings,
who were among the Catholic colonists of Marv-
land, were also among the first Catholic settlers of
Kentucky, having come to this State in 1787.
Among the most illustrious representatives of these
families have been Archbishop Spalding, who was
the author of many works unsurpassed in the Eng-
lish language in erudition and eloquence of style;
Rev. Robert A. Abell, a pulpit orator whose elo-
quence was equal to that of Henry Clay; and the
Right Rev. John Lancaster Spalding, present bishop
of Peoria, one of the most cultured Catholic divines
in the United States, an author of many volumes in
history, education, philosophy and poetry, and a
regular contributor to the leading magazines of this
country and Europe. In other walks of life, mem-
bers of these families have also achieved unusual dis-
tinction and have been representatives of the best
type of citizenship.
Dr. Wathen was educated at St. Mary’s College,
near Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky, which
institution conferred upon him the degree of master
of arts. He obtained his doctor’s degree from the
medical department of the University of Louisville
in 1870, and the University of Notre Dame con-
ferred upon him the degree of doctor of laws, at its
golden jubilee in 1895.
Immediately after his graduation in medicine he
began the practice at Lexington, Kentucky, remain-
ing there until the winter of 1871, when he removed
to Louisville, where he has been in continuous prac-
tice since. For ten years after his settlement at
Louisville, he devoted his energies to general prac-
tice, but during that period, was engaged in the care-
ful study of the specialty in which he is now one of
the most prominent of the physicians and surgeons
of the Southwest.
As professor of gynecology and abdominal
surgery in the Kentucky School of Medicine
he has been a favorite lecturer during nearly the
whole period of his practice, or for about twenty
years. He has signed his name to 2,500 diplomas
of graduates from this school. For fifteen years, he
was dean of the school, and its signal success is
largely due to the interest he has taken in it and the
energy he has shown in promoting its advancement.
In October, 1895, he was compelled, on account of
demands of his private practice and literary work, to
resign the administration of the affairs of the col-
lege as dean. Among the numerous valuable pa-
pers contributed by him to medical science are the
following: “Rapid Dilatation of the Cervix Uteri,"
read before the Ninth International Congress at
444
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Washington, D. C., in 1887; “Surgical Treatment
of Lacerations of Perineum and Pelvic Floor,” read
before the Association of American Obstetricians and
Gynecologists at Washington, D. C., in 1888; “A
Successful Vaginal Hysterectomy for Carcinomia
Uteri,” read before the Southern Surgical and Gyn-
ecological Society, at Birmingham, in 1889; “Path-
ology of Ectopic Pregnancy and Pelvic Hematocle,”
before the Section of Obstetrics and Gynecology of
the American Medical Association, at Newport,
Rhode Island, in 1889. As a writer upon these high-
ly scientific subjects, Dr. Wathen is remarkably lucid
and forcible, giving results of his observation and
experience in such language as can be easily un-
derstood by students or other intelligent readers.
His connection with scientific organizations has
been very wide. He is a fellow' of the American
Gynecological Society and of the Southern Surgical
and Gynecological Society; member of the Interna-
tional Medical Congress, the American Medical As-
sociation, the Kentucky State Medical Society, the
Mississippi Valley Medical Society, the Tri-States
Medical Society of Georgia, Alabama and Tennes-
see, etc., etc.; was president of the Kentucky State
Medical Society in 1888; president of the Section on
Obstetrics and Diseases of Women of the American
Medical Association in 1889, and was the representa-
tive from Kentucky appointed by the American
Medical Association to organize the ninth Interna-
tional Medical Congress that met at Washington,
D. C., in 1887. For the last ten years he has been
one of the commissioners of Lakeland Lunatic Asy-
lum, has shown much interest in the success of the
several eleemosynary institutions of the State, and
of the charitable institutions of the City of Louis-
ville.
Politically, his views have always been Demo-
cratic, and while he has taken no active part in po-
litical contests, he has consistently exercised his right
of suffrage in the interests of his party.
On May 9, 1871, he married, at Louisville, Kate
Presley Roach, daughter of John J. Roach and Pat-
tie P. (White) Roach, formerly of Green County.
The ancestors of this family came from Virginia to
Kentucky about the opening of the present cen-
tury. From this marriage has resulted five children,
a son, John Roach, and four daughters, Pattie Abell,
Alary Sophia, Kate Presley and Sally Neill. The
son is a graduate of the Alale High School and
of Yale College, and will take his degree of Doctor
of Medicine in 1898, having entered upon the neces-
sary course of study.
DRESTON BROWN SCOTT, A. M, M. D., in
A wide practice at Louisville, was the oldest son
of Col. Robert Wilmot Scott and Elizabeth Watts
(Brown) Scott. He was born at Frankfort in Frank-
lin County, Kentucky, September 12, 1832.
His father -was of pure Scotch descent, a man of
scholarly attainments and extensively known
throughout the country as an advanced thinker and
writer upon agricultural and other scientific sub-
jects.
His mother was a granddaughter of Rev. Dr.
John Preston, of Virginia, 'each family being of
prominence in that State. Dr. Preston Brown, his
mother’s father, for whom he was named, was a
noted physician of Frankfort and a brother of Dr.
Samuel Brown, who became celebrated in his pro-
fession at home and abroad, both as a practitioner
and a scientific thinker and writer.
Hon. John Brown and Hon. James Brown (one
the first senator from Kentucky and the other a
senator from Louisiana from 1812 to 1824, when he
resigned to accept the appointment of minister to
France) were elder brothers.
His father, Robert Wilmot Scott, was born at
Mill Farm on Elkhorn, Scott County, Kentucky,
November 2, 1808, and was married October 20,
1831, at Frankfort, Kentucky.
His grandfather was Joel Scott, who was born
near Abingdon, Virginia, November 15, 1771, and
came to Kentucky with his parents in 1785. He
married Rebecca Ridgeley Wilmot, daughter of Col.
Robert Wilmot, an officer of the Revolutionary
Army and related to prominent families of Mary-
land and Virginia. Joel Scott took an early stand
as a manufacturer, establishing on Elkhorn, near
Georgetown, Kentucky, a water power mill for the
manufacture of woolen fabrics and broadcloth. In
this and as lessee of the Kentucky Penitentiary, he
was probably the pioneer manufacturer in the West ;
and took a leading part in the early commercial in-
terests of the State.
His great-grandfather was John Scott, born in
Madison County, Virginia, June 26, 1748. He mar-
ried Hannah, daughter of Joshua Earle (or Earley), !
of Culpeper County, Virginia, October 25, 1770.
He was a lieutenant of militia at King’s Mountain; j
was at the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and a
participant in numerous other engagements of that
war. He came to Kentucky in 1785 and located on
North Elkhorn, near the Great Crossing, in which
vicinity his descendants have held large tracts of fer-
tile lands since.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
445
His great-great-grandfather was Thomas Scott,
who came with his father from England to the col-
ony of Virginia and settled in Culpeper County, a
part of which was afterwards Madison County, in
the early part of the eighteenth century, about 1715.
His wife was a Miss Coleman.
His great-great-great-grandfather was John Scott,
born in England, and the immigrant ancestor of the
Scott family in this country. He settled with his
son, Thomas, in the same part of Virginia, and, it is
supposed, died soon after, but there is no record of
the date.
In this connection it may be mentioned that in his
will he left a cane, or staff, which he had used, to be
handed down to the succeeding John Scotts, and
that it is now in the possession of a great-great-great-
great-great-grandson, living on Elkhorn, in Frank-
lin County.
The great-grandfather, four times removed, or the
fifth great-grandfather, was Thomas Scott, born in
Scotland and an immigrant to England about 1620.
His father, the most remote European ancestor of
which there is any record, was born and died in Scot-
land, but his Christian name has not been pre-
served.
The genealogy of the family has been fairly well
kept and it shows a long line of distinguished and
honorable ancestry.
Dr. Scott’s father, Hon. Robert W. Scott, was one
of the founders of the common school system of Ken-
tucky, being chiefly instrumental in securing the
legislation which first made provision for the main-
tenance of these public schools.
In 1841, as the first school commissioner appoint-
ed under the Kentucky common school law, lie built
a schoolhouse near his home in Franklin County,
and there put into operation the first school estab-
lished under the new system. Of that school, Pres-
ton B. Scott, the son, was a pupil, and there he re-
ceived a portion of his primary educational training,
but it was in his father’s house and under the in-
fluence of such surroundings, that the bent of his
mind and the basis of his character were established.
When he was fifteen years old, he was sent to a
private school taught by Rev. James Eells, who
fitted him to enter the junior class of Georgetown
College two years later. He was graduated from
that institution with first honors in the class of 1851,
and the year following, while residing with his uncle,
William Brown Reese, president of the University of
East Tennessee, lie continued his studies at that in-
stitution and received from it also his bachelor’s de-
gree. Georgetown College conferred upon him the
degree of A. M. in 1853.
In 1854, lie turned his attention to the study of
medicine, entering at that time the office of Dr.
Lewis Rogers, a prominent and much beloved phy-
sician of Louisville, under whose preceptorship he
fitted himself for admission to the medical depart-
ment of the University of Louisville. He was grad-
uated from the Lhiiversity medical school in 1856,
and, the following year, devoted himself to hospital
practice, as one of the resident physicians of the City
Hospital. In the spring of 1857, he established him-
self in the general' practice of his profession in Hick-
man County, Kentucky, and remained there two
years. At the end of that time, he removed to Boli-
var County, Mississippi, and had built up a large
practice there when the Civil War began. Aban-
doning his practice soon after war was declared, he
entered the Confederate army and participated in the
battle of Belmont, Missouri, in November of 1861,
as a private soldier. In May of 1862, he was ap-
pointed surgeon of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry
Regiment, which became a part of the First Ken-
tucky Brigade. A cool, determined, intrepid young
man, he was fearless in the discharge of his duties
and was soon promoted to brigade surgeon and as-
signed to duty on the staff of General Ben Hardin
Helm. He was again promoted at the battle of Jack-
son, Mississippi, and became medical director on
the staff of General Joseph E. Johnston, serving in
that capacity until he was assigned to duty as medical
director on the staff of Lieutenant General Leonidas
Polk. After the death of General Polk, at Ivenesaw
Mountain, he was placed in charge of all the hospi-
tals of Mississippi and Alabama, and continued to
act in that capacity until the close of the war, serving
as medical director on the staffs of General Stephen
D. Lee, General Dabney Maury and General Dick
Taylor.
When the war closed, Dr. Scott returned to Ken-
tucky, and, in the summer of 1865, located in Louis-
ville and resumed the practice of medicine. Although
for over three years he had held high positions as an
army surgeon and had achieved merited distinction
for his surgical skill, when he resumed civil practice, his
natural tastes and inclinations led him to give his
attention to medicine rather than to surgery, and
his activities have since been in this field of practice.
The public was quick to recognize both his ability
and his conscientious devotion to his profession,
and large patronage followed as a natural conse-
quence. Faithful services, candid counsels, scien
446
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tific skill and kindly solicitude for the welfare of
his patients under all circumstances have combined
to make him that fine type of family physician to
whom we can safely trust, not only the guardian-
ship of life and health, but other sacred interests as
well, and who, in the nature of things, becomes coun-
selor and friend, as well as physician.
He early became interested in the public benevo-
lent institutions of the city, and, in 1870, was chosen
physician in charge of the Episcopal Orphan Asy-
lum. A year later, he took charge as a physician also
of the Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, serv-
ing in this capacity to this day, and, in 1872, be-
came physician to the Young Women’s Home, being
a potent factor in guiding and directing the affairs
of these different institutions so as to realize the best
results.
In 1881, Dr. Scott was elected president of the
Academy of Medicine and Surgery in the Polytech-
nic Society of Kentucky, and was re-elected to that
position in 1882. In 1886 he was elected president
of the Louisville Medical Society. One of his dis-
tinguishing characteristics as a physician has been
his courteous treatment of fellow practitioners and
the broad liberality which has been manifested in his
intercourse with physicians belonging to the other
schools. Catholicity of spirit is inherent in his na-
ture, and this, coupled with his large experience,
has led him to survey the whole field of medical
science and give due recognition to the contribu-
tions thereto of the different schools of medicine.
He has been a leader in that progressive class of
physicians who have been chiefly instrumental in
bringing about that fraternal feeling among mem-
bers of different schools of medicine, which is cred-
itable alike to the profession and to the intelligence
of the present age. Sincere, honest and conscien-
tious in all things, he has achieved success by force
of his ability, and no member of the profession in
Louisville has ever had a higher regard for the ethics
of the profession or a greater contempt for the dem-
agogue methods by which practitioners of medicine
as well as politicians sometimes acquire prominence.
His moral and, professional life has been without
spot or blemish, and, as a citizen, he has been no less
esteemed as a dignified, high minded Christian gen-
tleman. Since 1854, he has been a member of the
Episcopal Church, and, during all the years of his
residence in Louisville, he has been a prominent
layman of that church, interesting himself espec-
ial! v in Sunday-school work. In 1867 he intro-
duced for the first time in Louisville, the offering of
flowers as a feature of the Sunday-school Easter
festival.
He married, in November, 1862, Miss Jane E.
Campbell, a daughter of John W. Campbell, a re-
tired banker of Jackson, Tennessee, and has three
children, Campbell, Jeanie Porter and Rumsey
Wing Scott.
Al\ ADISON PYLES, physician and surgeon, was
* ’ 1 born in Daviess County, Kentucky, in 1820.
His father, Samuel Pyles, was of Frencli Huguenot
descent and was one of the early planters .of Ken-
tucky. His mother was Elizabeth Calhoun, sister of
Hon. John C. Calhoun, of Kentucky, and cousin to
Hon. J. C. Calhoun, of South Carolina.
His father dying when he was young, Madison
Pyles was adopted by his uncle, Mitchell Calhoun,
a judge and cotton planter of Mississippi. At six-
teen, he began the study of law and graduated in it,
at the earnest desire of his uncles, four of whom
were judges, but, being dissatisfied, he abandoned it.
When on a visit to his mother in Louisville, being
brought into close relations to several noted phy-
sicians of that day, he became enthusiastic in his at-
tachment to that science, studied the same under
Dr. John M. Talbot, and attended the University of
Louisville, from which he graduated in 1846. While
a student there, he often assisted Dr. Samuel Gross
in delicate surgical operations, one of which re-
ceived particular mention by Dr. Gross in one of his
surgical works. After one course at the university,
he was appointed by the City Council as resident
physician of the City Hospital, which position he
held until he resigned in 1849, and entered into a
large and lucrative practice. Dr. Pyles was to his
patients not only their successful and skillful physi-
cian, but he was also their beloved friend. In many
instances, after performing delicate operations, or
having a patient in extreme danger, he would lie
awake at night to pray for their recovery. He de-
voted himself to the alleviation of their sufferings
with great singleness of purpose.
He was appointed resident surgeon of the United
States Marine Hospital in 1851, with Dr. Llewellyn
Powell as visiting surgeon. His admiring patients,
to express their love for him, erected in Cave Hill
Cemetery a handsome monument to his memory.
This monument was made in Italy and bears on the
side of the column a medallion in basso relievo of
him, while on the side of the base is chiseled the
story of “The Good Samaritan,” which was truly
typical of his character.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
447
In April, 1847, Dr. Pyles married Cordelia L.
Talbot, second daughter of Dr. John M. Talbot, of
Louisville, Kentucky. Three children, two sons and
one daughter, were born to them, one son dying
quite young. The other son, John Talbot Pyles,
resides in New York. The daughter, Elizabeth
Lily, married James Wilder McCarty, of this city.
Madison Pyles traced his descent from the Cal-
houns, Cottons, Jacksons and Kitchens, all old Rev-
olutionary stock. He died in Louisville April 26,
1866.
A MORGAN CARTLEDGE, M. D.,son of Rev.
* Abiah Morgan Cartledge and Louisa (Hay-
good) Cartledge, was born at Winnsboro, Fairfield
County, South Carolina, November 24, 1858. His
father was born at Edgefield, South Carolina, No-
vember 4, 1818, and died at Richburg, Chester
County, South Carolina, January 8, 1895. He was
for fifty years a minister of the Baptist Church of
that State, widely known and greatly beloved among
the Christian people with whom he labored. His
mother was born in Richland County, near Colum-
bia, South Carolina, in 1822, and died at Richburg,
August, 1878. Llis grandfather was also born at
Edgefield and most of his life was passed in agri-
cultural pursuits, his death occurring in Mississippi
about 1850.
His great-grandfather was born in Virginia about
the close of the last century and went to South Caro-
lina about the opening of the present century. He
was a Baptist minister of much celebrity and the
founder of the first church of that denomination in
Edgefield County. He filled the pulpit actively for
seventy years, his death occurring as the result of
being thrown from a horse at the age of ninety-six.
He was a man of fine general education, highly quali-
fied for his avocation and having great physical en-
durance. It is related of him that, in his early ex-
perience among the pioneer families of South Caro-
lina, he practiced surgery with good success. He
had never made either medicine or surgery a pro-
fessional study, but took up the practice as a measure
of necessity and humanity at a time when there were
no educated practitioners among the people of that
quarter. He reduced fractures, looked after all kinds
of flesh wounds, and went so far as to operate with
the knife for stone in the bladder. His success was
something marvelous, and his fame as a “doctor"
was only less wide than that lie held as a “preacher."
I he combined service of his father and his great-
grandfather in the Baptist ministry extended over a
period of one hundred and twenty years, and,
through them, the family name was known and re-
spected throughout all of the Southern States. The
Cartledges were of Welsh origin, all in this country
coming from one immigrant ancestor who settled in
Virginia in the year 1750. He was the father of two
sons, one of whom settled in Pennsylvania and the
other — the aged minister referred to — in South
Carolina. This makes him the great-great-paternal
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His ma-
ternal ancestors, the Haygoods, were of English ex-
traction, his mother being a daughter of Buckner
Haygood, of Richland County, South Carolina, a
member of the renowned family of that name in the
State of Virginia, from which descended a number of
distinguished men.
The beginning of Dr. A. Morgan Cartledge’s edu-
cation, and, indeed, all that he received up to the
time of entering college, was under the tutorage of
his father. This was his greatest advantage in life,
for his father was not only a scholar of the highest
classical attainment, but had fine qualities as a
teacher. He naturally took care that his son should
be well grounded in every study necessary to a pro-
fessional career. Besides the English branches, with
rhetoric and the higher mathematics, he was taught
Latin and Greek, and perhaps better prepared than
the majority of students who come from colleges and
universities with their diplomas. His father's work
was a labor of love, and it has doubtless been the
true basis of his professional success. It may be
mentioned here incidentally that Rev. A. M. Cart-
ledge and the late Dr. John A. Broadus were close
friends and men of much the same mould of mind
and character.
He was entirely fitted for the study of his pro-
fession when, in 1879, he entered the hospital at
Louisville. He had been reared upon a farm and
with little knowledge of the business world outside
of a brief experience as clerk in a drug store at Rich-
burg, but he was twenty years of age when he came
to Louisville and he entered college with perfect
confidence. He lost no time from books or lectures
and, at the session of 1882, was graduated with first
honors. Immediately after taking his diploma, lie
entered a competitive examination, with fourteen
contestants, and, receiving the highest average, won
the position of “resident graduate" at the Louisville
City Hospital. In this position of interne he re-
mained until 1884, when he was appointed by the
trustees of Central Cniversity a lecturer upon ah
dominal surgery in the Hospital College of Modi
448
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
cine, whence his diploma had been derived. Soon
after assuming the duties of this position, the death
of Dr. John Williams made a vacancy in the chair
of surgery and he was immediately chosen to fill it.
This place he held until 1888, when he was made
demonstrator of anatomy at the Kentucky School of
Medicine. After holding this for two years, he ac-
cepted a call to the chair of “The Principles and
Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery'’ in the
Louisville Medical College, which position he still
retains. In 1884, he was elected visiting surgeon of
the City Hospital and has served in that capacity
continuously since.
Within a comparatively brief period, Dr. Cartledge
has accomplished a remarkable success. His ad-
vance to the very head of his branch of the profession
has been phenomenal, and he is to-day without a
peer in the science of abdominal surgery.
Absorbed in the study of all features of surgery,
he has been a large contributor to professional lit-
erature. He has written much upon modern discov-
eries in medical science and upon technical subjects.
Perhaps as many as fifty of his articles have been
published, and all of them have attracted attention
from the scientific element to which they have been
addressed. His literary work with his pen, like that
of his verbal lectures, is done with clear force and
convincing power. Upon all live professional top-
ics, he has been heard with general approval.
For the last six or seven years, his private prac-
tice— which has been constantly growing — has been
confined to surgery and more particularly to ab-
dominal work. He has had a high degree of success
in his many cases — some of which have been of ab-
normal character — and in the opinion of his col-
leagues, his skill has never been surpassed in his
particular line of practice by any surgeon in the
country.
He is interested in quite a number of societies,
but has no connection with any organization out-
side of the strict lines of his profession. He is a
member of the Southern Surgical and Gynecologi-
cal Association; a member of the Kentucky State
Medical Society; member of the Louisville Surgical
Society; honorary member of the Mississippi State
Medical Association, and ex-president of the Louis-
ville Medico-Chirurgical and Louisville Surgical so-
cieties.
For quite a number of years, he was desirous of
seeing erected at Louisville a medical college build-
ing worthy her extended reputation as a medical
college center, for the states of the South and West,
and to that end he was untiring in his effort to ac-
complish its erection. To him and his colleagues
is due the construction of the superb edifice of the
Louisville Medical College, at First and Chestnut
streets. This is not excelled in architectural ele-
gance and adaptation by any similar building in
America.
Like his ancestors, Dr. Cartledge is a devoted 1
member of the Baptist Church, attending its ser-
vices whenever he can and doing his share in pro-
moting its progress.
On the 28th of January, 1886, he married Ella P.
Gardner, daughter of Richard Gardner, of Louis-
ville, from which one child has resulted.
At the time of preparing this sketch, Dr. Cartledge
is only in his thirty-eighth year and has yet before
him a wide field for attainment. He has accom-
plished very much in his career thus far, and it is
easy to predict that his after life will be of great j
honor to his profession and usefulness to humanity. ;
C RASMUS D. FOREE, one of the physicians of
^ Louisville who reflected great credit upon his >
profession and did much to give the city its high
standing as an educational center, was born in Shel-
by County, Kentucky, July 25, 1817, and died in
Louisville February 26, 1882. His father was a
physician and, from early boyhood up to manhood,
he was trained for the profession in which he
achieved such signal distinction. After being fitted
for college in the best schools of the community in
which he was brought up and in which all his en-
vironments were conducive to intellectual devel- jl
opment and the formation of good character, he j
matriculated in Hanover College, of Hanover, In- ;
diana, from which institution he was graduated with j
honors at the end of a full classical course of study.
Immediately afterward, he began the study of medi-
cine and received his doctor’s degree from the medi-
cal department of the University of Louisville in
1839. Fie did not, however, rest content with this i
equipment for professional work, but at once went ;
to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and took a post
graduate course in the hospitals of that city. This 1
was supplemented by a year of study and clinical
observation in England and Continental Europe,
and when he returned to Kentucky, lie had made the
most thorough and complete preparation for a pro-
fession for which nature had richlv endowed him.
Beginning the practice of medicine at New Castle,
Henry County, Kentucky, he at once impressed him-
self upon the profession as a physician of very su-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
449
perior attainments and soon took a place among
the most advanced and progressive thinkers, edu-
cators and practitioners of the State. In 1850, he
was elected to the chair of materia medica and ther-
apeutics in the Kentucky School of Medicine, at
Louisville, and filled that position with great credit
to himself and the institution during one season, but,
at the end of that time, found himself compelled to
resign his professorship to meet the demands of
his private practice. About this time he removed
to Anchorage, at which place he had a large prac-
tice, until 1863, when he removed to Louisville.
When he came to Louisville, he found some of
the ablest and most noted physicians of the United
States in active practice in this city, and the fact that
he at once took rank among the leaders of his pro-
fession in a city noted for its distinguished prac-
titioners, testifies more strongly than could anything
else to the breadth and scope of his attainments. Llis
knowledge was broad, his perceptions quick, his
action always prompt, and his manners and methods
those of the ideal physician. The welfare of his pa-
tients was always uppermost in his mind, and he gave
himself up to his calling with the zeal of a devotee.
In 1874, he again entered the educational field as
president of the faculty of the Hospital College of
Medicine, which had been established in Louisville
as the medical department of the Central University
of Kentucky. He was appointed to the chair of
diseases of women in this institution and held that
position up to the time of his death, becoming no
less renowned as an instructor than he was as a phy-
sician.
His death was sudden and the blow fell with
crushing effect on a community in which he was
loved and venerated and of which he was in all' re-
spects a distinguished citizen. No estimate of his
character, no estimate of the value of his services to
the public could be more nearly correct than that of
his professional brethren, expressed at a meeting of
the physicians of Louisville, called to take action on
his death, and it is appropriate that what they had
to say of their dead colleague should appear in this
connection. Speaking of his life and labors at this
meeting, Dr. David W. Yandell voiced the unani-
mous sentiment of those present in the following
tribute to his character, attainments and professional
standing:
“Ordinarily the task of speaking in public of a
dear friend whom death has newly taken is one of
exceeding difficulty, for those who do not know him
are apt to regard the praise as excessive, while those
29
who knew and saw the individual in ways and with
eyes other than your own, may think vou unappre-
ciative. I he first of these difficulties at least cannot
arise in the present instance, for the public knew
him whom we are gathered here to speak of, as it
knew no other physician; for no one in this com-
munity crossed so many thresholds, was admitted
into the privacy of so many families, or had so large
a personal following as Dr. Foree.
“Brethren, do you not realize that the foremost
man in our guild, the first citizen of Louisville,
passed away when Dr. Foree died? Whatever ca-
pacity any of us wdio is left may have, there is not
one of us who was so useful or did so much good as
he. Hence none of us, when we follow him ‘from
sunshine to the sunless land,’ shall be so missed,
shall leave so large a void. No funeral cortege which
ever pursued its solemn 'march through these streets
represented a more widespread, a more general, or
a more poignant grief than that which will go to the
grave with his remains.
“He was truly the beloved physician. As such the
public knew and revered him, and as such it mourns
him. But to us, who knew him, if not better, I may
be permitted to say, knew him in other and more
intimate ways — who fought side by side with him
in the unequal contest in which we are all engaged
— the loss cannot be expressed. Who shall wear
the armor which fell from his great shoulders, or
wield that Excalibur with which he smote disease
and staid the advance of death?
“Dr. Foree was pre-eminently the counsellor of
the profession. His wisdom was sought alike by
old and young.
“He spake no slander, no, nor listened to it,
for there had grown up in him that infinite tolerance
born alone of deep insight and comprehensive view;
and while with every year he grew more thoughtful
and more tender, long ago his sympathies had fresh
ened and quickened into a supreme principle of ac-
tion’, which governed, as it also irradiated all his
life.
“But it was in his intercourse with the sick that
Dr. Foree exhibited his best and highest qualities.
He was prompt. He was punctual. He was pa-
tient. He was experienced. He was skilled. He
was learned. He was wise. He wore the serious
cheerfulness of Sophocles, who, it is said, having
mastered the problem of human life, knew its grav-
ity, and was therefore serious, but who, knowing
that he comprehended it, was therefore cheerful. I le
450
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
literally carried his patients in his head and nour-
ished them in his heart. He gave them not only his
first and best, but he gave them his every thought.
He never forgot them, nor wearied of listening to
their complaints, nor relaxed in his efiforts to assuage
their pains or drive away their diseases. He ful-
filled all the requirements of the law. He cured —
where cure was possible — quickly, safely, pleasantly,
and where death was inevitable, he gave a sympathy
that was so genuine, so tender and so sweet that
it fell as a balm on the hearts of the stricken sur-
vivors.”
Soon after he began the practice of medicine, Dr
Foree married Flora V. Jackson, daughter of Hon.
Edward Jackson, of Virginia, granddaughter of Gen-
eral George B. Jackson, of Revolutionary fame, and
double cousin of General Thomas J.— “Stonewall”
—Jackson, of the Civil War. Five children were
born of their union, and his widow, three sons and
one daughter are the surviving members of his fam-
ily. One son, a naval officer, lost his life at sea, while
executing an act of conspicuous gallantry, and a
beautiful cenotaph was erected to his memory at
Annapolis by his brother officers.
VyiLLIAM CHEATHAM, A. B., M. D., special-
' ’ ist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat,
was born at Taylorsville, Spencer County, Kentucky,
June 6, 1852, a son of Dr. William H. Cheatham
and Elizabeth (Van Dyke) Cheatham, both of whom
were born in Spencer County. His father was dis-
tinguished as a physician and notably one of the
first eye and ear doctors in practice west of the Al-
legheny Mountains. He was a graduate of Centre
College, at Danville, Kentucky, and afterwards ob-
tained his professional education at St. Louis Medi-
cal College. His practice Avas commenced at Tay-
lorsville and continued there with great success un-
til 1861. Then he came with his family to Louis-
ville and practiced here until 1867, when he retired
from professional life and made his home at Shel-
byville, Kentucky. His mother was a daughter of
Abram Van Dyke and Susan (Foreman) Van Dyke,
of Spencer County. Botli families came from the
pioneer people of Kentucky and held high social
position.
His grandfather, Leonard Cheatham, was born in
Washington County, Kentucky, in the latter part of
the last century, and married Sarah Morgan, of that
county. It is not known exactly when the immi-
grant ancestor of his paternal branch came to this
country, but it must have been some time prior to
the war for independence, since several of the name
are noted as Revolutionary soldiers. The Van
Dykes and Morgans were also early-comers and
representatives of strong European progenitors.
The education of William Cheatham was com-
menced in private schools at the little town where
he was born, and he made good progress with his
studies until 1861, when his father came to Louis-
ville. He was nine years of age when he entered
the famous public schools of this city, and passed
successfully through all of their grades until 1867.
When about fifteen, he was sent to the Kentucky
Military Institute, then a prominent educational es-
tablishment of Franklin County, Kentucky. From
this college he took his degree in the spring of 1870
and returned to Louisville, where in the fall he en-
tered the Medical University of Louisville and be-
gan the professional career in which he has had such
remarkable success. He took a three years’ course
at the university and was graduated in the spring of
1873. Immediately after taking his medical diploma,
he went to Shelbyville and commenced there the
general practice of medicine, but at this point he
only remained from the spring to the winter of that
year, Avhen he decided to go to New York and make
a special study of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and
throat, under the celebrated Dr. C. R. Agnew. He
took a complete course under this able master and
continued the practical study of his specialty in va-
rious hospitals and colleges, until November, 1874,
when he became house surgeon, or interne, of the
Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. In this position
he remained until 1877, having the advantage of a
very large experience in treating the diseases of
these delicate organs. In 1877, he returned to Louis-
ville and commenced practice as a specialist. He
also became associated with the University of Louis-
ville as lecturer upon the diseases of the eye, ear,
nose and throat, but at the end of a year, he con-
cluded to take a higher finish in his profession by
visiting the great hospitals of Europe. This he did
in the spring of 1878, making a complete round of
all the hospitals and niedical institutions of that
country and returning to Louisville in the fall of
1878. He visited Europe again in 1889. He re-
signed his position as lecturer in the University of
Louisville to accept a professorship in the Louis-
ville Medical College, his subject being the eye, ear,
nose and throat. This position he has held con-
tinuously since.
Meanwhile, his private practice has grown with
phenomenal rapidity, and his fame as a specialist in
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
451
diseases of these organs has now spread to all parts
of the South and West. He is known to the medi-
cal profession in many States and is consulted almost
as much from abroad as he is at home. His success
in handling the most stubborn diseases of his spe-
cialty has been marked, and almost every moment of
his time is professionally occupied. Naturally, his
practice has been lucrative, and, though compara-
tively a young man, he has already founded a good
estate.
Outside of his regular duties at the college and
the demands of his private practice, he holds mem-
bership in quite a number of medical societies,
among them the Louisville Clinical Society, Medico-
Chirurgical Society, Louisville Surgical Society,
Louisville Academy of Medicine, Mississippi Valley
Medical Society, American Medical Association,
American Ophthalmological Society, American
Laryngological, Rhinogological and Otological So-
ciety, Congress of American Physicians and Sur-
geons, International Ophthalmological Congress,
and honorary member of the Tennessee State Medi-
cal Society. In addition to these, he is eye, ear, nose
and throat physician to the Female Episcopal Or-
phanage, Presbyterian Orphanage, Masonic Wid-
ows’ and Orphans’ Home and to the Louisville City
Hospital. He has no membership with any secret
societies except the Masonic Order and a college
j society.
On October 2, 1879, he married Nellie Garrard,
of Frankfort. She was the youngest child of James
H. Garrard, who, for many years, was treasurer
of the State of Kentucky. The family is one of great
distinction in the State's history, having furnished
one governor, Charles Garrard, who was her great-
grandfather, and several other able men to public
position. It is a noteworthy fact that all of the fe-
! males of this family have been exceptionally beau-
| tiful. From this marriage have resulted two chil-
1 dren, a son and a daughter.
Dr. Cheatham is just in the prime of manhood,
full of mental and physical vigor, and just as much
[ :n love with his profession as when he first began
J to achieve the success which has long ago been fully
j established. Nearly all of his professional life has
j been passed at Louisville, and he has done much to
. give it character as a great center for medical edu-
I cation.
! THOMAS P. SATTERWHITE, M. D., was born
1 in Lexington, Kentucky, July 21, 1835. His
father, a Virginian by birth, was a prominent phy-
sician of Lexington, Kentucky, who died in 1841.
His mother was Mary Cabell Breckinridge, the
daughter of Hon. Joseph Cabell Breckinridge,
speaker of the House of Representatives and Secre-
tary of State of Kentucky. Her mother was a daugh-
ter of Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, president of
Princeton Lollege, and granddaughter of John
Witherspoon, also president of the same institution.
Mrs. Satterwhite was also a sister of General John
C. Breckinridge, vice president of the United States;
and thus was the representative in blood of two
most prominent colonial families. Her paternal an-
cestry goes back to John Knox, the great reformer.
Both of the parents of the subject of this sketch
dying when he was quite young, his mother before
he was a year old, he was reared by his maternal
grandmother, Mrs. Mary Smith Breckinridge, who
vcas a lady of great force of character and strong
mental endowments. Brought up under such fa-
vorable influences, he received his early education
at private schools in and near Lexington, and, in
1853, came to Louisville and commenced the study
of medicine in the office of his relative, Dr. Robert
J. Breckinridge. In 1857, having taken a thorough
course in the medical department of the University
of Louisville, he was graduated from that institu-
tion with honor. Immediately after receiving his
diploma, he entered upon the practice of medicine in
Louisville, in which he has continued without in-
termission, being now one of the oldest practitioners
in the city. In 1859, in connection with Dr. John
Goodman, he established the Eastern Dispensary,
and, in 1863, they contracted with the trustees of
the University of Louisville and built a permanent
one on the grounds of the college, the first perma-
nent dispensary in the city, which is now regarded
as a necessity for every medical institution. In con-
nection with this dispensary was also established a
spring and summer course of lectures as a prepara-
tory school, which was the first to adopt the mode
of teaching by recitations and explanatory lectures,
now universally conceded to be the best system
of medical instruction. For six years, he was dem-
onstator of anatomy in the university, serving as
such from 1863 to 1869, and achieved high surgical
reputation.
While enjoying a large private practice. Dr. Sat-
terwhite has been an active worker in promoting
the various public and private charities relating to
his profession. He was one of the first members
of the staff at the Infirmary for Women and Chil
dren ; is surgeon at Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospi-
452
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tal ; is a member of the City Hospital staff, and was
the first surgeon that successfully performed ampu-
tation of the hip-joint in that institution; is the
chief surgeon of the Fidelity & Casualty Company,
and was chief surgeon of the American Casualty
Company until its liquidation; is president of the
Board of Pension Examiners; surgeon and phy-
sician of the Louisville School of Reform, number-
ing four hundred inmates, and is president of the
Board of Commissioners of the Kentucky Central
Lunatic Asylum, a State institution and one of the
largest in the country, having eleven hundred pa-
tients. He is a member of the local societies, having
been presiding officer of many of them, and was also
one of the active members who resuscitated the
State Medical Society at the close of the war; is a
member of the American Medical Association, and
was elected one of its vice presidents at its meeting
in Baltimore in 1895; is surgeon of the Seventh
Division of the Southern Railway Company, the Big
Lour, the Chesapeake & Ohio railroads, and was
for some years consulting surgeon to Dr. George
W. Griffith, chief surgeon of the Louisville & Nash-
ville and City Railway companies. For six years,
he was a charity commissioner, until the adoption of
the new city charter, which altered the government
of the City Hospital, Alms House, Eruptive Hospi-
tal and Workhouse. His services in this capacity
were conspicuous in securing reforms in the man-
agement and office of superintendent of the Erup-
tive Hospital, and in defeating a proposition for re-
building the City Hospital at an expense of half a
million dollars — a counter proposition to improve
the same at a moderate cost having prevailed. He
also secured the passage of a resolution by which
the city receives from the State seventy-five dollars
a year for each imbecile cared for at the Alms
House, and was the first to agitate before the board
and through the press the establishment of the pres-
ent ambulance system.
Although several times tendered medical profess-
orships, Dr. Satterwhite has steadfastly declined,
preferring to devote himself to his private practice,
which is large and now embraces, in many instances,
the third and fourth generations since he entered
the profession. Though his hair and beard, prema-
turely whitened, give to a stranger the impression of
advanced age, those who know him well appreciate
the physical vigor and elasticity of spirits which be-
long to men in their prime. Of a marked individ-
uality and uncompromising in all professional or
other matters involving principle, in his personal
and domestic relations, he is most cordial and amia-
ble. In religious association, he is a member of the
Presbyterian Church, of which so many of his fam-
ily have been eminent divines.
On the 14th of January, 1858, he was married to
Miss Maria Preston Pope Rogers, a daughter of
Colonel Jason Rogers, U. S. A., and Josephine Pres- j
ton, a sister of the late Colonel William Preston. Of
their children, four survive, two sons and two
daughters.
C''' URRAN POPE, M. D., was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, on the 12th of November, 1866, in
the old Pope residence, on Walnut Street, in which
the Pope family has lived for the past sixty-five
years. He is the eldest son of the late Judge Alfred
Thruston Pope, and a grandson of Colonel Curran
Pope, sketches of whom will be found in another
part of this history.
The subject of this sketch received a liberal edu-
cation in the common and high schools of his na-
tive city, and after leaving school traveled exten-
sively with his parents through the various coun-
tries of Europe. After an absence of nearly two
years he returned home and entered mercantile life,
where he remained three years, acquiring during
that time an extended knowledge of business meth-
ods. At the end of this time he commenced the
study of medicine in the University of Louisville,
from which school he graduated. Realizing the
full necessity of an intimate knowledge of disease ‘
that can be obtained only at the bedside and in the f
hospitals, he immediately after his graduation at- I
tended extensive courses of clinical instruction in j;
New York City, at the Post Graduate School and ;
Hospital, the Polyclinical School and Hospital, the ‘
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Demilt Dis- ,
pensary, the New York Hospital, and at the Insane 1
Pavilion of Bellevue Hospital.
While in New York he was tendered the position 1
of resident physician to the Anchorage Insane Asy- t
lum, at Lakeland, Kentucky, which he accepted, I
and at once returned to this State to assume his new ;
duties. After a stay of some length as physician to j
the asylum, he tendered his resignation and sailed
for Europe. During his stay in Europe he visited 1
all the great medical centers and while in London
attended the clinics on nervous diseases of such
distinguished men as Gowers, Hughlings-Jackson,
Ferrier, Horsley, Forbes Winslow, DeWattville,
Buzzard, Ormerod, Tooth and Bastian. Crossing
to the Continent, he attended the clinics of Charcot,
I
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
453
Fournier, Dujardin-Beaumetz, Brown-Sequard, in
Paris; the clinics of Meyrnert, Kraft- Ebbing, Noth-
nagel, Winternitz, Benedict, Exner, Neuman, and
Obersteiner, in Vienna; of Erb, Edinger, Weigert,
Ewald and Mendel in Germany. Returning to his
native city he commenced the practice of his spe-
cialty, diseases of the mind and nervous system, and
immediately took high rank in his profession.
On July i, 1891, he was appointed demonstrator
of histology, bacteriology and clinical microscopy
in the Hospital College of Medicine, the medical
department of Central University of Kentucky. At
the ensuing session he was made lecturer on pathol-
ogy, which position he filled with ability. In Sep-
tember, 1892, being tendered the position of clinical
professor of diseases of the mind and nervous sys-
tem in the Louisville Medical College, he resigned
his former position to accept the latter, this being
in the direct line of his special practice and a more
congenial line of work.
When Dr. Pope commenced the practice of med-
icine in Louisville he occupied two small rooms on
the corner of First and Chestnut streets. As his
practice continually increased he made additions to
his original office until he had as many as eleven
rooms devoted to the treatment of disease. Being
still cramped for room, in 1893 Dr. Pope erected his
present sanatorium on Chestnut Street, between
First and Second, within whose walls he has gath-
ered together the most approved and scientific meth-
ods of treatment for all phases and forms of disease,
but particularly for nervous troubles, and they are
especially those remedies which are used in the
treatment of all forms of chronic diseases. In the
spring of 1896 he found it necessary to still further
add to his building until he has now the most com-
plete private sanatorium in the country, and he is
taxed to his very utmost to accommodate the pa-
tients who have placed themselves under his care.
Dr. Pope is the pioneer of hydrotherapy in the
South, having invented a number of appliances for
the application of water to the treatment of disease,
based upon an experience of over thirty thousand
applications. Likewise, he was the first to introduce
mechanical vibration, or mechanical massage, into
the South, and in both these departments he has a
complete and thoroughly equipped establishment.
His appliances are the most complete that are af-
forded to modern medicine for the treatment of dis-
ease by the electric current, and in this special
branch he has built up an enviable reputation for
ability to afford relief in chronic diseases by its
scientific application and for skillful treatment of
stubborn ailments.
In December, 1895, he was tendered a professor-
ship on diseases of the mind and nervous system
and electro-therapeutics in the Hospital College of
Medicine and accepted same, returning to the col-
lege in which he first commenced his career as a
demonstrator to become a professor. On the 1st
day of January, 1896, he accepted the editorship
of “The New Albany Medical Plerald,” which posi-
tion he now holds. In June, 1896, he was tendered
a professorship on physiology and hygiene in the
Kentucky Military. Institute, this noted college hav-
ing been removed at this time from Mt. Sterling to
near Louisville. At the same time his former friends
and associates in the Louisville Medical College
held out such flattering inducements that he felt it
to his advantage to again make a change and re-
turn to the Louisville Medical College. He, there-
fore, promptly accepted both of these professor-
ships and continues to fill them at the present time.
During May, 1896, he was requested by the Cen-
tral Medical Association of Kentucky to read an
address before that body. He read a paper on “The
Paraesthetic Neurosis,” which received consider-
able notice at the time. In July of the same year
he was especially invited to deliver an address on
“Sick Headache” before the Northeast Kentucky
Medical Association, being one of the youngest
men ever granted such an honor. Dr. Pope was
the first physician in Louisville to introduce a course
of popular lectures upon medical subjects rarely
lectured upon, choosing such interesting topics as
“The Weather,” “The American,” “The Social
Swim,” “Degeneration and Regeneration,” “Phy-
sical Culture,” “Modern Monsters,” and “Mind and
Matter.” He has also made numerous contributions
to medical literature, his most valuable articles be-
ing those upon “Insomnia,” “Neuralgia,” “The
Therapeutics of Spinal Diseases,” “Dilatation of the
Stomach,” “The Bicycle in Health and Disease,"
“Foot Ball,” “Headaches,” “Migraine,” “Epilepsy.”
“Neurasthenia,” “Hysteria,” “Value of Certain
Therapeutics in Nervous Diseases,” and the “Treat-
ment of Chronic Rheumatism.”
Dr. Pope is the consulting neurologist of the
staff of the Louisville City Hospital and of the Lou-
isville Medical College Hospital, besides attending
many charity cases in other hospitals and eleemo-
synary institutions of the city. He is also a promi-
nent member of the American Medical Association,
The Mississippi Valley Medical Association, The
454
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Kentucky State Medical Society, The Northeastern
Kentucky Medical Society, The Central Kentucky
Medical Association, The American Electro-Thera-
peutic Association, and is a fellow of the Louisville
Academy of Medicine. He is a member of Alpha
Lodge No. 9, Knights of Pythias; Jefferson Senate,
Iv. A. E. O.; Falls City Lodge of Masons; and
though young, is possessed of a large and lucrative
practice.
DEN [AMIN FRANKLIN M’CAWLEY, phy-
sician, was born at what was known as the old
Me Cawley homestead, in Jefferson County, Ken-
tucky, in 1837, and died there in 1890. His grand-
father was James McCawley, who came from Vir-
ginia to what afterward became the State of Ken-
tucky while this territory was still a part of the “Old
Dominion.” Old family records and accounts show
that he was at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in 1777-78,
but not long after that he came to Jefferson County
and settled on the stream still known as McCaw-
ley’s Creek, on land which passed by inheritance to
his grandson, Dr. B. F. McCawley. There he built
a cabin, experienced the perils and hardships of pio-
neer life — being frequently obliged to defend him-
self against the attacks of hostile Indians — and there
he continued to reside to the end of his life. Wil-
liam McCawley, his son, was born there in 1807, and
died of cholera at the McCawley homestead in 1850.
The latter, like his father, was a farmer and planter
by occupation, but was prominently identified with
Kentucky military affairs in the early part of the
present century and served with distinction as a
lieutenant colonel of State militia. Colonel Mc-
Cawley’s wife was a Miss Hindi, who came of a
Virginia family, and their sons were George W. and
Benjamin F. McCawley. George W. McCawley
distinguished himself as a Confederate soldier and,
at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, commanded a
brigade. He was killed at the head of his command
in that battle, while leading the seventh charge of
the brigade against the Federal corps commanded
by General Joe Hooker.
Dr. Benjamin F. McCawley was reared at the old
homestead and educated for the medical profession,
being graduated from the Kentucky School of Medi-
cine in 1858, about the time he attained his majority.
Immediately afterward, he began practicing in the
neighborhood of his home, and, within a few years
thereafter, became one of the leading practitioners
of Jefferson County. For more than thirty years,
he devoted himself to professional work and built
up a large general practice, which extended over
the greater part of Jefferson County and into the
City of Louisville, although he always continued to
reside in the county. He was a physician of the old
school, tireless in his activity and ready at all times
to respond to the demands made upon him. He
never forgot the dignity which he believed should
clothe the members of his profession, but, at the
same time, was warm-hearted, good-tempered, and
had much of the courtliness of manner characteris-
tic of the old-fashioned Southern gentleman. . He
was tireless in his attempts to ascertain the cause
of disease and
“No sooner knew the cause than sought the remedy.”
He had an iron will, with great personal courage,
and possessed the rare quality of imparting to others
the spirit which actuated himself. His cheery man-
ner brightened the sick room, and his kindly sym-
pathy was many times better than a cordial for the
suffering and afflicted. During his long career as a
physician, he became one of the most widely known
men in Jefferson County, and he was esteemed
wherever he was known.
He was married in 1865 to Miss Teresa R.
Schnetz, who was born and brought up in Louis-
ville and now resides here, having removed to the
city after the death of her husband. Her parents
were George A. and Anna (Jarboe) Schnetz, the
former a native of Berlin, Germany, and the latter
of Baltimore, Maryland. Her father came to Louis-
ville in 1820, and, for thirty years thereafter, was
prominently identified with the commercial and
manufacturing interests of the city. Both he and his
wife fell victims to the cholera during the epidemic j
which prevailed in Louisville in 1850. Besides Mrs.
McCawley, the surviving members of Dr. McCaw-
ley’s family are A. Sidney, George W., Herbert L.
and Howell W. McCawley, all of whom reside in
Louisville.
TTENRY MILLER, M. D., was born in Glasgow,
*■ *■ Kentucky, November 1, 1800. His father, who
was one of the first three settlers of Glasgow, was a
native of Maryland. After having received a good
common school education, at the age of seventeen,
he entered upon the study of medicine, in the office
of Drs. Bainbridge and Gist, in his native town,
where he remained two years. He then entered the
Medical School of Transylvania University, in Lex-
ington, where he graduated in 1821. Such was his
proficiency that he was at once appointed demon-
ij
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
455
strator of anatomy, in which position he laid the
foundation of the high reputation he achieved later.
Subsequently, he attended a course of lectures in
Philadelphia, and, upon his return to Kentucky, be-
gan the practice of medicine in Glasgow. In 1827,
he removed to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and prac-
ticed his profession with success, until 1835, when
he was called to Louisville to aid in the organization
of the Medical Institute, the first school of medicine
founded in this city. The faculty with which the
institution started was one of distinction, compris-
ing Drs. Charles Caldwell, J. Estin Cooke, Luns-
ford P. Yandell — who had been members of the
Transylvania Medical School — Dr. Cobb and Dr.
Flint. The list was completed by the appointment
of Dr. Miller to the chair of obstetrics. The school
was, in 1846, merged into the University of Louis-
ville, Dr. Miller retaining his professorship until
1858. Having served continuously for twenty-three
years and feeling the need of a change, he, in that
year, resigned his chair and devoted himself to pri-
vate practice. In this, his great skill and thorough
knowledge of his profession gave him a large pa-
tronage and he soon became a favorite family phy-
sician. In 1867, he was recalled to the institution,
and, for two years, was professor of medical and sur-
gical diseases of women, when he resigned. Subse-
quently, he accepted a similar chair in the Louisville
Medical College, holding it at the time of his death,
which occurred in Louisville, February 18, 1874.
Dr. Miller was an extensive writer upon medical
topics and, in addition to many monographs on va-
rious subjects, was the author of two standard medi-
cal works. The first, entitled “Theoretical and Prac-
tical Treatise on Human Parturition,” was published
in 1849, ar*d the second, “Principles and Practice of
Obstetrics,” several years later. The latter became
the text book in most of the schools of the day and
still ranks among the very first in medical literature
as a standard authority. He enjoyed the satisfaction
of being recognized and appreciated in his lifetime,
instead of looking forward to posthumous fame.
By both the medical fraternity and the laity, he was
esteemed, honored and beloved. In addition to his
membership in many local and State societies, he
was a member of the American Medical Association,
ancl its president in 1859. In religious association,
he was a Presbyterian.
His wife, to whom he was married June 24, 1824,
was Miss Clarissa Robinson, daughter of William
and Clarissa Robinson, of an old Virginia family. Of
ten children born to them, six attained maturity:
Dr. William E. Miller, George R. Miller and Dr.
Edward Miller; Caroline, wife of Dr. John Good-
man; Mary, wife of James H. Turner, Esq., and
Henrietta, wife of Charles Mantle, Esq.
r* HARLES WILKINS SHORT, physician
and scientist, of Louisville, was born in Wood-
ford County, Kentucky, on the 6th day of October,
1794. He was the son of Peyton Short, of Surrey
County, Virginia, State senator from Fayette Coun-
ty, Kentucky, 1792-96, whose mother was Elizabeth
Skipwith, daughter of Sir Peyton Skipwith, Baro-
net. His own mother was Mary Symmes, daughter
of John Cleves Symmes, a native of Rhode Island,
who came at an early date to Ohio and purchased
one million acres of land between the two Miamis.
In 1788, he was one of the projectors of the town
which afterwards became Cincinnati. Dr. Short re-
ceived his early education from Joshua Fry, of Dan-
ville, under whose tuition were raised many of the
most prominent lawyers, divines and statesmen of
Kentucky. From this school he was transferred to
Transylvania University, Lexington, where he grad-
uated in 1810. Having chosen medicine as his pro-
fession, he pursued his preliminary studies under his
uncle, Dr. Frederick Ridgelv, one of the leading
practitioners of Kentucky. In 1813, he went to
Philadelphia and became a private pupil of Dr. Cas-
par Wistar, professor of anatomy in the University
of Pennsylvania, remaining in the office of this dis-
tinguished teacher until he graduated in the spring
of 1815.
In November, 1815, Dr. Short was married to
Mary Henry Churchill, only child of Armistead and
Jane (Henry) Churchill. Upon his marriage, he
settled in Lexington, but shortly afterward removed
to Hopkinsville, where lie soon acquired a large
practice. It was during his residence there that he
entered upbn the study of practical botany, which
he continued through his after life, until his pro-
ficiency in this science gave him a world-wide repu-
tation. No plant, shrub or tree escaped his atten-
tion and he was a pioneer in the classification of
much of the native flora with which that virgin por-
tion of Kentucky abounded. In 1825 he moved back
to Lexington to accept the chair of materia medica
and medical botany in his alma mater, which was
then in the height of its brilliant career of usefulness.
Besides his duties as a professor, he was able to
indulge in his favorite study of botany, classifying
and giving to the world a catalogue and description
of the rich flora in which the Bluegrass region of
456
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Kentucky at that time abounded. Through this
occupation and his occasional publications in cur-
rent journals, he became known to the scientists of
Europe as well as of America, and his correspond-
ents embraced all the learned botanists in both hem-
ispheres. Not only was he theoretically learned, but
lie was an indefatigable explorer of the woods and
fields, collecting and preserving specimens of plants,
and analyzing and describing their therapeutical
properties. His collection of dried specimens, com-
prising plants gathered in several States, is now in
the possession of the Academy of Sciences of Phila-
delphia, and is said to be one of the finest in the
world.
In 1837, the Medical School of Transylvania,
which had outgrown the town of Lexington, was
disrupted, and Dr. Short, together with most of its
faculty, became professors in the Medical School
of Louisville, then lately established, and which has
since been known as the Medical Department of the
University of Louisville. Here Dr. Short continued
to fill the chair of Materia Medica and Medical
Botany until 1849, n°t only sustaining the reputa-
tion which he brought with him, but broadening and
widening it by the ability with which he covered the
larger field.
In 1849 Dr. Short resigned his chair but was, in
token of the appreciation in which he was held by
the faculty, elected Emeritus Professor of Materia
Medica and Medical Botany. His life had been a
busy one, depriving him, by the exactions of duty,
of the opportunity of pursuing the more quiet study
of his favorite science of botany and of cultivating
that domestic ease denied to those engaged in active
professional life. He had been able to maintain his
family but not to accumulate a surplus. But in the
year named, a bachelor uncle, Mr. William Short,
of Philadelphia, ex-Minister to Spain, died and left
him his chief heir. Thus provided with the means
of indulging his rational tastes, he purchased a farm
of several hundred acres, about three miles south-
east of Louisville, which was in all respects adapted
for the purposes for which he needed it. It was
part of the original one thousand acre military sur-
vey settled in 1786 by Colonel John Thruston, who
built his house near a grand spring and named the
place “Sans Souci.” In 1835 it was purchased by
Colonel George Hancock, a gentleman of taste and
culture, who gave it the name of “Hayfield,” and in
1837 built a handsome residence, which is still one of
the most elegant in the county. To this typical
home Dr. Short retired in his fifty-fifth year, in the
full maturity of mental and physical vigor, and here,
surrounded by a family of great loveliness, he spent
the remaining years of his life, devoting himself to
his garden, which he developed into an herbarium,
and finding repose in a library which combined the
choicest works of literature with the rarest collec-
tions of science. Here he continued to reside until
the shadow of death overtook him, and he died in
the sixty-ninth year of his age.
TAMES MORRISON BODINE, son of Dr. Al-
'D fred Bodine and Fannie Maria (Ray) Bodine,
was born at Fairfield, Nelson County, Kentucky,
October 2, 1831. His father was also born at Fair-
field, January 28, 1805, and was of Huguenot an-
cestry. His mother was born in Marion County,
Kentucky, near where St. Mary’s College now
stands. They represented families well known in
the pioneer history of the State, distinguished for
high intelligence and strong character. His father,
for a brief period, was engaged in the practice of
medicine, but the greater part of his life was devoted
to mercantile and agricultural pursuits. He died at
Fairfield, December 30th, 1861.
His grandfather, John Bodine, was born in New
Jersey, in that part of the colonial settlement known
as New Amsterdam, and which included the city
and county of New York. His grandmother was
Catharine (Parker) Bodine, a daughter of Richard
Parker, of Virginia. They came to Kentucky in
the latter part of the last century, prior to the admis-
sion of the State to membership in the Union, and
settled upon Beech Fork of Salt River, then in Jef-
ferson County, but now in Nelson. His paternal
great-grandfather was a citizen of New Jersey and
probably the grandson of the immigrant ancestor,
who came to New Amsterdam, a Huguenot, in the
year 1625. His maternal great-grandmother was a
daughter of Peter Brown, of Maryland, who came
to Kentucky in the latter half of the last century and
settled upon lands near Bardstown. He was a man
of very marked ability, a soldier of the Revolution,
who, at one time during that struggle, served as
aide-de-camp to General Washington.
The name of Bodine, as originally rendered, was
Bodin — pronounced Bo-dan — the vowel “e” being
added in this country, presumably about the
time of the French Canadian War. In France, the
Huguenot name of Bodin was rendered familiar by
the works of Jean Bodin, who was celebrated as a
publicist and political economist. He was born at
Angiers in 1530, and died at Laon in 1596, twenty-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
457
nine years prior to the coming of the American an-
cestor to this country.
No full and entirely satisfactory genealogical rec-
ord of either the paternal or maternal branches of
Dr. Bodine's family has been preserved for the bio-
graphical writer, but among the numerous time-
stained papers in his possession much valuable mat-
ter relating to the two families in Kentucky can be
gleaned. Some of the documents have general as
well as private interest, and they go far toward cor-
roborating some of the recorded incidents of Ken-
tucky pioneer history. Among these family relics
are original deeds, bills of sale, and memoranda of
land transactions. One, dated as early as 1763,
shows that Jacob Bodine, of New Jersey, gave to a
son a bill of sale of several negroes. The term
“negro wench’’ occurs in this paper. Another, in
1797, shows that John Bodine, his grandfather, re-
ceived a deed for land near Fairfield, for which he
paid the sum of twenty-one pounds and fifteen shil-
lings. Another, dated July, 1800, shows that Rich-
ard Parker’s heirs joined in a deed to their brother-
in-law, John Bodine, for a tract of land near Fair-
field. There are also several bills of sale for negroes
purchased by John Bodine, from 1800 up to 1812,
showing that the prices of negroes during that
period ranged from $150 to $300. One of the most
interesting papers in this collection is a land patent
granted by the State of Virginia to his great-grand-
father, Richard Parker, for five hundred and fifty
acres of land on Beech Fork “near Richard Parker’s
cabin” — showing that he had already made a settle-
ment in that locality prior to the issue of the patent,
which is dated March 29, 1780, and signed by Pat-
rick Pfenry, Governor of Virginia, in the “tenth year
of the Commonwealth.” This document was much
worn in 1797 and, in order to preserve it, there is
pasted upon its back a copy of “The Kentucky Her-
ald,” published at Lexington in that year.
Primary steps in the education of James Morrison
Bodine were taken at private schools in the town
where he was born. Pie manifested an early desire
for learning and advanced steadily in the ordinary
English branches until he was fitted to enter St.
Joseph’s College, Bardstown, Kentucky, where he
obtained a good basis for a further collegiate course
at Hanover College, Indiana. At this latter institu-
tion he hoped to complete his scholastic career, but,
on account of ill health, was forced to abandon his
purpose just at the close of his junior term. Re-
turning home, he remained inactive for several
months until his health was sufficiently restored, and
then began to lay the foundation of that professional
career in which his entire later life has been so earn-
estly and so assiduously engaged. He entered the
office of Prof. H. M. Bullitt, M. D., as a medical
student, January 1, 1852, and, under his direction,
took a part of the course at the Kentucky School of
Medicine during the session of 1851-52, the entire
courses of 1852-53 and 1853-54, when he was grad-
uated March 1, 1854.
Being thus prepared for active professional life,
he naturally felt desirous to put in practice the edu-
cational theories his industry had acquired and, to
that end, he went, in May following, to Austin,
Texas. Here he formed a partnership with an es-
tablished practitioner, and realized success almost
immediately. He entered the full tide of practice
and was firmly established, when, in compliance
with a promise to visit his parents, he came back to
Kentucky in the fall of 1855, and, on December 25.
of that year, he married Mary Elizabeth Crow, a
daughter of Edward Crow, who had been prominent
in commercial circles, and was, for many vears, a
representative citizen of Louisville. This marriage
was not anticipated when he left Austin, and it sud-
denly and materially modified his plans. He de-
termined to remain at Louisville.
Almost immediately after his marriage he was
called to the position of demonstrator of anatomy
in the Kentucky School of Medicine, whence his
diploma had been derived. He performed the du-
ties of this office during the session of 1856-57, and
then, on account of the ill health of his wife, and
with the hope of improving her condition, he moved,
in May, 1857, to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he
remained about five years. He had no difficulty in
acquiring a good practice in Leavenworth, and very
soon found enviable position in medical circles. His
ability was properly recognized and he became the
first president of the first medical societv organized
in that Territory. He was the founder of the first
hospital established in the Territory and, in other
respects, became active and influential in the promo-
tion of the interests of medical science and the im-
provement of the social condition of the Territory.
Against his expressed desire he was chosen to serve
as a member of the City Council of Leavenworth,
and, in compliance with a popular demand, he did
serve in that capacity for one year, striving to regu-
late the economy and improve the sanitary condition
of the city.
In May, 1862, on account of the disturbed condi-
tion of the State — Kansas having been admitted to
458
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the Union in 1861 — and the Civil War in progress,
he came back with his family to Fairfield. Here he
remained until 1863, when he yielded to the impor-
tunities of his friends at Louisville and accepted the
chair of anatomy in the Kentucky School of Medi-
cine and, at the opening of the year 1864, began his
first course of lectures. His family was again
brought to Louisville in that year, and his home has
been in this city continuously since.
He held the chair of anatomy in this institution
during the sessions of 1864, 1864-65 and 1865-66,
delivering the valedictory of Ihe faculty at the close
of the latter year, after which, during the following
summer, he accepted a call to the chair of anatomy
in the Medical Department of the University of
Louisville. On the 19th of January, 1867, before
the close of his first session in the University, he
was elected dean of the faculty, a position he has
held through all the succeeding years by unanimous
choice of his colleagues.
His addresses, of which several have been given
to the public, have been well received in medical
circles. His address for the faculty introductory to
the session of 1872-73, and the faculty valedictory
to the class of 1877-78 and 1889-90, were admirable
papers. Those attracting most general attention
were entitled “What am I?” and “The Four Com-
mencements.”
The office of dean of the faculty of the Uni-
versity of Louisville is one of much responsibility,
involving not only a critical observance of the gen-
eral affairs of the institution, but a particular regard
for its receipts and expenditures. Its financial
economy has to be looked after with judgment and
jealous care, and for years Dr. Bodine has been the
guardian and conservator of its interests. He has
shown excellent administrative ability and, notwith-
standing the demands of his private practice, has
never failed to fill all of the requirements of his offi-
cial trust. In addition, he has given time to elee-
mosynary and other public institutions and societies
at intervals during the entire period of his life in
Louisville. He has served as a member of the
Louisville Board of Health, as physician of the Or-
phanage of the Good Shepherd from its inception
to this time — more than a quarter of a century — per-
manent member of the Louisville College of Physi-
cians and Surgeons, the Louisville Academy of Med-
icine, the Kentucky State Medical Society, and the
American Medical Association.
To him is due the establishment of the American
Medical College Association. The idea of its for-
mation occurred to him in the centennial year of
American independence — in the spring of 1876. He
entered into correspondence with the deans of all the
regular American colleges, and soon had these col-
leges committed to a meeting at Philadelphia in the
following June. The declared object of the'asso-
ciation was to institute methods of practical improve-
ment in medical college work and to advance the
standard of medical education. At the sixth ses-
sion of this association — held at Richmond, Virginia,
June, 1881 — he was chosen president to succeed the
renowned Dr. Samuel D. Gross. In November,
1892, the Southern Medical College Association was
organized at Louisville, and he was chosen president
of that body, was re-elected at the session held at
New Orleans in 1893, and again at Charleston,
South Carolina, in 1894. In the spring of 1895 the
Medical Department of the University of Louisville
determined to join the Association of American
Medical Colleges, and he was sent as its representa-
tive to a meeting held at Baltimore in May, 1895,
where, immediately after signing for the University
Medical Department, he was elected first vice presi-
dent. Upon his return to Louisville after this Bal-
timore meeting he withdrew his college from the
Southern Medical College Association and resigned
his office as president of that body. In May, 1896,
at the annual meeting of the association of the Amer-
ican Medical Colleges, at Atlanta, Georgia, he was
elected president.
On Easter Sunday, 1857, prior to his departure
for Leavenworth, Kansas, he was confirmed in Grace
Episcopal Church, at Louisville, his infant child,
Elizabeth Crow, being baptized at the same time.
At his new home he took much interest in church
affairs and was soon identified with its progress.
Fie is believed to be the first male communicant,
outside of a military post, to receive the sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper in the church of that Terri-
tory. He was appointed, by Bishop Kemper, first
secretary of the standing committee of the diocese,
and held that position as long as he remained in
Kansas. He was annually elected warden of the
church, and was a delegate to all of the diocesan
conventions held during his residence at Leaven-
worth. He was also chosen to represent the diocese
of Kansas in the general council of the American
Church. Upon his return to Louisville he resumed
his connection with Grace Church, and until recent-
ly has held the position of senior warden in the
church with which he first affiliated. He re-
signed that place upon severing his connection with
f
!
f
i
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
459
Grace Church to become a member of Christ Church
Cathedral.
This brief epitome of his life and professional ca-
reer shows how closely it has been identified with
the growth and prosperity of Louisville. Professor
of anatomy and dean of the faculty of the Univer-
sity of Louisville for thirty years, he has been its
chief officer during more than half of its existence,
and it may be noted as a fact that, in no other similar
institution of America has any one dean served for
so great a period. His entire service has been unin-
terrupted by any complaint or dissatisfaction. There
has been no marring or disagreeable circumstance
to disturb the smooth way of his administration of
any of the affairs of the University. It may also be
said that throughout all of these years he has lost no
time from the performance of his regular duties.
He has been prompt as clock-work at his lecture
hours, and is, to-day, after the lapse of thirty years,
as active and vigorous in mind and body as in his
earlier manhood. As a lecturer he has a peculiarly
lucid, forceful and magnetic style. He is careful
and painstaking in the presentation of his subjects,
so that the information given to his classes is easily
received and retained in the mind of the student.
His long service in the chair of anatomy has ren-
dered him familiar with the great art of teaching the
student how to learn.
His, whole life has been that of a man in love with
his profession.
Not for a meed of gold, or glory won.
Has his determined work of life been done;
Not for himself alone has he inclined
To cut a passage through the realm of mind;
Not for his own advance, but with the plan
To boldly press the onward march of man.
THOMAS HUNT STUCKY, M. D., Ph. D., was
born in Louisville, March 21, i860, son of
Harry Stucky, a prominent citizen and public offi-
cial of Jefferson County, whose biography will be
found in these volumes. His mother was Sallie
Kemp Sweeny before her marriage, and both his
parents are natives of Jefferson County.
Dr. Stucky was educated in the public schools of
Louisville and at Bethany College, of Virginia,
completing his academic studies at the latter institu-
tion in 1877. Returning to Louisville at that time,
lie began the study of medicine under the preceptor-
ship of Dr. David Cummins, and in the autumn of
1877 entered the Hospital College of Medicine, from
which institution he received his doctor’s degree in
1880. After his graduation from the Medical School-
lie was appointed resident physician at the Kentucky
Infirmary for Women and Children, and held that
position for six months, resigning it at the end of
that time to go to New York City for the purpose
of taking a post graduate course of study. There
he continued his studies under the preceptorship of
Professor Welsh, giving special attention to surgerv
and pathology. While engaged in hospital practice
as assistant surgeon to the erysipelas wards he con-
tracted erysipelas himself, and the condition of his
health became such that a sea voyage was essential
to its restoration. - Securing the position of ship
surgeon on one of the steamers plying between New
York, the West Indies and Mexico, he had an inter-
esting and varied experience while serving in that
capacity, and fully regained his physical strength
and vigor. In the early part of the year 1882 he
went abroad and continued his studies in the univer-
sities and hospitals of Leipsic, Strasburg and Vi-
enna, under the most favorable auspices known to
the profession.
In the fall of 1883 he returned to Louisville splen-
didly equipped by training and experience for the
practice of medicine, and especially well qualified for
the practice of surgery, to the study of which he had
given special attention. Shortly after he began
practicing here he was appointed one of the visiting-
surgeons to the Louisville City Hospital and assis-
tant to the chair of surgery and lecturer on surgical
pathology in the Hospital College of Medicine.
After occupying the latter position three years, he
was made professor of materia medica and thera-
peutics and filled that chair until 1893, at which time
he was elected professor of theory and practice and
clinical medicine in the same institution, which posi-
tion he still holds.
Although he is one of the youngest physicians
filling so important a chair in any of the larger med-
ical colleges of the country, Dr. Stucky has graced
the professorship which he occupies and has gained
wide popularity as an instructor. As a lecturer lie
has the happy faculty of clothing his ideas in at-
tractive language and of entertaining and instruct-
ing his classes at the same time. Pleasing in man-
ner and address, and charming in his intercourse
with students, his personal graces and professional
attainments have combined to give him a very
prominent position among Southern educators of
the medical profession. In his practice he lias also
acquired special distinction among his professional
brethren and belongs to that progressive class of
460
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
practitioners who keep fully abreast of the develop-
ments of medical science.
Outside of his profession he is known to the pub-
lic as an ardent lover of field sports, a thirty-second
degree Mason, and member of the Adystic Shrine,
Royal Arcanum and Order of Chosen Friends. He
is a member of the Christian Church, and his po-
litical faith is Democratic.
He married, March 7, 1884, Miss Lane Prewitt,
daughter of Hon. Levi Prewitt, of Fayette County,
Kentucky.
T OHN GOODMAN, physician, was born July 22,
^ 1837, in Frankfort, Kentucky, son of John and
Jane (Winter) Goodman. The elder Goodman set-
tled in Frankfort in 1801 and was a resident of that
place for forty years. The son was brought up there
and in his early boyhood attended the noted school
of which Professor B. B. Savre was the principal,
and other excellent private schools. He then went to
Georgetown College and was graduate^ from the
academic department of that institution in the class
of 1855.
After his graduation he came to Louisville and
began the study of medicine as a pupil of Dr. Louis
Rogers — for many years the recognized head of the
medical profession in this city — at the same time
attending medical lectures at the University of
Louisville. At a later date he went to New Orleans
and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from
what is now Tulane University of that city, in 1859.
At New Orleans he took high rank among his fel-
low students and his graduating thesis was pub-
lished by the college faculty, a compliment equiva-
lent to the highest class honors. Immediately after
his graduation from the medical school he returned
to Louisville and began the practice of his profes-
sion and grew rapidly into the esteem of the public
and of his professional brethren. He has ever since
continued in active practice, a careful, conscientious
and skillful physician, keeping fully abreast of the
developments of medical science, discharging faith-
fully every obligation *to his patrons and to the gen-
eral public.
Devoted as he has been to the welfare of his pa-
tients, and exacting as have been his duties in this
connection, he has found time to devote to those
collateral duties of the modern physician, the eleva-
tion of the standard of his profession and the pro-
motion of sanitary regulations beneficial to the pub-
lic health. He first became a medical instructor in
i860, when he was made demonstrator of anatom v
in the Kentucky .School of Medicine. When that
institution was compelled to suspend its sessions on
account of the Civil War, he became an instructor in
the University Dispensary School of Medicine and,
at the same time, was adjunct professor of obstetrics
in the Aledical Department of the University of Lou-
isvdle. In 1868, in conjunction with Professor H.
AI. Bullitt, Professor Henry lYIiller and others, he
established the Louisville Medical College, becom-
ing professor of obstetrics in that institution. That
professorship he continued to hold for eleven years
and for three years he also occupied the chair of
obstetrics and diseases of women in the Kentucky
School of Medicine.
While co-operating in the medical educational
work which has made the city of Louisville one of
the most famous centers of education for physicians
and surgeons in the United States, he has also given
generous professional assistance to the charities of
the city and has been one of the most helpful friends
of the institutions which the wealth and philanthropy
of the city have established for the care of the af-
flicted and the relief of human suffering. For ten
years he was physician to the Presbyterian Orphan
Asylum. For twenty-five years he sustained the
same relationship to the House of Refuge, and for
eight years he was one of the physicians of the Uni-
versity Dispensary, giving his time, skill and ser-
vices ungrudgingly to these noble charities.
He was one of the organizers of the first perma-
nent Board of Health in Louisville, which body
came into existence in 1868. For three years he
was a member of the city School Board, and, for the
same length of time, was a member of the Board of
Commissioners of Public Charities. Whenever he
has been called upon to render a service to the pub-
lic he has responded cheerfully and promptly, and
the people of Louisville stand debtor to him for
faithful and efficient services in many fields of labor.
He has been a frequent contributor to medical lit-
erature, and his papers pertaining to obstetrical sub-
jects and the functions of the female organs have
attracted the attention of the medical profession,
theories of which he was the originator having since
received the endorsement of many eminent physi-
ologists.
He has always had a fondness for the study of the
sciences in general and' has given special attention to
that marvelous modern science which is continually
astonishing the world with its developments — the
science of electricity. His investigations in this
field have been of a practical kind, made with a view
r
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
461
to inventing useful electrical appliances, and his
study of this subject has, therefore, been both pleas-
ant and profitable. He, in conjunction with his son,
Henry M. Goodman, has been the originator of
numerous electrical inventions, notable among them
being the needle telephone, in which the principle
of the galvanometer was substituted for that of the
magnet and armature generally in use. Patents on
various modifications of this instrument were issued
as early in the history of the telephone as 1880.
Dr. Goodman was married first in 1859 to Miss
Caroline D. Miller — daughter of Professor Henry
Miller — who died in 1883. Their only son is Dr.
Henry M. Goodman, now professor of chemistry
in the Medical Department of the University of, Lou-
isville. In 1885 the elder Dr. Goodman married his
second wife, whose maiden name was Reesetta S.
Jones and who is a daughter of the late R. R. Jones,
formerly a prominent merchant and tobacco manu-
facturer of Louisville.
I EWIS D. IvASTENBINE, physician, was born
in Louisville, January 1, 1839, son of Charles
Augustus and Virlinda (Bridwell) Kastenbine. His
father, who came to Louisville in 1820, was born in
Duchy of Hanover, Germany, and his mother was
a native of Nelson County, Kentucky.
Dr. Kastenbine was reared in Louisville and edu-
cated in the public schools, graduating from the
high school in 1858 with the first class graduated
from that institution. The bent of his mind was to-
ward the study of medicine and while attending the
high school he had taken a special course in chem-
istry in the Medical Department of the University
of Louisville under the preceptorship of the re-
nowned scientist, Dr. J. Lawrence Smith. Imme-
diately after his graduation he began the study of
medicine, with Dr. Erasmus D. Force and Dr. A.
B. Cook as his preceptors. His course of reading
under this tutorage continued three years and in
the meantime he attended the regular course of lec-
tures in the Medical Department of the University
of Louisville during the session of 1860-6 1. Dur-
ing a portion of the latter year he was also connected
with the dispensary conducted by Drs. Cook, Yan-
clell and Crowe, enjoying excellent clinical advan-
tages. When the Civil War began he attached him-
self to the Federal Army as an acting medical cadet
and was assigned to duty in Military Hospital No.
4 in Louisville. He served in this capacity — gain-
ing valuable training and experience — until the fall
of 1863, at which time lie entered Bellevue Hospital
Medical College, of New York, from which institu-
tion he received his doctor’s degree, March 3, 1864.
After his graduation from Bellevue College he spent
some time in New York giving' special attention to
operative surgery under private instruction, and
then returned to Louisville, where he established
himself in the practice of medicine in the office of
his former preceptor, Dr. E. D. Foree, an associa-
tion which continued for several years.
When the Kentucky School of Medicine was or-
ganized, in 1865, Dr. Kastenbine became first dem-
onstrator of anatomy in that institution and held
the position for a year. Later he became assistant
professor of chemistry in the University of Louis-
ville, and in 1868 accepted the chair of chemistry in
the Summer School of Medicine connected
with the University. The College of Phar-
macy, in which the professorship of chemistry
is of the greatest importance, then called him
to that chair and he has since filled it with great
credit to himself and the institution. Since 1878 he
has also held the chair of chemistry and toxicology
in the Louisville Medical College, and for several
years he was special government examiner of drugs
for the port of Louisville. As a chemist he has
gained much more than local celebrity and for sev-
eral years attended to nearly all the medico-legal
work in Louisville and the neighboring cities and
towns of Kentucky. As a physician and surgeon he
has also been eminently successful, and besides his
private practice has been identified with tire Louis-
ville City Hospital as consulting physician. He
married Annie W. Mooney, of Evansville, Indiana,
in 1883, and has one child, Louise Kastenbine, born
in 1884.
PjUDLEY SHARPE REYNOLDS, physician
and surgeon, was born near Bowling Green,
Kentucky, August 31, 1842, only son of Rev.
Thomas and Mary (Nichols) Reynolds. Both his
parents were natives of Kentucky, and his father
was a son of Dr. Admiral and Sarah Freeman Rey-
nolds and great-grandson of Nathaniel and Cath-
erine Vernon Reynolds. In 1839 Thomas Rey-
nolds and Mary Nichols eloped from Kentucky to
Gainesville, Tennessee, and were married there, aft-
er which they went to live in Barren County, Ken-
tucky, on a tract of land owned by the Reynolds
family, and on which Nathaniel Reynolds settled in
1791. As an agriculturist, Thomas Reynolds was
not successful, and, for a time, he worked at black-
smithing. He had joined the Baptist Church, in
462
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
1841, and in 1850, Blue Springs Baptist Church, of
which Rev. James L. Brooks was pastor, licensed
him to preach. O11 the 30th of May, 1852, he was
ordained minister by the Presbytery, composed of
the Rev. Jesse Moon, Rev. William Skaggs and
Rev. Theodore Meredith, and labored faithfully as a
preacher of the Gospel to the end of his life. He
was employed as a church missionary for nearly fifty
years and was the chief organizer and founder of
the Corn Creek, Poplar Ridge and Middle Creek
Baptist Churches, of Trimble County; established
the Covington, Liberty and other churches in Old-
ham County, and is said to have organized more
Baptist churches than any other minister who has
labored in Kentucky. During the last forty years of
his life he lived at Westport, in Oldham County,
and built up a large congregation there. In 1876,
he also organized there a Union Sunday School,
which included in its membership the representa-
tives of nearly every family within a radius of five
miles, and embraced Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
Christians, Methodists and Unitarians, being the
largest single Sunday School organization in the
State. His life was one of great usefulness and he
was revered, honored and beloved by the Baptist
Church of Kentucky, and by all who knew him. He
died at the residence of his son, December 30, 1895,
aged seventy-four years, and on January 1, 1896, was
buried in the family cemetery at Westport, Ken-
tucky.
Dudley S. Reynolds, the son, was educated at the
private school of Professors Arnold and Allman, at
the Trimble High School of Kentucky, and at Ir-
ving College of Tennessee. Ogden College of
Bowling Green, Kentucky, conferred upon him the
degree of master of arts, and he was graduated in
medicine from the University of Louisville, March
3, 1868. In January, 1869, he was elected surgeon
to the Western Dispensary, resigning the position in
October, 1871, to engage in specialism. From Oc-
tober, 1871, to June, 1872, he was engaged in study
at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, at the
Wills Eye Hospital, of Philadelphia, and at the
Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, in Moore-
fields. On returning to Louisville, in 1872, he de-
voted his attention exclusively to ophthalmology
and otology. When the Central University of Ken-
tucky established its medical department at Lou-
isville, in 1873, he was appointed to the chair of
ophthalmology and otology, and took an active
part in the organization of the Hospital College of
Medicine. He represented the college at the meet-
ing of medical teachers at Chicago, in 1877, and
participated in the organization of the association of
American Medical Colleges. At the joint conven-
tion of teachers and governing boards of medical
colleges, held at Atlanta, Georgia, May, 1879, he
represented the faculty of the Hospital College of
Medicine, and w'as its delegate to each of the suc-
ceeding annual meetings of the college association.
At the meeting held in Washington, D. C., May,
1891, he took a leading part in the reorganization
of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
was elected chairman of its judicial council, and re-
elected at Detroit, in 1892, for a term of three years,
and again at Baltimore, May 8, 1895.
Dr. Reynolds is a member of the American Med-
ical Association and was elected president of the
section of ophthalmology at New York, in 1880. At
Detroit, 1892, he wrote the preamble and resolu-
tions, which were unanimously adopted, pledging
the support of that body to the Association of Amer-
ican Medical Colleges, and demanding that all the
colleges in the United States should observe a stand-
ard of requirement not to fall below the minimum
standard adopted by the college association. In
conjunction with Drs. X. C. Scott, of Cleveland,
Ohio, and J. M. Bodine, of Louisville, Kentucky, he
formulated the plan for establishing the section on
ophthalmology in the American Medical Associa-
tion, which was presented to the meeting at Louis-
ville, in 1875, and subsequently adopted at Chicago
in 1877.
In 1879 the property of the public library of Ken-
tucky was directed by decree of the chancery court
of Louisville, to be sold by the sheriff, to satisfy
judgments amounting to about thirty thousand do!- •
lars. Dr. Reynolds conceived the idea, and success-
fully undertook the reorganization of the Polytech-
nic Society of Kentucky, which, by special act of the
Legislature, had been empowered to take charge of 1
the old public library property. After the reor- !
ganization of the society had been accomplished he
became a member of the board of directors and |
served continuously as chairman of the library com- i-
mittee until April, 1894.
In 1879 he became editor of the “Medical Her-
ald,” a monthly magazine, which was well support-
ed by the profession and attained a wide circula-
tion. He sold the magazine and retired with the
close of the year 1883. In March, 1886, Mr. D. W.
Raymond established “The Medical Progress,” a
monthly magazine for students and practitioners; he
secured the services of Dr. Reynolds as editor-in-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
463
chief, and, after a successful career of five years, the
publishers, the Rogers-Tuley Company, having-
failed in business, the magazine was sold by the as-
signee and Dr. Reynolds ceased his connection as
editor.
He has been appointed by the Kentucky State
Medical Society as one of its delegates to the Ameri-
can Medical Association, annually, 1872-96 inclus-
ive. In 1878, at the request of the Hon. James B.
McCreary, governor of Kentucky, he was appoint-
ed by the President of the United States an
honorary commissioner from Kentucky to the
International Industrial Exposition at Paris,
France. He represented the American Medical
Association in the International Medical Con-
gress of 1881, and in the British Medical
Association at Ryde, Isle of Wight, August,
1881; was one of the vice-presidents of the sec-
tion on ophthalmology of the Ninth International
Medical Congress, 1887; was honorary president
of the sections on ophthalmology and medical peda-
gogics, in the first Pan-American Medical Congress,
Washington, D. C., September, 1893; delivered the
annual oration of the Alumni Association of the
Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, April
7, 1887, and was made a fellow of that college; was
president of the Mississippi Valley Medical Asso-
ciation, 1887-88; president of the Academy of Medi-
cine and Surgery in the Polytechnic Society of Ken-
tucky, 1880; chairman of the board of censors of the
Kentucky State Medical Society, 1881-90; was presi-
dent of the joint faculties of the medical and dental
departments of the Central University of Kentucky,
1891-93. He is a member of the Mitchell District
Medical Society of Indiana, and in July, 1892, was
elected its president, a position never before occu-
pied by a non-resident of that State ; is a member of
the Filson Historical Club, and of the Watterson
Club, of Louisville. He is professor of ophthal-
mology, otology and medical jurisprudence in the
Hospital College of Medicine, medical department
of the University of Kentucky. He was professor of
general pathology and hygiene from 1883 to 1890,
and has been surgeon to the eye and ear depart-
ment of the Louisville City Hospital almost con-
tinuously since 1873. He is the author of many es-
says and clinical reports, embodying a great va-
riety of subjects and many original devices in oph-
thalmic surgery.
On May 7, 1865, Dr. Reynolds married Miss Mary
F. Keagan, of Louisville. Their children are Dr.
Dudley S. Reynolds, Jr., who lost his life by acci-
dent, at Collinsville, Illinois, October 22, 1894, and
Mary A., wife of Professor P. Richard Taylor, M. D.,
dean of the faculty of the Hospital College of Med-
icine. Mrs. Reynolds died March 3, 1876. He was
married again July 13, 1881, to Miss Matilda L.
Bruce, of Covington, Kentucky, daughter of Hon.
Eli M. Bruce, a distinguished member of the late
Confederate States Congress. Of this union there
are two children, Eli M. Bruce, aged thirteen years,
and Elizabeth, aged ten years.
FAR. WILLIAM P. WHITE, son of Dr. Daniel
P. and Nancy 'F. (Clark) White, was born at
Greensburg, Green County, Kentucky, April 21,
1844. Dr. Daniel P. White, born in the same coun-
ty, of Virginia parents, was a graduate of Transyl-
vania University, Lexington, and represented Green
County in the Legislature in the sessions of 1847,
1 857_59 ar,d 1859-61, and was speaker of the House
from 1857 to 1859. He was a Democrat of the Jef-
fersonian type and a man of fine personal pres-
ence and large influence in politics. In i860 he was
a candidate for the State at large on the Douglas
electoral ticket. When the Civil War came on, he
took sides with the South and was a member of the
Provisional Congress of the Confederate States.
After the conclusion of hostilities he returned to
Kentucky, and coming to Louisville, engaged in the
tobacco warehouse business. In this he continued
successfully until his death, maintaining a promi-
nent position in the trade from his sound business
capacity and his honorable character in all respects.
The son, having received his elementary educa-
tion in his native county, matriculated at George-
town College in this State, where he was engaged in
prosecuting his studies when the war broke out. His
sympathies being with the Southern cause, he left
Kentucky and went to Arkansas, where his father
owned a cotton plantation. Here, soon after, he en-
listed in the Second Arkansas Confederate Cavalrv,
in which he served during the entire war. He par-
ticipated in twenty or more engagements, and in one
near Fort Scott, Kansas, was wounded and cap-
tured. Fortunately, he succeeded in making his es-
cape and rejoining his company. At the close of
hostilities he returned to Georgetown, and resum-
ed his collegiate studies, taking an irregular course.
Having chosen medicine as bis profession, he came
to Louisville and entered the office of Dr. David
W. Yandell. After some time spent in reading un-
der this eminent physician he entered the medical
department of the University of Louisville, from
464
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
which he was graduated in 1869. Upon receiving
his diploma he at once opened an office for practice
in the city, and in the same year was elected a mem-
ber of the Louisville board of health, in which ca-
pacity he served almost continuously until 1893. In
1871 he was complimented by Governor P. H. Leslie
by appointment as surgeon-general of Kentucky.
In 1893, having, since his graduation in medicine,
devoted himself assiduously to the practice of his
profession, he was made health officer of the city of
Louisville, and has continued to fill the position ef-
ficiently until the present time. His long experi-
ence as a member of the board of health had made
him well acquainted with the duties of the office,
while his broad study of hygiene and the most ap-
proved laws of sanitation, coupled with his energy
and strict personal supervision, have rendered his
services of great practical value. Especially has he
done much toward the successful restraint of con-
tagious diseases by his vigilance in isolating such
cases, his preventive measures in regard to small-
pox, in enforcing the law respecting vaccination and
thorough inspection of every part of the city in
search of suspicious cases. Under his wise system
every school child is required to be vaccinated and
to exhibit a certificate of vaccination as a prerequis-
ite to attendance upon the public schools. In the
same way the city sanitation is vigilantly guarded,
streets and alleys kept scrupulously cleaned, sewers
flushed when needed, proper filtration of public
water supply urged, and every possible source of
danger removed. By this means the death rate of
Louisville has been steadily reduced under his ad-
ministration, until the city now ranks among the
very first in the country in the low percentage of
mortality.
At the Twenty-ninth National Encampment of the
G. A. R., held in Louisville, in September, 1895, Dr.
White was appointed by the citizens’ committee,
chairman of the medical department and medical di-
rector, and his efficient organization of a large med-
ical and relief corps with the admirable services ren-
dered by that body in looking after the health of so
large a concourse in a season liable to induce sick-
ness, was the best vindication of the good judgment
of the committee in their selection. In his political
affiliation Dr. White is uniformly and earnestly
Democratic. He has repeatedly served as delegate
to city and State conventions, and though often so-
licited to be a candidate for office, has steadfastly de-
clined, preferring to adhere strictly to his profes-
sional duties.
Denying himself honors easily within his reach,
he has contented himself with zealously advancing
the interests of his friends upon each recurring op-
portunity. This trait is but the reflex of his charac-
ter. Devoid of selfishness, all who know him rec-
ognize in him, as the mainspring of his life, inflexi-
ble devotion to duty, a charity broad enough to em-
brace all his fellow-men, and a fidelity to friendship
which never relaxes. Competent in his profession
and respected by all his medical associates, a cheer-
ful companion and sympathetic friend, there are few
men in Louisville who enjoy a greater popularity.
f
\\7 I L LI AM HOLT BOLLING, eminent as phy-
’ ' sician and educator, and greatly beloved by I
the general public of Louisville as well as by his |
professional brethren, was born at “Sandy Point,”
his father’s country home in Charles City County,
Virginia, May 23, 1840, and died in Louisville, May
5, 1891. He was the fourth son of Robert Buckner
Bolling, of Centre Hill, Petersburg, Virginia, and
Sarah Melville (Minge) Bolling, whose girlhood
home was at “Farmer’s Rest,” in Charles City
County, Virginia.
One of the old and notable families of Virginia,
the Bolling family, has a history which is easily
traceable to the fifteenth century in English records.
During the reign of King Edward IV., Robert Bol- 1
ling, Esq., was the possessor of the manor house,
known as Bolling Hall, near Bradford, in York-
shire, and it is probable that many generations of
his ancestors had occupied the same estate. This ,
Robert Bolling died in 1485, and among his de- j
scendants was Robert Bolling, son of John and j
Mary Bolling, of Allhallows, Barkin Parish, Tower 1
Street, London, who immigrated to Virginia in J
1660. In 1675 Robert Bolling, the immigrant to I
Virginia and progenitor of the American family of ;
that name, married Jane Rolph, who was a grand- 1
daughter of the Indian princess Pocahontas, and I
great-granddaughter of the famous chieftain, Pow- I
hatan. John Bolling was the only son born of this 1
marriage, although by a later marriage he had nu- !
merous children, of whom there are many descend- ;
ants.
Dr. Bolling spent his boyhood in Petersburg, Vir- I
ginia, and at Bolling Brook, in Fauquier County, ;
where his father had a country home. All the en-
vironments of his youth tended to the development
of high character, and his early education was care-
fully looked after by competent instructors. As a
boy he was brave, honest and truthful, holding aloof
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
465
from the allurements of vice, and despising moral as
well as physical cowardice. Always a close student,
his accomplishments and his manliness combined to
make him a favorite with both his teachers and com-
panions, and when he crossed the threshold of man-
hood, his life was full of promise. He had just at-
tained his majority when the Civil War began, and
when Virginia became a part of the Confederacy he
went with the State in which his ancestors had lived
for two hundred years, their history closely inter-
woven with that of the commonwealth and its an-
tecedent colony. Entering the Confederate military
service as a member of the Rockbridge Light Artil-
lery Company, which became a part of the famous
“Stonewall Brigade,” he served to the close of the
war, and among the thousands of brave men and
gallant soldiers uniformed in blue and gray, who
participated in the great conflict between the States,
there were no more chivalrous spirits, no braver sol-
diers, than William H. Bolling. Immediately after
the close of the war, he turned his attention to the
study of medicine, and was graduated from the med-
ical department of the University of Pennsylvania
in the class of 1867. Soon after his graduation, he
went to London, where he walked the hospitals un-
til September following.
He then went to the Royal Infirmary at Edin-
burgh, where he secured a position as assistant to
Sir James Y. Simpson, the most renowned obstet-
rician and gynaecologistdn the world. Having com-
pleted his course with Sir James, he went in the
spring of 1868 to Paris. He was introduced to the
faculty of Paris by Professor Simpson, and at once
secured the entree to the clinics of the most famous
teachers in the French metropolis. After a few
months in the hospitals of Paris, he made a brief
tour of the medical centers of Continental Europe,
and returned to America in December, 1868. com-
ing at once to Louisville, where he located perma-
! nently in the practice of his profession.
In April, 1869, an adjunct faculty was organized
in the University of Louisville, for the purpose of con-
ducting clinical instruction. Dr. Bolling was made
dean of this adjunct faculty and adjunct professor of
obstetrics and diseases of women. He rapidly
gained a commanding position in the profession,
and in the fall of 1873, when the curators of the Cen-
tral University of Kentucky undertook the organi-
zation of a medical department, he was appointed
professor of obstetrics and diseases of women, and
made dean of the faculty of the Hospital College of
Medicine, a position he occupied until 1886, when
30
he became president of the faculty, continuing to
hold the presidency until his death, in 1891.
Professor Bolling was always punctiliously correct
in his college duties, and was recognized as one of
the ablest teachers in his department. He favored
the advanced standard of requirement which his col-
lege established, and felt that it was more honorable
to teach small classes of thoroughly qualified young
men than to have large classes of incompetent per-
sons. For nearly ten years before his death he was
medical director of the Mutual Life Insurance Com-
pany of Kentucky, a position requiring a thorough
mastery of general pathology and a great deal of
discriminating judgment as to the influence of he-
redity and environment upon the mortality of the
beneficiaries of life insurance.
He married, in 1869, Miss Ida Foree, daughter of
the distinguished physician, Dr. Erasmus D. Fo-
ree, of whose life work a full account will be found
elsewhere in this volume. Five children were born
of this union, and his widow, three daughters and
one son are the surviving members of his family.
pvOUGLAS MORTON, A. M., M. D., was born
April 21, 1844, in Prince Edward County, Vir-
ginia— a son of Jacob and Mary J. (Venable) Mor-
ton— and died in Louisville May 26, 1892. His an-
cestors on both sides were people of sterling char-
acter, the Mortons being of Scotch extraction and
the Venables of Huguenot descent. His immediate
family was a prominent one in Virginia, and Dr.
Morton was brought up in the midst of environ-
ments conducive to culture and the formation of high
character. He was educated at Hampden Sidnev
College, in which he took a full classical course and
from which he was graduated with distinction at the
age of eighteen.
His earliest training for the medical profession
was obtained in the military hospitals at Richmond,
during the Civil War, and after the war closed lie
continued his studies in this city until he was gradu-
ated with the degree of doctor of medicine from the
medical department of the University of Louisville.
Soon after his graduation he established himself in
the practice -in this city, became prominent as a
member of his profession and was an active and
successful practitioner to the end of his life. As a
boy he had been conspicuous for his studious hab-
its, his analytical tendencies and his disposition to
get at the root of everything of which he made a
study. The same tendency clung to him as a man,
and among his professional brethren lie was noted
466
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
for his careful researches and continuous ex-
plorations of the field of medical science. He
counted as wasted the day in which he did
not glean from the vast field of science and
development at least one idea new to him and
which he could make use of to benefit hu-
manity. His professional labors were characterized
by an earnestness and conscientiousness and a gen-
tle sympathy which not only wrought good results,
but endeared him, to a remarkable degree, to his
patients and also to his co-laborers. He worked
faithfully to effect cures, labored to improve and ele-
vate the character of his profession, and sought to
contribute his full share to the development of med-
ical science and to mitigation of the sufferings of
mankind. He contributed numerous monographs
to medical literature, and many of these papers were
published in leading medical and scientific journals
both in this country and abroad. For several years
he was closely associated professionally with Dr.
David Cummins, their relationship — which was mu-
tually advantageous — being dissolved only by the
death of Dr. Cummins. He was in all respects a
physician of high character, who honored his profes-
sion and himself during a quarter of a century of ac-
tive practice in this city, and was prominent in va-
rious medical societies and associations. He was
one of the organizers of the Medico-Chirurgical So-
ciety of this city, and a member of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Louisville, being an ac-
tive worker and wielding an important influence in
both these associations.
To Dr. Morton, as to other members of the med-
ical profession, Louisville is largely indebted for the
establishment of her splendid system of charities and
eleemosynary institutions. His sympathetic nature
induced him to aid all movements to relieve want
and suffering, and he was one of the organizers of a
hospital corps of physicians, of which he was a
member to the end of his life. He was also one of
the first physicians to the Home of the Friendless
and gave his services freely and gratuitously to that
institution, always taking a great interest in its wel-
fare. A devout Christian gentleman, he was a mem-
ber of the First Presbyterian Church and was an
elder of that church.
He was married in 1874 to Miss J. Lewis Davis,
daughter of B. O. and Susan (Speed) Davis, who
survives him. Mrs. Morton is a kinswoman of the
Wendells of Massachusetts, the English family of
Outrams, and of the Speeds, Frys and other old
and well known Southern families. The children
born to them were Douglas Morton, Edward Davis
Morton, David Cummins Morton, Outram Speed
Morton, Lewis Douglas Morton and Susan Speed
Morton.
D ICHARD BURGESS GILBERT, M. D., was
^ born in Taylorsville, Spencer County, Ken-
tucky, October 24, 1842, son of Samuel and Nancy
Gilbert. He was educated in the public schools of
Spencer County, and then came to Louisville to
complete his preparation for entering upon the prac-
tice of medicine. Matriculating in the medical de-
partment of the LTniversity of Louisville, he com-
pleted the prescribed course of study and was grad-
uated from that institution in the class of 1868.
Soon after his graduation from the university, he
was appointed acting assistant surgeon in the
United States Army and assigned to duty at Mt.
Sterling, Kentucky. After remaining at that place
a month, he was ordered to Owensboro, Kentucky,
where he served as assistant surgeon for eight
months and until he was honorably discharged from
the service in December of 1868. Immediately after-
ward he began the practice of medicine at Owens-
boro and continued his professional career at that
place until 1875. In that year he removed to Louis-
ville and has since practiced successfully in this city.
In 1884 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy
in the medical department of the University of Lou-
isville, and has ever since continued to hold that po-
sition in one of the leading medical educational in-
stitutions of the South. I11 1885 he was appointed
United States pension examining surgeon for Lou-
isville, and served in that capacity during President
Cleveland’s first administration.
He has been prominently identified with fraternal
organizations as a member of the Masonic Order,
the Knights of Honor, and Chosen Order of
Friends, and for two years was State medical ex-
aminer of the Knights of Honor.
A Democrat in his political affiliations, he has
been a firm believer in the principles of that party,
taking pride in its history and achievements and
contributing his share toward the success of its cam-
paigns. In 1880 he was appointed a member of the
Louisville school board and gave eight years of
faithful service to the upbuilding of the educational
interests of the city. He has also served the city four
years as a member of the common council, being
elected first in 1890 and a second time in 1893.
Highly esteemed as a member of the medical pro-
fession, both as practitioner and educator, he has
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
467
rounded out a quarter of a century of earnest, con-
scientious and successful professional work, and for
more than twenty years he has been a member of the
profession in Louisville. In social and religious cir-
cles he has been an equally conspicuous figure, en-
joying the full confidence and respect of those with
whom he has been brought into contact. His church
connections have been with the Methodist Episco-
pal Church South. He married, in 1869, Miss Jose-
phine Beard, of Hancock County, Kentucky.
Y\7 ILLIAM LEWIS RODMAN, M. D„ son of
’ ’ John and Harriet Virginia (Russell) Rodman,
was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, September 7,
1858. His father, Hon. John Rodman, was a native
of Henry County, Kentucky, whence he moved to
Frankfort and represented Franklin and Oldham
Counties in the Legislature, 1849-51 and ’57 and ’58.
He was a lawyer of distinction, attorney-general of
the State for two terms, and afterward Reporter of
the Court of Appeals for many years. His mother
was a daughter of Gervas Russell, editor and owner
of the “Frankfort Argus” in the thirties.
The early education of Dr. Rodman was received
in the schools at Frankfort, and his academical edu-
cation was completed at the Kentucky Military In-
stitute in June, 1874, from which he received the de-
gree of A. M. Subsequently he studied medicine at
jefferson College, Philadelphia, whence he was
graduated in March, 1879, dividing first honor with
W. L. Kneedler, of Philadelphia, in a class of one
hundred and ninety-six. After serving one year as
house surgeon in Jefferson Hospital, he was appoint-
ed assistant surgeon in the LTnited States Army, and
discharged the duties of this position for two years,
from 1880 to 1882, being stationed at Fort Sill, In-
dian Territory. In the fall of the latter year he went
to Texas and practiced his profession at Abilene.
Here he soon established a large professional busi-
ness, his practice frequently requiring him to go
from fifty to one hundred and fifty miles. Having
determined to devote himself exclusively to sur-
gery, he removed to Louisville, in December, 1885,
and became assistant to Dr. David W. Yandell, pro-
fessor of surgery in the University of Louisville.
Soon afterward he was made demonstrator and lec-
turer in surgery in that institution, and filled this po-
sition until 1893, when he was elected to the chair
of operative surgery in the Kentucky School of Med-
icine. The year following he was made professor of
surgery and clinical surgery in the same institution,
in which he has since continued. In addition to these
duties he served continuously for ten years upon the
surgical staff of the Louisville City Hospital and
Saints Mary and Elizabeth Hospital.
With such a record it is needless to add that Dr.
Rodman enjoys a high reputation as a skillful sur-
geon, whose services are sought not only in the
city of his residence, but, in critical cases, in different
states, few men of his age having risen to equal dis-
tinction in his profession. In addition to his prac-
tice and professional duties, he has given consid-
erable attention to life insurance work, being State
referee for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of
New York, State Mutual of Maine, Prudential of
Newark, and the Fidelity Mutual of Philadelphia, as
also local examiner for these and other companies.
He is a member of several of the leading medical as-
sociations and president of the Chirurgical Society of
Louisville, 1895-96. Although not engaging in ac-
tive politics, he has always been a Democrat. In
his religious associations, he is a Methodist.
On the 31st of October, 1882, he married Bettie
C., daughter of Dr. J. Q. A. Stewart, of Frankfort.
They have three children, a son — Stewart — and two
daughters.
A P. MORGAN VANCE, physician, was born
May 24, 1854, at Locust Grove in the edge of
Nashville, Tennessee, at the residence of Hon. Mat-
thew Barrow, with whom his parents were sojourn-
ing at that time. He is the third son of Morgan
Brown Vance and Susan Preston Vance, the latter a
daughter of Colonel George Claibourne Thompson.
He is descended from distinguished Scotcli ancestors
in the paternal line, one of these ancestors having
been that Stuart whose head was exposed on Stir-
ling Gate on account of his fidelity to his sovereign,
but whose son’s life was spared on condition of ex-
ile to the colony of North Carolina. The only daugh-
ter of this exile married Chief Justice Little of North
Carolina, who came of Puritan stock. Of this mar-
riage was born a daughter who married Dr. Mor-
gan William Brown, famous as a surgeon in the
Revolutionary War, and a descendant of that Dr.
Brown who was court physician to King Charles 1 1.,
and shared the latter's exile.
Dr. Vance’s paternal grandfather was a man noted
for his independence and force of character, and was
one of the pioneers of Tennessee. His son, Morgan
Brown Vance, father of Dr. Vance, was left an or-
phan at an early age and was educated under the di-
rection of his maternal uncles, William Little and
Morgan William Brown, both of whom were men of
468
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
high character and distinguished judges of the
United States Court. Applying himself to business
pursuits, Morgan B. Vance acquired a large for-
tune in early life and was owner of the famous Non
Coma plantation of Tennessee. His marriage to
Susan Preston Thompson brought together two not-
able families, Mrs. Vance’s family having many dis-
tinguished representatives and being also closely re-
lated to the Burtons, the Addisons, the Claibournes,
the Prestons and the Harts, all famous Southern
families. Mr. Vance’s marriage also brought him to
Kentucky, where he established his home in Mercer
County, in which county he continued to reside un-
til 1868. During the Civil War, his devotion to the
Union and his fidelity to principle brought upon
him and his family suffering and disaster, which did
not end until he was finally driven from the State,
sacrificing his own fortune and that of his wife. In
his early boyhood Dr. Vance shared the dangers
which beset his father, aided him in his business en-
terprises and had his earliest education in this stir-
ring school of experience. It was not until 1868,
when he was fourteen years of age, and after the
family had removed to New Albany, Indiana, that
he was able to attend school regularly and devote
himself to methodical study. At New Albany, he
attended the academy of which Professor Morse,
now of Hanover, Indiana, had charge, and made
rapid progress under the tutorage of that able edu-
cator. He had a passionate fondness for study, re-
search and investigation, was intensely earnest and
energetic and equally conspicuous for his industry
and perseverance. His father, thinking the boy
had inherited his own tastes for mechanical pursuits,
shaped his education accordingly and gave him the
best possible opportunities for obtaining a thorough
knowledge of the mechanical sciences. He was not
permitted, however, to follow up this course of study,
as in 1871 his father died and each member of the
family had of necessity to become a wage-earner im-
mediately thereafter.
There was no repining at his misfortune on the
part of Dr. Vance, but such work as he could find
to do, he did with a will, accepting any employment
which enabled him to contribute his share to the
support of the family. While laboring industriously,
he continued his studies, and in 1876 found a stanch
and helpful friend in Dr. L. P. Yandell, Sr., who en-
couraged him to begin the study of medicine. Act-
ing upon the advice of Dr. Yandell, he matriculated
in the medical department of the University of Lou-
isville, and was graduated from that institution in
the class of 1878. In March of 1879 he went to New
York City and obtained the position of interne phy-
sician in a New York hospital, remaining there two
years and profiting greatly by the advantages afford-
ed him for clinical study and practice. He returned
to Louisville in 1881 and began his professional la-
bors in this city, limiting his practice entirely to sur-
gery. He was the first physician in Louisville to
confine himself strictly to this branch of practice and
the mechanical skill which he had evidenced in early-
life was of material advantage to him in his profes-
sional work. His New York hospital training had
inclined him to orthopedic surgery and he devised
many new appliances in this connection and soon
became specially distinguished in this field of opera-
tion. In general surgery, he has also become recog-
nized as a skillful operator and has taken a leading
place among the surgeons of Louisville. A ready
writer, he has contributed many valuable papers to
the leading medical journals of the country. He is
a member of the surgical staff of the City Hospital
and is also surgeon to many charitable institutions,
never refusing his aid to the needy and dependent
poor. He is also surgeon of the First Regiment of
Kentucky State Guards, with the rank of major.
He was married in 1885 to Miss Mary Josephine
Huntoon, daughter of Mr. B. B. Huntoon, who
comes of New England antecedents and is descend-
ed from a long line of illustrious ancestors, many of
whom achieved marked distinction in colonial times f
and during the Revolutionary War. Six children
have been born of their union, five of whom are now
living. |
I
D ICHARD TUBE YOE, physician, was born in
^ Summerville, Mississippi, March 25, i860. His
name and family are of Scotch origin, and through
Scotch records the family history is traceable as far
back as the thirteenth century. His paternal grand-
father removed from Maryland to Tennessee in the :
early part of the present century, and his father,
Rhodeham Yoe, was born near Morristown, in East
Tennessee, September 20, 1815. His father removed
to Mississippi in 1837 and was successfully engaged
in merchandizing in that State until 1861. His
mother, whose maiden name was Samantha I. Tubb,
was born in Perry County, Alabama, in 1830, and
removed with her parents to Mississippi in 1835.
Dr. Yoe was brought up at Summerville and edu-
cated at Summerville Institute, a classical school, in
which he laid a good foundation for professional
study. When he was eighteen years old, he went to j
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
469
Shuqualak, Mississippi, at which place he was en-
gaged in mercantile business for several years. He
began the study of medicine in 1882, and in 1885
was graduated from the Hospital College of Medi-
cine of Louisville. In the fall of that year he be-
gan the practice of his profession in this city, and
at the end of ten years of active professional work
has attained deserved prominence among the phy-
sicians of Louisville. Since 1887 he has been con-
nected with the Hospital College of Medicine and
has contributed his share toward making it one of
the foremost educational institutions of the coun-
try. He is a Democrat in politics, an Episcopal
churchman, and a member of the Masonic order.
He married April 15, 1891, Miss Mary Shaw Bon-
nycastle, daughter of the late Captain John C. B011-
nycastle, and granddaughter of Isaac Everett, who
was one of the pioneers of Jefferson County. Their
only child is Richard Rhodeham Yoe.
T OHN GILES CECIL, physician, was born in
k“' Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky, Novem-
ber 20, 1855, son °f Russell Howe Cecil and Lucy
Ann (Phillips) Cecil. His father was a native of
Virginia, who removed to Kentucky in his young
manhood and successfully engaged in farming and
merchandising to the end of his life. His mother
was the eldest daughter of Micajah Phillips, who im-
migrated to Kentucky from North Carolina in the
early part of the present century and became one of
the pioneer settlers of Wayne County.
John G. Cecil spent his early life upon his father’s
farm near Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky,
and his primary education was obtained in the com-
mon schools of that county. When he was seven-
teen years of age, he was sent to Princeton Col-
lege, at Princeton, New Jersey, and in 1876 he was
graduated from that institution with the degree of
bachelor of science. Immediately after his gradu-
ation, he came to Louisville and began the study
of medicine, graduating from the Hospital College
of Medicine in the class of 1879. After his gradua-
tion from the medical school he spent one year as
interne in the Louisville City Hospital, and then be-
gan the private practice of his profession in this city.
His professional career began under favorable aus-
pices, and a thorough equipment for his work and a
chivalrous devotion to his calling have brought to
him well merited distinction both as physician and
educator. He became identified first with medical
education in 1884, when he was appointed assist-
ant professor of obstetrics in the medical depart-
ment of the University of Louisville, a position
which he held until 1892. During the latter year he
was lecturer on gynecology in the same institution.
In the fall of that year he went to Europe and took a
hospital course in medicine and surgery, reaping the
full advantages of clinical study in hospitals famous
for their improved appliances and advanced meth-
ods of treating patients.
Returning to Louisville at the end of this course
of study, he resumed his practice, and in 1893 ac-
cepted the professorship of obstetrics in the Ken-
tucky School of Medicine. He filled this chair a
year and then resigned it to become professor of the
principles and practice of medicine in the Louis-
ville Medical College, a position which he still re-
tains. A conscientious and capable instructor, he
has taken rank among those progressive members of
his profession who seek to lift the practice of medi-
cine to the highest possible plane, and both as a
teacher and in the active practice of medicine, com-
mands the highest esteem of his contemporaries. He
belongs to that class of physicians who become de-
votees to their profession and hence has never fig-
ured in public life or in official positions, other than
those incidental to his profession. In politics he is
an independent Democrat, and his religious affili-
ations are with the Presbyterian Church South.
He was married in the fall of 1882 to Miss Eliza-
beth Robinson, daughter of the famous Presbvterian
divine, Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson, of Louisville.
CAMUEL GORDON DABNEY, physician, was
^ born in Albemarle County, near Charlottesville,
Virginia, August 6, i860, son of William and Susan
Fitzhugh Dabney. He was educated at a private
school in Charlottesville and at the University of
Virginia, and after completing his academic course,
began the study of medicine in the medical depart-
ment of the university. He was graduated from the
medical school in the class of 1882, and the follow-
ing year came to Louisville, where he took a post-
graduate course at the Hospital College of Medi-
cine, taking a doctor’s degree also from that insti-
tution. The twelve months following his comple-
tion of this course of study were spent in the city
where he gained much valuable experience while
practicing as an interne in the Louisville City Hos-
pital. At the end of that time he went to New York
City and later to Germany, where he continued his
studies under eminent instructors and with the best
clinical advantages, giving special attention to dis-
eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat.
470
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Toward the close of the year 1885 he returned to
Louisville and entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession after a most thorough course of prepara-
tion. Confining his work to treatment of the dis-
eases to which he had devoted several years of hard,
close study, he speedily attained prominence in this
field of practice, and at the end of ten years of ac-
tive practice, has gained an enviable position among
the physicians of the city. He is professor of phy-
siology and clinical lecturer on diseases of the eye,
ear, nose and throat, in the Hospital College of
Medicine, and was formerly visiting surgeon to the
eye and ear department of the Louisville City Hos-
pital, oculist to the Home of the Friendless, and has
sustained similar relationships to other charitable in-
stitutions of the city. He is a member of the Ameri-
can Medical Association, the Kentucky State Med-
ical Society, the Louisville Medico-Chirurgical So-
ciety and the Louisville Clinical Society. His re-
ligious affiliations are with the Protestant Episcopal
Church. He was married in 1887 to Miss Louisa H.
Allen, and has two children, Mary Allen and Wil-
liam Cecil Dabney.
1 AMES BENNET WILDER, eldest of the three
^ brothers who are remembered by old residents
of Louisville as the leading drug merchants of the
city a half century since, was born July 12, 1817, in
St. Mary’s County, Maryland. His father, Edward
Wilder, was a native of Maryland, and his grand-
father, also named Edward Wilder, died at Bird’s
Creek, Charles County, Maryland, in 1779. The
younger Edward Wilder, father of James, served
with distinction as captain of a company of Colonel
Thomas Neill's Cavalry, during the War of 1812.
He married Susan Key Egerton, who came of a dis-
tinguished Maryland family. Her maternal grand-
father was Colonel William Bond, of Revolutionary
fame, whose wife was Susan Key, of the family made
famous by Francis Barton Key. Her father descend-
ed from the noted English family of Egertons of the
House of Bridgewater, of which Sir Francis Eger-
ton, Sir Francis Henry Egerton and Sir John Eg-
erton were illustrious representatives.
Captain Edward Wilder, who was a farmer and
merchant at Chaptico, in St. Mary’s County, Mary-
land, died in 1828, and his widow and five children —
three sons and two daughters — continued to reside
at the old homestead until December of 1830. At
that time Mrs. Wilder sold her home and severed
the ties which bound her to Maryland, believing that
her sons, as they grew to manhood, would find
broader and better opportunities for advancing their
fortunes in the West. She left Maryland with the
intention of settling in St. Louis and was on her
way thither, aboard an Ohio River steamboat, when
the illness of a negro servant changed her plans and
caused her to become a resident of Louisville. The
servant was stricken with small-pox, and in conse-
cpience of this the family was obliged to leave the
boat when it reached this city. Pleased with the
Falls City, she determined to make her home here,
and some time later, James B. Wilder began his
business career as clerk in the wholesale drug store
of Rupert & Lindenberger. In this old-time drug
store he learned the business in which he afterward
built up a splendid fortune. About 1840 he and his
two younger brothers, Oscar and Edward, started a
retail drug store, which they conducted with mark-
ed success for five years before embarking in the
wholesale business, in which they became so widely
known to the Southern trade. The fact that he was
the eldest son of his widowed mother developed in
him a sense of responsibility while he was still a boy,
and he applied himself to business in his young man-
hood with a zeal and steadiness seldom characteris-
tic of young men. This close application combined
with intense activity and the instiiicts of a born mer-
chant to make him wonderfully successful in his
merchandising operations. These young merchants
did not wait for trade to come to them of its own
accord, but reached out after it, and in building up
their own trade, built up also the general trade of
the city. They looked upon Louisville as the na- \
tural metropolis of the vast region of country to the ‘
South of it and took steps to establish trade relations
throughout this region, which ultimately greatly in- |
creased the commerce of the city. They may be
justly credited with being the initiators of the move-
ment which turned Southern trade in this direction
and the pioneers among those who called the at-
tention of the merchants and planters of the South-
ern States to the fact that Louisville could supply
them with merchandise and manufactures on ad- \
vantageous terms and could also furnish a splendid :
market for Southern products. Once turned in this [
direction, the Southern trade soon attained sufficient |
magnitude to warrant the improvement of transpor-
tation facilities, and a large territory was thus added
to the country tributary to the city.
Although he retained his connection with the
wholesale drug business to the end of his life, as his
fortune increased he became a large investor in the
securities of various corporations and held numer-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
471
ous important official positions in this connection.
As he had been one of the first merchants of Louis-
ville to see the need of transportation lines which
would facilitate commercial intercourse with South-
ern Kentucky and the States further South, he was
one of the first capitalists of the city to become in-
terested in the building of railways. He was for
many years president of the Louisville, Cincinnati &
Lexington Railroad Company, whose line of rail-
way has since been merged into the Louisville &
Nashville system, and was long a managing director
also of the Louisville & Nashville Railway Com-
pany. He occupied a prominent position among the
pioneer railway managers of the South and was one
of a comparatively small number of men who had a
true conception of the value of these great modern
thoroughfares to the commerce of Louisville. He
had also practical ideas relative to the conduct and
management of railroads, which were in advance of
the ideas of many of his contemporaries, and his
good judgment and sagacity were nowhere better
exemplified than in this connection.
He had numerous other large business interests
in Louisville and elsewhere. From 1882 until his
death, which occurred on the 10th of March, 1888,
he was president of the Falls City Jeans & Woolen
Company. He became a director of the Bank of
Louisville in 1872 and served continuously in that
capacity until 1886, when he was unanimously elect-
ed vice-president of the corporation. He was a
large shareholder and gave to the business of that in-
stitution the same careful attention which he be-
stowed upon all his affairs. He never missed a di-
rectors’ meeting, made almost daily visits to the
bank, and was regarded by its executive officers as
one of their ablest and wisest counsellors. Scrupu-
lously exact in everything, he had pronounced views
as to the manner in which banking operations
should be conducted, and believing that a bank
should not do something for nothing, even for its
own officers, he would not accept so much as a pass-
book or a checkbook as a gift.
Enterprising and full of public spirit as he was;
having the courage and confidence in himself which
prompted him to engage in large transactions, with
nothing of timidity in his nature, his operations were
always tempered with a wise conservatism and dis-
cretion. He had a quick insight into business prob-
lems, reasoned logically, and reached positive con-
clusions, in accordance with which he acted prompt-
ly and energetically. He never relied for success on
chance happenings or brilliant strokes of policy, but
planned carefully and judiciously, and in carrying
out his plans, evinced a tenacity of purpose which
scarcely admitted the possibility of failure. From
the time that he became active as a business man
until the day of his death, he believed in Louisville
and felt that it was destined to become one of the
chief cities of the West. He evidenced this faith
by large investments in real estate, and both by
precept and example, he strove to promote the build-
ing of handsome and substantial business blocks
and private residences.
The chief diversion of his life may be said to have
been the management of a fine stock farm and the
building up of a country place, about which clus-
tered a pretty bit of sentiment. His mother inher-
ited from her father’s estate a beautiful country
place in Maryland, which was known as “Bashford
Manor.” Some reverses which her husband met with
before his death made it necessary for her to sell
this homestead, and one of the early ambitions of
James B. Wilder was to establish his mother once
more in a home like that in which she had been
brought up, a home to which she was most fondly
attached. When fortune had favored him sufficiently
to enable him to gratify this ambition, he purchased
a farm, built a dwelling modeled after the Maryland
home — of which he sought to make it, as near as
possible, an exact reproduction — and named the
place “Bashford Manor.” In this home, with sur-
roundings as much like those of her early life as
it was possible to make them, his mother spent the
remaining years of her life, and there she died at the
ripe age of eighty-six years.
He was never active as a politician, although in
politics, as in everything else, he had positive views
and clearly defined opinions. He was a Democrat
of the old Jeffersonian school before the war, a
Unionist during the war, and after the reorganiza-
tion of parties subsequent to the war, continued to
affiliate with the Democratic party. He was brought
up an Episcopalian and was long a member of
Christ Church of this city.
He was married in 1840 in Steubenville, Ohio,
to Miss Emma Courtenay, and their union was one
of unbroken happiness from that date until 1872,
when Mrs. Wilder died. Their children were Emma
Sorgenfry, who married Mr. Louis H. Hast: and
Graham Wilder — noted for his scientific researches
— who married Miss Edith Vaughn. Mr. Wilder
survived both his children and his family is now rep-
resented in the male line by the two sons of Mr. and
Mrs. Graham Wilder. Three daughters and one
472
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
son of Mr. and Mrs. Hast, and two daughters of Mr.
and Mrs. Graham Wilder complete the list of his liv-
ing grandchildren.
SCAR WILDER, one of three brothers whose
names are prominently identified with the
growth and business of Louisville, was born in St.
Mary’s County, Maryland, June 14, 1819. His
father, Edward Wilder — who was born on the 10th
of December, 1779 — served with distinction in Colo-
nel Thomas Neill’s regiment of Maryland Cavalry
during the War of 1812. He married Miss Susan
Key Egerton, of Chaptico, St. Mary’s County, Mary-
land, and died in 1828. In 1830, his widow moved
to Louisville with five children and made it her
permanent residence. Thus early bereft of their
father, the sons were largely dependent upon their
own exertions for their advancement in life, and the
sequel shows that they proved equal to the respon-
sibilities which confronted them. The successful
career of James B. and Edward Wilder, brothers of
the subject of this sketch, will be found elsewhere
in these volumes, and with that of Oscar, which it
is proposed to briefly outline here, well illustrates
the success which may be achieved by young Ameri-
can manhood, when their energies are directed by
industry, education and sound principles. Particu-
larly was this conspicuous in the case of Oscar Wil-
der. Having had the advantages of the best schools
in Louisville for laying the foundation of an edu-
cation to be perfected in the higher school of prac-
tical experience, in 1834, at the early age of fif-
teen, he entered into business in the employment
of Rupert & Lindenberger, then the oldest drug
house in Louisville, and at that time doing business
at 34 West Main Street. Under this training, he in
time acquired a knowledge of the drug business and
evinced an aptitude for mercantile affairs unusual for
one of his years, and also acquired that thorough
knowledge of business methods, which in after years
placed him in the first rank among the leading mer-
chants of Main Street. On the 15th of October,
1838, he and his elder brother, James B. Wilder,
purchased the business of Rupert & Lindenber-
ger, and formed a partnership under the firm name
of [. B. Wilder & Company, which continued until
the time of Oscar’s death. The firm was engaged
in the wholesale drug business and was one of the
leading establishments in that line in the city. Un-
der the judicious management and sound business
methods of these two brothers, the business of the
old firm to which they had succeeded was rapidly ex-
panded, until it extended over eleven States. Lou-
isville, during the period of their operations, depend-
ed for its trade almost exclusively upon the river,
and from its location it commanded a very large ter-
ritory in the South and Southwest, to the exclusion
of many of the cities which have since become her
successful rivals. Especially was this the case in
regard to the wholesale drug business and several
jobbing lines, as in dry goods and groceries, which,
of late years, have contracted rather than expanded.
The South, which was not then as healthful as it has
since become by the drainage of its swamps and its
enlarged area of cultivated land, afforded an un-
usually good market for drugs and medicines, and
looked chiefly to Louisville for its supply. The en-
terprise, activity and popularity of this firm, com-
posed of young and vigorous members, gathered to
it a large and growing trade, which gave it finallv
the leading place among its competitors. While thus
engaged and in the full enjoyment of the fruits of
his industry and intelligent business management,
Oscar Wilder was suddenly cut off by death from
an accident, on the 19th day of May, 1854. Greatly
beloved and admired by all who knew him, his death
caused general sorrow in the community, as at-
tested by the fact that, on the day of his funeral, all
of the houses on Main Street were closed as a testi-
monial of respect. Those who knew him still dwell
with touching words of tenderness and admiration
upon his character and worth. In person, he was
peculiarly attractive, being five feet nine inches in
height, and weighing about one hundred and eighty-
five pounds. His features were regular, with a gen-
ial expression of countenance indicative of the quali-
ties which made him beloved. He was a man of
great determination and indomitable energy, never
tiring in any of his undertakings; and yet, withal, he
was a man of great gentleness of character. He
loved to see others happy and was never too busy to
do an act of charity or lend a helping hand to those
who came to him for aid or advice. He was a mem-
ber of the Order of Odd Fellows and of the Ma-
sonic fraternity of Louisville. In religious affilia-
tion his family were Episcopalians.
In 1838 he married Marinda Burnett of Shelby
County, Kentucky, who died two years later, leaving-
no issue. In 1849 he was married a second time to
Miss Frederica Virginia Smith, daughter of Jabez
Smith, of Petersburg, Virginia, who survives him.
By this marriage he had two children, Oscar Wilder,
I r., who died in infancy, and Marinda, who married
Wm. T. Underwood, and lives at Birmingham, Ala.
Qj^^r^C/YihpLA,
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
473
C"'' LEWIS DIEHL, Phar. M., was born at Neu-
* stadt, Rhenish Bavaria, August 3, 1840. His
father was chief executive officer in one of the Revo-
lutionary districts, owing to which he was forced to
take refuge in France in 1848, emigrating from there
to America in the following year. Two years later
he was joined by his wife and three children. In
1852 Mrs. Diehl died, the farm near St. Louis, Mis-
souri, was abandoned, and Lewis was sent to the
Oakfield Academy, St. Louis, Missouri, where he
remained until April, 1854, when he left school per-
manently to join his father at Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania.
Feeling the necessity of contributing to his own
support, he secured a situation with Messrs. R. & G.
A. Wright, perfumers, with whom he remained un-
til 1857, when he went to Chicago. This was the
year of the great financial panic, and our friend was
forced to resort to various means of employment un-
til 1858, when he again returned to Philadelphia,
and secured a position as apprentice with Mr. J. R.
Agney, corner of Spruce and Fifth Streets. In
March, 1862, Mr. Diehl graduated from the Phila-
delphia College of Pharmacy, and shortly after en-
tered the employment of Messrs. John Wyeth &
Brother, who were then about to engage in exten-
sive manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations.
His value was so obvious to his employers that he
was given charge of the laboratory, the operation
of which he conducted with a marked degree of
success.
In 1862, feeling it his duty to assist in the defense
of his adopted country, he enlisted in August in the
famous Anderson Cavalry and remained in service
until after the battle of Stone River, where he re-
ceived his discharge on account of wounds and in-
juries received. He then went to Chicago and spent
several months with his father in order to recuper-
ate, after which he secured, through the assistance of
Messrs. Wyeth and the late Professor John M.
Maisch, the position of assistant chemist in the
United States Army laboratory at Philadelphia. It
is needless to enumerate the chemicals or the im-
mense quantity made in this laboratory; let it suf-
fice to say that their extent was greater than the out-
put of many of our present chemical laboratories.
On January 1, 1865, seeing the evident termina-
tion of the war, Mr. Diehl went to Chicago with a
view of purchasing a store, but on receiving an offer
from the firm of Bender, Mahle & Company — now
Malile & Chappel — he entered their service, only to
remain until July, when he came to this city to re-
organize and manage the Louisville Chemical
W orks, in the interest of Messrs. Wilson, Peter &
Company. These works were originated by Dr. F.
R. Squibb and the late renowned Professor J. Law-
rence Smith, their products being in high repute
throughout the South before the war. In Decem-
ber, 1868, the company sold out and Mr. Diehl’s con-
nection was dissolved. In June, 1869, he purchased
the pharmacy at First and Walnut streets, and in
August, 1874, removed to his present location, at
the corner of Third and Broadway.
Mr. Diehl’s intense interest in pharmaceutical
matters led him to join the American Pharmaceu-
tical Association at the Baltimore meeting in 1863;
the first meeting which he attended, however, was
not until 1866, when it was held in Detroit. At this
meeting he was elected first vice-president of the as-
sociation, and at the meeting of 1872 a volunteer re-
port on “The Progress of Pharmacy” was so high-
ly appreciated that he was made reporter on the
progress of pharmacy, a newly created office and
one to which he has been annually re-elected until
1891, when he was compelled to decline a re-elec-
tion on account of ill health.
At the Louisville meeting of the American Phar-
maceutical Association in 1874 Mr. Diehl was elect-
ed to the supreme position of president. In 1870
Mr. Diehl aided in the organization of the Louisville
College of Pharmacy and was elected president,
which position he held until 1881, when he declined
a re-election. He also occupied the chair of phar-
macy in that institution until 1886 — sessions of 1881-
82 and 1882-83 excepted — when, owing to a throat
affection, he was compelled to resign. In 1887 his
alma mater in Philadelphia conferred upon him the
unexpected but richly merited honor of the degree
of master in pharmacy.
Of his scientific work space forbids us to speak
in detail, but reference to the literature of the past
twenty-five years will be good evidence of the fact
that during that time his mind and pen have been
well employed. One of the most notable of his con-
tributions to the literature of the city is the history
of “Pharmacy and Pharmacists," which appears in
this volume. The name of C. Lewis Diehl is famil-
iar not only in the United States, but in Europe as
well. The Louisville College of Pharmacy congratu-
lates herself that her able ex-president lias again ac-
cepted the chair of pharmacy.
In January, 1868, Mr. Diehl was married to Miss
Catharine Zimmerman, of Louisville. Five chil-
dren were born to them, four of whom still survive.
474
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
WINCENT DAVIS, druggist and manufacturer,
’ was born May 14, 1836, in Spencer County,
Kentucky, son of Judge Jonathan and Susan S. Da-
vis, the latter born Susan Speed Thornberrv, and
reared near the city of Louisville. His father was a
farmer — one of those worthy and upright men who
always enjoy the respect and esteem of rural com-
munities, who interest themselves in public affairs,
and also having the confidence of their fellow-citi-
zens, are called upon to fill important and respon-
sible official positions. He served with credit in the
lower branch of the General Assembly of Kentucky
and was several years judge of the county court of
Spencer County. His wife was the daughter of a
farmer and man of means, who, at one time, owned
a portion of the ground on which the present race-
course near the city is located, and who came early
to Kentucky from Virginia.
Vincent Davis was educated in the common
schools of Spencer County, supplementing the com-
mon branches with' the study of the higher mathe-
matics and of Latin and Greek. After teaching-
school for a time in Nelson and Spencer counties,
he began reading medicine while still employed as a
teacher. In the winter of 1860-61 he attended his
first course of lectures in the medical department of
the University of Louisville and attended another
course the following year, graduating from the Uni-
versity in the class of 1862. In March of that year,
immediately after he had completed his course of
study and taken his doctor’s degree, he began the
practice of medicine in the town of Taylorsville,
Spencer County, not far from his old home. He
did not find this a promising location and only re-
mained in Taylorsville until the following October.
At that time he was solicited to locate in Bloomfield,
Kentucky, which had been left without a physician
by the enlistment of physicians, who had previously
practiced there, in the Confederate Army. He was
urged to locate there by leading citizens of the town
and vicinity, and in response to these urgent requests,
opened an office in Bloomfield, where he continued
to practice until 1865. Dining these years of the
war there was a troubled condition of affairs in that
portion of Kentucky, which made the general prac-
tice of medicine exceedingly unpleasant, not to say
hazardous. In 1865 Dr. Davis concluded to seek a
more satisfactory location and, removing to Louis-
ville, he turned his attention to the drug business.
He purchased a drug store at the corner of Sixth and
Chestnut streets, and for over twenty years there-
after was engaged in business at that location. Hav-
ing made a thorough study of the science of medi-
cine he was remarkably successful as a druggist,
and in 1887 purchased the well known drug house at
the corner of Fourth and Green streets, conducting
two large establishments for some time thereafter.
In 1888 he also became interested in the chemistry of
vinegar manufacturing and as a result of his experi-
ments in this field he became owner of a vinegar fac-
tory located at the intersection of Thirtieth street
and Broadway. Disposing of his interests in the
drug business, he has since devoted his time and at-
tention to the operation of this manufacturing plant,
developing it into a prosperous and remunerative
enterprise.
While identified with the drug trade, he was con-
nected with the Louisville College of Pharmacy as
director for a number of years, and was president of
that institution one year. During one of the college
sessions he filled the chair of materia medica and was
professor of theory and practice two years.
Dr. Davis has long been a member of the Presby-
terian Church and is a ruling elder in the Second
Presbyterian Church of Louisville, of the Southern
Assembly. He sat as a member of the General As-
sembly of the church, which met in Nashville, Ten-
nessee, in 1894, and was the only commissioner from
Kentucky who voted against the appointment of a
committee of conference, to meet a like committee
of the Presbyterian Church North and endeavor to
formulate a plan for bringing about an organic
union of the two bodies. His political affiliations
have been with the Democratic party since he cast
his first vote, and during the war his sympathies
were with the Southern States and their cause.
He married, in 1865, Miss Annie Dallas Blanks, of
Louisville, a distant relative of George M. Dallas,
vice-president of the United States from 1845-1849.
p EORGE ABNER NEWMAN, widely known
as the manufacturer of a famous proprietary
medicine and one of the most eminently successful
men of Louisville, was born October 25, 1842, in
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His father was Alex-
ander Hamilton Newman and his mother’s maiden
name was Charlotte Washabaugh. Both parents
came of English antecedents, but both belonged to
old and representative Pennsylvania families. His
father was an extensive manufacturer of carriages,
who did business originally in Chambersburg and
later operated branch manufacturing establishments
at Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, and Martinsburg,
Virginia. He died in 1880.
f
[
I
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
475
After obtaining a good education at the Cham-
bersburg Academy, George A. Newman turned his
attention to the drug business and when seventeen
years of age entered the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy, from which institution he was graduated
in the class of 1863. The following year he entered
the famous old Jefferson Medical College of Phila-
delphia and devoted some time to the study of
medicine at that institution. Feeling, however, that
he should not find in the practice of medicine a con-
genial profession, he abandoned its study and at
the close of the year 1863 came to Louisville to
take charge of the government medical department
here under Major Magruder, a regular army officer.
His duty was to distribute drugs and medicines to
army physicians and surgeons stationed at different
points throughout the South. He continued to hold
this position and to be employed in this capacity un-
til the necessity for the maintenance of a govern-
ment department of this character ceased and the de-
partment was abolished. During his four years of
employment in this capacity, he had been prominent
in the younger social circles of Louisville and when
the position which he had filled during that time
was abolished, he discovered that he had lived up to
his salary, although it had been a handsome one,
and had nothing left in the way of capital with which
to begin business for himself. His situation was far
from comfortable, but he had learned a practical
lesson which was of value to him. Having estab-
lished friendly relations, however, with leading
wholesale drug houses of Louisville, he was en-
abled to open a small drug store on the northeast
corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, and his thor-
ough knowledge of the drug business and close at-
tention to trade soon made it one of the popular drug
stores of the city. The keen business foresight,
which has since brought him such rich returns, was
evidenced very early in his career as a retail drug-
gist. When he began business on the northeast cor-
ner of Fifth and Walnut streets in a small building
occupying that site, he made a long lease of the
premises. Later he purchased the lot at the south-
east corner of those streets and on this site erected
the three-story block in which his drug business has
since been carried on, at that time one of the best
business blocks in the city. When an opportunity
presented itself some time later to secure a long lease
of the property at the northwest corner of Fifth and
Walnut streets, he promptly took advantage of the
opportunity and thus by purchase of one and lease
of the other two, obtained control of all the most
available sites for drug stores in that vicinity, the
fourth corner being occupied by a church. In this
way he secured to himself and his business associates
the full benefits of the trade which had been attract-
ed to this location through his enterprise and shut
out competitors, who might otherwise have divided
with him the trade and profits. There he continued
to do a large and prosperous drug business, devot-
ing his time and attention almost entirely to that
occupation until 1885. In that year he entered the
broad field of enterprise in which a few men have
been remarkably successful and in which the great
majority of those who entered it have failed to find
themselves masters of the situation. In company
with R. E. Queen, who had formed a company for
that purpose in California, he began the manufac-
ture of the now famous Syrup of Figs. Previous to
his becoming interested in this company, its affairs
had been mismanaged, and although the few who
had become familiar with the medicine manufactured
were loud in their praises of its virtues, the venture
had not proven a success financially. Dr. Newman
furnished the necessary capital to conduct the man-
ufacture of fig syrup on an extensive scale and also
to make the world acquainted with its value as a
medicine through proper advertisements. The vivi-
fying effects of his energy and enterprise, of his tact
and business sagacity, were soon felt in every de-
partment of the business and sales began to increase
rapidly. The medicine was compounded in the
basement of Dr. Newman’s drug store and under his
supervision until it became necessary to secure larger
quarters and increased manufacturing facilities. In
1890 the company erected a four-story building at
the corner of Thirteenth and Lexington streets, into
which was removed its manufacturing plant and ap-
purtenances. They had only occupied this building
about ten days when it was burned to the ground,
the loss entailed thereby upon Dr. Newman and his
associates being a serious one. He was undaunted,
however, by this misfortune and within three days
had secured another building on Third Street near
the river, in which he resumed operations. At once
he began also the erection of another factory on the
site of the burned building and within six months
had the four-story building now occupied by his
company ready for occupancy. 1 his factory consti-
tutes the supply depot for t lie Eastern, Northern and
Southern States and the European trade, while the
original plant, which is still operated at San bran-
cisco, supplies the Western States and Central and
South American countries. The growth of this busi-
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
47fi
ness has been something marvelous as an expansion
and development of a commercial enterprise. Ten
years since, at the end of the first year of Dr. New-
man’s identification with the business, the volume of
business for the year did not exceed ten thousand
dollars. At the present time it approaches one and
one-half million dollars annually. Such growth of a
business is in itself the highest testimonial to the
ability of its managers and the merit of the business
itself. In advancing this remedy to its present proud
position among the proprietary medicines of the
country, Dr. Newman has evinced resistless energy,
business capacity and executive ability of the highest
order. He is one of the busiest of busy men and in
addition to his large interests in the Fig Syrup Com-
pany he is still half owner of his old drug store, the
business of which is now managed by a corporation
of which he is the head and in which his former em-
ployees, Addison Dimmitt and G. A. Wesch, are
stockholders, these two young men having charge
of the business. He is a director also of the Ameri-
can Building and Loan Association and of the Lou-
isville Banking Company. He was a charter mem-
ber of the Commercial Club, is a member of the
Board of Trade and is active in forwarding all move-
ments having for their object the promotion of the
material prosperity of Louisville. He is a member
of and a liberal contributor to the Young Men's
Christian Association, and in a quiet way a helpful
friend of many charitable and benevolent enter-
prises. For many years he has been a vestryman
of St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church and was
a member of the building committee which erected
its splendid new church edifice. During the build-
ing of this church he gave the work careful atten-
tion and seldom allowed a day to pass without visit-
ing the building and inspecting its progress and the
character of the work being done. Politically, he
affiliates with the Republican party, believing in a
high tariff and a thoroughly sound governmental
monetary system.
He married in 1871 Miss Martha F. Campbell,
daughter of Samuel and Martha F. Campbell, both
of whom were natives of Culpeper County, Virginia.
Mrs. Newman’s family was one of the noted families
of the Old Dominion and she herself is a native of
that State. Their children are George A. New-
man, Jr., Martha F. Newman, Charlotte Newman
and Ethel Newman. Domestic in his tastes and fond
of his home and family, it has followed as a nat-
ural result of Dr. Newman’s prosperity that he has
created for himself an ideal homestead.
C DWARD WILDER, one of the most prominent
of the old time merchants of Louisville,
and a potent factor in making it the metrop-
olis of Kentucky, was born December 31,
1825, in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, young- 1
est son of Edward and Susan Key (Egerton)
Wilder. Coming of good family, his ancestry on
the maternal side was especially notable.
Edward Wilder, the elder, died in early manhood,
and soon after his death his widow sold the beauti-
ful Maryland homestead, known as “Bashford
Manor,” and removed to Louisville. Here the son
Edward, who was a mere boy at the time the family
removed to this city, obtained his education at the
private school taught by Rev. Dr. White, an Episco-
pal clergyman, was fitted for a business career and
grew to manhood. He was the youngest of three
brothers, all of whom, under the careful guidance
of their mother, developed into intelligent, self-re-
liant young men, in later years occupied high posi-
tions in social and business circles and have left 1
their impress upon the history of the city.
His business career began when he was sixteen
years old, and in the year 1843, at which time he
engaged with his two brothers in the retail drug
trade of this city. All three were active, enterprising
young men, and they quickly built up a handsome t
business. They were not satisfied, however, with a
retail business and a purely local trade, but aspired
to operations in a wider field and on a broader scale.
Edward was especially ambitious to extend their
trade, and proposed that they solicit business in the ,
territory tributary to Louisville, a proposition his |
brothers soon came to look upon with favor. Fol- |
lowing this plan, they not only developed their retail j
drug store into one of the largest wholesale estab- |
lishments of its kind in the Southwest, but were i
pioneers in the movement which brought to Louis-
ville a vast Southern trade. Among the first to en-
ter this splendid field of enterprise was Edward Wil- I
der, who traveled extensively through the Southern
States and missed no opportunity to impress upon I
the planters, merchants and all with whom he came I
in contact the mutual benefits which would accrue
from the establishment of trade relations with Louis- j
ville. With other Louisville merchants he helped to
establish transportation lines which would facilitate
commercial intercourse with the Southern country,
the line of packet boats which were put on the Ten-
nessee River being the direct result of this effort.
While building up his own business, he helped to
swell the volume of business done in the city in all
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
477
other lines. When solicited to turn their trade to
this city, the Southern people responded generously,
and in this way were laid the foundations of its com-
mercial prosperity, a prosperity which has continu-
ally increased.
The wholesale drug business which Mr. Wilder
and his brothers built up extended over a wide area
of territory, and for many years he gave it the most
careful and intelligent supervision. Accumulating
a large fortune, other affairs gradually engrossed
his attention, and his investments extended to bank-
ing, railroad and other enterprises, and he became
officially connected with various corporations. He
was greatly interested in developing the resources
of Kentucky as a State and in making known to the
outside world the extent of these resources. As
president of the State Fair Association, which for
many years was held at “Wilder Park,” he did much
to encourage the competitive exhibitions which have
been prolific of good results in stimulating produc-
tion and improving the character of State products.
He took pride in the growth of Louisville, and Third
Street is largely indebted to him for improvements
which have made it the finest residence street in the
city.
In politics he was a Democrat, and during the
Civil War he was warmly in sympathy with the
South. A Southerner by birth, he had been reared
in a Southern State and married a Southern woman.
When he entered upon his business career all his
associations had been with Southern people, and
they had contributed to his prosperity as he had to
theirs. Tradition, early training and sentiment thus
combined to bring him into full feeling with those
who were battling for their rights, struggling to
maintain their cherished Southern institutions. Spir-
ited, impetuous and fearless, he did not hesitate to
express his sentiments, and the consequence was
that the hand of the Federal Government fell heavily
upon him at times, as it did upon other citizens of
Louisville who openly avowed their devotion to the
Confederate cause. As a result he suffered heavy
financial losses during the war, but quickly retrieved
i his fortune when peace was restored, and, at his
death, which occurred March 24, 1890, he left a
splendid estate.
He married Ruth Sevier, eldest daughter of John
! and Mildred Sevier, of North Alabama. Mrs. Wil-
der, who survives her husband, is a great-grand-
daughter of Governor John Sevier, descended from
an ancient French family, who spelled their name
Xavier. Governor Sevier was reared in Virginia,
was the first governor of Tennessee — serving six
alternate terms — and died in Alabama in 1815. He
was one of the most conspicuous figures in the In
dian warfare of the Southwest. During the Revolu-
tionary War he was one of the most powerful factors
in breaking up the British-Indian alliance. With
Colonel Isaac Shelby he planned the Battle of King’s
Mountain, and in a critical moment of the action
rushed on the enemy up the slope of the mountain
within short range of their muskets and turned the
fortune of the day against the British, who left their
commander, General Ferguson, dead upon the field.
It was on this occasion that one of Sevier’s compa-
triots declared, “His eyes were flames of fire, and his
words were electric bolts crashing down the ranks of
the enemy.”
Since her husband's death, Mrs. Wilder has con-
tinued to reside in Louisville, and in the manage-
ment of her large estate has shown a broad capacity
and executive ability which would have done credit
to one trained to the conduct of affairs. Her rare
beauty and intelligence bespeak her distinguished
lineage, and her liberal patronage of art is shown in
a collection which is not equaled in the Southwest.
One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilder, a
daughter, who was named Minnie Key Wilder, but
she passed from earth at the tender age of seven
years. “Death lay upon her like an untimely frost
upon the loveliest flower of all the field.”
RAHAM WILDER, who achieved marked
distinction in Louisville, as an analytical chem-
ist and was prominent in literary and scientific, as
well as in business circles, was born in this citv,
July 1, 1843, and died here, January 16, 1885. He
was the only son of James Bennet Wilder and Emma
Courtenay Wilder, and, singularly enough, the onlv
son born to either of the three brothers, James Ik,
Oscar and Edward Wilder, who came to Louisville
as boys in 1830 and spent the remainder of their
lives here. For full two-score years the name Wil-
der was a most familiar one, not only in Louisville,
but in business circles all over the Southern States,
but the death of Edward Wilder in 1890 left the
family without an adult male representative. James
B. Wilder had passed away in 1888, his brother, Os
car, in 1854, and his son — as above stated —in 1885.
It is interesting to note, in this connection, that Gra-
ham Wilder had the same number of sons as his
grandfather, Edward Wilder, and that they were
given the same names: James Ik, Oscar and Ed-
ward. The eldest of these sons died in 1893, and
478
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Oscar and Edward Wilder alone are left to perpetu-
ate the name made famous by men who did much
to promote the prosperity of Louisville and to ad-
vance its commercial and other interests.
Graham Wilder received a thorough education m
the schools of Louisville and then began the study
of architecture under the tutorage of the talented
and scholarly architect, Mr. Henry Whitestone.
When about eighteen years of age he went abroad
with Mr. Whitestone and supplemented his educa-
tion with a season of foreign travel and study in most
congenial company and under exceedingly favorable
auspices. He returned home an accomplished and
well-informed young man, with cultivated tastes and
studious habits, inclined rather to the study of the
natural sciences than to devote himself to architec-
ture. As a result of this predilection, he gave up the
idea of becoming an architect and became a member
of the wholesale drug firm of James B. Wilder &
Company, taking charge of the manufacturing de-
partment of the firm’s business. In this connection
he established a reputation both as a manufacturing
and analytical chemist, second to that of no othei
man of his profession in the Southern States. He
was, at the same time, a practical man of affairs and
a scientist. His researches and experiments brought
him into close touch with the noted scientist, Dr. J.
Lawrence Smith, and they not infrequently pur-
sued the same lines of investigation and experimen-
tation. They were much in each other’s company,
and Dr. Smith was warmly attached to the young
merchant-scientist, in whom he found a careful and
conscientious investigator, as well as a skillful com-
pounder of the drugs and medicines of commerce.
He fitted up at his own home a laboratory and work-
shop, so thoroughly equipped in all respects that it
became known far and wide, and was frequently vis-
ited by chemists from all parts of the country and of
national prominence. His love of the sciences and
scientific literature threw him into the company of
men much older than himself, and he became one of
the leading members of the Polytechnic Society, of
which such men as Dr. Stuart Robinson, Dr. J. Law-
rence Smith, Professor T. W. Tobin, Professor C.
Leo Mees and others were leading lights. He was
greatly interested in the educational work of the
society, and the prominent part which he bore in its
upbuilding is attested by the following memorial
tribute adopted after his death:
“The executive council of the Polytechnic Society
of Kentucky has heard with profound sorrow of the
death of Graham Wilder, an honored life member
of the society, and one of its most zealous and lib- J
eral friends from the date of its organization.
“As a member of one of the largest and oldest J
mercantile firms in Louisville, Mr. Wilder was wide-
ly known; and by his industry, enterprise, mercantile
sagacity and integrity, he commanded universal re-
spect and confidence; but his habitual modesty so
concealed his personal characteristics that compara- [
tively few knew his varied accomplishments; and
fewer still his unselfish devotion to his family and
more intimate friends.
“As a chemist, electrician and physicist, his knowl-
edge was extensive, exact and practical. His skill in
scientific manipulation and experiment was unsur-
passed.
“Either in plastic or graphic art, his exquisite
taste, trained eye and hands of marvelous cunning ;
would have made him famous had he devoted him-
self to artistic pursuits. Intent upon acquiring
knowledge, he modestly concealed his own acquire-
ments and eagerly sought instruction of others. But
he used his knowledge and skill to benefit his friends, [
and to advance the interests of science was among j
his greatest pleasures. While he studiously avoided ?
everything calculated to make him conspicuous, he
faithfully and fearlessly discharged his duty in all t
the varied relations of life.
“Without invading the sanctity of the home cir-
cle with expressions of sympathy that have no power
to console the bereaved ones, it may not be im-
proper to speak of our friend’s intense, absorbing
love for his home and his family. j
“From his domestic pleasures, not even his fa- I
vorite studies and pursuits could often allure him. j
Convenient and well appointed rooms for study, ex- f
periment and mechanical operations formed a part |
of his spacious homestead. There his recreations
and scientific investigations were pursued almost in
the presence of his loved ones, whom he delighted to
surround with creations of his own handiwork, which
are replete with evidences of his taste, his knowl- ;
edge and his skill.
“In the death of Mr. Wilder, the Polytechnic So- j
ciety is bereft of one of its most useful, honored and »
steadfast supporters, and not a few of its members
deplore the loss of a sincere and valued friend.”
The above testimonial, framed by those who had
been long associated with him, throws much light on
a truly lovable character. A successful business man, j
his scientific attainments gave him a place among
scholars and savants, and withal, he was the true
and steadfast friend, the tender and loving husband
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
479
and father, delighting in his own home, and finding
the sweetest pleasures of life in the society of those
of his own household. He was a churchman of the
Episcopal faith, and a communicant of Christ
Church.
Mr. Wilder married, in 1870, Miss Edith Vaughn,
a daughter of Charles H. and Harriet C. Vaughn,
of Maryland. Mrs. Wilder was born in Baltimore,
and in their union two old Maryland families were
brought together. Devotedly attached to his only
son, James B. Wilder, during the later years of his
life, found his chief enjoyment at the son’s home-
stead and in the company of the latter’s wife and
children. Here he made his home after the death of
the son, and here he quietly passed away, on the 16th
day of May, 1888, shortly after his return from an
extended western trip, which had been taken for
the purpose of looking after certain investments.
His daughter-in-law seemed to take his son’s place
in his affection, and so great was his confidence in
her wisdom and discretion that he made her the exe-
cutrix of his large estate. In the administration of
this trust Mrs. Wilder has evinced rare judgment
and sagacity and remarkable executive ability. She
has carefully conserved the interests of the estate,
and while giving attention to many details of busi-
ness, has found time also for the cultivation of liter-
ary and artistic tastes inherent in her nature. Of
seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Graham Wil-
der, four are now living. They are Nellie Hite Wil-
der, now the wife of Rev. Charles E. Craik, dean of
Christ Church Cathedral; Oscar, Ethel Virginia,
and Edward Wilder. James B. Wilder, a promis-
ing son, who had just crossed the threshold of man-
hood, died in 1893. Virginia died at the age of five
and one-half years, and Edith in infancy. Oscar
Wilder, the eldest of the name of the present genera-
tion, now nineteen years of age, is completing his
education at the University of the South, Sewanee,
Tennessee.
T OSEPH GRAHAM M’CULLOCH, the eldest
^ child of George and Louisa McCulloch, was
born near Vevay, Switzerland County, Indiana, July
11, 1839. George McCulloch, the father, was born
near Inverness, Scotland, and came to this country as
a lad; he first settled in Petersburg, Virginia, and
later removed to Cincinnati, where in 1826 he estab-
lished a wholesale dry-goods and notions house,
with branches in Madison, Indiana, and Versailles,
Kentucky. In 1833 he opened a store in Vevay, In-
diana, where he met and married his wife, a member
of one of the old Swiss families who had settled
there in 1802.
Joseph G. McCulloch, when eighteen years old,
came to Louisville and engaged in the ship chand-
lery business, locating in Portland, which was then
— 1857 — the head of navigation for the lower river
steamers, and from which almost all shipments by
river were made, Louisville at that time having lines
of fine steamers leaving daily for St. Louis, Memphis
and New Orleans.
When the enlargement of Louisville and Portland
Canal was completed and the boats all came
through to the city wharf, Mr. McCulloch removed
to the city and engaged in the commission business.
He always retained his love for the river and steam-
boats, and became owner or part owner of several
steamers running on the lower Ohio, the Mississippi,
the White and the Ouachita Rivers. In 1864 he
went to St. Louis and became interested in a con-
tract for transporting Government supplies by river.
When the war closed he returned to Louisville, but
soon after removed to Galveston, Texas, where he
engaged in the purchase of cotton, which he shipped
to New York, Boston and Liverpool. In 1867 he
established a cotton factorage and commission
house in New Orleans, where he continued to reside
until 1874. His health becoming poor, he retired
from business in the latter year and came North and
divided his time for the next three or four years be-
tween New Orleans and New York City. In 1878
he returned to Louisville and established a glass
works, which was continued until the discovery of
natural gas in Ohio and Indiana, which forced all
such manufactories to remove to the cheaper fuel of
the natural gas fields of Indiana.
In 1882 he became interested in the Louisville and
Evansville Mail Company, which ran daily steamers
between Louisville and Evansville, Indiana. In
1883 he was elected vice president and general man-
ager of the Mail Company. In January, 1885, he
was elected vice president of the Southern Railway
News Company, and two years later gave up his
connection with the Mail Company and was elected
president and general manager of the News Com-
pany, wliich position lie still retains.
Mr. McCulloch was reared under Scotch Presby-
terian influences, but did not become a member of
any' religious bodv until 1887. when he was elected
a vestryman of Christ Protestant Episcopal
Church. He continued in this office until the church
was made the Cathedral, in 1894, when he became
a member of the Cathedral Chapter, in which body
480
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
lie still serves as chairman of the finance committee.
In 1887 Mr. McCulloch was elected vice president
of the board of trustees of the John N. Norton Me-
morial Infirmary, and has since been warmly inter-
ested in the work of that noble institution. He is
also a trustee from the Diocese of Kentucky to the
University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee. He
is a director in various banks, insurance and other
corporations, and is equally prominent as a man of
affairs and a public spirited citizen, interested in all
that tends to the upbuilding of Louisville and to
promote the betterment of its people. A man of fine
social qualities, he was one of the originators of the
movement which gave to Louisville its famous Pen-
dennis Club, and was a charter member of the or-
ganization.
Politically, he has affiliated with the Democratic
party. He married, in 1883, Miss Nannie Tyler Hite,
second daughter of the late Captain W. C. Hite, of
whom extended mention will be found elsewhere in
this history.
T OHN COWAN HUGHES, merchant and manu-
^ facturer, was born in Louisville August 18, 1858,
son of William and Susan E. (Overstreet) Hughes.
He obtained his primary education in one of the
private schools of Louisville, afterward was for four
years a student at Forest Home Academy, of
Anchorage, and, later, pursued a three years’ course
of study at Vanderbilt University, of Nashville, Ten-
nessee. At the university he gave special attention
to the sciences of geology, zoology and chemistry,
and upon his return to Louisville took a two years’
course in the Louisville College of Pharmacy. I11
1879 he embarked in the drug business in this city
and remained here until 1882, when he went to
Chicago, Illinois, and was engaged in business there
for something more than a year. Returning to
Louisville in the latter part of the year 1883, he be-
came connected with the firm of Hughes, Taggart &
Company, of which his father was the head, and in
1885 became a partner in that firm. He continued
to be identified with the pork-packing industry until
this firm disposed of its plant in 1891, and a year
later was elected secretary and treasurer of the Bear-
grass Woolen Mills Company, and secretary and
treasurer also of the Robinson-Hughes Company.
He has since been actively interested in the conduct
and management of these two important enterprises,
and is one of the most prominent among the younger
business men of the city. Some years since he took
an active interest in local military affairs, and was
at one time a lieutenant in Company D of the First
Regiment of Kentucky State Guards, resigning his
commission when he left Louisville to engage in
business in Chicago. Politically, he affiliates with
the sound money wing of the Democratic party, and
he is an Episcopalian churchman.
On the 19th of January, 1886, Mr. Hughes mar-
ried Miss Myra Gray Heinsohn, and they have one
child, John Chambers Hughes.
VyULLlAM BEVERLY CALDWELL, JR., eld-
’ ’ est son of Dr. William B. and Augusta (Guth-
rie) Caldwell, was a young man of brilliant attain-
ments, whose life was full of promise and who
achieved distinction both as a scientist and manufac-
turer, although he died at the early age of 29 years.
He inherited fine intellectual powers and enjoyed
the best educational advantages in his youth and
young manhood.
Born in Louisville August 10, 1852, he was reared
in this city, and after graduating from the High
School took a collegiate course in the University of
Virginia. He had a strong predilection for the study
of the sciences, especially of chemistry and miner-
alogy, and to perfect his knowledge of these sciences
he pursued special courses of study at the Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale College and at one
of the noted German universities at Ber-
lin. After completing his education in Eu-
rope he returned to Kentucky to continue
his studies and laboratory work under the
preceptorship of that renowned scholar and scientist,
Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, who was his uncle. He was
appointed mineralogist of the Kentucky State Geo-
logical Survey, and did much valuable work in this
connection both in the field and in Dr. Smith’s labora-
tory. While filling this position and at a later date,
he prepared numerous papers descriptive of the coal
and iron deposits of Kentucky and their location,
which attracted the attention of all interested in the
development of the State’s resources as well as of
students and scholars. These publications showed
profound study, much patient research and intelli-
gent experimentation, and gave him a position
among the foremost mineralogists of the country.
He was associated for a time with Dr. Nathaniel S.
Shaler, the eminent geologist, professor of geology
in Harvard College, who had charge of the Geologi-
cal Survey of Kentucky, and still later was at the
head of the Atlantic Division of the United States
Geological Survey.
All these associations tended to the development
9
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1
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
481
of his scientific knowledge and at the same time he
was graduating into a practical man of affairs. He
gave special atention to the chemistry of iron
and steel manufacturing, thus making a prac-
tical application of his scientific knowledge.
Becoming connected with the Roane Iron
Works, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, he gained
an insight into the commercial features of
iron manufacturing, and in 1879 established the
Louisville Iron & Steel Works, which were operated
with great success.
Thoroughly imbued with the spirit of enterprise,
he was one of the men who early became identified
with the development of the iron interests of Ala-
bama, and he erected and put into operation iron
works at Birmingham, becoming president of the
corporation known as the Birmingham Rolling Mills
Company. There was a remarkable blending of
business sagacity and scholarly attainments in the
character of this young man, equally able in the
conduct and management of large manufacturing
enterprises and the elucidation of scientific principles.
Favored by fortune, he might have lived a life of
leisure, but he had no inclination in that direction.
He was earnest, active and industrious by nature,
and believed that work was the business of life.
Even his college mates remarked his tenacity of
purpose, his close application and well-balanced
judgment, and he exerted a profound influence over
his associates of that period, as well as over his busi-
ness associates of later years. Courteous and gentle
in his demeanor, he had great firmness and strength
of character, and having chosen to ally himself with
one of the leading industries of the country he had
gained a distinction among the iron manufacturers
hardly enjoyed by any other young man in the
United States. He studied both the science and the
economics of iron manufacturing, and his operations
were carried on in accordance with the most ap-
proved methods, many improvements being sug-
gested by his broad knowledge of mineralogy and
metallurgy. He was an exponent of modern the-
ories as applied to the manufacture of iron, and his
death, in 1880, cut short what must have been an
exceptionally brilliant and successful career. Strick-
en down in the prime of manhood, his deatli brought
deep sorrow to a large circle of friends to whom he
had endeared himself by his moral worth and Chris-
tian graces as well as to those who admired him
for his talents and appreciated his worth to this and
other communities as a business man.
Following in the footsteps of his parents, he had
3i
embraced the Baptist faith, and at the time of his
death was a member of the Broadway Baptist
Church. Two years before his death — in 1878 — he
married Miss Mary Norton, daughter of George W.
Norton, the noted banker and financier, whose long
and useful career has been sketched elsewhere in this
work.
I AMES COLEMAN GILBERT, who has prob-
ably been longer in public life as a member of
the City Legislature of Louisville than any other
man who has served in that capacity, was born in
Jackson, Missouri, .December 12, 1832, son of John
and Eliza Jane (Duncan) Gilbert. His descent on
the maternal side is from one of the old families of
Kentucky, his grandfather, James Duncan, and four
brothers having been among those who braved the
perils of early settlement in the region which has
since developed into a great commonwealth. James
Duncan and his brother, Henry, settled in Louis-
ville, while the other three brothers, Thomas, Cole-
man and Sanford, settled in Nelson County, and
from these four brothers nearly all the Duncans of
Kentucky are descended.
The father of James C. Gilbert died when the son
was quite young, and his mother soon afterward re-
turned to her old home in Louisville, but later re-
moved to Salem, Indiana. At the last named place
he received the major part of his education, which
was completed at what was known as the Washing-
ton County Academy, one of those famous old-time
schools, with high school and collegiate courses of
study, at which some of the ablest men of the present
generation obtained their schooling. Obliged to
quit school at an early age, Mr. Gilbert continued
his education in the office of “The Washington
County Democrat,” where he learned the art of
printing under the tutorship of the late Colonel
Oliver Lucas, one of the noted pioneer editors of
Indiana. In 1847 he came to Louisville and found
employment here with Colonel John C. Noble, who
came to this city originally from Lexington, Ken-
tucky, and occupied a position of much prominence
as a newspaper publisher and editor during the years
immediately preceding the war. He remained in the
employ of Colonel Noble several years, and in 1855
associated himself with Thomas Bradley in estab-
lishing the printing house which has now been in
existence two score vears. I his firm, which is now
numbered among the older business houses of the
city, conducted its operations for nearly a quarter
of a century under the name of Bradley & Gilbert,
482
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and the association of the two men who composed
the firm was terminated only by the death of Mr.
Bradley. After Mr. Bradley’s demise the large print-
ing and book-selling business which had grown up
under their joint management and as a result of their
joint efforts was incorporated as the Bradley & Gil-
bert Company, and, retaining practically the old
name, the house has since continued its prosperous
career. When the corporation was organized Mr.
Gilbert became its president, and still occupies that
position, which he has held continuously since his
first election.
Mr. Gilbert has been conspicuously identified with
the municipal government of Louisville since 1861,
his term of service covering a period of thirty-five
years. In 1861 he was elected a member of the
City School Board and continued to serve the pub-
lic in that capacity until 1869, during a period which
may with propriety be termed the formative period
of the city public school system. Under the charter
of 1851, which had made liberal provision for the
establishment and maintenance of the public schools,
the movement which resulted in the upbuilding of
the present splendid school system had been set on
foot, and Mr. Gilbert was among those who carried
forward the work thus begun and laid foundations
upon which has grown up an educational system
which is the pride of the City of Louisville and the
State of Kentucky. Retiring from the school board
in 1869, he entered upon a term of service in the
General Council of Louisville, which did not termi-
nate until 1895. In the year first named he was elect-
ed a member of the Board of Aldermen, and by suc-
cessive re-elections was continued in his membership
of that body twenty-six years. During eight years
of that time he was president of the board, occupying
an official station under the city government second
only to that of the mayor. He was also ex-officio,
president of the City Sinking Fund Commission dur-
ing this time and served one term as president of
the commission. His long continued service in
the City Legislature was characterized by close at-
tention and conscientious devotion to the public
interests, and few men have evei been identified with
municipal affairs who have been so thoroughly fa-
miliar with the workings of all departments of the
city government. Upon many matters coming with-
in the scope of municipal legislation he has been for
years a recognized authority, and his admirable
equipment for discharging the duties of chief execu-
tive of the city has caused his name to be mentioned
many times in connection with the mayoralty.
Whether or not he would consent to accept a nomi-
nation for that office, or whether he would care to
shoulder the cares and responsibilities of the office
is unknown to the writer of this sketch, but it is
certaii that his long and faithful service as a city
official, his integrity as a public servant, his
broad common sense and practical ideas of city gov-
ernment are fully appreciated by his fellow citizens
and that they would not hesitate to commit the city’s
interests to his official care and keeping. While he
has always been a member of the Democratic party,
he has never been an intense partisan, and his recti-
tude as an official has won for him the respect and
esteem and, in a measure, the suffrages of men of
all parties. He married Emma B. Hooe, of Louis-
ville, and has one child, Edna C. Gilbert.
CRANK NEWCOMB HARTWELL, who, al-
1 though still a young man, has been identified
with leading business interests of Louisville for
many years, was born in this city June 14, 1853, son
of Samuel Adams Hartwell and Charlotte Meldrum
Hartwell. His father was for twenty-five years a
partner in the wholesale grocery house of H. D. ;
Newcomb & Brothers, and was one of the founders
also of the Ohio Falls Car Works, at Jeffersonville,
Indiana, in which corporation he was a director for j
many years. His paternal ancestors were New Eng- :
land people, the Hartwells having- settled in Massa- i
chusetts in the seventeenth century. The original
family seat was in England, where the earliest men- j
tion of the name appears in connection with a grant ,
of land by William the Conqueror to a titled ances-
tor of the American family.
Reared in Louisville, Frank N. Hartwell was 1
educated in the public and private schools of the ,
city, quitting the High School in 1871 to take the I
position of clerk in the Western Financial Corpora-
tion, which later became the Bank of Commerce. ■
During his connection with this institution he filled 1
the positions of messenger, correspondent and in- ;
dividual book-keeper, remaining in the bank until
1878, when he spent a vacation of seven months in
Europe. Returning to Louisville in December of ’
that year, he resumed his bank connection, which
continued until 1882, when he became a partner in
the large grain and elevator business of H. Verhoeff
& Company. In the summer of 1887 he was made
vice president of the corporation and retained that
position until 1893, at which time — after the death
of Mr. Verhoeff — he succeeded to the presidency.
This position he has since held, and as chief execu-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
483
tive officer of one of the largest and wealthiest cor-
porations engaged in the grain trade in the South
he has become well known to the trade at large and
a conspicuous figure among the business men of
Louisville.
His interest in the commercial prosperity of Louis-
ville has been of that active character which prompts
energetic effort and favors concerted action to pro-
mote the general welfare of the city. He is a director
and vice president of the Board of Trade and was
one of the charter members of the Commercial Club,
served as a director of the club two years and as its
president one term, being elected to honorary mem-
bership in 1895, in recognition of his public services.
Equal to the interest he has taken in promoting the
material prosperity of the city, through the expan-
sion of its business enterprises, has been his interest
in all movements designed to better the municipal
government.
While Mr. Hartwell is a Democrat, in the sense
that he believes fully in the cardinal principles of that
party as applied to the government of the country,
he is nevertheless of the opinion that municipal
reforms must result from the awakened moral sense
and combined action of the best elements of the two
great political parties. His view is essentially that
of the business man who believes in a business-like
administration of public affairs, and repudiates the
idea that to preserve national party organizations
political issues must be dragged into every city, town
and village election. Entertaining advanced ideas
on this subject, he has been prominent among those
who have been seeking and are still seeking to ele-
vate and improve the character of city government
in the United States, and is now president of the
Good City Government Club of Louisville. He is
also a counselor of the American Institute of Civics
and a member of the executive committee of the
National Municipal League. He was reared in the
Unitarian faith, is now a member and trustee of
that church and at the present time (1896) is presi-
dent of the Southern Conference of Unitarian
Churches.
He was married in 1882 to Miss Minnie Charlotte
Verhoeff, daughter of Mr. H. Verhoeff, a prominent
old-time merchant of Louisville, who built the first
grain elevator south of the Ohio River. Mrs. Hart-
well’s grandfather Verhoeff was a German burgo-
master, who fought with Blucher at Waterloo and
was decorated for his gallant services. Mr. Hartwell
has two children, Herman Verhoeff and Meldrum
Adam Hartwell.
T OHN COLGAN, merchant and manufacturer,
was born December 18, 1840, in Louisville, son
of William and Elizabeth (Christopher) Colgan, both
of whom were natives of Eastern States, the former
having been born in Virginia and the latter in Mary-
land. Mr. Colgan's paternal grandfather, Henry
Colgan, came from Virginia to Kentucky in the
first year of the present century, and his father, Wil-
liam Colgan, came from Shelby County, Kentucky,
to this city in 1823. William Colgan was a prosper-
ous contractor and builder during the years of his
residence in Louisville, but died when the son was
only twelve years of age. His mother having died
six years before, the death of his father left him
entirely orphaned, and from that time until he was
eighteen years of age he made his home with his
uncle and guardian, Henry Christopher. After at-
tending the public schools of Louisville he com-
pleted his education at St. Joseph’s College, of
Somerset, Ohio, and then made choice of the drug
business as the occupation which he would follow.
Entering one of the old-time drug stores of Louis-
ville in 1858 he served an apprenticeship of two and
a half years, receiving small pay and doing much
hard work during that time. It was not his inten-
tion, however, to continue an employe any longer
than he could help, and in i860, with the small capi-
tal at his command, he opened a drug store of his
own at the corner of Tenth and Walnut streets. For
thirty years thereafter he continued to do business
at that location, and within a few years had become
one of the leading druggists of the city. He had
thoroughly mastered all the details of the drug trade,
and being at the same time a capable merchant and
a skillful apothecary, his business prospered and his
enterprise was expanded in various directions. He
became a partner in the course of time in four drug
stores besides the one at Tenth and Walnut streets,
and all were successfully and profitably conducted.
In 1880 he formed a partnership with Mr. James A.
McAfee under the firm name of Colgan & McAfee,
and thus began a business association which lias con-
tinued up to the present time. While engaged in the
drug business and as early as 1878 he began the
manufacture of chewing gum for his retail trade.
This business gradually grew in importance and
magnitude, and in 1890 Mr. Colgan disposed o! all
his drug store interests and turned his attention en-
tirely to the manufacture and sale of chewing gum.
In this business his partner, Mr. McAfee, con-
tinued to be associated with him, and soon after they
entered tins field of enterprise then product gamed
484
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
wide celebrity and carried Mr. Colgan’s name to all
parts of the country. “Taffy Tulu,” a brand of
chewing gum which he had originated, became
known everywhere, and hardly a school girl in the
land failed to become familiar with the name of its
manufacturer. It is now sold all over the United
States, throughout the Dominion of Canada and in
the cities and towns of Australia, and it is probable
that no other product of Louisville enterprise is
marketed throughout so wide an extent of terri-
tory.
Mr. Colgan has prospered as the man deserves to
prosper who gives his vffiole time, thought and at-
tention to the business in which he is engaged, who
sends into the market a meritorious product and
who deals justly and fairly with all who have busi-
ness relations with him. He has earned success by
his careful and sagacious conduct of his affairs, by
well directed effort and intelligent recognition of
the demands of trade. So closely has he devoted
himself to commercial and manufacturing pursuits
that he has given comparatively little attention to
public affairs other than to cast his vote and use his
influence to secure good government for the city,
State and nation. When twenty-nine years of age he
held the office of school trustee in Louisville, but
has since held no public office. He has, however,
been a member of the Democratic party since he
cast his first vote and has always contributed to its
success as far as he could without jeopardizing his
business interests through becoming embroiled in
politics and political campaigns. During the Civil
War his sympathies were with the Southern States
and his drug store was the recognized headquarters
of many who entertained similar views of the great
struggle between the States. Firm in his convic-
tions, he was outspoken in sentiment, and this bold
expression of his opinions led to his being arrested
four times by the Federal authorities, and for four
months he was held as a political prisoner at Mem-
phis, Tennessee. This was not a unique experience
at that time, as many prominent citizens of Louis-
ville suffered similar punishments on account of their
loyalty to the South, but its mention in this connec-
tion serves to call attention to the courage and fear-
lessness which have always been among Mr. Col-
gan’s dominant characteristics.
In fraternal circles he is well known as a member
of the Order of Knights of Honor and of Louisville
Lodge of Elks. Flis enterprise and public spirit
have been evidenced in numerous ways, and all
movements to advance the resources of Louisville
and to promote the prosperity of the city have re-
ceived his aid and encouragement. He was one of
the men most active in securing the great “Bicycle
Meet” for Louisville in 1896 and served as chairman
of the finance committee charged with the responsi-
bility of providing ways and means for meeting the
expenses incidental to that occasion. He was mar-
ried in 1866 to Miss Mattie McCrory, daughter of
John and Margaret McCrory, of Louisville. Mr.
and Mrs. Colgan have five children, named, respec-
tively, Bettie, William, Henry, Mabel and Clifton
Colgan.
C ORTUNATUS COSBY, JR., was the eldest
*■ son and second child of Judge Fortunatus Cos-
by and Mary Ann (Fontaine) Cosby. He was a well
known man of letters and a gifted poet, and, like his
father, a most genial and witty companion and the
intimate friend and associate of the most cultivated
men and women of his time, both in Kentucky and
in Washington. He was born May 2, 1801, on Har-
rod’s Creek, about nine miles above Louisville, and |
was educated at Yale College, New Haven, Connec- [
ticut, and at Transylvania University, Lexington, ‘
Kentucky. He studied law, but he never practiced |
that profession, for which he had no taste. He had f
an offer of an appointment as secretary of legation i
in London, which he declined, and he became for a f
time a partner in an extensive horticultural enter- |
prise in Louisville, then turned to a more congen-
ial field as an educator of youth and opened a pri- |
vate school. He was a member of the first board »
of school trustees of Louisville, formed in 1829, and j
was subsequently superintendent of the public j
schools for several years. His private library was ;
purchased by the Mercantile Library Association |
when it was formed, and it became the nucleus of
what is now the Public Library of Louisville. In |
1847 he became the associate editor of “The Ex-
aminer,” the first paper published in Kentucky de-
voted to the cause of the gradual emancipation of the [
slaves, and in 1848 he became its editor-in-chief.
In 1850 Mr. Cosby went to Washington City to ;
accept an appointment in the United States Treas- j,
ury Department, and there he remained until, hav-
ing been selected by President Lincoln, on August
12, 1861, for appointment as United States Consul
at Geneva, Switzerland, he sailed for his new post of j
duty, in September of that year. When Congress
met in December and his appointment was submitted
to the Senate for confirmation, some doubt was ex-
pressed as to his loyalty, as he was from a Southern j.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
485
State and had a son and a son-in-law in the Con-
federate Army and, Congress having adjourned
without acting on his nomination, his appointment
lapsed. The President, however, immediately re-
appointed him and he continued without interrup-
tion to exercise the functions of his office, and at
the next meeting of Congress he was confirmed and
finally commissioned February 18, 1863. But in
June, in consequence of a visit paid him in Geneva
by ex-Governor Morehead, of Kentucky, a life-long
friend, who was erroneously supposed to be a Con-
federate agent abroad, his loyalty was again suspect-
ed, and he was relieved as consul in 1863. He re-
mained abroad until after the close of the Civil War,
for, with sons in active service on both sides, its dis-
sensions tried his peaceful nature sorely, and it was
not until December, 1865, that he returned to the
, United States. He resided in Louisville after his
return, without other than literary pursuits, until
his death, which occurred on June 15, 1871.
Fortunatus Cosby first married, in Louisville, on
May 8, 1825, Ellen Mary Jane Blake, second child
and oldest daughter of Martin Blake, then a mem-
ber of the mercantile firm of Vernon & Blake, but
formerly a lawyer of Boston, Massachusetts, and a
member of a very old and prominent family of that
State. Mrs. Cosby was born in Roxbury, Massa-
chusetts, January 14, 1804, and was mainly educated
in Boston, but partly in Lexington, Kentucky. She
was noted for her personal beauty and great accom-
plishments, and was a fitting consort for her culti-
vated and brilliant husband. She died in Louisville
April 27, 1848, in her forty-fifth year, having had
issue seven children. Mr. Cosby married again in
Washington in the spring of 1854, Anna T. Mills,
fourth and youngest daughter of Robert Mills, the
eminent architect who designed the Washington
Monument, General Post Office and Patent Office
Buildings in Washington, etc. She died in 1864
without children.
The children of Fortunatus Cosby, Jr., and Ellen
M. J. (Blake) Cosby were: Robert Todd Cosby,
born April 18, 1826, married April 24, 1851, An-
toinette M. Linck, of Evansville, Indiana, and had
issue twins, who died in infancy. He inherited his
parents’ elegant tastes and the poetic genius of his
father. He became a teacher at the age of nineteen
and then a telegraph constructor, but his health be-
ing delicate he accepted an appointment in the
United States Census Office at Washington in 1851,
which he retained until the date of his death, on
July 4, 1853, at the early age of twenty-seven years;
Ellen Blake Cosby, born January 1, 1828, married
November 21, 1850, John Slaughter Carpenter, a
wholesale hardware merchant of Louisville until the
Civil War, and since then an insurance agent. Mrs.
Carpenter has an unusually bright mind and is a
very cultured woman. She has had twelve children,
of whom seven are now living; George Blake Cosby,
born January 19, 1830, married at Fort Mason,
Texas, April 18, i860, Antonia B., daughter of Dr.
John M. Johnson, of Paducah, Kentucky. They
have one son, George B., Jr., and four daughters,
Edith, Elsie, Antonia and Elizabeth, all of whom
are living in California. George Blake Cosby grad-
uated at the United States Military Academy at
West Point in June, 1852, and was commissioned
a second lieutenant in the Mounted Rifles. When
the army was increased in 1855 he was selected for
promotion and transfer to the Second Cavalry, now
the Fifth. He became captain in this regiment May
9, 1861, and on May 10th resigned his commission
to enter the Confederate service. He was appointed
major and assistant adjutant general in the Confed-
erate Army May 20, 1861, and promoted to briga-
dier-general of cavalry in 1863. in which capacity he
served until the close of the war. In 1867 he went
to California, where he still resides, having been at
different times secretary of the State Senate, assist-
ant State engineer, adjutant general of the State
twice, member of the United States Board of Visit-
ors to the West Point Military Academy, superin-
tendent of construction of the United States Govern-
ment Building in Sacramento and United States
commissioner to report upon California Indians,
which office he now holds. General Cosby was se-
verely wounded bv Indians in Texas and was com-
mended for gallantry. He was captured at Fort
Donelson with General Buckner, whose adjutant
general he was, and was a prisoner of war; was
paroled and sent South by the United States Gov-
ernment to arrange a cartel for the exchange of
prisoners; Mary Fontaine Cosby, born March 7.
1833, died in Nantucket, Massachusetts, September
27, 1881. She married, first, on April 20, 1859, Lieu-
tenant Lucas L. Rich, Fifth Infantry, United States
Army, and afterwards colonel of the Ninth Missouri
Infantry, Confederate Army. He died at Oka-
iona, Mississippi, August 9, 1862, from wounds
received at the Battle of Shiloh. Their two
children, a son and a daughter, both died young,
and the widow married again, on July 25,
1872, Abraham Thomas Bradley, a lawyer of Wash-
ington, by whom she had one son of the same name,
486
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
now living. She was a very beautiful woman, of
most gentle and attractive manners; Alice Gray Cos-
by, born August 12, 1831, and died July 10, 1837;
William Vernon Cosby, born January 13, 1835, and
died July 11, 1837; Francis Carvill Cosby, born
April 10, 1840, married, December 6, 1864, Char-
lotte Malvina Spencer, eldest child and only daugh-
ter of Samuel Wright Spencer, a banker of Chester-
town, Maryland. They have three sons, of whom
the eldest, Spencer, graduated at West Point at the
head of his class and is now a first lieutenant of en-
gineers in the army. The second, Frank Clark,
graduated from Cornell University in 1893, and is
an electrical engineer, and the youngest, Arthur For-
tunatus — A. B., Harvard, ’94, and LL. B., Columbia,
’95 — is a practicing lawyer in New York. Frank
Carvill Cosby received an appointment in the United
States Treasury at Washington in 1854, and was one
of the three persons who had charge of the Treasury
money vault, and during the two and a half years
he remained there over sixty millions of dollars in
gold passed through his hands. In 1857 he entered
the navy as captain’s clerk, and after two cruises and
his coming of age he was appointed an assistant
paymaster, August 24, 1861, by President Lincoln,
and has served continuously in the pay corps of the
navy since that time. On July 25, 1889, he
reached by regular promotion the highest grade
in his corps and was commissioned pay director
with the rank of captain in the navy. During the
Civil War he served in the Virginia and South Caro-
lina waters, and at various times he has served in
the African, European, Atlantic, West India and Pa-
cific stations, and at most of the navy yards. He
was for one year on special service in Honolulu,
Hawaii, and on special service for two years in con-
nection with the Government exhibit at the World’s
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, and he is now
in charge of the United States Navy Pay Office in
Washington.
One of Fortunatus Cosby’s poems, “Ode on the
Dedication of Cave Hill Cemetery,” appears in these
volumes under its appropriate heading. He was the
author of a number of others, widely copied and
much admired, but no volume of his poems was
ever published.
T AMES WILLIAM HOPPER, editor, was born
k-' in Nicholas County, Kentucky, near Millers-
burg, Bourbon County, November 28, 1839. He
was a son of John Hopper and Lucy Ann Campbell,
the former from Virginia and of English descent, the
latter born in Culpeper County of that State, a
daughter of John Campbell, a soldier of the Revo-
lutionary War, and a niece of General William
Campbell, also related to the celebrated families of
Greens, Pendletons and Taylors of that State.
His education was received from private schools
in the neighborhood and from the Millersburg Male
and Female Collegiate Institute, of which Dr.
George S. Savage was the principal. Afterwards he
matriculated at Bethany College, Virginia, whence
he graduated in 1859. He took the regular course
and was first graduate in the School of Modern Lan-
guages, embracing French, German, Spanish and
Italian. He was under the tutorage of Professor
Joseph Desha Pickett, who was afterwards for two
terms superintendent of public instruction and one
of the most scholarly men in the State.
At college, in 1858-9, he was editor of the society
magazine, and there developed his first inclination
to editorial writing. Shortly after graduating at
Bethany College he went to Missouri, where he en-
gaged in the business of school teaching and taught
for one year, when he came back to Kentucky and
took charge of a school at Elkton, Todd County.
While engaged here he finished his study of the law,
and in the summer of 1862 was examined by the
judges and admitted to the bar. At the close of 1864
lie removed to Louisville, where he resided during
1865 and a part of 1866, going in the latter year to
Cincinnati, where he remained until May, 1867, and
then came back to Louisville. In August, 1867, he
went from Louisville to Lebanon, Kentucky, and
made that his home for more than twenty years.
At Lebanon he practiced his profession for some
time, and was made county attorney, an office which
he filled with integrity and ability from 1868 until
1874. From 1868 to 1872 he also served as school
commissioner and was associate editor of the Le-
banon Clarion until 1870. In December, 1870, he
helped to establish and became editor of the Le-
banon Standard, which proved a success, and in
1881 absorbed the Lebanon Times and was there-
after known as the Lebanon Standard and Times.
To this journal he gave high character and succeed-
ed in making it a strong factor in Kentucky journal-
ism. He wrote with clearness, accuracy and force,
dealing in facts and wasting no time or material in
unproductive talk.
In 1889, having resigned as editor of the Standard
and Times, he again came to Louisville and obtained
a position as editorial writer upon the Courier-Jour-
nal, a position which he has since filled with marked
PERSONAL, HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
487
ability. His memory of political events, knowledge
of the principles of all parties and the extreme care
he observes in the relation of facts have given him
prominence among the journalists of the State, to
nearly all of whom he is personally known.
He is called the “Encyclopedia of the Courier-
Journal,” because he is rarely at a loss to furnish in-
formation upon any subject. In addition to his
knowledge of modern languages he is a fine classical
scholar, knowing Latin and Greek thoroughly, and
showing the philologist in all that he writes.
Since 1891 he has also been editor of the Masonic
Home Journal, the principal representative in Ken-
tucky of that ancient and honorable fraternity. He
is a devoted member of the order and has been hon-
ored with the position of grand master of Masons
in Kentucky and is now grand king of the Grand
Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. In Odd Fellow-
ship, he is past grand; in Knights of Honor, past
dictator.
Mr. Hopper has also held the offices of secretary,
vice president and president of the Kentucky Press
Association, and has contributed quite a number
of valuable reminiscent and historical papers to the
association, chiefly with regard to Kentucky jour-
nalism. It is become almost an adage among mem-
bers of the Kentucky press that “Hopper’s facts are
incontrovertible.”
He has always been a Democrat, and at the pres-
ent time is a zealous advocate of the g'old standard —
or what he calls the “sound money” principle. He
is also for home rule and a tariff for revenue only.
He has now no regular church affiliation, but was
at one time a member of the Christian, or Disciples’
Church. He has been at all times a man of marked
morality and a respector of all Christian denomina-
tions.
On the 9th of May, 1872, he married Isabella M.
Johnston, of Navarro County, Texas, by whom he
had two children, a son, Lee M. Hopper, reporter on
the Louisville Times, and a daughter, Annie L. Hop-
per, who is now a young lady. His wife died in
March, 1875, and he has since remained a widower.
In point of personality, Mr. Hopper is grave, dig-
nified and noticeably reserved, though by no means
lacking in genial and agreeable intercourse with
friends. He is polite to strangers, but not a very
great seeker after wide acquaintance. He is not
what would be called a man of popular address, but
he has always had the quality of attaching his
friends, and he holds the respect and confidence of
all who know him.
j_| ENRY WAT 1 ERSON, LL. D., journalist, pub-
licist and orator, a many-sided man, to whom
not Louisville alone, not the Commonwealth of
Kentucky alone, but the whole United States stands
indebted, and whose fame is national, was born in
Washington City the 16th day of February, 1840.
One year before his birth his father, the Hon. Har-
vey McGee Watterson, had entered Congress as
the youngest member of the House of Representa-
tives and as successor to James K. Polk, who had
been speaker of the House during the two preceding
terms, became governor of Tennessee in 1839 and
President of the United States in 1845. During the
next twenty years the elder Watterson, who was also
a journalist by profession, was a prominent figure
in public life, and consequently the son spent much
of his time in the National Capital, sitting at the
feet of the statesmen of that period in his childhood,
being thrilled and stimulated by the magnetic in-
fluences of great intellects, and by actual contact with
the operations of the Government and familiar in-
tercourse with its officials laying the foundations for
that elaborate knowledge of affairs which has since
shown itself in his career.
In consequence of his defective vision, his educa-
tion had to be largely entrusted to private tutors.
He passed four years, however, at the Academy of
the Diocese of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, pre-
sided over at that time by the eminent scholar and
theologian, Rev. Dr. George Emlen Hare, and at
that academy impressed himself upon his teachers
and fellow students as a lad of unusual promise. In
early life the trend of his mind seemed to be strongly
toward poetry and art, and he had a taste and fond-
ness for music, which he cultivated with assiduity
and encouragement until an accident deprived him
of the full and free action of his left hand and cut
short his musical studies. The atmosphere in which
he lived from boyhood to young manhood was an
intellectual atmosphere, and he derived the largest
measure of profit from his associations and environ-
ments.
He was a journalist by instinct, and in juvenile
journalism towered above his fellows as he has
since towered above the average American editor
and newspaper writer. At school he was the editor
of the school paper, “The Ciceronian,” and his su-
perior conduct of the paper prompted the associa-
tion of students controlling it to suspend their con-
stitution to enable him to retain the post of editor
several successive terms. Then, when he returned
to McMinnville, Tennessee, where his father had a
4S8
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
summer home, he was given a printing outfit, and
“The New Era” made its appearance as a juvenile
publication. The first editorial which appeared in
this paper was a bugle-note article, a call to the
Democratic party. The next day after its publica-
tion it was copied into “The Nashville American,”
and next he saw it reproduced in “The Washington
Union,” the national organ of the Democratic party.
Then it went the rounds of the Democratic papers
of the country, and Henry Watterson had sounded
his first campaign “key-note” when he was six-
teen years of age. In the little mountain town of Mc-
Minnville he edited his paper and pursued his classi-
cal studies under the preceptorship of Rev. James
W. Poindexter — a Presbyterian minister of much
learning — for two years. At the age of eighteen he
sought a wider field and went to New York, where
he wrote for “Harper’s Weekly” — then just estab-
lished— “The Times,” and other papers. The winter
of 1859 found him again in Washington, where he
was regularly employed on “The States” — which,
under the editorship of Roger A. Pryor and the
management of John P. Heiss, was the organ of the
young Democracy — and did much miscellaneous
newspaper work.
The eve of the Civil War found him established
in journalism and as a man of letters in the National
Capital. With his father, he opposed the disunion
movement, but, when the die was cast and the South-
ern States resolved to secede, he went with his sec-
tion. Returning to Tennessee in the fall of 1861
he was for a short time assistant editor of “The
Nashville Banner,” but early in the year 1862, when
the Confederates evacuated Nashville, Watterson,
to use his own phrase, “leaped into an empty saddle
as Forrest’s Cavalry swept by,” and entered the Con-
federate military service, to which he devoted him-
self until the close of the war, except during an in
terlude of ten months, devoted to newspaper work.
He was an aide to General N. B. Forrest, and after-
ward served on the staff of the bishop-general, Leon-
idas Polk. During the famous campaign in which
General Joseph E. Johnston confronted General W.
T. Sherman he was chief of scouts of the Confederate
Army. The newspaper episode referred to, which
for a time took him out of the ranks, was the estab-
lishment at Chattanooga, Tennessee, of a semi-mili-
tary daily newspaper, called “The Rebel,” which at-
tained instant and great popularity with both the
officers and enlisted men of the army. It became
almost indispensable to the Western Department
and exerted a potent influence in shaping events. It
became an immense favorite with the soldiers, and
its young editor was the friend, and his paper, in a
sense at least, the organ of the able commanders of
the army. It was a bright newspaper and had many
fresh and novel features, some of which stereotyped
themselves on modern journalism. It was — as its
name indicated — an irrepressible warrior, but was
not a servile follower of beaten tracks, but an out-
spoken and independent force, forecasting, in some
respects, the famous Courier-Journal of later years.
Mr. Watterson conducted this novel newspaper from
October, 1862, until September, 1863, and, upon
the fall of Chattanooga, returned to the military
service. The paper continued to be published a few
months longer in a Georgia village and then ceased
to exist.
At the close of the war Mr. Watterson was one
of the three young men who revived “The Nash-
ville Banner” with their intellectual capital and a
borrowed thousand dollars. He was identified with
Nashville journalism until the winter of 1867-68,
when overtures were made to him to become the
managing editor of “The Louisville Journal,” which
had been made famous by George D. Prentice, wit,
poet and essayist. The result of the negotiations
which followed was that the Journal Company pur-
chased the stock owned by Mr. Prentice, which was
transferred to Mr. Watterson, who assumed the
management of the paper in the spring of 1868. At
once there was an infusion of the peculiar Watter-
sonian vigor and virility into the conduct of “The
Journal,” and a lively newspaper war ensued be-
tween it and “The Courier,” the publication of
which Walter N. Haldeman had resumed in Louis-
ville at the close of the war. Mr. Watterson
planned to bring about a consolidation of the papers,
involving the purchase of “The Louisville Demo-
crat,” and the rapid growth of “The Journal” under
his management hastened the consummation of this
consolidation, which went into effect in the fall of
1868, the first number of “The Courier-Journal'’
making its appearance November 8th of that year.
This was a master stroke of policy and business.
Prosperity attended the venture from the start, and
since that time “The Courier-Journal” has had no
rival, either in influence or circulation in the South-
ern States.
Although Mr. Watterson had succeeded Mr. Pren-
tice in the active editorial management of “The
Journal,” Mr. Prentice was retained on that paper
and its successor, “The Courier-Journal,” as an
editorial writer, and whilst he lived the younger jour-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
489
nalist preferred to remain somewhat in the back-
ground. With the death of Prentice, in 1870, he
stepped to the front and assumed the leadership
of the liberal and progressive element among the
people of the Southland. He was among the first
of the Southern moulders of public opinion “to ac-
cept the fact that politically and socially the
country had experienced a complete transformation
as a result of the war and the emancipation of the
negroes.” He was one of the initiators of the move-
ment to bring about a complete reconciliation of the
sections, and in this work he had to contend against
the reactionary elements of both the North and the
South. The old Bourbon spirit was strong in Ken-
tucky, and when he came into the State, as one of
his biographers has said, he found “the post-bellum
belligerents in the saddle.” Mr. Watterson took an
uncompromising position in favor of the new order
of things, necessitated by the amendments to the
Constitution of the United States and national legis-
lation. The contest was a stubborn and bitter one,
but he continued the struggle until he obtained that
primacy which has since been conceded to him by
all parties in Kentucky and which has led to his
being styled the “Dictator” and sometimes “The
Uncrowned King” of the Commonwealth. Not be-
ing a native of Kentucky, he encountered in the be-
ginning the same sort of fierce opposition that Henry
Clay encountered before he was accepted as a politi-
cal leader, but, like Clay, he overcame this opposi-
tion and, like Clay, his potent, masterful spirit has
long kept him in a commanding position.
On all the great questions concerning which there
have been divided counsels in the Democratic party
within the past twenty years results have vindicated
Mr. Watterson’s political sagacity, though he lias
often been far in advance of his party. He stood for
national fellowship against radicalism North and
South. He stood for honest money and the national
credit when a very large proportion of his party
inclined to an irredeemable paper currency. From
the start he led the revenue reform movement, finally
forcing upon his party the shibboleth, “A tariff for
revenue only.” He has either written or exercised a
decisive influence in shaping the platforms of the
Democratic party in every National Convention
since 1872. In the National Convention of 1892 the
platform committee, “under the guidance of men
acting ostensibly as the personal representatives of
him who was overwhelmingly the choice of the con-
vention for President, reported a tariff plank that
practically repudiated the Democratic position."
This action of the committee was challenged by a
substitute resolution offered by Mr. Lawrence T.
Neal, of Ohio, and upon call of the convention Mr.
Watterson made a masterful speech and a still more
powerful reply to .the arguments in favor of a “strad-
dle,” and these speeches carried the convention and
resulted in the adoption, by an overwhelming ma-
jority, of the honest, straightforward and emphatic
declaration upon the tariff question, which gained
for the Democratic party a sufficient victory at the
ensuing election.
Mr. Watterson has resolutely declined office. In
compliance with the wishes of Samuel J. Tilden, with
whom he was closely allied, he accepted a seat in
Congress during the electoral crisis of 1876-77, fill-
ing out the unexpired term of Edward Y. Parsons
as representative of the Louisville District. He was
made a member of the ways and means committee in
recognition of his prominence as a publicist and
political economist, and was also a member of the
joint committee of advisement, a body charged
with the control of the Democratic plan of campaign.
He has sat for the State of Kentucky at large in
all the National Conventions of his party since 1872.
and was temporary chairman of that which nominat-
ed Mr. Tilden in 1876. He wrote the tariff plank of
the Democratic national platform of that year, and in
1880 wrote the entire platform adopted by the
convention. He was chairman of the platform com-
mittees of 1880 and 1888, and in every convention
which he has attended has been a conspicuously in-
teresting figure. The way to high official prefer-
ment has been, at all times, open to him, but the
feeling which prompted him to decline such prefer-
ment is shown in a statement made by him, in 1883,
when he declined to stand for the United States
senatorship of Kentucky. At that time he said: "I
shall stay where I am. Office is not for me. Be-
ginning in slavery to end in poverty, it is odious to
my sense of freedom.”
As a journalist, Mr. Watterson occupies the very
first rank, both by popular verdict and the conces-
sion of his assoeiates, in the press of America. His
early taste for journalism was supplemented by a
long and laborious service as managing editor, as
well as editorial writer, causing his personality to be
impressed so thoroughly upon every part of his pa-
per that the unsophisticated rural subscriber gave
him personal credit for everything in it. His ca-
pacity for work has always been very great. Of late
years he has done comparatively little editorial work,
his attention having been mainly given to the lec-
490
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ture field. But so thoroughly had he systematized
and perfected the conduct of his paper that, with
only an occasional ringing editorial to shape its
course or expound a principle, comparatively few of
his constituents have been aware of his absence from
the tripod. Nearly a year ago, however, he an-
nounced his formal retirement from active politics,
feeling that he “had earned a rest.” Since then his
editorial contributions have been rare, and he made
an extended lecture tour, preparatory to his depart-
ure for Europe with his family.
As an orator Mr. Watterson has achieved a dis-
tinction scarcely less than as a journalist. Upon all
public occasions, great and small, whether in na-
tional convention, before vast audiences as a lec-
turer, or in response to an after-dinner toast, he is
equally felicitous. His oratory is of a kind that
alike pleases and carries conviction, impassioned as
Mirabeau when a great principle is to be enforced,
as scholarly as Everett in a set oration — as that at
the opening of the Columbian Exposition of 1893
and as sparkling in wit as Depew at the festive board.
When it was proposed to invite the Grand Army of
the Republic to meet at Louisville in 1895, he was
chosen as the spokesman of the city and the South,
and by force of his genius and eloquence, succeeded
in the effort against apparently insurmountable ob-
stacles. When the great body of veterans met for
the first time south of the Ohio, and Louisville re-
deemed all the pledges made by him, his speech at
Pittsburgh was only excelled by his welcome of the
hosts to Louisville, in an address which crowned
him with new honors and united with indissoluble
bonds the enthusiastic guests and hosts.
In recognition of his scholarship and achieve-
ments in his capacity as journalist, orator and in cog-
nate spheres, the University of the South, at Se-
wanee, Tennessee, conferred upon Mr. Watterson
the degree of LL. D., a distinction which he has
worn with becoming modesty, and coming from his
native State, with grateful pride. His contributions
to literature have not been confined to the press,
since, in addition to innumerable tracts and pamph-
lets on political and economic subjects, he is the
author of a characteristic volume of humor, entitled,
“The Oddities and Humors of Southern Life.” He
has travelled extensively abroad, contributing in-
structive and interesting letters to his paper, and
is now in Europe, engaged upon a literary work.
He was married in 1865 to a daughter of the
Hon. Andrew Ewing, of Tennessee, and has five
children, three sons and two daughters.
D ICHARD WILSON KNOTT, editor of the
* ' Louisville Evening Post, was born at Frankfort,
Kentucky, September 26, 1849. He was the oldest
son of Richard and Ann Mary (Roberts) Knott.
His father was for many years a merchant at Frank-
fort, where he held the esteem and confidence of the
people and afterwards for a number of years was
prominent in commercial circles at Louisville. His
mother was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Gill Rob-
erts, who was assistant surgeon on a vessel when
Commodore Farragut was a midshipman in 1815.
Dr. Roberts was also a surgeon in the Mexican
War with General Wm. Preston, and a surgeon in
the Union Army in 1862.
His paternal grandfather was Major Wilson
Knott, of Pennsylvania, a civil engineer, and one of
the earlier contractors for building locks and dams
on the Kentucky River.
A biographical sketch of his father, Richard
Knott, will be found elsewhere in this history.
Mr. Richard Knott came to the city of Louisville
in 1854, when the subject of this sketch was five
years old. He attended the private schools until he
was fifteen, when he entered his father’s store and
remained there for fourteen years. He abandoned
mercantile pursuits in 1878, when with four friends
he established the Evening Post. In 1880 it was
sold to Colonel C. E. Sears, and Mr. Knott became
manager of the Home and Farm, and an editorial
writer on the Courier-Journal. In 1893 he pur-
chased the Evening Post and became its editor-in-
chief. The paper was at once re-organized, given the
best mechanical and news gathering facilities and
now ranks with the best evening journals of the
country.
Mr. Knott writes with facility, betraying much
care and confidence in handling his subjects. As a
Democrat he holds that the objects of the Demo-
cratic party are to maintain good government, to es-
tablish a sound currency, to secure greater freedom
of trade and to secure a thorough reform of civil
service. He has conducted the Evening Post upon
these lines. He gave it a wide influence by his
early advocacy of a single gold standard and his
firm stand for “sound money.” His was one of the
earliest journals to uphold the administration of
Mr. Cleveland on the questions of the currency and
civil service reform. He was in accord with the
president and the secretary of the treasury when
they found themselves confronted by a majority of
the Democrats of the Senate, and in the face of all
opposition he has contended effectively for these
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
491
opinions. In municipal affairs the Evening Post
has been an independent and fearless adversary of
corruption and a sturdy advocate of the purity of
the ballot box.
Mr. Knott has taken great interest in the com-
mercial affairs of Louisville. He was one of the or-
ganizers of the Southern Exposition of 1883 and a
director in that enterprise, and its success was large-
ly due to his journalistic work.
In 1892 he was one of three gentlemen who draft-
ed a new charter for the city of Louisville, his as-
sociates being Mr. E. J. McDermott and Mr. Carey
Peter. This instrument was so altered and modified
by the Legislature as to practically destroy its best
features.
DENJAMIN LEIGHT SWOPE was born at
Hagerstown, Maryland, March 3, 1824, and
died in Louisville, February 22, 1896. His parents
were Jacob Swope — born 1797, died 1863 — and
Eliza (Leight) Swope — born in 1802, died in 1874.
He was brought up in Maryland and educated at
the Hagerstown Academy, supplementing his acad-
emic studies with a course designed to fit him for
the profession of civil engineer.
Coming to Louisville about the year 1850, his
first employment here was in the capacity of book-
keeper, his employers being the old time wholesale
queensware firm of Casseday & Hopkins. After fa-
miliarizing himself with this business by several
years’ experience, he went to Chicago and establish-
ed the wholesale queensware store of Swope &
Hubbel in that city. At the end of five years in Chi-
cago he sold out his interest in that firm, and re-
turning to Louisville was made general freight
agent of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Com-
pany by Hon. James Guthrie, who was then presi-
dent of the corporation. He was the first man ever
appointed to that position, and organized the gen-
eral freight department of the company’s business,
holding the agency until the beginning of the war,
when he resigned, intending to enter the Confederate
military service, being in all respects an ardent
Southerner and in hearty sympathy with the move-
ment to establish a Southern Republic. Circum-
stances, which he had not foreseen, prevented him,
however, from joining the Confederate Army. At a
later date he became connected with the business
management of “The Louisville Commercial,” and
during the summer of 1878, while Colonel R. M.
Kelly was absent from the city, acted as editor of
that paper.
Having become known throughout the city, and
to a considerable extent throughout the State, as an
expert accountant, demands began to be made upon
him for services in that connection, and for many
years he devoted a large portion of his time to work
of that character. He was called upon to straighten
out many complicated systems of accounts, among
other notable cases with which he was connected as
an expert being that of the Kentucky University.
In this instance he found the accounts badly mixed
and was highly complimented on his solution of the
intricate problems which confronted him.
For some time he was editor of “The Manufac-
turers’ and Merchants’ Advertiser” and was a fre-
quent contributor to the local press, all his writings
tending to promote the best interests of the city and
evincing marked ability and fine literary taste. Many
fugitive articles were contributed by him to “The
Commercial” and other papers, and among them a
series of sketches discussing social and everyday
topics, over the signature “Curmudgeon,” which
were exceedingly entertaining and attracted much
attention. They were in the style of Eugene Field's
later writings in “The Chicago Record,” and were
in no sense inferior to the bright and witty sketches
of the gifted Chicago poet. Mr. Swope was also a
poet of recognized ability, and his “Muse was a
gentle and loving inspiration,” breathing sweetness
and inciting men and women to lead better and
purer lives. It was written of him, “When Mr. B.
L. Swope was buried, one of the truest gentlemen
and one of the bravest and purest souls that ever
honored our citizenship was hid away from life. He
was a fine Latin and Greek scholar, a man of charm-
ing personality, evidencing a cultivated mind and
superior attainments in his daily intercourse with
men, “an earnest out-spoken advocate for all that
was best in government and politics." His nature was
thoroughly poetic, and had he devoted himself ex-
clusively to literature, he would doubtless have gath-
ered his full share of the laurels bestowed upon
those who have distinguished themselves in that
field. As it was, many of his poetical productions
and other contributions to the press linger pleasant-
ly in the memories of those who knew and loved
him. “He did much good all through his honorable
and useful life.”
He was married in 1857 to Miss Jessie Staines,
his brother, Rev. Dr. Swope — who for twenty-five
years was rector of Trinity Chapel. New York — be-
ing the officiating minister. Mrs. Swope was born
in Scotland, of English-Scotch parentage, descend-
492
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
ing from the Covenanters on the mother’s side, and
on her father’s side from the English Bromby fam-
ily, her grandfather having been an English officer.
She was married to Mr. Swope when he was a resi-
dent of Chicago. Their children are: Jessie, now
Mrs. George C. Norton; Catharine, now Mrs. Crit-
tenden Marriott; Sally, now Mrs. Chapman C.
Joyes; Eliza, Cornelius E., and Thomas S. Swope.
BALLARD SMITH, a noted journalist, the son
of Hamilton and Louise Rudd Smith, was born
in Louisville in 1849. His father — whose biography
will be found elsewhere in this work — was a native
of New Hampshire, who, after studying law in
Washington with Levi Woodbury and William
Wirt, went with- his college mate, the late Chief
Justice Chase, to Louisville in 1832 and was
long prominent as a commercial lawyer and enter-
prising citizen. His mother was a daughter of Dr.
Christopher Rudd, of Bardstown, Kentucky, whose
family came from Maryland at an early period in
Kentucky’s history and had a prominent part in its
settlement and development.
His early education was obtained at preparatory
schools in New England and at Dartmouth College,
where his grandfather, father and uncle had gradu-
ated. He still further followed in the footsteps of
these worthy predecessors by being elected, as had
been the two latter, the orator of his class at the
time of his graduation. Thus equipped for the battle
of life, he returned to Kentucky to decide upon
his vocation for the future. His father had died
when he was but four years old, leaving an estate
embarrassed through his efforts to develop exten-
sive cotton manufactures in the Ohio Valley, and the
only capital of the young collegian was his educa-
tion and a courageous will. While inclined to the
law, but still undetermined as to his course, an inci-
dent happened which, as afterward appeared, fixed
his destiny. He was present at a public dinner at
which Henry Watterson spoke concerning the pro-
fession of journalism as a field for young men, and
was so much impressed by his remarks that on the
next day he called upon Mr. Watterson and applied
for employment on the Courier-Journal. But the
learned editor had only been speaking in the ab-
stract, with no idea of calling for recruits, and in-
formed the applicant that there was no vacancy in
the office and he had no need of his services. An-
other noted journalist, Murat Halstead, has said that
there is never a vacancy on a paper and the only
way for a young man to get a start on one is to
break in, and practically this is what young Smith
did. He was so persistent that Watterson at last
concluded to give him a trial at picking up small
items of news about the city courts. The very next
day an opportunity occurred which, as Mr. Smith
has since said, filled the cup of his ambition to the
brim. An important criminal trial was to take place
at Jeffersontown, in which a number of desperate
characters were charged with many outrages, in-
cluding murder, which had aroused popular feeling
to a high degree of excitement threatening to cul-
minate in a lynching. Every sensational feature
which could inspire a reporter was prominent. A
strong guard accompanied the prisoners from the
Louisville jail to the place of trial, and Ballard rode
in the wagon which conveyed the outlaws, the heav-
ily armed escort marching on either side. Arrived
at Jeffersontown, an exciting crowd received the
cortege with every demonstration of a purpose to
take the law into their own hands, from which they
were restrained only by the coolness of the officer
in charge of the guard. An exciting trial followed,
in which the guilt of the accused was established and
the law vindicated. The young reporter proved
equal to the occasion. He wrote seven columns,
graphically describing the proceedings and all the
attendant incidents, which appeared only in the
Courier-Journal. He afterward found out that, for
fear that he might not be equal to the task, two other
reporters had been sent to the trial, but it was his
report that went into print. After that he had plain
sailing. He became, in time, city editor, and within
eighteen months, Mr. Watterson being absent in
Europe and the managing editor resigning, he, as
he has expressed it, “executed a sort of coup d’ etat
in taking charge without any authority and was con-
firmed in my position when Mr. Watterson return-
ed.” He had not only broken into the Courier-Jour-
nal office, but had captured the citadel of the fort-
ress. From this position he subsequently resigned
to become editor of the Evening Ledger, which he
in time relinquished to accept a position on the staff
of the New York World, under William Henry
Hurlbut. Starting as Southern exchange reader,
he within a year became city and managing editor.
In 1878 he was made managing editor of the New
York Sun, but having impaired his health by his
close application, he retired from journalism for
a period of rest and travel. In 1882 he became gen-
eral correspondent of the New York Herald, but in
1885 returned to the World, at Mr. Pulitzer’s re-
quest, soon became managing editor, and during the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
493
absence of Mr. Pulitzer in Europe in 1891 was act-
ing editor-in-chief. In 1893 he was made managing
editor of the World’s entire foreign service, with
headquarters in London, in which capacity he fully
maintains his high reputation as a journalist.
To a thorough education, an indefatigable indus-
try and a handsome person, Mr. Smith unites a
pleasing address, which fits him admirably for the
higher functions of his business. While he is mas-
ter of every branch of journalism, his real forte has
been in gathering news and presenting it in a form
to please the public. To accomplish this in import-
ant matters requires one who inspires confidence in
his direction as well as capacity. It was to him that
John Kelly communicated the details of “Boss”
Tweed’s confession after he had been brought back
from Spain, and when he declined, upon demand of
the court, to give the name of his informant, was
about to suffer imprisonment when Mr. Kelly re-
lieved him by acknowledging his responsibility for
the facts. In 1886 the country rang with Mr. Smith’s
enterprise in securing from President Cleveland an
interview in which he declared his entire financial
policy. It is this rare quality which belongs to the
highest realm of diplomacy which so well fits Mr.
Smith for the position he now fills. When all Eng-
land is agitated with questions of the gravest char-
acter, he controls the key which unlocks to the world
the most ifnportant state secrets which prime minis-
ters and cabinet officers, sooner or later, wish given
out discreetly through a proper channel. No one
commands this kind of confidence to a greater ex-
tent, or is more frequently made the vehicle of com-
munication to an anxious public than Mr. Smith.
He has not yet had an interview with a crowned
head, but the opinions of some of the leading min-
isters of Europe are not infrequently uttered
through him.
Mr. Smith was some years ago happily married
and his family reside with him in London, but he
has lost none of his love of country and especially of
his affection for his native State.
Y\7 ALTER NEWMAN HALDEMAN, publish-
’ ’ er, was born at Maysville, Kentucky, April 27,
1821. He was the oldest child of John Haldeman,
who was born near Lancaster, in what is now called
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1771,
and died in Louisville, Kentucky, January 19, 1844;
and of Elizabeth Newman Haldeman, who was born
in Heidelberg Township, Dauphin County, Penn-
sylvania, January 7, 1790, and died in Louisville,
Kentucky, December 25, 1874, both his parents
having been natives of the Keystone state.
His grandfather, Jacob Haldeman, was born in
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, August 14, 1747 —
was married to Elizabeth Muselman, November 27,
1768. They moved from Christiansburg, Pennsyl-
vania, to Augusta County, Virginia, some years later
and both died there, he December 18, 1790, and she
June 9, 1829. His great-grandfather, Jacob Halde-
man, Sr., was born in the Canton of Neufchatel,
Switzerland, October 7, 1722, and died in Rapho
Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Febru-
ary 27, 1783. His' wife, Maria Haldeman, was born
December 3, 1726, and died September 9, 1800. His
great-great-grandfather, Honnas Haldeman, came
to America in 1727, about five years after his son,
Jacob Haldeman, Sr., was born and settled in Lan-
caster County, Pennsylvania, where he was living as
late as 1773, as evidenced by a transfer of land to his
grandson, Jacob.
The line of this Swiss family, from which Walter
Newman Haldeman is descended, is traced back
with distinctness to Hoinnete Gaspard Haldimand,
as rendered in French, or “Honest Caspar Halde-
man,” as in German, who was born in the bailiwick
of Thun, Canton Berne, Switzerland, April 1, 1671,
the record beyond this being imperfect and uncer-
tain. Caspar Haldeman had four sons, one of whom
was the father of Sir Frederick Haldeman, K. B.,
who in early life served with distinction in the arm-
ies of Sardinia and Prussia, and afterwards was com-
missioned as lieutenant-colonel in the British army
at Hague in 1756. He came to America the follow-
ing year and was conspicuous at Ticonderoga, July
8, 1758, and in the defense of Oswego, 1759, against
the French. He was promoted to colonel and
placed in command of Florida in 1767. He was
made major-general May 25, 1772, and succeeded
General Gage at New York in 1773; in command at
Boston in 1774, when summoned to England as ad-
viser in American affairs. There is no record of his
having taken an active part in the war which ensued
with England, but in 17/8 he was made governor-
general of Quebec and Canada, with the title of cap-
tain-general and governor-in-chief; was vice-admiral
and commander-in-chief of the English forces m
these provinces. He was made Knight of the Bath
in that year, and on July 30, 1789, governor of Gib-
raltar. He returned to Yverdun, Switzerland, and
died there, June 5, 1791 ■ He was a first cousin of
Jacob Haldeman, Sr., the great-grandfather of Wal-
ter Newman Haldeman.
494
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
In tracing the several branches of this family it is
found that all of them were men of thrift and wealth
in each generation, and that very few of them were
dependent upon hereditary fortune. The record
shows quite a number to have been bankers, land-
owners and mill proprietors — all leading active and
industrious lives and proving valuable as citizens
of integrity, enterprise and public spirit, Sir Freder-
ick Haldeman being the only one of record who
sought name and fame in public office and through
the profession of arms. Modesty and quiet worth
appears to have been the ruling family character-
istics.
The early immigration of the Haldemans to this
country brought to the sections in which they set-
tled a courageous, hardy and most excellent ele-
ment. Pennsylvania seems to have been the point
of first attraction, but in the last century they spread
out to the South and West, finding homes in Vir-
ginia, Kentucky, Ohio and other States, where their
descendants now reside, and are generally prosper-
ous and honorable.
The grandfather of Walter Haldeman, on his
mother's side, was Walter Newman, a Revolutionary
soldier of distinction, who lived near Point Pleasant,
Virginia, and afterwards moved to Newark, Ohio,
where he died about the year of 1840. He was also
a stanch and active man, of great public spirit and
enterprise. Walter Haldeman had a large family,
some of the sons being farmers and living near
Point Pleasant, Virginia, while others located in the
West. Jesse Haldeman located at Paris, Kentucky,
and was a popular dry goods merchant there for
many years, removing later to Missouri, where he
died. John Newman and Jonas Newman went to
St. Louis, the first being a lawyer of high position
and dying when comparatively young. Jonas was a
wholesale grocery merchant, dying at a ripe age,
after acquiring a fortune. Dr. Thomas Newma-1 and
his sister, Catharine, settled in Maysville, Catharine
living with John Haldeman’s family until her death
in Louisville in 1866. Dr. Thomas Newman re-
moved to Mount Vernon, Indiana, where he suc-
cessfully practiced medicine until his death there
about the year 1868.
John Haldeman, father of the subject of this
sketch, came from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and
settled at the “Mouth of Limestone” — Maysville,
Kentucky — some time prior to 1820, and, as stated,
Walter Newman Haldeman, his oldest child, was
born there in 1821. He was sent to school at an
early age, his tutors being first, Mrs. Scarborough,
next Rev. Mr. Logan, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
Mr. William W. Richeson, and finally Rand & Rich-
eson — Mr. Jacob W. Rand having formed a part-
nership with Mr. Richeson. All of these were teach-
ers, in the order named, at the Maysville Academy,
or as known later, “Maysville Seminary.” It was,
perhaps, next to Transylvania University, at Lex-
ington, the most famous educational institution then
in Kentucky. It was beautifully located upon the
side of one of the high hills that surround this pros-
perous little city, affording an uninterrupted view of
the Ohio River for many miles, and having the in-
spiration of pure air and picturesque surroundings.
Besides a primary course in the ordinary English
branches, including a thorough training in mathe-
matics, Mr. Haldeman received a good basis of clas-
sic education, being taught both Latin and Greek.
His inclination was, however, more to commercial
than to professional life, and his early acquirement
of knowledge took the practical turn. Among his
classmates were quite a number of men who have
since acquired considerable distinction in the State
and the country at large, such as Hon. Thomas H.
Nelson, ex-minister to Mexico; Hon. William H.
Wadsworth, prominent as a lawyer, forensic orator
and member of Congress; Hon. Elijah C. Phister,
lawyer, circuit judge and member of Congress; Gen-
eral William Nelson, known as “Bull” Nelson, an
active Federal officer in the occupation of- Kentucky
at the beginning of the late war, and towards the
close of his term, General Ulysses S. Grant, who was
one year his junior — Jesse Grant, the father of Gen-
eral Grant, having about that time moved with his
family to Maysville. There are many others who
could be named as attendants at this famous school
during Mr. Haldeman’s time, who have taken posi-
tion in the business as well as the political and lit-
erary world. Richard H. Collins, the historian, son
of Lewis Collins, the historian, was of this number.
At the age of sixteen he closed his scholastic ca-
reer and came with his father to settle in Louisville.
Even at that early period he was resolved to be self-
sustaining and to enter upon any honorable voca-
tion that offered, so he sought and obtained his first
employment as a clerk in the commission, flour and
wholesale grocery house of Rogers & Dunham, on
what was then known as Wall Street — that portion
of Fourth Avenue which extends from Main Street
to the river, and which was then the great business
center of the city. The firm was subsequently
changed to Shreve & Rogers, Mr. Thomas T.
Shreve becoming the purchaser of Captain Dun-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
495
ham’s interest. While engaged in the clerking busi-
ness for this house, he became the proprietor of a
horse and dray, and having employed a driver, sup-
plemented to some extent his small earnings. He
remained with this firm until it withdrew from busi-
ness in 1840, when he was employed as clerk in the
office of the Louisville Journal, then published by
Prentice & Weissinger — George D. Prentice being
editor and in the midst of a successful career. Here
he remained for several years, obtaining a full
knowledge of the printing business and of jour-
nalism, and practically laying the basis of the ex-
tensive and successful business, in which the greater
part of his life has been engaged.
After leaving the Journal office, having borrowed
from his aunt, Catharine Newman, a small sum of
money, three hundred dollars, he purchased a cir-
culating library and established a book and period-
ical store on Fourth Street, near Main. At that time
the publication of cheap books by the principal pub-
lishers was in its incipiency, and the public took to
them with avidity. His enterprise was among the
earliest of this character in the city and it proved
an entire success. Pending the prosecution of this
business, he became the purchaser of a small news-
paper called “The Daily Dime,” which had been
started by some printers who were unable to sus-
tain themselves and were compelled to abandon the
enterprise. Its first number had been issued on the
nth of March, 1843, and on the 12th of February,
1844, he became its proprietor. He sold his book-
| store and its good will to Noble & Dean, and at once
devoted his energies exclusively to the publication of
his paper, the name of which he changed almost
immediately to “The Courier.”
It may be well said that he had a hard time in
placing this paper upon a substantial footing. For
several years he struggled manfully for its success
and had the final satisfaction of knowing that it had
reached a secure basis. It was a fair illustration of
how history repeats itself, as evidenced by the ca-
reers of Benjamin Franklin, James Gordon Bennett
and others of the press, who came up laboriously
from a similarly small beginning.
In January, 1845, Judge Edwin Bryant, of Lex-
ington, at the instance of Henry Clay and John J.
Crittenden, became associated with him in the edi-
torial management of the Morning Courier, but at
the end of a year the business was found to be so in-
volved that its suspension was contemplated. Mr.
Haldeman, however, clung to it with tenacity, re-
duced his force, curtailed its expenses, and kept a
close personal supervision over its economy, do-
ing the work of two or three men for several years,
so that it was placed on a paying basis and became
a pronounced success.
In January, 1852, he sold a small interest in the
paper to F. B. French, but in a little while bought
it back, and on the 1st of January, 1853, sold a half
interest to William D. Gallagher. This partner-
ship continued until June, 1854, when Mr. Halde-
man again became sole proprietor. On the 1st of
October, 1857, he sold a half interest to Reuben T.
Durrett, with whom he continued until September
2°, 1859, when Colonel Durrett sold his interest to
Walter G. Overton, and the establishment was then
organized as a corporation by act of the Kentucky
Legislature, and it became “The Louisville Courier
Printing Company.” This arrangement continued,
without change, until the suppression of the paper
on the 1 8th of September, 1861, General Robert
Anderson making a seizure of the office and stopping
the publication. For two years prior to the suspen-
sion, Colonel Robert McKee, formerly of the Mavs-
ville Express and a writer of vigor, had the editorial
charge.
At this juncture, in order to avoid arrest and im-
prisonment, Mr. ' Haldeman fled southward and
reached the Confederate lines at Bowling Green in
the same month. Here, under direction of Generals
Albert Sidney Johnston and Simon B. Buckner, he
resumed the publication of the Courier at Bowling
Green, issuing its first number on the 4th of Oc-
tober, only two weeks after its suspension at Louis-
ville. Colonel McKee had joined him and remained
as associate editor, Mr. Haldeman making his head-
quarters at Nashville. Upon the evacuation of
Bowling Green by the Confederates, it was removed
to Nashville and the publication continued there. It
was designated facetiously throughout Kentucky
and elsewhere, “The Louisville-Bowling Green-
Nashville Courier.” The circulation of the paper be-
came enormously large and the demand for it was
so great that it could not be supplied. Mr. Halde-
man gained a great deal of knowledge from this pre-
datory experiment and admits now that he learned
more in the experience of a few months at this
time than he had in all of his eighteen years of strug-
gle at Louisville.
On the 4th of December, after the close of the
war, when there was no martial law to interfere, the
Courier again appeared at Louisville, and in less
than six months it was prosperous and firml\ es-
tablished. For more than three years after its es-
496
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tablishment at Louisville, the Courier had an unin-
terrupted business success, and on November 8,
1868, the consolidation of the Louisville Courier
and the Louisville Journal was effected, with Mr.
Haldeman as president of the new company, and the
brilliant young journalist, Mr. Henry Watterson, as
editor. The Louisville Democrat was shortly after-
ward included in this arrangement, and the Cour-
ier-Journal was fairly launched upon the tide of
prosperity that has known no ebb since its flow be-
gan. Of the career of this great paper it is scarcely
necessary to speak. It has become a part of the his-
tory of the country, and is, to-day, a most important
factor in shaping the political economy of the peo-
ple of the United States. It has grown to be an im-
mense establishment, with a business patronage far
beyond the most sanguine hopes that its proprietor
ever entertained.
The idea of starting an evening paper, in con-
junction with the Courier-Journal, occurred to Mr.
Haldeman, and notwithstanding some remonstrance
from his friends, who thought it would never be-
come a success, he organized and equipped the Lou-
isville Times, and on May 1, 1884, its first number
was issued. This paper was intended to be under
independent editorial management and entirely
apart from the Courier-Journal. Mr. Emmet G. Lo-
gan was made the editor-in-chief, with Colonel E.
Polk Johnson as associate editor. Mr. Haldeman
had far less trouble in the establishment of this en-
terprise than in any other that he had undertaken.
It was successful from the start. He found an eager
demand for it in the city and within two years it
went out upon all of the railway lines and found
patronage in most of the important cities and towns
of the State where the mail and express facilities
were favorable. It is now a very prosperous journal,
and a monument to the business tact and foresight of
its progenitor. It has been, in all respects, ably con-
ducted and is everywhere looked to as a bold, out-
spoken and fearless advocate of Democratic princi-
ples, as well as a live, active and untiring dissemi-
nator of the general news of the country and a su-
preme advertising medium.
Mr. Haldeman’s father was a stanch Whig, as
were his antecedents. He was reared in a firm be-
lief in the principles of that party, and was the de-
voted friend of Mr. Clay; but upon the defeat of
that great statesman by James K. Polk, in 1844, he
became an advocate of the American or Know-Noth-
ing party, and held with its ephemeral organization
until he became assured that it was no more than a
mob and would go out of existence in riot, fire and
bloodshed. Its lawless acts were such as he could
never approve, and seeing its tendency to disorder,
he went back to the old Whig organization, only to
find that it, too, was on the verge of dissolution.
When he found that Mr. Filmore was in sympathy
with the Abolition party, he turned to the support
of the Democratic candidate, James Buchanan, and
has since adhered to the principles of the Democratic
party. The only public office ever held by Mr.
Haldeman was that of surveyor of the port of Lou-
isville, under the appointment of President Buchan-
an. This position he retained for nearly four years,
when he was relieved by Mr. Lincoln. The only
secret society to which he has belonged, except that
of the American party, is the society of Odd Fellows.
He has held no position other than simple mem-
bership in this and has had little time in his active
business life to give to even so worthy a purpose as
preferment in this honorable order.
The only military experience that Mr. Haldeman
has had consists in having been suppressed by one
party and impressed by the other in the publication
of his paper. He rather plumes himself upon the
circumstance that, during the time of Governor Ma-
goffin he was one of the few men in the State who
were not made colonels upon his staff.
With regard to his religious views, Mr. Haldeman
has been all his life a most zealous and devoted
Presbyterian. He was born in that church and
reared under its influence, and has always been a
faithful and consistent member, giving freely and
cheerfully to its support and being ready at all times
to aid in sustaining it.
• On the 30th of October, 1844, Mr. Haldeman was
married to Miss Elizabeth Metcalfe, daughter of
Mr. William Metcalfe, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was
an old and highly respected business man of that
city. Of this marriage there were six children, one
of whom died in infancy, and one, Lizzie, the oldest
daughter, who became the wife of Mr. Charles D.
Pearce, died in her twenty-fifth year. She left one
son, who is now living in his thirteenth year. He
has three sons, William, John and Bruce, who are
all engaged with him in business, and one daugh-
ter, Isabella Metcalfe, who is a young lady, resid-
ing at his home.
Mr. Haldeman has been so closely identified with
the growth and prosperity of Louisville during
the last half century that no history of its prog-
ress could be written without some account of his
life running through it like a thread of gold. The
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
497
impress of his hand has been upon almost every
one of its great public enterprises. Personally, he
has been broad-minded, generous and filled with
the spirit of public progress. His paper has been
the medium through which the policy of municipal
government has been shaped and carried out. In
the midst of all the absorbing duties of his own
business, to which his personal attention has always
been given, he has found time for generous and
charitable action. His life has been that of a Chris-
tian and an excellent citizen.
ROBERT MORROW KELLY, editor, was born
at Paris, Kentucky, September 22, 1836. His
father was Thomas Owings Kelly, and his mother
Cordelia Morrow Kelly. The former was a son of
William Kelly, who came to America from Ireland
near the close of the Revolutionary War, settling
first in Maryland and afterwards coming to Ken-
tucky with Hugh Brent, and settling at Paris in
1790. He waS the builder of the first brick house in
that city, and it is still standing on Main Street, oc-
cupied by the Citizens’ Bank, a monument to his ear-
ly enterprise. The latter was a daughter of Robert
Morrow, born near Springfield meeting house in
Bath County. Robert Morrow was the youngest
child in the historic block house at Lexington dur-
ing the eventful period when bands of Indians from
beyond the Ohio River were making periodical in-
cursions upon the early settlements in Central Ken-
tucky. His wife was Margaret Trimble, sister of
Justice Robert Trimble, of the Supreme Court of the
United States.
Hugh Brent, who came with William Kelly from
Maryland, in 1790, became a very prominent man
in Bourbon County, and some time after the death
of William Kelly married his widow.
Thomas Owings Kelly, father of the subject of
this sketch, as heir of William Kelly, succeeded to an
estate in Ireland, known as High Park Lodge, but
being unwilling to sever his connections with this
country declined to accept the heritage.
Robert was educated in the excellent private
schools of Bourbon County, under the tutorage of
classical scholars of eclectic learning. His studies
were, in most part, classical, and he was thoroughly
based in Latin and Greek, as well as in ethics and
the ordinary English branches. He was especially
well equipped, coached and prepared for entering
Yale College, but for some reason this did not ac-
cord with his inclinations, and lie finally decided
not to matriculate at that institution.
32
At the close of his scholastic career, during a
visit to his grandfather, Colonel Robert Morrow,
a veteran of the War of 1812, resident in Montgom-
ery County, at Mount Sterling, being eager to put
his education to some practical use, he gladly
seized an opportunity to join a surveying party then
engaged in running a line for the Lexington & Big
Sandy Railroad from Owingsville to Lexington.
Upon this work he remained until its completion and
then took up construction upon a division of the
road extending west from Mount Sterling. After
remaining there for some time, he went back to
I aris and assisted" in the mathematical process of
measuring up field work on the Covington & Lex-
ington Railroad between Paris and Covington.
Having had this practical experience in railroad
work, and there being no further available employ-
ment in that direction, he organized a neighborhood
school at Paris, as much for his own improvement
as for that of his pupils and to keep in the line of
his inclination to literary and educational work.
He opened a school house on his father’s premises,
where he and his older brothers and sisters had been
first inducted into the mysteries of learning. This
school he taught successfully for one year, and then
took charge of a public school at Bryant’s Station,
in Payette County, which he also taught for one
year. Then being appointed assistant superintendent
in Bath Academy, at Owingsville, he went there and
taught still another year, when he was made the
principal and continued one year longer.
While engaged in this educational work at Ow-
ingsville, he determined to take up the study of law
and ultimately became a student in the office of
Hon. J. Smith Hurt, a prominent lawyer of that
place. In the fall of 1859 he obtained his license, and
in the spring following went to Cynthiana and took
charge of the branch office of Hon. Garret Davis,
with whom he was connected by marriage, and who
was then one of the most distinguished lawyers at
the Kentucky bar. Mr. Davis was afterwards elected
to the United States Senate, serving two terms and
making a conspicuous mark in that body. 1 te re-
mained as an assistant or junior partner of Mr. Da-
vis, until the opening of hostilities in the war of se-
cession or Civil War, when he joined the State
Guard and was made first lieutenant of the company
known as the McDowell Guards, of which he after
wards became the captain.
A little later, in co-operation with two other gen-
tlemen, he succeeded in organizing a compam for
the United States service, and immediate]} after the
498
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
August election in 1 86 1 , he marched with it to Camp
Dick Robinson and was mustered into the regiment
commanded by Colonel Speed S. Fry, of which his
friend and old schoolmate, John T. Croxton, was
lieutenant-colonel. Colonel Fry was soon promoted
to the rank of brigadier-general and Lieutenant-
Colonel Croxton became the colonel ; he in turn be-
ing promoted to brigadier-general, the subject of this
sketch became successively major, lieutenant-colo-
nel and colonel, remaining with the regiment and
participating in all of its arduous service until the
close of the war. The regiment was first known as
the Second, and afterwards as the Fourth Kentucky
Infantry. It was conspicuous alike for the distinc-
tion of its several commanders and the efficiency of
its service during the entire war. It was mustered
out September i, 1865. The regiment served with
the Army of the Ohio and Cumberland at Mill
Springs, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta
Campaign, Franklin, Nashville and in various mi-
nor engagements and skirmishes. Colonel Kelly
was taken prisoner in a cavalry raid south of At-
lanta and was in prison at Charleston for two months
before being returned to the service through an ex-
change of prisoners.
At the close of his service in the army Colonel
Kelly went back to his old home at Paris and re-
sumed the practice of his profession. He was in
the midst of a good business when, a year later, he
was induced by his friends to accept the nomination
by what was then known in Kentucky as the Union
party, for the office of county attorney, but while this
canvass was in progress he was appointed collector
of the Seventh Internal Revenue District of Ken-
tucky, and declined the race to go to Lexington and
assume the new office.
On April 6, 1870, after a service of several years,
he resigned the collectorship in order to take editor-
ial charge of the Louisville Commercial, the first
number of which had been issued December 28,
1869, and which was then, as now, the leading organ
of the Republican party of the State.
In 1873 he was appointed pension agent, but con-
tinued his editorial work until the spring of 1885.
In 1886 he resigned the pension agency and, for a
few years afterwards, was engaged in the insurance
business at Louisville, but this not being to his taste,
he resumed his connection with the Commercial as
editor-in-chief, a position which lie has since held
to his own and the satisfaction of his party.
Colonel Kelly was of Whig antecedents and sym-
pathies, nearly all of the conspicuous members of
his family being strong adherents of Mr. Clay, and
participating vigorously in the early contests with
Jackson Democrats. In i860 he favored the election
of Bell and Everett, though he had strong pro-slav-
ery principles and no anticipation of the eventful
scenes which were to succeed the year 1861. In
1864 he was for McClellan, and would have voted
for him had he been at home. At the close of the
war he was inclined to oppose the Republicans, but
finding in Central Kentucky such a manifest dispo-
sition to proscribe and ostracise Union men as did
not accord with his views, he had no alternative but
to unite his fortunes with that party, and he did so
actively from its organization in 1867. He was dis-
posed at first to follow David A. Wells as a tariff
reformer, but as the discussion advanced, he be-
came a strong protectionist, in favor of civil service
reform and “sound money,” or a single gold stand-
ard.
He became a Mason after the war, taking the Blue
Lodge and Royal Arch degrees, but failing to keep
up his affiliations after leaving Paris. He is a
member of the military order of the Loyal Legion,
Ohio Commandery, a member of the Grand Army j
of the Republic, and was elected commander of the
Department of Kentucky in April, 1895, at the Hop-
kinsville State Encampment.
He was married June 27, 1867, to Harriet Holley
Warfield, daughter of E. N. Warfield and Elizabeth
Brand Warfield. She was a granddaughter of Ben-
jamin Warfield and on her mother's side a great-
granddaughter of Rev. Horace Holley, president
of Transylvania University, under whom Thomas
Kelly, his father, graduated about the year 1820.
Colonel Kelly has been the father of twelve chil- [
clren, five of whom died in infancy. His oldest
daughter married Dr. H. M. Pusey, and" died about
eighteen months after marriage. His oldest son, [
Elisha Warfield Kelly, is city editor of the Louis-
ville Post, and R. M. Kelly, Jr., is of the firm of Da- 1
vis, Kelly & Co., iron factors, and vice-president
of the Commercial Club.
Coming from such an ancestry, it is not strange i
that Colonel Kelly is a typical Kentuckian in man (
ner and mind. He is one of the ablest, clearest and
most graceful writers who have adorned the journal-
ism of Louisville. Fair, honorable and gracious, he
has won the respect of his political opponents, and
is everywhere esteemed for his high points of char-
acter, as well as for his ability as an editor, his
estimable qualities as a man and a citizen, and his
steadfast friendships.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
499
Y\l ILLIAM B. HALDEMAN, general manager
’ ' of “The Louisville Courier-Journal,” was born
in Louisville, Kentucky, July 27, 1846, eldest son of
Walter Newman and Elizabeth (Metcalfe) Halde-
man. Elsewhere in the body of this history is given
a full genealogical sketch of Walter N. Haldeman,
in which the Swiss origin of the family is fully set
forth and both the paternal and maternal lines traced
to distinguished and honorable antecedents.
In the biography of his father it is shown that the
family were early comers to this country and ac-
tive participants on the side of the colonies in the
war for American independence. It is also shown
that its branches extend to all parts of the country
and that the name Haldeman is synonymous alike
in the North and South with intelligence, integrity
and good citizenship. Wherever its representatives
are located, they are found to be active, prosperous
and public-spirited. These family characteristics are
fully exemplified in the Kentucky descendants and
not more in any than in the subject of this sketch.
A commencement of the education of William B.
Haldeman was made in the common schools at Lou-
' isville when he was quite young. He entered the
primary department about 1852, at the tender age
of six years, and prosecuted his passage through the
several grades, also attending a private school
taught by Mr. Gazlay, on Green between Third and
Fourth streets, until prepared to enter a more ad-
' vanced course of study at McCown’s Academy, near
Anchorage. His father having removed, in 1855,
to Pewee Valley, he was taken from the Louisville
schools after a three years’ experience in their sev-
eral departments, and sent first to a private school
taught by Rev. Mr. Ringold, at that place, and then
to the academy referred to. Plere he continued,
making fair progress in his studies, until the inaug-
uration of the Civil War, in 1861, when he aban-
doned his books, taking “French leave” of his tu-
tors and making his way into the Confederate lines.
He was then only in his fifteenth year and quite too
young to endure the hardships of regular service,
but he had the will to do so, and without enlisting
performed the duties of a soldier with several com-
j mands. In the early part of 1862 he was with Gen-
eral Morgan’s command for a short time, and in
.October, 1862, he was entrusted as a bearer of im-
portant dispatches from General John C. Breckin-
ridge, at Tullahoma, Tennessee, to General Brax-
ton Bragg, at Lexington, Kentucky. This service
he performed faithfully, and on his return partici-
pated in a small engagement at Lawrenceburg,
Kentucky, retreating with General Bragg's forces
from the battlefield of Perryville and rejoining Gen-
eral Breckinridge at Knoxville. Shortly after this
event, in the winter of 1862-63, he enlisted as a
private in Company G, Ninth Kentucky Infantry, of
the famous Orphan Brigade.” This regiment was
then commanded by Colonel Thomas H. Hunt, and
the brigade by General Ben Hardin Helm. He had
active work from the very commencement of the
service as a regular soldier. In May, 1863, he went
with his brigade in the vain effort to relieve Pember-
ton, at Vicksburg, traversing the State of Mississippi
and taking part in the fight at Jackson. He endured
all of the privations and hardships of the long-
marches and severe campaigns of that memorable
year. He was at the great battle of Chickamauga
on the 19th and 20th of September, the sanguinary
fight at Missionary Ridge, on the 25th of Novem-
ber, and in all of the minor engagements on the
march to Dalton, Georgia, and at the engagement
there in the spring of 1864.
This terminated, for awhile, his army service, bv
reason of his appointment as a midshipman in the
Confederate States Navy, and his assignment to
duty on board the schoolship, Patrick Henrv, then
lying off Drury’s Bluff— or Bermuda Hundred— oc-
curring shortly after his naval service commenced,
the crew of his vessel was taken to the fort and he
had charge of a gun and complement of seamen.
This was the celebrated fight of General Beauregard
with General Butler, in which it was said the latter
was “bottled up" at the junction of the Appomattox
and James rivers. The Confederates were victor-
ious, capturing five thousand Feclerals. This oc-
curred in May, 1864, and the naval force at Drury’s
Bluff was chiefly instrumental in repelling Butler’s
attack.
He continued in the navy until after the fall of
Petersburg, Virginia, August, 1864, when he re-
signed and returned to the “Orphan Brigade” (then
mounted infantry), stationed at Aiken. South Caro-
lina. Here he remained, participating in all of the
events of the Carolina campaign and all of the bri-
gade’s movements until the surrender. He was pa-
roled with it at Washington, Georgia, in May, 186;.
When the war closed he was in his nineteenth
year, one of the youngest soldiers who had passed
through it from beginning to end and had come
from its many sanguine fields two years before his
majority was attained. Very soon after his return
he entered the Kentucky Military Institute, of
Franklin County, Kentucky, and resumed his schol-
500
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
arly work. He took the full collegiate course, tak-
ing his degree of A. B. in 1869.
Almost immediately after graduating he com-
menced a business career by serving as a collector
in the business department of his father’s paper,
The Courier-Journal. He, however, continued only
a few months at this, when, to obtain a practical
knowledge of civil engineering, he became a mem-
ber of the McElfatrick’s surveying party, then en-
gaged in running the line of the Elizabethtown &
Paducah Railroad, now the Chesapeake, Ohio &
Southwestern Railroad. Pie continued with it un-
til the line had crossed the Tennessee River, when
he was attacked by malarial fever and forced to re-
turn to Louisville. Continued ill-health induced
him to seek relief in a different climate, and accord-
ingly he went to Texas, and remained there about
eighteen months. While upon this health-seeking
expedition he became a student at law in the office
of Miller & Sayres, Gonzales, Texas, and within the
time obtained a license to practice in the district and
superior courts of that State; but, in 1871, he re-
turned to Louisville and went back to The Courier-
Journal office. Since that date he has filled every po-
sition in the editorial department of the paper from
court reporter up to managing editor. In 1875 he
assumed the editorship and general management
of The Weekly Courier-Journal and held it for ten
years, during which time its circulation ran up from
eight thousand to one hundred and sixty thousand.
In January of that year he was made general man-
ager of The Daily Courier-Journal, and now has
charge of all the business affairs of that vast estab-
lishment.
It is noticeable to those familiar with the conduct
of the business of a great newspaper like that of
the Courier- Journal that the system inaugurated
by Mr. William B. Haldeman in all of its numer-
ous departments is complete. He has so arranged
his daily and weekly reports from the heads of each
branch of the business that a knowledge of the la-
bor performed and the amount earned by each em-
ploye in any specified time, or for each day, is con-
stantly before him. He understands the economy
of the establishment from beginning to end, and
there is no feature of it that is not constantly under
his eye. Everything about the establishment moves
like clockwork. His heads of departments are held
responsible for the faithful performance of the duties
of all employes under them. The men are paid
promptly and liberally and feel that their services
are appreciated. In all points of business Mr.
Haldeman is prompt and thorough, a model man-
ager of a model establishment.
Outside of The Courier-Journal office he has en-
gaged in but few enterprises of a business nature, all
of his energies being given to perfecting the work
of the paper, and he has had no time for any busi-
ness foreign to journalism. Politically he has al-
ways been a Democrat, and to use his own phrase-
ology, he “never scratched a Democratic ticket.” In
municipal affairs and general politics he has natur-
ally felt interest enough to take a proper part. He
is a man of strong convictions, firm will, and not j
easily driven from a position he has once assumed.
He has many of the rare qualities of his father and
will prove a fit successor to him in the great busi-
ness which he established.
He has never sought any public office nor as-
pired to conspicuous political position, but he serv-
ed as a member of the Democratic State central com-
mittee from 1884 to 1890, and as a delegate from the
Louisville district to the National Democratic con-
ventions held at Chicago, in 1892 and 1896. For
a year and a half was a member of the board of {
managers of the Louisville House of Reform. This •
latter term was for three years, but his private busi- j
ness was of such an absorbing nature that he was
compelled to resign when it was half through.
On November 30, 1876 (Thanksgiving Day of the
Centennial year) he married Lizzie R., daughter of
Henry Y. and Clara D. Offutt, of Shelbyville, Ken-
tucky. Mr. Offutt was a prominent farmer of Shel-
by County, and a worthy member of one of the most
distinguished pioneer families of the State.
In religious association Mr. Haldeman is a mem-
ber of the Southern Presbyterian Church. He at-
tends its services and contributes liberally to its sup-
port.
From this brief sketch it is apparent that William
B. Haldeman, as boy and man, has had an active and
earnest career, and that his usefulness as a citizen
is patent to the people of Louisville.
MMETT GARVIN LOGAN, editor-in-chief of
The Louisville Times, was born in Shelby Coun- j
ty, Kentucky, October 9, 1848, a son of Benjamin
Harrison Logan and Martha (Williamson) Logan.
On the paternal side, he is of Seotch-Irish origin, his
grandfather, James Logan, coming direct from Ire-
land during the last century and settling in Virginia.
He married Mary, a daughter of John Logan,
known as “Botetourt John,” who was a cousin of
General Ben and Colonel “John of Lincoln” Logan.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
501
The family was extensive and largely established in
Virginia.
On the maternal side the family came from Ten-
nessee, his mother being a daughter of Thomas Wil-
liamson of that State. In Kentucky there are nu-
merous branches of the Logan family, all probably
of the same common origin, but in some instances
not clearly traced to the primary stock.
Emmett G. Logan received early instruction in
the “old field schools’’ of Shelby County under pri-
vate instructors, the public school system then be-
ing in its incipiency and not available for children
living outside of the towns. From these schools
he was sent to an institution conducted by the cele-
brated Dr. J. W. Dodd at Shelbvville. Here he re-
mained three years, building up a rather delicate
constitution by means of his daily horseback ride of
twelve miles per day, and having advantage of the
guidance of this accomplished scholar and kind mas-
ter until he was prepared for entry at Washington —
now Washington & Lee — University, at Lexington,
Virginia. Here, under the presidency of General
Robert E. Lee, his educational course was complet-
ed in June, 1871. At this university he was editor
of The Collegian, and was given his first direction
toward the editorial profession. Returning to his
old home immediately after graduation, he estab-
lished in 1872, The Courant, at Shelby ville, and in
a very brief period became familiarly known to the
journalists in all parts of the State. He conducted
this paper with marked ability and strong force of
character for four years, when he accepted a posi-
tion upon the staff of The Courier-Journal, as Ken-
tucky and Southern news editor. In this position he
soon formed a close relationship with all of the news-
papers of Kentucky, Tennessee and the South gen-
erally. His trenchant pen — terse and brilliant para-
graphs— brought him conspicuously into notice and
notwithstanding the prevalent idea of impersonal
journalism, his name became widely known and his
paragraphs were so distinctly marked that they were
generally credited from “Logan, of the Courier-
Journal.”
While in this service his reportorial fitness was
soon discovered, and he was sent to Frankfort dur-
ing the notable sessions of 1877-78, where his keen
appreciation of the political situation was made
manifest. His utter fearlessness in attacking all
measures of a pernicious nature, in exposing the
schemes of designing politicians, and assaulting
boldly all sorts of corruption made him a terror to
conspirators and a conspicuous friend to honest
laws and good government. During this period
many efforts were made to suppress the free-
dom of his specials; threats were being made
against his life, and at one time the House
had under consideration a motion to exclude
him from the privilege of the floor, but it made
no difference whatever with the carrying out of his
bold purpose. The galleries were free to him, as
to any other citizen, and for a brief period his re-
ports were fully made from the lobby. The House
soon grew ashamed of its hot and foolish action and
the resolution of expulsion was withdrawn.
About this time Hon. John C. Underwood con-
ceived the idea of establishing a Democratic paper
at Bowling Green and Mr. Logan, in company with
Colonel E. Polk Johnson, became a participant in the
enterprise, but this field was not wide enough for
him, and after a brief career at that point he came
back to The Courier-Journal, as managing editor.
He continued as such during 1882, when he went to
Cincinnati as managing editor of The News-Jour-
nal. This place he held until the spring of 1884,
when he came back to Louisville and took the edi-
torship of The Louisville Times from the date of
its establishment in that year. This paper became a
success from the very start and has continued to in-
crease in circulation and patronage until it is now
the most widely circulated and influential evening-
paper in the South. Mr. Logan has continued in
editorial charge and is to-day as fresh and strong on
its editorial page as when, years ago, he made his
mark as a boy journalist. There are few men who
write with the force and individuality of Emmett
Logan. His editorials are as easily distinguished
in The Times as are Mr. Watterson’s in The Cour-
ier-Journal. They are generally brief, but direct ami
so forcible that their authorship cannot be mistaken.
With the basis of a fine classical education, supple-
mented by a close and critical study of political econ-
omy and a wide general reading, he never fails to
give point and pith to every article his pen produces.
With the exception of part of one year spent in
recreation upon a farm in Warren County, he has
been at the editor’s table during all of the years
since he left the university. He has never sought
office or public position of any kind, and except as
president of the country club, school trustee ami
trustee of the suburban town of Anchorage, he has
neither sought nor held any place whatever outside
of an editorial sanctum. In political affiliation he is
a Democrat who has never scratched a ticket, and
in church association lie is a Presbyterian by rear-
502
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
ing and predilection, though, to use his own lan-
guage, “not conspicuously so by practice."
On November 30, 1881, he married Lena Cov-
ington, daughter of Dr. Albert Covington, of Bowl-
ing Green, Kentucky. They have three boys: Wells,
Emmett and Dulaney.
r > HARLES EDWARD SEARS, journalist, son
of Edward and Fanny Curtis (Wyatt) Sears,
was born at Old Upton, Gloucester County, Virgin-
ia, November 10, 1842. His father was descended
from John Sears, who came from England with
Lord Fairfax and settled on Chesapeake Bay in
1739. His mother was descended from Sir Francis
Wyatt, twice appointed Colonial Governor of Vir-
ginia by Charles II. The Sears family occupied
Upton plantation, and the Wyatt family “Boxley,’
named after the homestead of the Wyatts in Kent
County, England. The two plantations adjoined.
The subject of this sketch having been brought
up amid the best associations of tide-water Virginia,
attended a school in Norfolk, Virginia, conducted
by the Southgates, his relatives, and later at Dr.
Gessner Harrison’s school in Albemarle, Dr. Har-
rison having been long professor of Greek and Latin
at the University of Virginia. At the breaking out
of the war, he had entered Randolph Macon Col-
lege, which he left to join the Confederate army.
He enlisted May 8, 1861, and served until the sur-
render at Appomatox Court House. On that oc-
casion he accompanied Major Mason, of General
Fitzhugh Lee's staff, under flag of truce with Gen.
R. E. Lee’s letter to General Grant.
After the war, in which he served with gallantry
and distinction, first in artillery, then in infantry,
and finally in Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry, Colonel Sears
attended the University of Virginia for two sessions,
his course embracing moral philosophy, political
economy, international, constitutional and commer-
cial law. Upon the close of his studies, in 1867, he
was unanimously elected final orator of Washington
Literary Society. In the same year, he came to
Kentucky and settled in Paducah, where he entered
upon the practice of law, but gradually drifting into
journalism, he became the editor of the "Paducah
Kentuckian.” After having acquired some experi-
ence in this position and a wide acquaintance with
the press of Kentucky by his scholarly qualities as
a writer, he came to Louisville and became editorial
writer upon the Courier-Journal. Here his capacity
found full scope, and his reputation as a journalist
during his several years’ connection with the lead-
ing paper of Kentucky became fully established.
He subsequently established “The Age,” and still
later became proprietor and editor of “The Evening
Post.” This was the first paper to fix its price at
two cents. This, which took place in 1882, together
with the ability with which it was conducted, gave
it a very large circulation and it became an import-
ant factor in State politics. It was strongly Demo-
cratic, yet conducted independently and free from
the influence of any faction, and its policy has re-
mained substantially this ever since.
In 1886 Mr. Sears, who had in 1884 sold a half
interest in “The Post” to Mr. A. V. du Pont, sold
him the remaining half and retired from the news-
paper business. He then for some years followed
his profession in New York, where he furnished
editorial matter for “The Sun,” and later became
a member of the editorial staff of “The World.”
Several years ago he returned to Kentucky and has
lived the quiet life of an amateur farmer and gar-
dener, at an attractive home several miles from the
city. He is a Mason, a member of the Delta Psi fra-
ternity, and an Episcopalian. Of a strikingly hand-
some physique and intellectual gifts of a high or-
der, he is a man of positive mold, warm in his per-
sonal attachments, and undisguised in his personal
antipathies, made in the course of his career amid
the clash of political controversy.
On the 6th of July, 1876, he married Sarah Eliza-
beth, daughter of Thomas Waring Fauntleroy, of
Oakenham Plantation, Middlesex County, Virginia.
C UGENE W. NEWMAN, long connected with
' ' the press of Louisville, was born in- Barren
County, Kentucky, May 3, 1845. His father,
Thomas E. Newman, was of English and his mother,
Amy E. Cummins, of Scotch descent. His early
education was received at the schools of Edmonton,
the county seat of Metcalfe County, where he was
reared, and completed at academies in Columbia
and Greensburg, Kentucky. After preparing him-
self for the profession of law he entered upon its
practice at Edmonton, in 1869, but the bent of his
mind was for literature rather than Blackstone, and
in 1873 he became connected with a newspaper at
Bowling Green, Kentucky, and has followed the ca-
reer of a journalist ever since. In 1875 he became
editor of the Columbia (Kentucky) “Spectator,” and
in 1882-83, edited the Macon (Mississippi) “Sun.”
Meanwhile he began to attract attention in a broader
field by communications in well known papers, his
correspondence being characterized by a certain pith
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
503
in the narration of incidents, a breadth of historical
information, a skill in personal characterization, and
a general tone of excellence, which marked him as
a writer of unusual ability. In 1885 he became the
correspondent of the Courier-Journal and has con-
tinued in that service since. Much of his time is
spent at Washington during the sessions of Con-
gress, and at intervals of rest, he does editorial work
for the Louisville ‘‘Evening Times.” His nom cle
plume of “Savoyard,” over which he frequently
writes, is a guarantee that the reader will always find
something out of the beaten track, crisp, fresh and
full of historical and current information of a kind
not usual to the average correspondent. In his
knowledge of political history of England, from
which he draws apt illustrations, as well as his thor-
ough acquaintance with the lives and character of
the public men of America, he has no superior in
his profession. He devotes himself to his work
with an assiduity which makes him almost a recluse,
being a student as well as writer, and devoting his
time exclusively to his work. His sketches of pub-
lic men have a finish of Macaulay and, as a critic,
he can be as severe as Jeffries. One of the best of
his works in this line is a review of the life and serv-
ices of Roscoe Conkling.
He has always been a Democrat in politics, but.
except in one or two appointive places, he has never
held nor sought office; and, except as a member of
the Masonic Order, he has no connection with social
or other organizations. In his friendships, he is
steadfast, and to those admitted to its circle, he is
a companion full of the best elements.
In 1865 he married Emily Clark, of the family of
General George Rogers Clark. She died in 1873.
In 1883, he married Miss Florence Newman.
"F HOMAS G. WATKINS, one of the brightest
* young journalists of Louisville, was born in
Hart County, Kentucky, December 3, 1859, the sec-
ond son of William Willshire and Nancy (Gibson)
Watkins. His paternal grandfather was Hezekiah
Watkins, son of James and Ann (Canady) Watkins,
who came to Kentucky from Maryland in 1784,
soon after their marriage, and settled on a large
tract of land in Hart County, which is still owned
by his descendants. They left a large family.
Three brothers of James Watkins followed him to
Kentucky, and their descendants are scattered
throughout Kentucky and Missouri. He was a typ-
ical pioneer and engaged in several expeditions
against the Indians. The Watkins family descend-
ed from three brothers who. came to America with
Lord Baltimore. They were originally from Wales
and during the Revolutionary War several members
of the family took part on the patriot side. William
\\ illshire Watkins was a country merchant and after
accumulating' a competence, settled upon a farm
near the old homestead. He left a family of six
children, of whom Henry A. Watkins, for several
years judge of the Hart County Court, was the eld-
est, and died in 1870, leaving a widow, who yet sur-
vives.
1 homas G. Watkins had his educational training
at Gilead Institute and Hodgenville Seminary, and
later under private teachers. He then received a
good academical education and made fair progress,
especially in mathematics and the classics, for both
of which he had an aptitude. His reading took a
wide range and he made a special study of the best
ancient and modern parts. He was brought up on
a farm, as country boys in Kentucky usually are,
but his practical experience as an agriculturist
was limited. Literary tastes and farming do not go
well together, and his fondness for reading was not
much interfered with by devotion to the plow. His
first inclination was to study law, but a taste for
writing developed too early and too strong to be
resisted, and he wrote a great deal from the time he
was eleven years old, though he published little.
After attaining his majority, he became editor of
“The Hart County Democrat,” but weekly news-
paper work was not to his liking and in a few
months he came to Louisville in search of a wider
field. In December, 1882, he offered his services :o
“The Courier-Journal,” and insisting on a trial, was
assigned to duty as a reporter. In two years he rose
to the position of assistant city editor, and in the
summer of 1885 became city editor of “The Even-
ing Times,” in which capacity he served four years
and a half. Later he was transferred to the same
desk on “The Courier-Journal” and was in charge
of the local force for five years. From the inception
of his journalistic work he had proven that he had
found his proper calling, evincing not only capacity
for individual work, but the best administrative qual-
ities for directing others in gathering and collabor-
ating news. This was demonstrated in his full and
elaborate report of the great cyclone of March 27,
1890, which was recognized as a remarkable jour-
nalistic feat. His experience as an editor that night
was the subject of an interesting lecture delivered bv
invitation of the faculty before the State l niversity,
at Bloomington, Indiana. In 1894 lie became the
504
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
financial editor and editorial writer of “The Courier-
Journal” and now occupies that position. His chap-
ter on "The Tobacco Trade of Louisville,” in these
volumes evinces the thoroughness of his work in
commercial lines, while his editorial contributions
to “The Courier-Journal” give evidence of the wide
range of his reading and of his fine capacity as an
all-round journalist. In his personal character he
combines great energy and application in the line
of duty with the elements which make him respected
by all who know him and beloved by those in closer
relation to him. In politics, he has always been a
staunch Democrat.
He married, October 29, 1885, at Gallatin, Ten-
nessee, Jennie, daughter of John Graham and Min-
erva (Hanna) Holder, of that place. The Holders
are a Scotch-Irish family who were early settlers hi
Tennessee from North Carolina. The Hannas were
pioneers in Sumner County, Tennessee, and the
family is one of the largest and best known in the
county. Mrs. Watkin’s father was a merchant and
served in the Confederate Army under General For-
rest. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins have one son, Thomas
Graham Watkins, born May 20, 1887.
'T' HOMAS MADOR GILMORE, son of Thomas
* Iverwin Gilmore and Ann Eliza (Forster) Gil-
more, was born at Columbus, Georgia, September
4, 1858. His father was born in North Carolina in
1810, and was a Confederate soldier in the late war.
He was severely wounded, paralyzed and died short-
ly after the war closed. His mother was born in
South Carolina in 1820 — a daughter of Rev. Alexius
Mador Forster, a distinguished minister of that
State. His grandfather, William Gilmore, was of
Irish ancestry, the immigrant ancestor of the family
in this country, coming about the middle of the last
century and taking part in the war for independence.
His grandmother came of English antecedents, and
both families were represented in the Revolutionary
War.
Of the early life and primary education of Thomas
M. Gilmore there is little to be said, except that
up to his twelfth year he received no other instruc-
tion than that given him by his mother. He did
not have the advantage of attending school with
other children, but, having only a mother’s train-
ing, at the early age of twelve, he started out in life
to be the architect of his own fortune. His first
employment was as a laborer upon a farm near
Salem, Alabama. He had been taught the ordinary
English branches, but had made only a little pro-
gress in figures, when this employment commenced.
He worked on this farm for food and clothing dur-
ing three years and, at the end of this time, when
he was fifteen, obtained a new position, but lost it
the next day, because he did not know how to ex-
press the sum of $1.50 in figures. After this failure,
he made his way to Lebanon, Kentucky, where he
obtained employment in a store, first as a cash-boy
and afterwards as a salesman. At Lebanon he re-
mained until he had entered his eighteenth year,
when he gave up his clerkship to travel as a sales-
man for a patent right. In this business he contin-
ued for four years, adding something to his educa-
tion and obtaining a knowledge of men. His em-
ployment necessitated his visiting and dealing with
the people of twenty States. At Logansport, In-
diana, during this period, he met a phrenologist,
who advised him to try composition and writing
for public journals. This advice he took and went
diligently to work to improve himself in grammar
and the structure of language and, when his twenty-
second year was reached, he had already employed i
his pen as a contributor to several journals. In j
1880, when he .was in his twenty-second year, he j
wrote an eight-page article on the low country of
South Carolina, which was accepted and published
by a leading magazine. Two years later, in 1882, he
began his first work for Bonfort’s “Wine and Spirit
Circular,” of New York, writing a number of articles
that invited attention from the trade, so that in 1884
his ability was substantially recognized by his selec-
tion as manager of the Western department of that
widely known journal. This department, of which
he is still the manager, comprises all of the States
west of the Allegheny Mountains, with offices at
Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and San
Francisco. So ably has he administered the affairs
of this great trade journal that, in all his section,
it stands as the highest authoritv in the United
'
States upon all questions affecting the interests of
the wine and spirit business. His individual work t
as a writer upon whiskies — which form the chief j
product of his department — is recognized in all parts i
of the business world, and his opinions are quoted f
as from a man entirely qualified to give intelligent
expression. No writer upon distilled spirits and
their relation to trade has made a closer study of
this subject, has wider knowledge, or higher integ-
rity in giving opinions. He is not only familiar
with all the laws of distillation, the manner in whicn
the various brands are produced, and the quality of
each, but he has for years kept a close watch upon
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
505
all of the statistics of production, and, at a moment's
notice, can give the out-put of distilleries in apy
locality or from the world at large — amounts in
bond, at home and abroad— amounts in free ware-
houses, and everything relating to the production.
Besides this he is familiar with all of the laws of the
States affecting the liquor production, especially
those of a prohibitory character, or such as are likely
to affect the markets in any way. He has written
much for daily newspapers upon these subjects, and
has made a number of speeches in opposition to
sumptuary or prohibitory laws. He has also taken
a strong and active part against a protective tariff,
and has written and spoken much upon this subject
Altogether his career has been a remarkable one.
His success, both as a writer and a business man,
something phenomenal. His ambition and his na-
tural ability have enabled him to overcome difficul-
ties that would have subdued another nature. He
started out in life with practically no education, and
he has sustained and educated himself. He not
only writes prose with great vigor, but poetry with
much beauty and taste. He is fully imbued with a
sense of both the useful and the beautiful, and the
well-spring of his nature fairly bubbles over with
music.
In politics he has always voted the Democratic
ticket, but insists that he is not bound by anv party
lines and will exercise his right of suffrage as his
judgment dictates. He is for free trade, free coin-
age of both gold and silver at any satisfactory ratio,
and is naturally and by long association, a Democrat
in principle.
In religious affiliation he is a member of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church. He is treasurer of St.
Mark’s Mission, at Crescent Hill, and a member of
the Board of Trustees of the Home of the Inno-
cents, of Louisville.
He is a Mason, a member of Excelsior Lodge
No. 258; of Eureka Chapter, and of Louisville Com-
mandery No. 1; and a Knight of Pythias, Alpha
Lodge and Royal Arcanum.
On December 16, 1880, he married Julia C. Fors-
ter, daughter of Dr. A. M. Forster, a rice planter
and a member of the original South Carolina Seces-
sion Convention. They have three children, aged
respectively, eight, ten and fourteen years.
Throughout Kentucky, and especially with busi-
ness men of Louisville, Mr. Gilmore is exceedingly
popular. He has won his way to the confidence
and respect of all persons engaged in his particular
line of trade, and it is apparent that he is no small
factor in promoting the commercial interests of
Louisville.
Without a friend’s assisting hand.
Without the aid of pelf,
He entered on life’s harvest land,
And boldly helped himself;
Upon his own high pride he leaned.
And garnered only what he gleaned.
Y OUNG EWING ALLISON, editor of “The In-
* surance Herald," was born at Henderson,
Kentucky, December 23, 1853, a son °f Young E.
Allison and Susan Speed (Wilson) Allison. His
father was for many years county clerk and judge
of Henderson County, a man of character and high
social standing. The family was of Scotch-Irish
origin. It came to this country in the last century,
sometime prior to the War of Independence, and
settled in Mecklenburgh County, North Carolina.
His grandfather, Samuel H. Allison, was a captain
in the Revolutionary War, who fought at King’s
Mountain, and took part in the starvation defense
at the siege of Charleston. His uncle, Samuel PI.,
who was an elder brother of his father, organized a
company of volunteers in Todd County, Kentucky,
to take part with General Andrew Jackson at the
battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, but upon
reaching that city, was stricken with disease and
died in a hospital. His mother was of Virginia
parentage and descended from early English settlers
in that State.
The basis of Young E. Allison’s education was ob-
tained at the common schools of Louisville from
i860 to 1864. This, with the exception of private
teaching at home, was all of the scholastic advantage
that he received. Almost his entire education,
which is broad and liberal, has come of independent
study and observation. He has obtained a wide
knowledge of literary and scientific subjects and is
esteemed one of the ablest and most finished journal-
ists that Kentucky has produced.
From the age of eleven until he was fourteen lie
acted as deputy county clerk in his father’s office
and there had his first experience in practical busi-
ness life. He was thrown much in contact with
men and soon began to understand something of
human nature. Upon leaving the clerk’s office lie
entered a printing establishment and soon became
a compositor. From the case he went to the edi-
torial rooms, and after serving an apprenticeship
as a local reporter upon a country paper, he went
to Evansville, Indiana, in 1873. and made a bolder
506
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
entry upon journalism as city editor of “The Evans-
ville Journal.” In 1879 he came to Louisville and
took the city editorship of “The Courier-Journal."
Continuing- in this position until 1881 he became
managing editor of “The Louisville Commercial"
and held that until 1884, when he gave up daily jour-
nalism. In that year he was made special secretary
of the Board of Trade’s commercial improvement
committee and was for some time engaged in the
development of mining, manufacturing, and railway
building. During this service he conceived the idea
of establishing “The Insurance Herald,” which, be-
ing carried out, has proved one of the most success-
ful and important journalistic enterprises of the city.
It has developed into a valuable property and in the
line of insurance, has attained rank with the highest
journals of its class in the United States. It has
been carefully and conscientiously edited from the
standpoint of information accurately and fully ob-
taied and with the integrity of a man who has no
wish to obtain power otherwise than through truth-
ful expressions.
Mr. Allison has been sincerely devoted to his
journalistic work and to promoting the progress and
commercial development of Louisville. He has
had no desire for public office and has held none
other than the local one referred to. In 1888 he
represented the State as commissioner to the Cin-
cinnati National Exposition. In 1893 he was one
of the State's representatives at Chicago, and in
1895 at Atlanta. These were directly in the line of
his inclination to promote the general progress of
the country.
In politics he is a staunch Republican, but has
shown no desire to take prominent part in either
general or local contests further than to vote his
sentiments and look out for the promotion of his
party’s principles as a citizen. A respecter of all
religious denominations, an advocate of all social
and moral institutions, he has no affiliation with any
particular sect and has never been a member of either
of the several churches.
In 1883 he married Margaret Yeiser Allison,
daughter of George S. Allison, an old and well
known banker of this city. There is no blood rela-
tionship between the families other than that of the
marriage.
JOHN AVERY HALDEMAN, second son of
^ Walter Newman Haldeman and Elizabeth Met-
calfe Haldeman, was born at Peewee Valley, Old-
ham County, Kentucky, December 2, 1855.
His education was commenced in very early
youth under the direction of a private teacher
at Peewee Valley, where his father resided up
to the outbreak of the war. John had then
reached his sixth year and was far enough ad-
vanced to enter the public schools of Louisville,
then, as now, under admirable management, but his
father’s purpose to enter him in these schools was
thwarted by the change of location occasioned bv
the war. He was taken to Bowling Green, thence
to Nashville and thence to various other points in
the South where the fortunes or misfortunes of the
war dictated his father’s temporary abode. During
the four years of the struggle his educational facili-
ties were not as favorable as they would otherwise
have been and the regular course he should have
had was disturbed and broken by untoward circum-
stances. He received tuition under different teach-
ers under differing methods at Chattanooga, Ten-
nessee, Atlanta, Georgia, Abbeyville, South Caro-
lina, Madison, Georgia, and at other points. He
was just ten years old when the war closed and was
brought back to Louisville, where he entered the
ward schools and continued his studies until fitted
to enter the High School under Prof. W. N. Mc-
Donald, where he finished the common school
course. In 1872, when seventeen years of age, he
entered Washington and Lee Lhiiversity, at Lexing-
ton, Virginia, where he took a three years’ course
and wound up his scholastic career at the age of
twenty.
His first entry into business was under the super-
vision of his father, upon the Courier- Journal, of
which he is today the oldest employee yet actively
engaged. He began in the reportorial department,
but soon became editor of the “Kentucky and South-
ern News” column, continuing in that capacity for
a number of years, until the establishment of “The
Times,” of which, in December, 1884, he became
manager, a place which he has since filled with
marked business ability.
In July, 1879, he married Miss Lollie Ryan, a
daughter of Mr. William Ryan, an old and honored
citizen of Louisville. They had but one child, who
died when about five years of age, the mother dying
in the summer of 1885, after six years of compan-
ionship. O11 September 7, 1887, he married Miss
Annie Buchanan, a daughter of Mr. John Buchan-
an, of Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky.
From this marriage three children, all girls, have
resulted and all survive.
In political affiliations Mr. Haldeman has always
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
507
been a Democrat, and the policy of his paper has
never varied from the Democratic faith. Under his
management, from a small “afternoon experiment,’’
it has grown to be a powerful and influential organ,
with a very large and rapidly increasing circulation,
and a vast advertising patronage.
As a business man Mr. Haldeman seems to have
inherited many of the admirable qualities of his
father. The affairs of his paper in its business de-
partment have been conducted with great care, and
its financial success is due largely to the intelligence
and integrity with which its accounts have been
kept. Business probity and untiring industry seem
a strong characteristic of the entire family and, in
commercial circles, all of the Haldemans, father and
sons, hold high places.
Although not now attached to any church, John
Avery Haldeman, was reared under strict Presby-
terian auspices, and his leaning has always been to
the doctrines of that church.
He has held no public offices and has no desire
for public life, content to keep the even tenor of
his way within the lines of his journalistic business.
He has had no membership in any secret societies,
except that in the Chi Phi, during his collegiate
course.
He has a strong social current in his nature, is
warmly attached to his friends and has the faculty
of inspiring a friendly interest in others. He is lib-
eral, charitable and hospitable; a cheerful and hope-
ful nature, he is never despondent and has always
an eye for the bright side of life.
His fondness for Louisville has imbued him with
large public spirit, and he is proud to believe that
the journal over which he exercises a business direc-
tion is one of the chief agents for promoting the
progress and prosperity of the city.
D RUCE HALDEMAN, vice-president of the
; Courier-Journal Company, was born at Knox-
ville, Tennessee, November 5, 1862, the youngest
son of Walter Newman Haldeman and Elizabeth
(Metcalfe) Haldeman. During the eventful period
of the war his father found it necessary to remove his
family and business from Louisville to Knoxville
•and to other points South as the struggle progressed
and it was while upon this uncertain movement that
Bruce Haldeman was born. When the war closed,
in 1865, the family was brought back to Louisville
and here the boyhood of Bruce was passed. As
soon as he was old enough to begin the acquire-
ment of knowledge he was entered in the public
schools and here, under a good school system, and
with the aid of good teachers, was laid the basis of
his education. After obtaining all that he could
receive from the ward schools and three years at the
High School, he was sent to the University of Vir-
ginia and given the benefits of a two years’ course
there. At the close of his career in the university
he came back to Louisville and began a practical
career by serving several years in the business de-
partment of his father’s paper, the Courier-Journal.
Then having familiarized himself with the opera-
tions of the business of newspaper progress, he en-
tered the local rooms and served in various capa-
cities as a local writer and reporter. Then he be-
came the exchange editor, performing all the pe-
culiar duties of that position effectively and with
credit. Nexthebecame the representative of the As-
sociated Press at Louisville and held that position
for several years. This involved great care and cir-
cumspection and was a position of no little respon-
sibility for one so young. Then, for about one year,
during the absence of his eldest brother, Air. W. B.
Haldeman, he became editor of the Weekly Cour-
ier-Journal, another highly important and responsi-
ble place in view of the wide circulation of the paper
in the South and the sturdy effort to popularize it
as a family visitor and a true compendium of the
news gathered during the week. Later he became
telegraph editor of the Daily Courier-Journal and
later still managing editor, the most important place
of any, except that of editor-in-chief. In this he
succeeded Mr. Harrison Robertson, who became as-
sociate editor and acting editor-in-chief during the
absence of Mr. Waterson. He held the position of
managing editor for a number of years, showing un-
tiring energy and ability throughout. He was then
called back to the business department which had
grown rapidly and demanded careful attention, lie
remained with it one year as manager of circulation
and advertising when he was elected vice-president
of the Courier-Journal Company, succeeding Mr.
Charles D. Pearce, who resigned to enter another
field.
From this it will be seen that the subject of this
sketch has served in almost every department of the
great journal of which he is now vice-president. 1 le
is comparatively a young man, but has had the ex-
perience in newspaper work and management that
has rarely come to much older members of the pro-
fession. He has much of the geinus of his father
for successful and honorable business methods. 1 l is
temperament is admirably suited for administrative
508
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
work. He betrays no impatience or disturbance
over difficulties which frequently arise in the course
of business, but is uniformly cool and clear headed,
hearing with politeness and respect the opinions of
others and dealing equitably and fairly with all. As
one of the probable successors of his father in the
conduct of one of the greatest journals in the coun-
try, he bids fair to aid in maintaining its character
and prestige for many years to come.
It is unnecessary" to say that he is a thorough
Democrat in all respects, fully in accord with the
political views which have governed his father s ac-
tion.
In religious connection he is a member of the
Presbyterian Church, having beene raised under
Presbyterian auspices and believing in Presbyterian
doctrine.
On January 20, 1892, he married Annie Ford
Milton, daughter of William A. and Florence Mil-
ton, of this city. From this has resulted one child,
Florence Milton Haldeman, now three years of age.
JOSEPH KENT DRAKE was born in Louisville,
August 31, 1833, eldest son of Captain Anthony
Drane, of the United States Army, and Elizabeth
Rebecca Drane, the latter daughter of Dr. Richard
Ferguson. Of Welsh antecedents, his father was
the fourth Anthony Drane in this country, his an-
cestors having settled originally in Maryland.
Joseph K. Drane was named Joseph Kent in
honor of Governor Kent, of Maryland, who was a
great friend of his father in the early youth of the
latter, and who took him on horseback to Havre
de Grace, Maryland, when he was on his way to
West Point to enter the military academy. Reared
in Louisville, the son was educated in part in the
schools of this city, and in part in New Albany,
Indiana, completing his course of study at the Uni-
versity of Virginia, where he took a full academic
course. He was in attendance at the university dur-
ing the sessions of 1853-34 and, while there, met and
loved Miss Mattie Winn Poindexter, daughter of Dr.
James W. and Mary J. (Wayt) Poindexter. Dr.
Poindexter was at that time one of the leading prac-
titioners of Virginia, and his family stood high in
social circles. Soon after leaving college Mr. Drane
married Miss Poindexter and almost immediately
afterward came to Louisville, where they made their
home until 1858. At that time they returned to the
home of Mrs. Drane’s parents, at Charlottesville,
Virginia, and lived at that place until the breaking
out of the war between the States. Mr. Drane was
a Jeffersonian Democrat and a strong Southern
man in all his sympathies. Early in the war he
enlisted in the Confederate service, becoming a
member of the famous Washington Artillery, of New
Orleans, Louisiana. Before the war he had mili-
tary experience as a member of Company B, of the
old Louisville Legion, and after his removal to
Virginia had served some time as a member of the
Albemarle Rifles, a company which distinguished it-
self during the war on the Confederate side. When
lie entered the Confederate service his knowledge
of military tactics, his chivalrous nature and devotion
to the cause for which he had taken up arms com-
bined to make him a model soldier. Being physi-
cally unable to stand the fatigues and hardship of
active campaign duty he was transferred to light
duty.
He lived at Charlottesville, Virginia, until 1882,
when he removed to Louisville, and continued to
reside in this' city until his death, which occurred
April 21, 1896. Having inherited a comfortable for-
tune, he never engaged actively in business, and
was a gentleman of the old school, charmingdy enter-
taining and very popular with all classes of people.
He had a passionate love of music and art, and was
recognized as an art critic of exceptionally fine taste.
Among lovers of music he was known as a fine
.singer, and during his residence in Virginia, he was
at different times the director of several church
choirs. He knew intimately many of the leading
singers, composers and artists of the country, and
spent much of his time in the company of those de-
voted to these causes. A fine classical scholar, he
had a broad knowledge of literature, and a wonder-
fully retentive memory enabled him to call to mind,
at will, almost everything that he had ever read. In
social and domestic life he was a most charming
character, genial, kindly, and remarkably entertain-
ing under all circumstances. Liberal in his reli-
gious views, he was generous and charitable, honest
and upright in all things, devoted to his family and
always true to his friends. His religious affiliations
were with the Episcopal Church and his membership
was in Christ Church of Charlottesville. Politically
he was identified with the Democratic party and
was a thorough Jeffersonian in principle. His
children surviving him are Poindexter, Joseph K,
Mary, Mattie, and Rosalind Drane.
O ENRY FIELD DUNCAN, late insurance com-
* missioner of Kentucky, son of Joseph Dillard
and Jane (Covington) Duncan, was born near Bowl-
1
l
;
AND BIOGRAPHY.
509
PERSONAL HISTORY
ing Green, Kentucky, March 13, 1854. Rev. Will-
iam Duncan, who was born in Perthshire, Scotland,
January 7, 1630, was the progenitor of the Duncan
family that settled in the colony of Virginia. Will-
iam Duncan, a grandson of Rev. William Duncan,
left Scotland accompanied by his four brothers and
arrived in Culpeper County, Virginia, January 23,
1722. On February 11, of the same year, he mar-
ried Ruth Raleigh, daughter of Mathew Raleigh,
who was born in England of Welsh parentage. Ra-
leigh Duncan, eldest child of William Duncan and
Ruth Raleigh, was with General Washington at
Braddock’s defeat in 1755; also at Point Pleasant in
1774, where he was severely wounded, and was in
all attacks made by the colonial troops against the
invasion of Virginia by the traitor, Arnold, in 1781.
The old Scotch families thus settled in the northern
neck of Virginia were true to the cause of freedom
during the great struggle for independence. No
family was more loyal to the American cause than
the children and grandchildren of William Duncan,
who was the founder of this family in the colony of
Virginia, and the ancestor of the various branches
of the Duncans who have scattered themselves over
the South and West.
Joseph Dillard Duncan, the father of the subject
of this sketch, was born in Culpeper County, Vir-
ginia, December 2, 1814, and, with his father, came
to Kentucky in 1818. Edmund Duncan, his father,
was a native of Culpeper County, Virginia, and was
born in 1786. Upon coming to this State he settled
in Warren County, where he was a large land and
slave owner and a prosperous farmer up to the time
of his death, January 10, i860. He was a Whig
and never held any office except that of magistrate.
Joseph Dillard Duncan has devoted the greater part
of his life to agriculture on his farm in Warren
County, where he now resides. Jane Covington
Duncan, the mother of Henry F. Duncan, was the
daughter of Joseph Covington and Nancy Lvlburn
Berry. Her father was a native of Raleigh, North
Carolina, and came when a child and settled in War-
ren County, where he died in i860. Nancy Lyl-
burn Berry was born in Virginia and moved to Ken-
tucky in 1783, settling in Hardin County. The Cov-
ingtons are of Scotch-Irish extraction.
■ The subject of this sketch was educated in the
private schools of Bowling Green and at George-
town College, of Georgetown, Kentucky, complet-
ing his collegiate studies at the University of Michi-
gan, Ann Arbor. In May, 1876, he was appointed
clerk in the state auditor’s office, at Frankfort, and
served two years each there and in the following
positions: Chief clerk, quartermaster-general's of-
fice; clerk, auditor’s office, and clerk in the insurance
bureau of Kentucky, from June 1, 1882, to January
1, 1888. On the 1st of January, 1888, he was ap-
pointed deputy insurance commissioner of Ken-
tucky, and on November 11, 1889, was appointed
insurance commissioner to fill out the unexpired
term of L. C. Norman, resigned. On the 1st of
January, 1892, he was re-appointed for a term of four
years, upon the expiration of which he removed to
Louisville and engaged in the fire insurance business
in partnership with- A. H. McAfee. From his long
experience in the departments at Frankfort, Mr.
Duncan came to the insurance bureau well equipped
for the duties of the office, and for six years filled
the responsible position of commissioner with credit
to himself and to the State. During his administra-
tion he was recognized by his fellow commissioners
of other States as a leading authority in all matters
pertaining to insurance, and, in their meetings, was
always assigned a position of honor. In politics Mr.
Duncan is a sound money, gold standard Democrat.
In church affiliation, he is an Episcopalian, and was
secretary of the vestry of Ascension Church, Frank-
fort, from 1882 to 1896.
He was married at Holy Trinity Church, George-
town, Kentucky, Nov. 9, 1876, to Sallie Childs Bu-
ford, daughter of Temple and Edward Ann (Mor-
rison) Buford, and granddaughter of Napoleon B.
Buford, graduate and professor at West Point and
late major-general U. S. A. On her maternal side
Mrs. Duncan is a great-granddaughter of General
William Johnson, of Scott County, Kentucky, and
a descendant of Robert Johnson, the pioneer an-
cestor of the family, who was the father of Vice-
President Richard M. Johnson.
Y\l ILLIAM ALVA WARNER, famous, not only
v ’ in Louisville, but throughout the West as a
theatrical manager for many years, was born in Og-
densburg, New York, February 6, 1826, and died in
Louisville January 24, 1886. His father was Alva
Warner and his mother’s maiden name was Jerusha
Wheeler. His mother’s father was Isaac Wheeler,
who was a soldier in the Revolutionary W ar, and
the daughter, who lived to the remarkable age of
one hundred and three years, had a vivid recollec-
tion of the war and used to entertain her children,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren with the
store of the old farm bell ringing the alarm which
called the “Minute Men" to arms and of how her
510
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
father left the field, picked tip his gun and was gone
to take part in the struggle for independence before
she had time to bid him good-by. Originally natives
of Wales, five brothers belonging to the Warner
family were among the Pilgrims who landed first in
Massachusetts and from one of these five brothers
Mr. Warner was descended.
His father died when he was three years of age,
and his widowed mother soon afterward removed to
Columbus, Ohio. There he obtained his rudimen-
tary education and in 1835 was sent to Kenyon Col-
lege, the famous institution of learning founded by
Bishop Chase of the Episcopal Church, in the pic-
turesque and beautiful village of Gambier, Ohio.
After completing his collegiate studies he removed
to Cincinnati in 1843 and f°r two years thereafter
engaged in the study of law under the preceptorship
of an eminent jurist of that city. He inclined, how-
ever, rather to literature and art than to the law,
and while in Cincinnati was for some time editor of
a paper called the “Evening Welcome.” In 1847
he became connected with Mr. John Bates, then one
of the most famous Western managers in theatrical
ventures, and finding this a congenial calling, de-
voted himself to it during the greater part of his
life thereafter. His association with Mr. Bates con-
tinued until 1857 and during this decade, or at least
during the greater part of it, he was joint manager
of the old National Theater of Cincinnati, and the
Louisville Theater, both famous play houses in their
time. The Louisville Theater occupied the site of
the present Courier-Journal building, and many
leading citizens of Louisville, now silver haired,
cherish pleasant recollections of the entertainments
given there under the management of Mr. Warner.
For several years he divided his time between Louis-
ville and Cincinnati and was equally well known
and equally esteemed in both cities. Shortly before
the beginning of the Civil War he retired temporar-
ily from the theatrical business, and was connected
first with the large wholesale dry goods house of
Mark & Downs, and later engaged in the whole-
sale and retail tobacco business. As a tobacco mer-
chant he had a prosperous trade but in 1873 he
again turned his attention to theatrical enterprises,
becoming at that time manager of Macauley’s Thea-
ter. He continued to hold that position for many
years and was in all respects a popular and success-
ful theatrical manager. In 1884 his health failed
and he removed to New York City, where he re-
mained for two years, living quietly in the East-
ern metropolis during that time. He then returned
to Louisville but died within a short time after his
coming back to this city.
While he was always in a sense a public man, a
limited experience satisfied Mr. Warner with official
life and so far as the writer of this sketch is informed
the only office he ever held was that of member of
the city council of Louisville, to which he was
elected in 1863, but which office he resigned after a
short term of service. In Masonic circles he was
long a leading light. He became a member of that
order in 1850 and at the time of his death had taken
the thirty-third degree and had filled all the im-
portant offices in connection with the Masonic
bodies of Kentucky. He was grand commander
of the Grand Commanderv of Knights Templar of
Kentucky in 1870, and few men have lived in Louis-
ville who were so thoroughly versed in Masonic lit-
erature and knew so much of the historic lore of
that mystic brotherhood. Politically he affiliated
with the Democratic party and he was an Episco-
palian churchman.
Mr. Warner was married in 1846 to Miss Susan
Matilda Thompson, of Cincinnati, their marriage
taking place on the site of the present Burnet House
in that city. Mrs. Warner was born in Hudson,
New York, but was educated at the city of Albany
in the Empire State, coming from that city to Cin-
cinnati, where she was married at seventeen years
of age. Her parents, who came to America in 1816,
were born at New Castle-under-Lvne, forty-one
miles southeast of Liverpool, England, and her
mother was a descendant of George Fox, the famous
Quaker preacher. Her mother’s father, Edward
Fox, was converted to Methodism under the preach-
ing of John Wesley, and was one of the first con-
verts of that famous evangelist. This Edward Fox
himself became a preacher, holding his meetings in
barns, shops, and other similar places and suffering
much persecution on account of his religious faith.
He built the first Methodist Chapel in New Castle-
under- Lyne, and is entitled to a place among the
founders of this great religious body. Two of Mrs.
Warner’s uncles were participants in the battle of
Waterloo and both gave up their lives in that his-
toric struggle, one of the uncles, who was a drum-
mer boy, falling at the first fire. One of her broth-
ers, Edward Thompson, went with Dr. Kane on his
Artie expedition and remained six months in cap-
tivity among the Esquimaux, being picked up by a
whaling vessel at the end of that time. This brother
came from England back to America to enter the
Union Army when the Civil War began. He served
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
511
under General McClellan and received a wound
which caused his death in the battle of the Wilder-
ness.
Three sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Warner,
the eldest of whom was Morris H. Warner, who
achieved merited distinction as a journalist. He
was for many years identified with the press of
Louisville and later was on the editorial staff of the
New York Morning Journal and of the newspaper
Truth of the same city. He died in 1891 at Gal-
veston, Texas, where he was engaged on the editor-
ial staff of the Galveston News. He was the author
of numerous musical and literary compositions and
wrote the libretto for the opera “Cadets,” the score
being written by the now celebrated composer, Mr.
Gustav Iverker. The second son of Mr. and Mrs.
Warner was William A. Warner, who followed mer-
cantile pursuits until his death in 1894. The young-
est son, Dr. George M. Warner, studied medicine
and was graduated from the Louisville Medical Col-
lege in 1880. Since that time he has grown into
prominence among the medical practitioners of the
city and has been connected also in an important
capacity with the educational department of his pro-
fession, having been secretary of Louisville Medi-
cal College ever since his graduation.
IT ENRY BANNISTER GRANT, grand secre-
A tary of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, F. A.
M., was born at Auburn, New York, March 12, 1837.
His father, Rev. Loring Grant, was publisher of the
“Auburn Banner” at the date named. His grand-
father, Dr. Isaac Grant, was a soldier of the Revolu-
tion, and was at Valley Forge with “Mad Anthony
Wayne,” at the taking of Stony Point, and in other
engagements. His ancestors, who traced an hon-
ored lineage back through centuries, came to this
country in 1639.
Prior to his coming to Kentucky in January, 1853,
Henry had studied at schools in Michigan and at-
tended the Albion College. He continued his
studies in Frankfort, Kentucky, and afterward was
employed for several years in the office of the auditor
of public accounts. He removed to Louisville, Jan-
uary 1, i860, and became an officer in a bank, ad-
vancing to the place of managing cashier with credit
and success. At the outbreak of the Civil War he
espoused the side of the Union and, in the fall of
1861, entered the Twenty-seventh Regiment of Ken-
tucky Infantry, as captain of Company F. He
served till the close of the war, refusing promotion.
After the battle of Perry ville, he was assigned to
staff duty as assistant inspector general, where he
laid the foundation of those studies in tactics which
have since borne fruit in the publication of six works
on military subjects. He also did considerable serv-
ice as a member and judge advocate of courts-mar-
tial, and member of a board for the examination of
army officers, etc.
Brother Grant first saw Masonic light in Hiram
Lodge No. 4, Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1859. He
assisted m tiie organization of Louisville Lodge No.
400, and was elected master in 1869. He received
the Capitular degrees in King Solomon’s Chapter
No. 18, in which he served two terms as high priest.
He was made a royal and select master in Louisville
Council No. 4, in 1863, and served two terms as
master. He was knighted in 1863, and assisted in
the organization of DeMolay Commandery No. 12.
He received the Scottish Rite degrees in Louisville
in 1866, and was made knight commander of the
Court of Honor in 1888.
He was for ten years assistant grand secretary of
the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, while the venerable
Hiram Bassett was grand secretary. As Brother
Bassett resided at a distance from Louisville the
office work fell upon Brother Grant. In 1887
Brother Bassett declined re-election, and Brother
Grant was chosen grand secretary in his place, and
has been re-elected every year since that date. In
1887 he was elected grand master of the Grand
Council, R. & S. M., and in 1889 was chosen grand
high priest. In 1892 he was chosen one of the mem -
bers of the Board of Custodians of the work, a posi-
tion which he still holds. In 1893 he was mainly in-
strumental in the organization of the Kentucky Vet-
erans. In August of the same year he was one
of the Kentucky delegates to the Masonic Congress
at Chicago, whose deliberations were conducted
wholly in accordance with plans drafted by him,
which were used by the committee on business,
though, by some oversight, no acknowledgment of
the obligation was made. He also drafted the pres-
ent constitution of the Grand Chapter and Grand
Council.
In 1880 he planned and was in charge of a three
days’ competitive drill in Louisville, the most suc-
cessful of any that had been undertaken in the South,
realizing $10,000 for the benefit of the Masonic
Home. In another competitive drill he asked for
United States Armv officers as judges, which were
declined, but on his arguments in favor of Army offi -
cers’ supervision, the judges were detailed for this
occasion, and a few months afterwards, one of the
512
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
same officers was assigned to duty with the Ohio
National Guard Encampment, and his instructions
contained substantially the ideas presented by Cap-
tain Grant to the Secretary of War. Since then the
government does not hesitate in such details.
Brother Grant has been so closely and constantly
associated with everything Masonic in Kentucky for
a long series of years that it is hardly possible, in a
limited space, to mention all his services in detail.
He has been “guide, philosopher and friend” to
everybody that has sought his aid, and their name
is legion. Each successive grand master for years
has acknowledged indebtedness to him. He has
been a fast friend of the Home from the beginning,
and for five years edited the “Home Journal” with
distinguished ability. He has been active in the
revision of the ritual of chapter, council and com-
mandery. He has rendered most valuable service
on important committees of the General Grand
Chapter. He has drilled and commanded the Ma-
sonic Home drill corps, whose precision of move-
ment has won encomiums from military experts;
and the credit of DeMolav Commandery winning
the first place in inter-state drill is attributable to his
instructions. He is the author of several works on
tactics. His manual on “The Landmarks of Ma-
sonry” attracted great attention, and was highly
complimented at the Masonic Congress. His latest
literary work, save the chapter on the History of
Masonry in these volumes, was the preparation of
the new book of constitutions for the Grand Lodge
of Kentucky, a monument of judgment, taste and
industry.
Brother Grant was married, February 26, 1863, to
Miss Maria L. Richardson, daughter of Samuel K.
Richardson, a wealthy citizen of Louisville. They
have two sons and two daughters. He is a mem-
ber and office bearer of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, and is active in church and Sunday
school work. Captain Grant is the highest author-
ity on Masonic literature in Kentucky, and has pre-
pared the chapter on "The History of the Masonic
Order" for these volumes. This sketch of his life
is from the pen of Past Grand Master J. W. Hopper.
ARL C. BRENNER, artist, was born in Lauter
^ — * Ecken, Rheinfals, Germany, August 10, 1838.
His father, Frederick Brenner, was a wine merchant
and gave his son such education as the schools of
the village in which lie lived afforded. In these
schools drawing was taught as part of the course,
and young Carl showed such a decided talent for
art that his teacher gave him extra lessons and
taught him, as he was wont to say, all he knew. He
thus became well grounded in the principles of draw-
ing, the foundation of the painter's skill, involving
accuracy of outline and perspective. In conse-
quence of the proficiency he displayed his teacher
procured him a commission as scholar in the Mu-
nich School of Art. But when he presented the
document to his father with the great seal of King
Louis on it, he refused to let him go. It was a great
disappointment to the young man, but his ambition
in that direction never left him. He came to Louis-
ville in 1853 and embarked in the business of a sign
painter, still cherishing the idea of some day becom-
ing an artist while pursuing this purely mechanical
business. It was many years before he ventured to
place on canvas the dreams which inspired him.
He was a lover of nature and was fond of rambling-
in the forests and fields about Louisville, but it was
not until 1871 that he began his career as a land-
scape artist. His first picture of any note was a
canvas, 25x30 inches, exhibited at the Philadelphia
Exposition of 1876, the chief feature of which was
the beech tree, which finds in this locality its finest ;
development, and in the treatment of which he after- t
ward achieved so much success and reputation. His j
chief reason for selecting the beech tree as his prin- i
cipal theme was the fact that he found it best adapted j
to artistic effect, and his studies of nature led him to ft
observe the chief glory of Kentucky landscape.
From this time until his death, he devoted himself
4
to art with great success and became a master in
the line in which he has had many imitators but no
rivals. His pencil was very prolific and his paint-
ings adorn many of the walls of the lovers of art 111 l
Louisville, and many galleries in other parts of the
United States. Among the latter is the Corcoran
Art Gallery, at Washington, for which Mr. Corcoran
purchased two of his landscapes. Mr. Brenner was
an enthusiastic devotee to nature, always keeping
himself in touch with its changing forms by actual
contact, making extensive tours at all seasons of the
year to familiarize himself with the various types of
Kentucky scenery. But his heart was in the beech f
woods. The glint of the sunlight on the whitened
bark, the deep shadows relieved by the golden sun-
shine with the cool waters of a small stream or pool,
are the favorite elements in his composition. For
one who produced so many pictures, his work is very
equal, presenting a finish in detail which gives him
a high place among the best of the realistic school.
His excellence is shown as well in his smallest as
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
513
\.
in his largest canvases. He lived long enough to
enjoy his success and to realize that he had won an
enduring fame, dying at his home in Louisville,
July 22, 1888.
In 1864 he married Ann Glas, daughter of a vio-
linist, who, with six children, survives him. Among
these is a son, Carolus Brenner, who inherits the
talent of his father. The others are Edward F., Nel-
lie, Olivia, Maye and Proctor Knott. The latter is
but fourteen years of age, and has acquired a won-
derful knowledge of the art of painting. His produc-
tions are now in demand by many of the best fam-
ilies of the city, and no doubt he will become a
famous landscape artist.
"THOMAS HERCULES HAYS, state senator for
the First and Second districts of Louisville and
Jefferson County, was born at West Point, Hardin
County, Kentucky, October 6, 1837, the oldest son
of William H. Hays and Nancy (Neill) Hays. His
father was born in the same county, October 16,
1812, and is still living, a vigorous farmer, at the
age of eighty-four. In earlier manhood he was
elected sheriff of Hardin County and served effec-
tually for twelve years. He is a man of marked in-
tegrity and such high points of character as have
given him the esteem of the people of his section.
He is a large landholder and has reached the point
of pecuniary success that his unflagging industry
and fair dealing have so well deserved. The Hays
family is of direct Scotch origin. William LI. Hays,
of Hardin County, Kentucky, was a son of Hercules
Plays, of Washington County, Kentucky, born there
in 1786. He afterward removed to Hardin County,
and was a magistrate under the second constitution
of the State and held the office during his life. He
was an ardent Whig and a man of sterling char-
acter. He married Elizabeth Lusk, daughter of
Hugh and Mary McMurtry Lusk. The latter,
born Miss Todd, came of the pioneer family of
Todds, distinguished in the early history of the
State. Hugh Lusk served eight years in the Con-
tinental Army, was wounded in the hip at Lundy’s
Lane, served with distinction at Cowpen’s, King's
Mountain and in other battles. He received a pen-
sion from the government for his services and on ac-
count of his wound. Hercules Hays, who was the
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, died in
Hardin County, March, 1S54, in his sixty-ninth
year. The father of Hercules Hays and great-grand -
father of Thomas LI. Hays, was William H. Hays,
Esquire, of Edinburg, Scotland. Lie was the imnii-
33
grant ancestor of the family in this country and set-
tled near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, some time near
the close of the Revolutionary War. He married
Margaret Slack, of Pennsylvania parentage, and in
1782, came to Washington County, Kentucky,
where his son Hercules was born. A full genea-
logical record of the family has been preserved and
it shows that William H. Hays, Esquire, was a son
of Hercules Hays, Esquire, of Edinburg, and that
he was a son of Sir William Hays, whose estate is
in the vicinity of Edinburg and is now owned by one
of his descendants, a Sir William Hays, whose
brother, Hercules Hays, is now and has been for
thirty years, a member of the English parliament,
representing the Edinburg district. It will be seen,
from this brief epitome of the genealogy, how the
name Hercules has descended to Major Thomas H.
Hays.
On the maternal side the ancestry of Major Hays
is of equal distinction. His mother, Nancy Neill,
was a daughter of Captain Thomas Neill and Phoebe
(La Rue) Neill. The latter was a granddaughter of
Jabez La Rue, of Winchester, Virginia, and her
mother was a Helm. Captain Neill was from Harp-
er’s Ferry, Virginia, and his mother was also a
Helm. He came to Kentucky in 1808 and settled
in Hardin County on land located bv Daniel Boone.
This land is now owned by Thomas H. Hays, and is
the old homestead of his mother’s family. When
Captain Neill came to Kentucky, he brought with
him fifty slaves from Virginia. The records on both
the paternal and maternal sides are given in brief,
but there is quite enough of the family history in this
little sketch to show that each branch is of ancient
and honorable origin.
The early education of Thomas H. Hays came of
private tuition, but its real basis was obtained at St.
Joseph’s College, at Bardstown. This institution
was founded by the Jesuits and has always held a
high place among the educational institutions of
Kentucky. He matriculated there in September,
1853, when in his sixteenth year, and graduated with
the degree of A. B. in 1857, when he was twenty
years of age. He took a thorough classical course
with the addition of a complete course in civil en-
gineering'. 1 his fitted him well for the active labor
in which his later life has been engaged. After
leaving college his first effort at self-support was
in teaching a small school in Hardin County. I lus
he did successfully for one term, but found the re-
straint too great for lus desire to enter a more ac-
tive and wider field, lb', therefore, gave it up, and
/
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
514
for one year undertook the operation of his father's
farm, succeeding fairly in raising a crop. Then he
made two trips as supercargo on flat boats to New
Orleans. At that time, flat boating was a profitable
business and in great favor with Kentuckians who
were commercially inclined. Returning from these
expeditions in 1859, he entered upon the study of
law with Hon. James W. Hays and Governor John
L. Helm, at Elizabethtown. In 1861 he was duly
examined and admitted to the bar. He at once be-
gan the practice in partnership with William Will-
son, and was in a fair way of winning success when
the war between the States was inaugurated. His
martial spirit and his love for his section bore him
directly into the Confederate Army. He had pre-
viously served as major of the Salt River Battalion
of Kentucky State Guards under General Simon B.
Buckner, who was then adjutant-general of the
State. This command was composed of nine com-
panies and contained men enough for a full regi-
ment. He was in command of it at Camp Joe Da-
vis, Muldraugh’s Hill, Hardin County, when Gen-
eral Buckner, with Confederate troops, occupied
Bowling Green; captured L. & N. trains at Eliza-
bethtown and Lebanon Junction; burned bridges
over Rolling Fork of Salt River and Nolin, and re-
ported for duty in the Confederate service to Colo-
nel Roger Hanson, at Green River. He was ap-
pointed major in the Provisional Army of the Con-
federate States and assigned to duty with the Sixth
Kentucky Infantry, General John C. Breckinridge
commanding. He was with this command at Shiloh
and in command of the regiment in the latter part
of the second day’s fight, the colonel and lieutenant-
colonel both being disabled; was in the battles
around Corinth; assigned to duty as major and A.
A. G. for General William Preston; was with him
at Vicksburg and in the Fort Hill battery when the
Confederate ram Arkansaw, ran the blockade of
Federal gunboats into Vicksburg; afterwards as-
signed to duty under Brigadier-General Helm, when
he commanded the Kentucky Brigade, as inspector-
general, and remained with him until his death at
Chickamauga, September, 1863; was then assigned
to duty as adjutant and inspector-general for the
army at large, reporting directly to General S. Coop-
er, at Richmond, Virginia. In May and June, 1864.
he made a thorough inspection and complete roster
of General Joseph E. Johnston’s army, headquarters
then at Dalton. When Sherman’s army came to Dal-
ton he was assigned as assistant inspector-general of
the Army of Tennessee, reporting to Chief Inspec-
tor-General Lewis E. Harvie. He remained with
General Johnston until he was relieved by General
John B. Hood. He then reported for duty to Gen-
eral Wheeler, and was ordered to cut communica-
tion between Sherman and Chattanooga, which be-
ing done, was assigned to duty as adjutant and in-
spector-general of General John S. Williams’ divi-
sion of cavalry, and went with it from Georgia to
Strawberry Plains, thence to Pulaski, and finally to
Saltville, Virginia — in a continuous running fight of
forty days — winding up with a complete rout of
General S. G. Burbridge, at Saltville, Virginia. He
then rejoined General Hood at Florence, Alabama,
and was with him as assistant inspector-general at
Franklin and Nashville, and continued on duty as
inspector-general until the surrender at Appomattox, |
reporting directly to General Cooper. This is a brief
summary of the service of Major Hays in the Con-
federate Army. It is quite enough to serve the pur- >
poses of this sketch, though by no means such a de- j
tail as his gallant co-operation with the lost cause
deserves.
After the war he returned to Kentucky and was ;
engaged for some time in farming. In August, 1869, f
he was elected without opposition to represent Har- j
din County in the Kentucky Legislature. This he !
did to the satisfaction of his constituents and was i
sent back with unanimity for a second term. He de- f
veloped a strong capacity for legislation and a per- t
sonality which gave him great influence in reaching
his ends. At the close of his representation of Har- j
din County he went to New York in the spring of *
1872 and was engaged in the banking business for I
three years. Returning to Louisville in 1875 he 1
was made general superintendent of the Pullman *
Southern Car Company in 1876; was made second
vice-president of this company in 1883; was a mem-
ber of the railroad board of arbitration of the Chi-
cago & Ohio River Railway Commission for
four years. Of this commission Hon. Charles Fran-
cis Adams, of Massachusetts, was chairman. In
1876 Major Hays, Dr. E. D. Standiford, Victor New-
comb, Dr. Miller of Cincinnati, Colonel Sloss, of
Alabama, Colonel R. S. Veech and John S. Cain j
became purchasers of the old charcoal furnaces at ;
Oxmoor, Alabama, and converted them into coke I
furnaces, and they became the pioneers in the mod-
ern development of the great iron industries at Bir-
mingham, Alabama. In 1882 Major Hays became
vice-president of the Ohio Valley Cement Company,
of Indiana, and in 1889 president of the Springer
Cement Mills, of New Mexico. He was vice-presi- 1
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
515
dent and general manager in projecting and build-
ing the Versailles & Midway Railroad, and was as-
sociated with Colonel Bennett H. Young and oth-
ers in projecting and building the Louisville South-
ern Railroad. In 1887 he was elected president of
the Paducah Land, Coal & Iron Company, which
built the blast furnace at Paducah. In 1889 he was
chosen vice-president of the Society of Charcoal Iron
Workers of the United States.
In 1882 he was the Democratic nominee for Con-
gress in the district composed of the city of Louis-
ville, Jefferson and Oldham counties, but was de-
feated by Hon. Albert S. Willis, who ran as an inde-
pendent and was chosen by a small majority. In
1893 he was elected to the State Senate from the
district composed of Jefferson County and the First
and Second wards of the city of Louisville. This
position he still retains, having served ably and con-
spicuously during two important sessions. In 1894
he was an ardent supporter of Hon. William Lind-
say for the United States Senate, and in 1896 a zeal-
ous friend of Hon. J. C. S. Blackburn for re-election
to that body.
Major Hays is a man of strong, high principles,
firm in his opinions and fearing no consequences in
maintaining them. His devotion to Democracy is
as firm as his devotion to the Southern cause was
shown to be by his unflinching service.
In religious affiliation he is a member of St. James’
Episcopal Church of Jefferson County, Kentucky.
He was baptized by Rev. John N. Norton, rector of
Christ Church, and confirmed by Rt. Rev. Bishop
T. U. Dudley, of the diocese of Kentucky. Pie is a
member of Butler Lodge, F. A. M., of Pitts Point,
Kentucky, and of DeMolay Commandery of
Knights Templar, at Louisville.
Major Hays was married July 16, 1861, to Miss
Sarah Hardin Helm, fourth daughter of Governor
John L. Helm and Lucinda B. Helm, the latter a
daughter of the distinguished Ben Hardin, of Nel-
son County, Kentucky. From this marriage result-
ed three daughters, the mother dying June 2, 1868.
They were Lucinda H., Nannie Neill and Emma
Helm. Lucinda married Colonel James Martin, of
Philadelphia; Nannie married Alexander Stephens
Thweath, of Georgia, and Emma died in infancy. On
November 25, 1869, he married Georgia Troup
Broughton, daughter of Judge Edward Broughton
and Sarah A. (Lackey) Broughton, of LaGrange,
Georgia. The Broughtons were pioneers of South
Carolina, settling at Charleston in its incipiencv and
afterwards removing to Georgia. From this mar-
riage has resulted six children: Caddie Flournoy,
Georgia T., V i llie Houston, Sara Antoinette, Mary
Standiford and Mary Percy. Mary Standiford died
at eight years of age, the others surviving.
EORGE HENRY MOORE, merchant and
financier, was born in Louisville, January 10,
1835, and died in this city January 14, 1896, four
days after he had reached the age of sixty-one
years. His father was George J. Moore, a native of
Ashford, Connecticut, who came to Louisville in
1830. Here the elder Moore married Catharine
Fonda, born in Greenbush, New York, and their
son was born in the old Wall Street Plouse, then the
principal hotel of Louisville.
George H. Moore spent the first twelve years of
his life in Louisville and obtained the rudiments of
an education in the city schools. In 1847 his father
removed to Mt. Vernon, Indiana, becoming the own-
er of a large distillery at that place. He remained
there six years, and it was during this time that his
son gained his first knowledge of the business with
which he became so prominently identified in later
years. The family returned to Louisville in 1853,
and after completing his education young George
Moore went to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was
engaged in mercantile pursuits when the Civil War
began.
At the commencement of the war he raised a
company, which became Company G of the Thirty-
ninth Mississippi Infantry Regiment, under the
command of Colonel Ross. Of this company he was
commissioned captain, and from the beginning to
the end of the war — except when a prisoner — he was
in active service. He had as much history in his
heroic record if not more than any one of either
army of the same rank. The quiet, unobtrusive gen-
tleman, so familiar a figure in Louisville in later
years, was one of the most undaunted and cour-
ageous of soldiers. Always calm and cool-headed,
he was not infrequently put in command of the rear
guard and of the skirmish lines in front, his serv-
ice being entirely with the Army of the West.
In the spring of 1863 his regiment was sent to
Port Hudson, and constituted a part of the com-
mand of General Gardner. Here the service was
very active and frequently perilous. General Wal-
ter Q. Gresham, of Indiana, was in command of a
brigade of Federal troops which attempted to un-
cover the position held by the Thirty-ninth Missis-
sippi Infantry, near Port Hudson. Captain Moore,
as usual, was in command ol the outpost, and it was
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
516
the fire of the soldiers of Captain Moore which in-
flicted the severe wounds from which General
Gresham suffered to the day of his death. This fact,
however, was not known until told by General
Gresham in a casual conversation between himself
and Captain Moore, at the latter's summer residence
at Lake Chautauqua, in New York, in the presence
of a number of gentlemen who were guests of Cap-
tain Moore and enjoying his hospitality.
After the line on the Mississippi from Vicksburg
to and including Port Hudson was captured by the
Federals in the summer of 1863, the Thirty-ninth
Mississippi Infantry Regiment rejoined the com-
mand of General Joseph E. Johnston, who had been
sent from Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi, to re-
organize an army for the relief of Pemberton, at
Vicksburg. In the re-organization of regiments into
brigades, in the spring of 1864, the Thirty-ninth
Mississippi Infantry was put in Sears’ Brigade and
assigned to French’s Division, which division at that
time, was a part of the corps commanded by Lieu-
tenant-General Leonidas Polk. In this division
Captain Moore served without the loss of a day from
the commencement of the campaign to his capture
at Allatoona, on the 5th day of October, 1864. Dur-
ing the whole of this campaign he saw very hard
and constant service. In the retreat of Johnston’s
army from Dalton to Atlanta, he was constantly
with his command under fire. In the line of Little
Ivennesaw, June 27, 1864, he was, although of the
rank of captain, in command of the skirmish lines in
front of Stewart’s Corps, when the battle com-
menced. His line was on the north slope of Little
Ivennesaw, on top of which had been placed nine
pieces of artillery, which were brought to bear on
Sherman’s troops in the valley to the north and
northeast of the mountain. Sherman put in posi-
tion one hundred and forty pieces of artillery, form-
ing a crescent, with a convergent fire on Little Iven-
nesaw. When the battle of June 27, 1864, was fair-
ly commenced and the infantry of Sherman’s army
was making a grand charge on Stewart’s and Har-
dee’s lines, these one hundred and forty pieces of ar-
tillery kept up a rapid and convergent fire upon the
line of skirmish commanded by Captain Moore, who
maintained his line intact and behaved in a most
gallant manner. For his coolness, courage and sa-
gacity, he was often complimented by his corps and
division commanders. In this campaign he was in-
variably selected to command any difficult and dan-
gerous lines. It was no ordinary event to see this
young and handsome captain deliberately selected
by his division commander to command a force
which really was entitled to the command of a colo-
nel.. The selection of Captain Moore was made be-
cause of his well-known courage, coolness and
promptness in any emergency. He was a man who
could not be confused in his mind or disconcerted in
his action, no matter how grave the consequences,
nor how great the peril of his position. This was
the predominating faculty of the man, both in mili-
tary and civil life. His faculties always alert, he
never suffered confusion. He was able, in his self-
collected way, to be master of himself, and master
the requirements of any position that might con-
front him.
Captain Moore participated in all the combats and
skirmishes of his division in front of Atlanta and was
never a day absent. When General Hood evacu-
ated Atlanta, in the last days of August, 1864, Stew-
art's Corps was the last body of troops withdrawn
from the line. French’s Division constituted the
rear guard, and Captain Moore was in command
of the rear guard, and his was the last command to
march out of the city of Atlanta, on the McDonald
Road to Lovejoy Station. When General Hood
moved his army from Lovejoy Station, on the 18th
of September, 1864, Captain Moore was with the ;
command and remained with it until the 4th of Oc-
tober. Then it was that General Hood ordered *
French’s Division to march to Allatoona Pass and j
destroy the railroad, and if possible destroy the rail-
road bridge over the Etowah. In this movement
Sears’ Brigade was placed on the north side of Al-
latoona Mountain, on the morning of October 5,
1864, the brigades of Cockrell and Ector being to
the right of Sears’. In this bloody assault on the
works at the top of Allatoona Mountain, Sears’ Bri-
gade distinguished itself, and Captain Moore, with
his company and a considerable portion of the Thir-
ty-ninth Mississippi Regiment, got so far up the
mountain and under the works that when it be-
came necessary to withdraw the troops and rejoin
Hood, Moore found himself in a position from
which he could not extricate himself. He was made
a prisoner of war, with some forty or fifty men of
his regiment, and was not exchanged until after or
about the surrender.
At the conclusion of the war he settled in Holmes
County, Mississippi, and, in connection with Cap-
tain D. G. Pepper, conducted a large business in
supplying cotton plantations. Although the result
of raising cotton that year was disastrous to the
planters, Captain Moore managed, by indefatigable
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
517
industry, energy and attention, to secure for his
principals all advances made to these planters, which
was in the neighborhood of three-quarters of a mil-
lion of money.
In the early part of 1868, he returned to Louis-
ville and took a position in the wholesale whisky
house of which his uncle, Jesse Moore, was the head.
After a time he became a partner in the firm of Jesse
Moore & Company, and later became the owner cf
the establishment, which he continued to the end of
his life to conduct under the old firm name. This
house became, under his management, one of the
most famous of its kind in the United States, and
during the last years of his life, it was but one of
the many great business enterprises with which he
was connected. He was senior member of the firm
of Moore & Selliger, owning and operating both the
Astor and Belmont distilleries. As is well known,
these distilleries are among the largest in the State
of Kentucky, noted alike for the volume and the
excellence of their products. He was one of the
founders of the Fidelity Trust & Safety Vault Com-
pany, with which he was officially connected during
all the years of its existence, prior to his death, and
was also one of the incorporators of the Louisville
Land & Cattle Company, of which he was president
from the date of its organization until his death, and
in which he was a large shareholder. His operations
in various fields of enterprise yielded rich returns,
and he had numerous and varied business
interests. A man of great force of character, his
large experience and sound judgment were al-
ways brought to bear with singular earnestness and
energy upon affairs with which he had to do, and
his opinions carried weight wherever they were ut-
tered. He was not only merchant and manufac-
turer, but was also, in the broadest sense of the term,
a financier. He was a student of economic theories
and financial problems, and had a genius for making
careful and exact calculations in all his commercial
and financial operations. Younger men, especially,
prized his counsels, appreciated the nobility of his
nature, and have reason to remember, with grateful
hearts, his kindliness and helpfulness. One of these
has paid graceful tribute to his virtues in the follow-
ing published utterance: “In his lofty commercial
ideas, in his breadth of character, in his truly chiv-
alrous nature, in his love of fairness and his stern
denunciation of all meanness and littleness, in his
readiness at all times to help a brother man, in his
modest but bounteous and persistent giving, in these
and his many other virtues, he reminded me, as I
compared him often with the bulk of humanity, of a
green oasis, shady, fruitful and well watered, in the
midst of a dry and thirsty desert.
“George H. Moore will need no monument in this
city, for within the hearts of the thousands who
knew him he has budded himself many monuments,
all resting upon the foundation of love, and these
thousands will ever delight to wreath about them
the choicest flowers that bloom in memory's gar-
den.”
Aside from his prominence as a business man,
Mr. Moore was most widely known as a patron of
the arts and a collector of rare judgment and ex-
cellent taste. He had a large share of the artistic in
his temperament, and he was not only a lover of art,
but was one of those sympathetic souls whose hearts
go out to those whose genius is hampered by pov-
erty and other unfortunate conditions of life. Many
a struggling artist owes his final success to the aid
and encouragement given him by this man, whose
heart and hand opened to his appeals, and he un-
doubtedly did more than any other man has done
to promote artistic tastes and musical culture in Lou-
isville. Early in life he became a collector of fine
paintings, and his collection is now one of the finest
private collections of art works in the West. Some
years before his death he built a tasteful and ornate
gallery for the accommodation of this collection, in
which he took great pride and which he proposed to
make the nucleus of a splendid public art gallery
whenever the Polytechnic Society — to which he in-
tended to present it — found itself able to house its
treasures in a fire-proof building. Evidences of his
cultivated and refined tastes abounded in his home,
and visiting artists, musicians and litterateurs
found within its walls a most congenial atmosphere.
Among: his most intimate friends were some eminent
artists, and many entertainments given at his home
brought these artists in close touch with the people
of Louisville and served to stimulate the love of art
and foster education in art matters.
He was married, in 1868, to Miss Florence A. De-
weese, daughter of Cornelius Deweese, Esq., of Car-
roll County, Kentucky. Mrs. Moore died in 1884,
leaving four children, Jessie Moore, Sherley Moore,
Percival Moore and Georgie Moore. He afterward
married Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler, widow of John J. Ty-
ler, of Louisville, who survives him.
SFIERLEY MOORE, manufacturer, was born in
Louisville, March 17. 1872. son of George H.
and Florence Alice (Deweese) Moore, both of whom
518
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
are now dead, his mother having passed away in
1884, and his father in 1896. He belongs to the third
generation of the family in Louisville, his grand-
father having come to this city from Connecticut in
1830 and made it his home a portion of the time
thereafter until his death, although from 1833 to
1853, he had large business interests in Indiana and
resided in that State. His father, George H. Moore,
whose career has been sketched in the foregoing
pages, was actively identified with the business in-
terests of Louisville for thirty years, and was con-
spicuous for his ability and high character as a man
of affairs and was also widely known as an art con-
noisseur and collector.
His father being a man of cultivated tastes and
ample fortune, Sherley Moore was reared in an at-
mosphere conducive to the development of a healthy
intellect and a refined nature, and he received also
that careful training in the practical affairs of life
essential to a proper discharge of their duties and
responsibilities by those who enjoy fortune’s favors.
In his bovhood he attended Professor Chenault’s
famous private school and was then sent to Rose
Polytechnic Institute, at Terre Haute, Indiana,
where he remained until the spring of 1892, when he
was compelled to discontinue his studies on account
of impaired health. He had spent the summer of
1891 in Europe, in company with a party of school-
fellows of Rose Polytechnic Institute, and had had
a most interesting, and in some respects, a unique
experience. The party traveled through England,
France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, walked across
the Alps into Switzerland, and profited greatly by
visiting places of historic interest. One of the sum-
mer months Mr. Moore spent in Germany and
while there applied himself diligently to the study
of the German language, which he learned to speak
with ease and fluency. When compelled to leave
school, he again went abroad, his father taking the
practical view that the object lessons met with in
travel and the mingling with different classes of peo-
ple incident thereto broadens one’s education quite
as much as collegiate training. On his second trip
abroad he spent five months in Europe, devoting a
month to travel in Spain and another month to Scot-
land. Inheriting his father’s fondness for works of
art, he spent a considerable portion of his time in
Rome, Florence, Dresden,, Munich and London, and
in these famous art centers found himself in a con-
genial atmosphere. He was prevented from visiting
Paris by the prevalence of cholera in that city, and
returned home in September of 1892. Immediately
after his return to Louisville he turned his attention
to business and during the following winter kept
books in his father’s office. In the spring of 1893
he married Miss Frank Guthrie, daughter of B. F.
Guthrie, for many years one of the most noted busi-
ness men of Louisville — whose history will be found
elsewhere in this connection — and spent the follow-
ing summer with his wife at Lakewood, New York.
The succeeding winter they passed in Denver, Colo-
rado, extending their travels to California in the
spring and returning to Colorado to spend the sum-
mer months in the mountain regions of that State.
During this time, he combined business with pleas-
ure, spending a portion of his time looking after the
interests of his father’s branch house in San Fran-
cisco. During the fall of 1894 and the following
winter he was associated with his father in business
in Louisville, but in the spring of 1895 he again went
to California, where he remained until he returned
to the East to spend the hot months with his fam-
ily at their summer home on Lake Chautauqua, New
York. In October of 1895 he returned to Louisville
and became identified with the manufacturing inter-
ests of the city as a stockholder in and treasurer of
the Louisville Chair Company. To this business he
has since given a large share of his time and atten-
tion, and since his father’s death has taken the lat-
ter’s place in the directory of the Louisville Land &
Cattle Company. While still a young man, he has
evidenced his ability in the conduct and manage-
ment of large business interests and has proven
himself a worthy successor of his father as a capable
man of affairs and an intelligent, high-minded gen-
tleman. The kindly instincts and broad liberality
which were conspicuous traits of character in the
father are equally marked characteristics of the son,
and each year a portion of his income is set apart
for charities, which he seeks to bestow wisely and
judiciously, in such a way that his gifts may be
productive of the best results. His home is notable
among the homes of Louisville for its artistic embel-
lishment, the elegance of its adornment and its at-
mosphere of culture and refinement. Domestic in
his tastes, modest and unostentatious, he is happiest
in his home life and among the friends who gather
about his own fireside.
T AMES WILDER McCARTY, merchant, was
^ born December 18, 1849, Louisville, son of
Felix and Mary E. (Wilder) McCarty, the former
a native of Loudoun County, Virginia, and the lat-
ter of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. His father
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
519
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and for many years
a member of the old volunteer fire department of
Louisville, and a well-known pioneer. His mother
was a sister of James B., Oscar and Edward Wilder,
pioneer drug merchants of Louisville, the first and
last named of whom acquired large fortunes and
were prominently identified with many important
commercial and other enterprises in the South. In
the maternal line, Mr. McCarty is descended from
the Keys, Browns, Bonds and Egertons of Mary-
land, all families which have had numerous dis-
tinguished representatives. The Keys claim descent
from John Key, first poet laureate of England. Phil-
ip Key, the progenitor of the American family, was
born in London, England, in 1696, came, when quite
young, to Chaptico Landing, Maryland, served there
as high sheriff in later years, and died in 1764. His
remains rest in the family vault at Chaptico, and his
coat of arms marks his tomb. In the War of 1812,
Mr. McCarty’s grandfather, Edward Wilder, served
with distinction as captain of a company in Colonel
Thomas Neill’s Regiment of Maryland Cavalry.
Brought up in Louisville, James W. McCarty was
educated in the city schools, and when eighteen years
old, became a clerk in the drug house of James
B. Wilder & Company. This connection — begun
in 1867 — continued until 1880, at which time he be-
came head of the firm of McCarty & O’Bryan, deal-
ers in paints, oils, etc. In 1889, Mr. O’Bryan died
and Mr. McCarty purchased the interest of his es-
tate in the business, which has since been conducted
under the name of J. W. McCarty & Company. He
has been a successful merchant and stands high
among the business men of the city in which he
grew up and in which he has spent all the years of
his life. His religious affiliations are with the Epis-
copal Church, and in politics he is a Democrat. He
married, in 1877, Miss Elizabeth R. Pyles, daugh-
ter of Dr. Madison and Cordelia (Talbot) Pyles, of
Louisville. His children are Talbot Pyles, Alma
Egerton, Elizabeth Calhoun and Marinda Sewell
McCarty.
OCHS H. HAST. — It has been well said that “to
illustrate the sublime truths of Christianity bv
the arts which appeal to our highest emotions has
ever been the most exalted aim and has called forth
the noblest efforts of human genius. In this latter
day, when eloquence and architecture have passed
their golden age, a new art, fostered by the church,
has been developed into a more intense and power-
ful expression of feeling or of faith — the art of rep-
resenting the ideal world in sound, in harmony, that
higher language which a guiding Providence has
vouchsafed to us by its ideality to combat and cor-
rect the coarse material tendency of our industrial,
commercial age. And in this language of music,
our most gifted men who have faith in a nobler, bet-
ter life, have devoted their genius and energy to pic-
ture these aspirations of our faith, with more per-
suasive voice than the eloquence of the intellect
alone. He who interprets to us the inspirations of
the prophets and sages of our own age — who de-
votes his life and energy to make their visions a
vivid realization to us, must be one of our noblest
teachers.”
Such a one was Professor Louis Hast, the sub-
ject of this sketch, and the memory of his virtues,
his noble inspirations and his great work will long
linger with the people among whom he lived and
labored.
Louis Henry Hast, whose great work in de-
veloping musical culture in Louisville constitutes
an important part of “The History of Music.”
which appears in this volume, was born January 13,
1822, in Gochlingen, Province of Rheinpfalz, Ba-
varia, son of Cornelius and Lizette (Reither) Hast,
and died in Louisville, February 13, 1890. He came
of an old and honored German family, his grand-
father having been a burgomaster of Gochlingen,
and one of his uncles was a bishop of Speyer, whose
remains rest in the famous Romanesque Cathedral
of Speyer, founded in the year 1030 A. D., and com-
pleted in 1061.
Louis Hast obtained his primary education in the
schools of Gochlingen, studied Latin and the
sciences in the noted old town of Landau and then
went to Munich, where he devoted eight years to
the study of music and graduated from the famous
Conservatory of Music in that city. He came to
America soon after the German Revolution of 1848,
and in 1849 accompanied by his younger brother,
who was a promising artist, came to Kentucky.
They both went to Bardstown, where Louis H. Hast
became connected with Mr. Cosby's noted school
as a teacher of music, while his brother devoted
himself to the art of painting. The brother lived but
a few years — dying in 1854 — but while following his
profession in Bardstown, painted a number of nota-
ble pictures, some of which were destroyed by the
fire which consumed St. Joseph’s Church, of that
city. After the deatli of his brother, Professor Louis
H. Hast came to Louisville, where his extraordinary
musical talent and his superior ability as a teacher at
520
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
once commanded appreciation and admiration. Here
lie began a long and distinguished career as a teach-
er, organist, pianist, choir director and director of
musical societies, cultivating his art for the love of
it and throwing his whole soul into his work. He
was the first organist at the old St. Louis Cathed-
ral. In 1877 he became the organist of Christ
Church and held that position until a year before
his death, when he resigned on account of failing
health, and was then appointed organist emeritus.
He was identified with every movement designed to
foster a love of music or to advance musical educa-
tion from the time he became a resident of Louis-
ville until his death, and at different times he was
director of La Reunion Musicale, the Philharmonic
Society, the Saengerfest and the Beethoven Quartette
Club. These societies were composed of musical
artists and were distinguished for the excellence of
their work, the high ideal to which they aspired,
and their enthusiasm, all largely due to their director.
He planned and directed many musical perform-
ances of great merit, and some of these concerts will
long be remembered as historic events in the mus-
ical annals of the city. He was a student, as well as
a leader, and whatever he gave his attention to, re-
ceived careful and conscientious consideration. He
was a master of the science of teaching, and his
methods were direct, practical and always prolific
of good results. He felt deeply and warmly urged
upon others the importance of systematic musical
culture in connection with school work, and a not-
able address delivered upon the subject of establish-
ing a normal music school, before the teachers’ con-
vention, at Lexington, made a strong impression
upon the educators of the State.
As a teacher he was especially loved and revered
by his pupils, all of whom he inspired with a love
and reverence for the highest and noblest efforts in
his art. He was genial, as well as accomplished,
uniting with the large heart of the German the pol-
ish and wit of the Frenchman, and always carried
good humor and sunshine with him wherever he
went. He was essentially the ruling spirit in the
musical circles of Louisville; his home was the gath-
ering place for the greatest singers and musicians,
and his musical library was probably the finest west
of New York City. As a choral director, he attract-
ed to Christ Church the finest singers in this com-
munity, and his music was such as could hardly
have been heard elsewhere outside of the leading
churches in the larger cities of the United States. He
was, in a sense, the father of that which was and is
best in the music of Louisville. Coming to Ameri-
ca from a cathedral city, from the land of music and
song, where lie had enjoyed the association and
friendship of the masters in the art, his tastes and
education had made him thoroughly classical. In
the beginning of his career in Louisville, he had to
contend against great odds to establish the high
standards which corresponded, in a measure, to his
ideals. But he had an iron will, as well as genius,
and in the end he triumphed over all obstacles and
established a standard of musical culture which con-
stitutes an enduring monument to his memory. He
was a profound musician, a poet, a gentle and sensi-
tive soul, a pure-hearted man, a charming compan-
ion and faithful friend.
His life work ended in Louisville, and a grateful
public, appreciative of the services he had rendered
as a conscientious apostle of all that is best and high-
est in the art of music, paid numerous graceful trib-
utes to his memory. At the obsequies and at me-
morial services held at Christ Church in his honor,
the musical programmes included some of Profes-
sor Hast's own compositions, and those occasions
were characterized by a depth of feeling which tes-
tified, in the strongest manner possible, to the re-
gard felt for him by those who had been most inti-
mately associated with him in life.
He was married, in i860, to Miss Emma Wilder,
daughter of the noted merchant and financier, James
B. Wilder, of Louisville, who died some years be-
fore her husband. The surviving members of his
family are Emma Wilder Hast, Lizette L. Hast,
Etta Courtenay Hast and Louis Anderson Hast, all
of whom still reside in this city.
C RANK TEUPE, who has been a resident of
1 Louisville since 1854, and a prominent business
man for many years, was born in Emsdetten, a small
town in the province of Westphalia, Germany, Jan-
uary 8, 1837. He is the second son of Bernard and
Josephine (Hermeling) Teupe, and his father was a
native of the same town as himself, and after his
marriage occupied the old homestead in which he
had been brought up. As a young man, his father
served in the Prussian Army as a member of the
Regimental Music Corps, and after he had been
honorably discharged from the military service and
returned to the pursuits of civil life, he was leader of
a local orchestra and organist of the Catholic
Church at Emsdetten up to the time of his death,
which occurred in 1861.
The elder Teupe had four children, three sons
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
521
and one daughter, all of whom inherited a love of
music and received careful instruction at his hands.
Not wishing to have his sons pressed into the mili-
tary service, as soon as they reached the stipulated
age, he sent his eldest son, Bernard, to America,
when he was seventeen years old, and his son Franz
and daughter Josephina followed in later years, only
one son, Hubert, remaining in Germany. Bernard
Teupe came to Louisville in 1851 and at once be-
came connected with the piano manufacturing firm
of Peters, Webb & Company, retaining this posi-
tion until his death in 1867. Josephina came to this
country in 1871, married George Grothe, of Cincin-
nati, and died in that city.
Frank Teupe attended the Catholic parochial
schools of Emsdetten as a child and graduated from
the parish schools when he was fourteen years old.
He then took a collegiate course of three years, and
during this time kept up his study of music under the
tutorage of his father. At seventeen years of age
he was ready to leave school, and plans had been
made for him to go to Holland, where he was to
enter upon a commercial career. At the solicitation
of his brother Bernard these plans were changed,
and instead of going to Holland he came to America,
joining his brother in Louisville in 1854. He had,
from early childhood, evinced a marked fondness for
music and at eight years of age had acquitted him-
self creditably as organist of the village church.
This talent had been carefully cultivated by his
father, and as a result he came to this country an ac-
complished musician.
Arrived in Louisville he at once found employ-
ment in the music store of Peters, Webb & Com-
pany, where he, like his brother, gained a practical
knowledge of the construction of pianos and other
musical instruments. In 1863 lie and his brother
formed a partnership for the purpose of giving spe-
cial attention to the repairing and tuning of pianos,
and soon became noted for their expert workmanship
and built up a large business. Bernard Teupe died
in 1867 and Frank conducted the establishment
alone, adding the renting of pianos and organs as
another department of the business, which he con-
ducted prosperously until 1876, when the firm of
Peters, Webb & Company dissolved and the senior
member of that firm, Hon. B. J. Webb, persuaded
Mr. Teupe to form a partnership with him and en-
gage in the manufacture of pianos. Webb & Teupe
was the firm thus organized and it continued in ex-
istence until 1882, when Mr. Webb retired from bus-
iness, disposing of his interests to his partner. Mr.
Teupe thus became sole proprietor of the piano
manufactory, and has ever since carried on a prof-
itable industry and one which is creditable to the
city, as well as to its owner. He has prospered finan-
cially and the building in which his extensive busi-
ness is carried on is his own property, and he is also
the owner of valuable property in other parts of the
city.
Mr. Teupe has not only prospered in a business
way and built up a comfortable fortune as the result
of his honest and intelligent efforts, but has gained
that high standing in the business world which is as
much to be desired as riches. He has been in all re-
spects a worthy citizen, and the public estimate of
his character was shown in 1895, when the Good
Government or Citizens’ party made him a candidate
for member of the city council on the reform ticket
in the election of that year. He has always voted
with the Democratic party and believes in its prin-
ciples, but believes also that honest government is
an issue of paramount importance. Religiously he
has always adhered firmly to the Catholic faith, in
which he was brought up.
Mr. Teupe has done much to promote musical
culture in Louisville and has been a leader in all
movements designed to foster the art, ever since he
became a resident of the city. He was a member of
the Musical Fund Society, composed of forty or fifty
members, which gave some notable concerts in Lou-
isville between the years 1856 and 1861. In orches-
tra, he has played the violin, double bass, bassoon,
trombone and French horn, and he is also an or-
ganist of recognized ability. He has organized the
choirs of St. John's, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Mar-
tin’s Catholic Churches, and about twenty years
since, when the Catholic Church attempted to re-
form church music, he was the first and only one of
the Catholic organists of Louisville who had the
courage to change the music of his choir from the
modern style to the St. Cecilian and Gregorian style.
His strong will power, great industry and persistent
effort made the movement successful for a time m
Louisville, but after he ceased to be an organist, the
choirs lapsed into the old style, which they have
since followed. His love of literature has been akin
to his love of music, and his library, composed of
choice English and German works, is probably the
largest in the possession of any German resident of
Louisville.
Mr. Teupe was married in 1858 to Miss Elizabeth
Kortmann, a very excellent young lady, who proved
herself a devoted and helpful wife, and to whom he
522
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
attributes a large share of his success in life. Mrs.
Teupe shared with her husband the labors, joys and
sorrows of life until December 3, 1895, when her life
work ended and she entered into eternal rest, leav-
ing with her family the precious memory of faithful
wife and mother. Eleven children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Teupe, of whom eight, seven daughters
and one son, are now living.
"P DWARD ROWLAND, one of the younger
' wholesale merchants of Louisville, was born
March 20, 1851, in Mobile, Alabama, son of Ben-
jamin L. and Mary Ann (Barlow) Rowland. His
father, born at Woodstock, Vermont, in 1818, eldest
son of Benjamin L. and Rhoda (Marsh) Rowland,
left his home in the Green Mountain State when he
was thirteen years of age and went to Marlborough,
Connecticut. There he was employed seven years in
the famous cotton factory owned and operated by
the English firm of Watkinsons, finally taking
charge of the office work and accounts of the firm.
Leaving Marlborough at the end of his seven years'
term of service in the cotton factory, he went to
Providence, Rhode Island, and during the next three
years was employed in a large mercantile establish-
ment in that city. While there he had for his room-
mate and companion a young Southerner named
Thaddeus C. Barlow, who was being educated in the
North. When the latter completed his studies and
returned to his home at Mobile, Alabama, he was
accompanied by B. F. Rowland. Arrived at Mobile
he obtained a situation as accountant in the ship
chandlery house of Coffin & McCullough, and thus
began an active and successful business career in
the Southern city. Later he engaged in the whole-
sale grocery business as head of the firm of B. F.
Rowland & Company, and was a prominent and
successful merchant until 1861, when he closed,
out his stock of goods and suspended his merchan-
dising operations. Although he was a native of
New England, he sympathized warmly with the
South in the ensuing conflict between the States,
and severed his trade relations with eastern mer-
chants after discharging all his financial and other
obligations to them. He removed to Baldwin Coun-
ty, Alabama, in i860, and remained there until the
close of the war, when he returned to Mobile. He
resumed merchandising in Mobile in 1866 and con-
tinued it until he retired from active business, com-
ing to Louisville in November, 1894. He died at
Crescent Hill, Kentucky, January 26, 1895. A man
of fine literary attainments, fond of athletic exer-
cises, and an enthusiastic sportsman, he had a
charming personality and was greatly beloved in the
circles in which he moved, both in this city and at his
home in Alabama. His wife — the mother of Ed-
ward Rowland — was the sister of his early friend and
roommate, Thaddeus C. Barlow, and a daughter of
Aaron Barlow and Sarah Gilchrist, of Alabama.
She was born March 6, 1825, in Baldwin County,
Alabama, and is now living in Louisville, in the en-
joyment of a green old age. Her father was a native
of Virginia, and her paternal grandfather’s remains
rest at Culpeper Court House, in the Old Dominion.
Her mother was a native of Georgia and came of the
Gilchrist and Clark families, both old families of that
State. Sarah Clark (Gilchrist) Barlow, her mother,
was one of the few persons who escaped the ven-
geance of the Creek Indians at Fort Mims, through
her refusal to enter the fort, when urged to do so be-
fore the massacre. She died at the age of ninety-
four years in Baldwin County, Alabama, at the
homestead in which she had lived for more than
seventy years and which is now the home of her
youngest son, Thaddeus C. Barlow. The Barlow
families of Kentucky, Virginia and Alabama are
closely related, and Major John Smith Barlow, late
of Barren County, Kentucky, was a cousin of Aaron
Barlow, grandfather of Edward Rowland. B.F. Row-
land and his wife spent fifty years of married life in
Alabama and celebrated their golden wedding at
Mobile in July, 1894. Their children are Mrs. J.
P. Labuzan, of Mobile; Mrs. Julia R. Richards and
Edward Rowland, of Louisville; D. G. Rowland, a
farmer of Jefferson County, Kentucky, and W. B.
Rowland, general agent of the passenger department
of the Mobile & Ohio Railway Company at St.
Louis. | 1 •
Edward Rowland was educated in the best pri-
vate schools in Alabama, and except while resid-
ing with his parents in Baldwin County, Alabama,
during the war period, lived in Mobile until 1869.
In that year he came to Louisville to accept a po-
sition as clerk in the cashier’s office of the Adams
Express Company. At the end of a year he was
offered and accepted a position more to his liking
with the wholesale dry goods house of Tapp, Walsh
& Company. In 1871 he transferred his services to
the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, be-
coming bookkeeper in the auditor’s office of that
corporation. For over twenty years thereafter he
was continuously in the employ of this railway com-
pany, filling successively the positions of general
bookkeeper, chief clerk and auditor, until he resign-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
523
ed the latter office July i, 1892. When he quit the
railway service he returned to the wholesale mer-
chandising interests of Louisville as a stockholder
in the Carter Dry Goods Company and vice-presi-
dent of that admirably managed corporation. His
position in social and church circles as well as in
the business circles of Louisville has long been a
prominent one. In religious faith an Episcopalian,
he has long been a member of St. Andrew’s Church
and has served as a vestryman of that church. He
is a member of Louisville Commanderv No. 1 of
Knights Templar, and has been prominently identi-
fied with local military affairs, having served as first
lieutenant of the “Standiford Guards,” afterward
joined to the Louisville Legion and now known as
Company D. His political affiliations are with the
Democratic party.
He was married, in 1878, at Crescent Hill, Ken-
tucky, to Miss Carrie J. Lindenberger, daughter of
J. M. Lindenberger, president of the American Na-
tional Bank of Louisville. Mrs. Rowland’s mother
— now deceased — was Miss C. A. Peterson before
her marriage, and was a daughter of Joseph Peter-
son, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and for
many years a leading tobacco merchant of Louis-
ville.
A NGUS RUCKER ALLMOND, who was hon-
ored by the Commercial Club of Louisville bv
election to the presidency of that organization in
1896, was born in the village of New Market at the
confluence of the Tye and James rivers in Nelson
County, Virginia, July 18, 1864. He is the son of
Alfred Dismukes Allmond and Jane Allen (Blakey)
Allmond, both of whom were natives of Virginia.
Alfred D. Allmond was born in the town of Luray,
Page County, Virginia, in 1818, son of Mann All-
mond, who belonged to the old school of Southern
merchants and was in all respects a most estimable
gentleman. In the broadest sense of the term, an
honest man, this old merchant was greatly beloved
by the people among whom he lived and it was said
of him at the time of his death, in the eighty-eighth
year of his age, that “every inch of Page Countv
was better for his having lived in it,” and that "he
was a citizen whose virtues, honesty and fidelity, his
earnest advocacy of the right and abhorrence of
wrong should be emulated." His remains rest in
Page County and the county is honored in being the
last resting place of so worthy a man.
Alfred D. Allmond was brought up to the busi-
ness of merchandising and when twenty-eight years
of age removed to Stanardsville, the county seat of
Green County, Virginia, where he was prominent as
a merchant for many years, being also a member of
the magisterial court and postmaster of that town.
During the Civil War, his family, like many others
of that region, were forced to seek refuge elsewhere
and settled finally at Charlottesville, Virginia. There
Mr. Allmond continued to reside until he came to
Louisville and he is now (1896) secretary of the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His wife,
the mother of Angus R. Allmond, died in this city
in 1892. She was born in Madison County, Vir-
ginia, and was the granddaughter of Captain Angus
Rucker, a large land-owner of that county, who was
an officer in the Revolutionary Army. As a girl,
Mrs. Allmond was noted for her beauty and intel-
lectual attainments and her womanly character was
in keeping with her other graces.
After attending the Charlottesville, Virginia, high
school, Angus R. Allmond completed his education
at the Southwestern University of Jackson, Tennes-
see. After completing his studies, he turned his at-
tention to business pursuits, beginning life a young
man of fine attainments, with honesty of purpose
and unswerving determination to do right and in-
tense energy and activity as his distinguishing char-
acteristics. Soon after leaving college, he came to
Louisville and for some time was engaged in rail-
road work. Not finding his position a congenial
one he gave it up and engaged in other pursuits un-
til he became connected with the Commercial Club
in which he has since been so prominent a figure.
Into this movement, which has been prolific of good
results to Louisville, he threw all his energies, serv-
ing three years, prior to 1890, as secretary of the
club. In 1890 he resigned the secretaryship of the
club and became connected with the Mechanics’ Na-
tional Building and Loan Association, of which he
has since been manager. Meantime his activity as
a member of the Commercial Club continued and
he was made a director of that organization and
chairman of the city development committee, hold-
ing that important chairmanship almost continu-
ously up to May, 1896, when he was honored with
the highest office in the gift of the club. He was
elected to the presidency by a practically unanimous
vote and the compliment thus paid to him was one
which he had richly merited by his zealous efforts
and efficient services in advancing the interests of
the Commercial Club. I u addition to his promi-
nence as a member of this club organization, he is
a familiar figure in fraternal circles, being a mem-
524
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
her of Falls City Lodge No. 376 of Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, a member of Louisville Comman-
dery No. 1, Knights Templar, a Knight Of the An-
cient Essenic order, Kentucky Senate No. 265, and
a member of the Royal Arcanum, Louisville Council
No. 242. Politically he is identified with the “sound
money” wing of the Democratic party, and he is a
member of the Baptist Church and a director of the
Newsboys’ Home.
He was married, in 1895, in Nashville, Tennessee,
to Miss Stella Eakin, daughter of Spencer Eakin,
Esq., and granddaughter of Alexander and Mar-
garet (Deery) Eakin, of Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Mrs. Allmond’s mother is a daughter of Andrew and
Rowena (Williams) Ewing. Andrew Ewing served
with distinction as a member of Congress, represent-
ing the Nashville District, and one of his daughters,
a sister of Mrs. Allmond’s mother, is now Mrs. Hen-
ry Watterson, of Louisville.
CMORY LOW, manufacturer, was born in Leo-
minister, Massachusetts, in 1808, son of Jabez
and Sophia Low, and died in Louisville in 1852.
He was brought up and educated in New England
and came to Louisville in 1836, when twenty-four
years of age. His brother, James Low, had pre-
ceded him to this city and was engaged here in the
successful operation of a comb factory, when Em-
ory joined him. The latter soon became a partner
in this establishment, the firm being known as Em-
ory & James Low. Their association continued
about three years, their partnership being dissolved
at the end of that time and Clark Moses and W. T.
Benedict becoming members of the new firm of
Emory Low & Company.
This firm was one of the well-known business es-
tablishments of the city in the early “forties,” and
continued in existence without change of partners
until 1846, when Mr. Moses lost his life while ab-
sent in Virginia. His place in the firm was taken
by William C. Kennedy, in January of 1847, and
there were no other changes in the membership un-
til 1852, when Mr. Low met a sudden death by ac-
cident. He was actively engaged in business in
Louisville for sixteen years, and during that time
was known as an honorable and upright man, sa-
gacious in the conduct of his own business affairs
and public spirited in everything pertaining to the
welfare of the city. He had been exceedingly pros-
perous in his manufacturing operations and had
large property interests both in the city and coun-
ty. His country place, which had been named “Mon-
trose," was one of the notable suburban residences
in the vicinity of Louisville, but the projector and
builder did not live long enough to occupy it. He
married, in 1840, Miss Barbara Ann Hikes, daugh-
ter of John and Catharine (Herr) Hikes. The father
of Mrs. Low was born near Harrisburg, Pennsyl-
vania, and her mother was brought up in Jefferson
County, Kentucky. Her mother’s parents were
among the early and prominent settlers of this coun-
ty. The family estate consisted largely of valuable
lands in this county, a portion of which is still in the
possession of Mrs. Low.
A LFRED HERR HITE, county superintendent
of schools, was born at St. Matthews, Jefferson
County, Kentucky, son of S. S. and Jane Helen
(Llerr) Hite. His paternal ancestor came to this
country from Holland, and his grandfather, Jacob
Hite, and great-grandfather, Isaac Hite, Jr., were
conspicuous among the pioneers of Kentucky.
Isaac Hite, Jr., was one of the compatriots of Dan-
iel Boone, who braved the perils of the frontier and
established the first permanent settlement in Ken-
tucky, at Boonesboro, and his dwelling there was
one of the four which stood outside the fort when
Filson made his map of Kentucky, then a part of
Virginia. He was a member of the Transylvania
Legislative Assembly, which met at Boonesboro, in
1775 — the first legislative body that ever met west
of the Allegheny Mountains — and later was a mem-
ber of the Kentucky Legislature.
Alfred H. Hite was reared in Jefferson County, at-
tended the schools of St. Matthews, and was grad-
uated from the Male High School of that place in
the class of 1886, with the degree of bachelor of arts.
Adopting school teaching as a profession, he soon
became prominently identified with the educational
interests of the county, and his prestige and popu-
larity as an educator have steadily increased. Dur-
ing the session of 1888 he was principal of the
Brandenburg Academy of Mead County, and much
of the time during the past ten years he has taught
in the schools of Jefferson County. In 1893 he was
nominated for the office of county superintendent of
schools and at the ensuing election carried twenty-
two out of twenty-seven precincts in the county. He
entered upon the discharge of his official duties in
1894 and the term for which he was elected will ex-
pire January 1, 1898. As superintendent of schools
he has ably managed the educational affairs of the
county, and the public school system has been stead-
ily improved under his supervision. For four years
1
(
\
ia
oi
k
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
525
Mr. Hite was a member of Company A, of the Louis-
ville Legion, and accompanied the legion to New
York in 1889 to participate in the Centennial cele-
bration of the adoption of the constitution of
the United States. He has been somewhat active
in political movements and is a stanch believer
in the .principles and policies of the Demo-
cratic party. For some years he was very prominent
as a member of the Farmers’ Alliance and was vice-
president of that organization, but resigned his office
when the alliance became mixed up in politics. He
was a charter member of the Louisville Senate of the
Ancient Essenic order, and is a member of the
Christian Church.'
He married Miss Minette Herr, daughter of John
L. and Susan (Uttenger) Herr, who was his distant
relative and former pupil, and whose ancestors came
to Kentucky in the early part of the present century.
T OHN ALLEN ARMSTRONG, manufacturer,
^ was born in Louisville, May 5, 1854, son of
Charles O. and Amanda F. (Allen) Armstrong.
Charles 0. Armstrong became a resident of Lou-
isville as early as 1820, and as a young man served
as deputy sheriff of Jefferson County. In the days
when pork-packing was one of the great industries
of the city, with comparatively few western cities
rivaling it in the volume of pork products sent into
the market he was one of the leading pork-packers
of the country, and the opening of the Civil War
found him at the head of a large and prosperous bus-
iness, which he sacrificed to his devotion to the
Southern cause. He was a man of ardent tempera-
ment and positive convictions, and openly and zeal-
ously championed the cause of Southern independ-
ence, going so far as to adopt the Confederate flag as
the design on his envelopes and other stationery.
Warned that the Federal authorities contemplated
his arrest, he left Louisville and went to Bowling-
Green, Kentucky, from there to Nashville, Tennes-
see, and finally to Atlanta, Georgia. At Bowling
Green and Nashville he established himself in busi-
ness, but was driven further south by the advancing
Union armies, and on the 17th of April, 1862, he
died in Atlanta, in the arms of his friend, Stephen
Shallcross, in company with whom he had left Lou-
isville.
His wife was a daughter of James Allen, a wealthy
farmer in what is known as the “Blue Grass” portion
of Kelson County, who was a brother of Colonel
John Allen, famous among the early lawyers and
legislators of Kentucky and an associate of Henry
Clay in defending Aaron Burr against the conspir-
acy charges brought against him in the Federal
court at Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1806. Colonel
Allen was a candidate for governor of Kentucky
against General Charles Scott in 1808, and com-
manded the First Regiment of Kentucky Riflemen
in the War of 1812, falling mortally wounded in the
battle of the River Raisin, January 22, 1813.
Thomas M. Green, in his “Historic Families of
Kentucky,” places the Allens among the Scotch-
Irish families who came to Kentucky by way of Vir-
ginia, their settlement in the “Old Dominion” hav-
ing been made in the valley of Virginia, where some
of their descendants still remain. James Allen —
great-grandfather of John Allen Armstrong — the
progenitor of the Kentucky family, came to Nel-
son County in 1780 and in 1784 built, near old Fort
Schuyler, not far from the present town of Bloom-
field, a commodious dwelling, which is still in a good
state of preservation and in possession of his de-
scendants. He and Joseph Daviess had before that
built two cabins on Clark’s Run, the first built in
that portion of Kentucky outside a fort or station.
Closely related to the Allen family — unquestionably
one of the first to settle in Kentucky — have been the
Logans, Crittendens, Murrays and Hustons, and
other distinguished families of the old common-
wealth.
John A. Armstrong is the namesake of his uncle,
John Allen, at one time a noted Louisville mer-
chant, and in his career as a business man he has
evinced much of the tenacity of purpose and fertility
of resource characteristic of his Scotch-Irish ances-
try on the maternal side. He was educated in the
public schools of Louisville and at Georgetown Col-
lege of Georgetown, Kentucky, and soon after leav-
ing school entered the employ of Jones, Tapp &
Company, wholesale clothiers, where he received
good business training, obtaining a general knowl-
edge of merchandising and considerable acquaint-
ance with the trade, which, then as now, centered in
Louisville. Some time later he went to the Pacific
coast and for several years resided in California. Re-
turning to ins old home he then purchased the chair
factorv which had, for some time, been operated in
a comparatively small way by Henry Buchter, con-
tinuing the business under the name of the Buchter
Chair Company, until the knowledge and experi-
ence which he had obtained suggested increased
manufacturing facilities and more extensive opera-
tion. Having satisfied himself that the manufacture
of chairs could be carried on, on a large scale, with
526
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
handsome profits to the operators, in company with
other gentlemen, he organized the Lonisville Chair
Company, a corporation of which he became the
president, and of which he has since been the execu-
tive head. He was not disappointed in his expecta-
tions and gradually developed the chair company’s
plant into a manufacturing establishment of large
proportions, which now furnishes employment to
over three hundred persons, and has a capacity foi
turning out over five hundred dozen fine chairs each
week.
To have developed a business of this magnitude,
to have created, or at least to have built up, an in-
dustry which furnishes to hundreds of persons the
means of obtaining a livelihood, is no ordinary
achievement, and while men of the class to which
Mr. Armstrong belongs usually insist upon being
regarded as plain private citizens, they are, in a
broad sense of the term, public men. By reason of
the fact that their products find a wide market, they
are brought into close touch with a vast number of
persons and become widely known, and in this ma-
terial age, the genius which turns the wheels of in-
dustry is the genius which confers the greatest bless-
ings upon mankind.
In addition to building up the chair factory, Mr.
Armstrong has participated in the establishment and
development of other manufacturing plants in Lou-
isville, and is identified with the banking interests
of the city as a director of the Louisville City Na-
tional Bank. He is a man of strong personality both
in the business features which have made his career
successful and in the elements which attach him to
his friends and they to him. Of a dignified yet not
haughty carriage, a stranger would pick him out as
one of the very last to take a liberty with or to treat
with unwarrantable familiarity. Yet while guarded
from intrusion by this characteristic reserve, there
are few men more readily approached within the
bounds of business or friendship. Ever prompt in
his duties as to the first, there is none more ready
to respond to the calls of the second. New friends
are attracted to him by that law of nature which en-
ables genial natures to find their like, and held by
the merit which retains friendship and friends as
with hooks of steel. Few men have more hearty
friends than John A. Armstrong, or hold them with
a finer tenure. He has been prominent as a mem-
ber of the Masonic fraternity and is past com-
mander of Louisville Commanderv No. i, Knights
Templar.
Mr. Armstrong has been twice married; first to
Miss Virginia Moore, a daughter of Henry S. and
Virginia D. Moore, of Louisville. Her father was a
well-known merchant, at one time associated in
business with Joseph Danforth, and she was the
great-granddaughter of General Israel Shreve, of
Morristown, New Jersey, of Revolutionary fame.
Henry Miller Shreve, the distinguished inventor of
one of the first steamboats to traverse the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers, and in honor of whom Shreves-
port, Louisiana, was named, was her great-uncle,
and the Shreves of Louisville and St. Louis, and the
O'Fallon, Carter and other well-known families were
nearly related to the family to which she belonged.
After three children had been born to them, one of
whom. Aline Armstrong, survives, Mrs. Armstrong
died, and Mr. Armstrong married some years later
Miss Josephine Peter, daughter of Jacob Peter, Esq.,
their marriage occurring in London, England. A
native of Switzerland, her father came of a wealthy
and influential family in the Swiss republic. He
came to this country in early life, and was for many
years actively engaged in pork-packing operations in
Louisville, in the same house in which Mr. Arm-
strong’s father did business. After his retirement
from the business he gave attention mainly to caring
for his fortune and banking operations, being presi-
dent of the First National Bank at the time of his
death. One daughter, Nellie Iv. A. Armstrong, is
the only child born of Mr. Armstrong’s second mar-
riage.
T-'1 RAH AM MACFARLANE was born Septern-
ber 24, 1853, in Towanda, Pennsylvania, son
of James and Mary (Overton) Macfarlane. The
name indicates the Scottish origin of the family, and
the ancient family seat in Scotland was at Loch Lo-
mond. The immigrant ancestor of the family in
America settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
and among the paternal ancestors of Graham Mac-
farlane were Andrew Macfarlane, a private soldier in
the Revolutionary Army ; James Macfarlane, his son,
who held a lieutenant’s commission in the same
army; and John Findlay Macfarlane, grandfather of
Graham, who was a soldier in the War of 1812. Gra-
ham’s father, James Macfarlane, Ph. D., was a man
of fine scientific attainments and was the author of
a work entitled, “The Coal Regions of America," a
Geological Railway Guide, and many papers which
were published in different scientific magazines and
journals.
In the maternal line, Mr. Macfarlane numbers
among his ancestors George Clymer, one of the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
527
signers of the Declaration of Independence, a mem-
ber of the convention which framed the Constitution
of the United States in 1787, and first president of
the Academy of Fine Arts, of Philadelphia. Another
ancestor was Thomas Willing, a member of the Con-
tinental Congress, and partner of Robert Morris, the
financier of the Revolution. And still another dis-
tinguished ancestor was Thomas Lloyd, governor
of Pennsylvania under William Penn's proprietor-
ship, from 1690 to 1693. Brought up in the East,
Mr. Macfarlane was graduated with the degree of
civil engineer from Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-
tute, of Troy, New York, in 1872. Immediately
thereafter he entered actively upon the practice of
his profession as assistant mining engineer to the
Fall Brook Coal Company, with which he retained his
connection until 1875. He then became engineer
and superintendent of the Buffalo Coal Company, of
Pennsylvania, and held that position five years. In
1880 he accepted a similar position with the Long
Valley Coal Company, also a Pennsylvania corpora-
tion, but at the end of a year became general man-
ager of the Winifred Coal Company, of West Vir-
ginia, retaining that position until 1884. In 1886
he was made receiver of the Breckinridge Coal Com-
pany, of Kentucky, and devoted the next three years
to an adjustment of the affairs of that corporation. In
1889 he embarked in the business of mining and
shipping coal and iron, and has since been promi-
nently identified with that trade in Louisville. As
an engineer, he was known as a man of fine attain-
ments, and as a business man he has been no less
conspicuous for his sagacity, his enterprise and his
successful operations. Socially he has become one
of the most prominent of the younger business men
of Louisville and is president of the Kenton Club.
Politically he is a Democrat, although in no sense
a politician, and his religious affiliation is with the
Presbyterian Church. He was married, in 1877, to
Miss Helen A. Bradley, and has three children,
named respectively, Alice Clymer, Helen Bradley
and Graham Macfarlane, Jr.
DENJAMIN FRANKLIN GUTHRIE, one of
the eminently successful merchants of the last
generation in Louisville, was born June 4, 1831, in
Shelby County, Kentucky. His father was James
Guthrie, born in Woodford County, Kentucky, in
1806, and his mother was Elizabeth Frances Smith
before her marriage, born in the same county. Both
his maternal and paternal grandparents came to
Kentucky from Fredericksburg, \ irginia. I lis pa-
ternal grandfather came to this country from Ire-
land, and his paternal great-grandmother from
Wales, and a strain of English blood was
handed down to him by his maternal great-grand-
father. His maternal great-grandmother was a
niece of Colonel Joseph Hamilton Daviess, who
served under General William Henry Harrison and
fell at the battle of Tippecanoe.
Mr. Guthrie's father was long known as one of
the leading agriculturists of Henry County, Ken-
tucky, and the son was reared on a farm and ob-
tained his education in the country schools. He was
an ambitious youth and not being inclined to farm-
ing as an occupation, left home without his father’s
consent, in 1850, and went to Eminence, Kentucky,
where he found employment as clerk in a dry goods
store. He soon learned the business of merchandis-
ing, found himself well adapted to it and embarked
in business on his own account in the same town.
This venture proved successful and stimulated him
to exertions in a wider field, and this brought him
to Louisville in 1855. Here he formed a partner-
ship with N. W. Smith and established the whole-
sale and retail grocery house of Smith, Guthrie &
Company. A little later he became associated with
George J. Rowland and A. O. Smith in the whole-
sale grocery trade and also engaged in the business
of rectifying whisky. This venture proved unfortu-
nate, the firm being driven to the wall through its
endorsement of the obligations of Smith, Russell &
Company, in which A. O. Smith was also a partner.
Mr. Guthrie was not the kind of man, however, to
become discouraged, and in 1858 began business
again as head of the firm of Guthrie, White & Com-
pany, dealers in provisions. In the conduct of this
business he met with great success and the judicious
investments of his profits caused his fortune to grow
rapidly. When this firm — or rather the firm of
Guthrie & Company, which succeeded it and which
was composed of James and B. F. Guthrie — was
dissolved, he became largely interested in the manu-
facture of pig iron, at Birmingham, Alabama, be-
ing first identified with the Eureka Furnace Com-
pany, and later with the Sloss Furnace Company.
He was vice-president of the last named company
until 1887, when he disposed ol his stock in the cor-
poration and retired from active participation in
manufacturing operations, lie continued, however,
to hold large blocks of stock in various corporations,
and at the time of his death, which occurred April
18, 1891, he was president of the Union Insurance
Company, president of the Louisville Land \ bat-
528
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
tie Company, and a director of the Bank of Com-
merce. He was also, for a number of years, one of
the directors of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Company, and in his connection with all these cor-
porations he was a man of commanding influence,
his counsel and advice always carrying weight with
his associates in business enterprises. He had great
natural capacity and grasped intuitively the im-
portant business problems which confronted him
from time to time, and, while he was self-
trained in a business way, he was admirably
correct and systematic in all his methods. Vig-
orous, forceful, energetic and resourceful, he
applied himself zealously to his business, built up
a splendid fortune, gained the esteem of the business
world by the integrity and uprightness of his life and
actions, and died lamented by the people among
whom he had lived and labored for almost forty
years. His business responsibilities were such that
he found little time to devote to public affairs, and
his tastes were such that he had little fancy for of-
fice-holding. Twice only did he come before the
people as a candidate, and both times he was elected,
serving as a member of the Louisville board of al-
dermen two terms.
Having started at the bottom of fortune’s ladder
and achieved success as the result of his own ef-
forts, he had a warm and generous sympathy with
young men having to make their own way in the
world. Lie watched with interest those who came
under his observation, aided and encouraged them
by his counsel and advice, and when they appealed
to him for assistance, was always ready to lend them
a helping hand. A plain man, he was unostentatious
in everything and especially so in the bestowal of his
charities, although he was known to be a generous
giver to the needy and a helpful friend of the poor
and distressed.
He was married, in 1852, to Keziah Jane Pollard,
daughter of James Ireland Pollard, a wealthy farmer
of Henry County, Kentucky. Mrs. Guthrie was the
great-granddaughter of Rev. James Ireland, a noted
clergyman, who came from Edinburg, Scotland, to
Virginia, and was pastor of Baptist churches at
Buck Marsh, Waterlick and Happy Creek, preach-
ing the Gospel for many years in Frederick and
Shenandoah counties. She was a most exemplary
Christian lady, conspicuous for her many charitable
and kindly acts. Her death occurred April 22, 1891,
four days after the death of her husband. Their
only daughter and only living child is now Mrs.
Sherley Moore, of this city.
] AMES GUTHRIE CALDWELL, who has
^ been known throughout the South, since 1880,
as the head of a great iron manufacturing enterprise,
who was for several years president of one of the
leading banks of Louisville and has been prominent-
ly identified with the business interests of the city
since his early manhood, is a son of Dr. William B.
Caldwell, and grandson of the distinguished states-
man and financier, James Guthrie, whose name he
bears. In the sketches of Mr. Guthrie and Dr.
Caldwell, which appear elsewhere in these volumes,
his antecedents and family history will be found ful-
ly outlined, and it is only necessary to add, in this
connection, that his mother was Ann Augusta Guth-
rie, one of the three daughters — all accomplished
women — of the great Kentuckian.
Mr. Caldwell was born in Louisville, October 13,
1853, and belongs, therefore, to the younger genera-
tion of business men now prominent in the conduct
of affairs, to the generation which has grown up
since the Civil War, under a new regime. After
being fitted for a collegiate course in public and pri-
vate schools of Louisville, he matriculated in the fa-
mous old college at Georgetown, Kentucky, and
was graduated from there in the class of 1876. Re-
turning home after his graduation, he turned his at-
tention to business pursuits, and became the man-
ager of several large estates, to which he gave the
greater part of his time and attention until 1880.
With other capitalists and financiers, who had be-
come interested in the development of Southern
iron mines, he had made investments at Birming-
ham, Alabama, and in 1880 became president of
the Birmingham Rolling Mill Company. Assuming
the control and management of the largest plant of
the kind south of the Ohio River, he has ever since
remained at the head of the corporation, and each
year has increased and expanded the capacity of the
mills. Making a careful and intelligent study of the
manufacture of iron himself, he has gathered about
him an able corps of assistants, and many new feat-
ures have been introduced into the mills and modern
appliances have been brought into requisition in
building up one of the best equipped rolling mills in
the United States. While its manufacturing opera-
tions have been carried on in Birmingham, the gen-
eral offices of the rolling mill company have been in
Louisville, and Mr. Caldwell has kept in close touch
with the leading business interests of the city. He
succeeded his father as a director in the Louisville
Cement Company and after serving some years as
a director of the Farmers’ and Drovers’ Bank, he
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
529
was made president of the bank, and served in that
capacity until 1888, when the impairment of his
health prompted him to shift a portion of his cares
and responsibilities to other shoulders, and he re-
signed the presidency.
In 1895 he was one of the organizers of the Na-
tional Bar Iron Association, the call which resulted
in the formation of the association being sent out at
his suggestion. When those who responded to the
call came together he was made temporary chair-
man of the meeting, and became president of the as-
sociation when a regular and permanent organiza-
tion was effected. This association includes all the
large rolling mills in the United States in its mem-
bership and is intended also to take in the steel
manufacturing plants of the country. Its purpose
was to bring about a national classification of rolling
mill products and harmony of action among the
manufacturers of bar iron and bar steel in matters
pertaining to their interests. The magnitude of the
interests represented makes it one of the leading
trade organizations of the United States, and in plac-
ing Mr. Caldwell at the head of the association his
brother manufacturers paid him a high compliment.
A typical western man of affairs in his manners
and methods of doing business — with a broad capac-
ity for the conduct of large business enterprises,
keeping fully abreast of the times in all matters per-
taining to the interests with which he is identified,
a close student of the economic problems and of the
processes invented from time to time bearing on the
manufacture of iron — he is, at the same time, a man
of general culture, deeply interested in educational
and kindred enterprises. He was made a trustee of
the college at Georgetown — his alma mater — some
years since, and is also a member of the board of
trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological Semi-
nary, and of the board of financial managers of that
institution. His religious affiliations have been with
the Baptist Church, and he has been one of the best
friends of its educational and benevolent institutions.
He is a member of the board of managers and of the
finance committee of the Louisville Baptist Orphans’
Home, which enjoys the distinction of being the
largest orphanage in the world, with the exception
of that founded by the famous divine, Charles H.
Spurgeon, in London, England. He is also a mem-
ber of the board of managers of the Cook Benevo-
lent Institute, and his activity in the field of chari-
table and philanthropic work has been no less not-
able than his activity in the business world. Politics
has, apparently, had for him few attractions, and
34
while he has adhered steadily to the principles of
Jeffersonian Democracy, he has had no taste for
either the honors or emoluments of office holding.
He was married, in 1880, to Miss Nannie Standi-
ford, daughter of Hon. Elisha D. Standiford, of
whose career as a public man, financier and railway
manager, extended mention will be found elsewhere
in this connection. Of this union, six children have
been born, two of whom died in infancy. Those now
living are William Beverly, James Guthrie, George
Danforth and Junius Caldwell.
P RNEST JOHN NORTON, whose promising
-1— ' career as a business man was cut short by death
in the prime of his young manhood, was born De-
cember 5, 1847, in Russellville, Kentucky, son of the
distinguished merchant and banker, George W.
Norton, and Martha (Henry) Norton. Brought up
in the town in which his grandfather had settled as
a young man, and in which his father was born and
reared, he was educated in Bethel College, at Rus-
sellville, completing the full college course and be-
ing graduated from that institution when he was
seventeen years of age.
After his graduation he entered his father’s bank
at Russellville, and soon evidenced the fact that he
had inherited a large share of the genius for finan-
ciering which had made his father and his uncles
of the Norton family conspicuous among men of
affairs in Kentucky.
Linder the wise and careful tutorage of his father,
his capacities broadened rapidly, and his grasp of
commercial and financial problems, his admirable
business methods and his sagacious management of
affairs committed to his charge impressed them-
selves upon those who were brought into contact
with him. He was twenty years of age when his
father removed to Louisville and established the
banking house of G. W. Norton & Company, and
he hailed with delight the broader opportunities
which were offered in this field of enterprise. Rich-
ly endowed with the sterling virtues of integrity,
energy and industry, he was, at the same time, am-
bitious and public spirited, and when lie came to
this city he entered zealously upon the work as-
signed to him in connection with his father s bank-
ing and other operations.
To him was intrusted the conduct of much import-
ant business while he was still a mere youth, and as
he demonstrated his ability to meet every require-
ment, his responsibilities were increased and his
duties multiplied. Young as he was, he soon at-
530
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
traded to himself the attention of the business pub-
lic of Louisville, and men who had proven their
ability and good judgment of men by their own suc-
cess in life, predicted for him a brilliant future. He
married, in 1870, Miss Annie Caldwell, a daughter
of Dr. W. B. Caldwell, and granddaughter of the
eminent lawyer and statesman, James Guthrie, a
young lady of rare accomplishments, and his life, at
that time, was full of promise, with only the single
shadow of physical weakness resting upon it. In
1869 his health had become somewhat impaired and
he found it necessary to sever his connection with
the bank on account of the too close confinement to
business, which his connection with it necessitated.
In 1872 his friends and physicians reached the con-
clusion that a change of climate was essential to the
improvement of his health, and he removed to Du-
luth, Minnesota, then just beginning to attract at-
tentipn as one of the new cities of the Upper Lake
Region. Immediately after his removal to that
place he became one of the leading spirits in pro-
moting the growth of a town, the favorable location
of which was destined to make it one of the leading
cities of the Northwest. In January of 1874 he or-
ganized the Duluth Board of Trade, which has now
attained a prominence among the commercial or-
ganizations of the country second only to that of a
few of the great cities of the United States. He was
elected first president of the board, and the last
months of his life were devoted to establishing it
upon a permanent basis and laying the foundations
upon which has since been built a splendid super-
structure of commercial prosperity.
In the midst of this activity, however, the scores
of friends who had gathered around him in his new
home, who admired him for his ability, appreciated
his enterprise and his great services to the commun-
ity, and loved him for his social qualities, could not
help noting the fact that his health was steadily fail-
ing. They were saddened by the approaching shad-
ow and grieved at the prospect of losing one whose
splendid manhood had endeared him to the young
community, and whose busy brain and potential in-
fluence had shaped enterprises which had contrib-
uted greatly to its prosperity. Hoping against hope,
these friends encouraged him to continue the strug-
gle to regain his health and in the summer of 1874
he went to Minneapolis to consult a physician of that
city. It soon became apparent that all efforts to
stay the progress of disease would prove unavail-
ing, and resigning himself, with Christian fortitude,
to the will of an all-wise Providence, he faced the in-
evitable with calm serenity and passed away in Min-
neapolis, the city to which he had gone for medical
treatment, July 22, 1874.
The death of this brilliant and promising young
man threw a pall of sadness over a wide circle of
friends and acquaintances in Louisville, who, al-
though his residence in the city had been compara-
tively short, had known him long enough to be-
come devotedly attached to him. To his memory
and virtues they paid tender tribute when his re-
mains were brought back to this city and interred in
Cave Hill Cemetery. Brought up a Baptist, he died
in that faith and the burial rites, with which he was
committed to his last resting place, were those of the
church which he had loved and of which he had
been a faithful member.
After her husband’s death Mrs. Norton returned
to the city which had so long been her home, and
with her two sons, Caldwell Norton and Ernest J.
Norton, Jr., still resides in Louisville.
Y\7 ILLIAM FREDERICK NORTON, JR., son
v ’ of William F. Norton, Sr., successor of the
elder Norton in the management of a great estate,
and conservator of large property interests in Lou-
isville, was born December 6, 1849, Paducah,
McCracken County, Kentucky. In the sketches of
his father and of his uncle, George W. Norton, which
appear in these volumes, his lineage from the fine
old English family of Nortons has been briefly
traced, and in the same connection somewhat ex-
tended mention has been made of the family his-
tory in Kentucky. His mother, who survived her
husband, and to whom the son, who is unmarried,
has been tenderly devoted, was born Ann Elizabeth
Morton, Simpson County, Kentucky, being her
birthplace, and Gabriel J. and Winifred B. Morton
her parents. From his mother Mr. Norton received
his earlv educational training and completed his
academic course of study and his preparation for
the active business of life in the schools of Paducah
and at Bethel College, of Russellville, Kentucky.
In the fall of 1869 he came to Louisville and took
a position in the banking house of George W. Nor-
ton & Company, of which his father and George W.
Norton were the owners and managers, and for six-
teen years thereafter he was connected with that well
known and admirably managed bank. At different
times he filled the positions of collector, individual
bookkeeper, general bookkeeper and teller, and was
trained to the conduct and management of affairs
under the preceptorship of two of the most accom-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
531
plished financiers and business men who have ever
been identified with the history of Louisville. He
left the bank in 1885, when both his uncle and his
father retired from active business, and from that
time up to the time of his father’s death in 1886, he
was associated with the latter in the management
of his estate. After the death of his father he was
called upon to assume responsibilities of that char-
acter which seem to put to the severest test the ca-
pacity of young men. Men who acquire fortunes by
the slow process of accumulation, in the ordinary
business of life, usually acquire at the same time the
knowledge, habits and conservatism which enable
them to retain and add to their accumulations. Too
many of those who have not had this experience find
themselves utterly incapable of caring for the trusts
left to their charge, and the building up of estates
by one generation and the dissipation of such es-
tates by the next succeeding generation is so com-
mon that some facetious economist has observed
that in this country “a family goes from shirtsleeves
to broadcloth and back to shirtsleeves in three gen-
erations.”
When the elder Norton died, leaving a large es-
tate, the son assumed the control and management
of the estate and of his mother’s affairs, and to this
and to his own business interests, he has since given
his time and attention. Time has demonstrated
that the trust fell into good hands, and while plans
made by the elder Norton for the advancement of
church interests and charitable institutions have
been fully carried out, under the wise and con-
servative management of the younger Norton the
fortune left by his father has continued to earn, from
year to year, its legitimate increment. The accom-
plishment of this result has kept him a busy man,
and as he himself puts it, with a brusqueness which
is one of his characteristics, his motto has been to
“mind his own business and to pay no attention to
affairs about which he need have no concern." In
“minding his own business,’’ he has certainly been
conspicuously successful, and in the conduct of all
his affairs, he has evinced the energy, enterprise and
force of character which made the older representa-
tives of the Norton family conspicuous citizens of
Kentucky.
A natural fondness for the drama prompted him,
some years since, to set on foot an enterprise for
which the people of Louisville stand greatly indebt-
ed to him. Prior to 1889 Louisville had no place
of amusement of large seating capacity, and hence
few dramatic or operatic stars made their appear-
ance in this city. Realizing the need of an amuse-
ment hall which would seat large audiences such as
would attract to the city the celebrities of the stage
and keep the price of admission down to reasonable
figures, in the fall of 1888, shortly before starting
for California, where he spent the ensuing winter,
Mr. Norton let the contract for the building of the
theatre now known as the Amphitheatre Auditor-
ium, on a square of ground owned by him and
bounded by Fourth, Fifth, Hill and A streets. The
Auditorium was dedicated to the drama by the great
Booth and Barrett Company, in a presentation of
Shakesperian and standard dramas during the week
beginning September 23, 1889. It was afterward
dedicated to grand opera by Adelina Patti and the
famous Abbey and Grau Italian Opera Company,
on March 6, 7 and 8 of the following year. Since
the building of the Auditorium Mr. Norton has en-
deavored in every way possible to make Louisville
a metropolitan city in a theatrical or dramatic way,
bringing to the city through his personal efforts
many great attractions which, but for him, would
never have come to a city whose reputation for pat-
ronizing theatrical entertainments has never been
the best. This enterprise, which has been one of
great magnitude, has brought within the gates of the
city the best that music and the drama afford, and
the man who has thus provided wholesome enter-
tainment for his fellow-men, and afforded them op-
portunities to see the great dramas of the past and
present superbly acted by the best players and to
hear the great operas grandly sung by great artists,
has filled no ignoble mission in life. For providing
this place of amusement, which makes it possible to
bring to the city such theatiical attractions as have
been mentioned, and which so admirably serves also
the purpose of a great convention hall, Mr. Norton
is entitled to the lasting gratitude of the people of
Louisville, and substantial proofs should be given
of their appreciation of what he has done for the city .
As a theatrical manager, he has become known to
the profession all over this country as “Daniel
Quilp,” having followed the custom of assuming a
name in this connection.
Mr. Norton was born and reared a Democrat, but
his greatest aversion seems to lie present-day poli-
tics and politicians. This is evidenced by the fact
that, for ten years, he has not cast a vote and has
declared his intention of never casting another one
as long as lie lives. As between the two political
parties of the present, his preference is for the su-
premacy of the Republican party in national atlans
532
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
and for a return to the governmental policies under
which he has seen the country most prosperous and
happy. A member of no church, he has neverthe-
less cherished a fond regard for the Baptist Church,
the church to which his father belonged and of which
his mother is still a most beloved member. Ever
since the death of his father he has been most deep-
ly interested in that noble charity, the Louisville
Baptist Orphans’ Home, which was so dear to the
heart of the elder Norton, to which the latter devot-
ed much of his time and on which he bestowed
many benefactions. Both he and his mother have
given generously of their abundance to this splendid
institution, and as long as they live they will be
numbered among its most liberal benefactors.
IGHT REV. WILLIAM GEORGE McCLOS-
KEY, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
for the diocese of Louisville, son of George and
Ellen McCloskey, of Brooklyn — now the Greater
New York — was born in that city on the ioth day
of November, 1823. In 1835 he entered Mount St.
Mary’s College, at Emmettsburg, Maryland, famous
as the alma mater of so many eminent ecclesiastics,
with which he and his elder brother, John, after-
wards became so prominently connected. At the
conclusion of his academical studies he went to New
York and began the study of law. In 1846, however,
he returned to Emmettsburg and entered upon his
theological studies in the • seminary at Mount St.
Mary's. In 1852, having completed his course, he
was ordained a priest in the New York Cathedral by
Archbishop Hughes. For a short time after his
ordination he performed pastoral work in that city,
being attached to a church of which his brother was
rector. With his studious habits and inclinations,
however, he preferred the life of a collegiate priest
to missionary work, and in 1853 he returned to St.
Mary’s College, his alma mater, as professor. Upon
the appointment of Dr. Elder, now archbishop of
Cincinnati, to the See of Natchez, in 1857, he suc-
ceeded him as director of the theological seminary at
St. Mary’s, and professor of moral theology and
sacred Scriptures. When, in 1859, the American
prelates, acting on the suggestion of Pope Pius IX.,
decided to open a college in Rome, they selected for
its rector Rev. William George McCloskey, and
upon their recommendation, Pope Pius IX. ap-
pointed him to that position in the autumn of that
year. His letters of appointment were received on
the 1 8th of December, 1859, and on the 3rd of
March, i860, he took charge of the American Col-
lege in Rome as its first president. As pupils of Dr.
McCloskey at the American College during his rec-
torate, he had many ecclesiastics who have obtained
high eminence in the American Church. Arch-
bishop Corregan was a student there during his
time, and for a short period Archbishop Riordan,
of San Francisco. Bishop Northrop studied there
also until 1865, when, after completing his
studies, he returned to the United States and was
ordained. Bishop Richter, o’f Grand Rapids, was
another ecclesiastic who had his education there, as
was also Rev. Dr. Parsons, whose writings on
ecclesiastical history have attracted such wide atten-
tion.
After the death of Bishop Lavialle, May 11, 1867,
Dr. McCloskey was appointed his successor as
Bishop of Louisville, and was consecrated May 24,
1868. For twenty-seven years he has discharged the
laborious functions of this office — a longer period
than any of his predecessors, except the venerable
Bishop P'laget, first Bishop of Kentucky, who filled
the episcopate for nearly forty years. For the period
of eighty-five years the succession has been : Bishop
Flaget, from 1811 to 1850; Bishop Spalding, from
1850 to 1864; Bishop Lavialle, from 1864 to 1867,
and Bishop McCloskey, from 1868 to the present
time. During his occupancy of the See of Louis-
ville the church has prospered in a very remarkable
degree, not only in the number of its communicants,
but in the extension of its church accommodations,
by the erection of many elegant edifices, the found-
ing and extension of numerous educational institu-
tions and the organization and enlargement of its
many charitable institutions. The Rt. Rev. Bishop
has kindly contributed to “the Memorial History of
Louisville” a chapter on the church and its institu-
tions, but his modesty has deterred him from doing
justice to his own labors as a factor in the great de-
velopment and progress of the church during his
episcopacy, the number of churches having more
than doubled.
On the 31st day of May, 1893, the clergy and
laity of Louisville, together with many from other
places, celebrated the “Silver Jubilee” of Bishop
McCloskey ’s consecration. Appropriate services
were held in the cathedral and other exercises befit-
ting the occasion, in which nine bishops from other
dioceses and nearly one hundred priests participated,
besides the Governor of the State, the Mayor of the
city, and many others without regard to creed. In
every form in which affection, veneration and re-
spect coidd be shown all participated, in recognition
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
533
of the worth and services of the distinguished pre-
late. In person. Bishop McCloskey is tall and erect,
with a dignified presence, of classic features and a
countenance combining both intellectuality and be-
nevolence. As a pulpit orator he has a graceful and
impressive delivery, while his sermons — as his writ-
ten utterances — evince mature thought and scholar-
ship. As a conversationalist, he is always interest-
ing, and, in his intercourse with his fellowmen, he is
as sociable and easy of approach as his duties will
admit. In short, it may be said of him, without the
semblance of adulation, that, in all respects, he fills
one’s idea of a typical Bishop.
yERY REV. M. BOUCHET, Vicar General of
* the Diocese of Louisville, was born at Puy-de-
Dome, Clermont, France, in 1826. Whilst still very
young he manifested an inclination to the priest-
hood, and an especial devotion to the Mother of
God. His parents, seeing the trend of his mind, did
not oppose so marked a grace either from worldly
motives or from a natural wish to keep their son at
home, so we see him after he had finished his colle-
giate course, making his ecclesiastical studies at the
Sulpician Seminary of Clermont, where he received
deacon’s orders in 1853. His desire to learn was
never paramount to the sanctification of his soul, and
even in those early years compassion for the poor
and the outcast, which seemed born with him, was
evidenced in many ways.
I11 1853 Bishop Spalding visited Europe in search
of priests for his diocese, presenting his needs to
the superior and students of the Clermont Seminary.
Young Bouchet, as he listened to the eloquent story
of the bright young Bishop, then and there deter-
mined to quit the land of his birth, where the fairest
prospects were before him, and devote his life to
the service of the church on the rugged missions of
Kentucky.
The young Bishop had drawn no fancy sketch of
the still primitive condition of things in his diocese,
and all who listened to him that dav as he pleaded
the cause of religion in the diocese of Louisville, felt
that none but those who had the spirit of sacrifice
would suit such a mission. Accompanying a party
of some twelve ecclesiastics, young Bouchet reached
Louisville in the spring of 1853, and in September
of the same year he was ordained a priest.
During eight years Father Bouchet labored on
the missions of Union and Nelson counties, and in
1861 he was called to the cathedral by Bishop Spald-
ing, whose keen insight into character told him that
in this young clergyman he had a treasure of sacer-
dotal zeal, a missionary whose soul was adorned
with every priestly virtue. Uniting to a sympathetic
and compassionate heart penetration and quickness
of judgment and an easy alertness to execute, he
was soon trusted with responsible positions during
the administration reign of both Bishop Spalding
and his successor, Dr. Lavialle, positions requiring
great delicacy of treatment as well as the most care-
ful management. Father Bouchet’s vows were no
vain ceremony in which the language of the tongue
is contradicted by that of the heart. They entered
into his daily life and bearing on their very front,
so to say, the two great principles of priestly life, the
salvation first of his own soul, and then that of his
neighbor.
Sermons, catechetical instructions, assiduity in the
tribunal of penance, visiting the sick and the poor
were his ordinary occupation in the midst of even-
manner of work and labor connected with the sacer-
dotal office.
In 1870 Bishop McCloskey, appreciating fully the
worth of the man, his high integrity of character
and great administrative ability, added to a mind
richly stored with ecclesiastical learning of even-
kind, raised him to the responsible position of Vicar
General of the diocese. His work at this post is
known to all, but perhaps to no one so well as to the
bishop himself, whose trusted friend and counsellor
Father Bouchet has been for a quarter of a century.
Upon his life Father Bouchet early wrote: “Make
thyself affable to the congregation of the poor,” and
now that his eyes are turned toward the western
sun, those who have witnessed his life-long zeal for
souls know how well the bond has been kept.
We cannot close this brief resume without touch-
ing upon two prominent features of Father Bouchet’s
work. In him the orphans have found a staunch
and true friend, and to his untiring zeal for their
interests as editor of the Record, his earnest appeals
for help to clothe and feed these little ones of Christ,
seconding in this, as in all things else, the efforts
of his bishop, we may attribute the fact that for well
nigh twenty years there has been no need of fairs
for the support of the orphans.
The Nazareth community, which the venerable
Flaget was wont in that gracious way of his to call
“his crown and his joy,” found in Father Bouchet
an ecclesiastical superior equal in every respect to the
great work this flourishing order has so bravely un-
dertaken and so successfully carried out. Clever, in-
telligent and far-sighted, with a wisdom that seemed
534
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
intuitive, Father Bouchet encouraged these noble
women in the great work of education and led them
on to higher and more comprehensive efforts, until
Nazareth has at length become a power in the state,
a name famous in the history of the country for its
splendid academies, its well-organized infirmaries,
hospitals, orphan asylums and retreats which now
dot the land from the Lone Star State to Massachu-
setts.
So much has been accomplished by one to whom
may be applied the beautiful words of St. Gregory
of Nazianzen:
“Let others seek earth’s honors, be it thine
One law to follow, and to track one line,
Straight on to Heaven to press, with single bent,
To know and love thy God, and then, to die content.”
TT FI O MAS UNDERWOOD DUDLEY, D. D.,
A LL. D., Bishop of Kentucky, son of Thomas
Underwood and Martha Maria (Friend) Dudley, was
born in Richmond, Virginia, September 26, 1837.
His father was a merchant of Richmond, and a most
popular and prominent citizen. He was for many
years Sergeant of the city. Bishop Dudley’s early
education was received in the school taught in Rich-
mond by Dr. S. Maupin, afterward chairman of the
faculty of the University of Richmond. Afterwards
he was one year at the school of Pike Powers, in
Staunton, Virginia, and then one year at Hanover
Academy, the school of Professor L. M. Coleman.
He then entered the University of Virginia, where
he remained three years — from 1855 to 1858 — grad-
uating as A. M. in July of the latter year. From
1858 to i860 he taught school in Virginia, and was
assistant professor in the University of Virginia,
1860-61.
Shortly after the breaking out of the war he joined
the Confederate army, and enlisted in the Han-
over Artillery, of which Professor L. M. Coleman
was captain, but was assigned to the subsistence de-
partment before the company took the field, and
served as assistant commissary of subsistence from
1861 to 1865, with the rank of major. After the war
he studied law, but subsequently attended the Theo-
logical Seminary of Virginia, at Alexandria, and was
graduated from there in June, 1867. Shortly after-
wards he was ordained deacon by Bishop Johns on
the 28th of June, 1867, and while in deacon’s orders
was in charge of Emanuel Church, Harrisonburg,
Virginia. On the 26th of June, 1868, he was or-
dained priest by Bishop Whittle. During his rector-
ship there, in 1867-69, he built the church at that
place. In January, 1869, he became assistant rector of
Christ Church, Baltimore, and served as such from
January to April, 1869. He then became its rector,
remaining in charge from April, 1869, to January,
1875. He was then made assistant Bishop of Ken-
tucky, to succeed Bishop Cummins, and was con-
secrated in Christ Church, Baltimore, on the 27th
of January, 1875. Upon the death of Bishop Smith,
May 31, 1884, he became Bishop of the Diocese of
Kentucky, and has served as such continuously
since.
At the time he entered upon his episcopal duties
in Kentucky the church had suffered from two
causes — the feebleness from age of the venerable
Bishop Smith, the first bishop of the diocese, to
whose energetic labors, when in the vigor of useful-
ness, it was indebted for its organization and
growth; and from the defection of Bishop Cummins,
whose tendencies culminated in his severance from
the church, and, to some extent, impaired its
strength. To the task of restoring the efficiency of
the church organization, Bishop Dudley addressed
himself with unremitting energy, and for many years
discharged the functions of a missionary bishop,
penetrating the remotest parts of the State, beyond
the reach of the railroads, organizing new churches
and rehabilitating others which had fallen into dis-
use. Annually, during his more than twenty years’
service as bishop, he has visited the parishes within
his keeping, and has thus infused into the diocese a
zeal and interest which have borne the fullest fruits.
Many large and handsome new churches have been
erected in the cities and towns throughout the State,
missions, schools and charities have been founded
and the growth of the church in membership and
usefulness has been multiplied under his administra-
tion. For such labor Bishop Dudley has been pe-
culiarly well qualified, not only by his thorough
preparation in church service before entering upon
his episcopate, but by the personal qualities which
have enabled him to come near to the people and
enlist them in a cause of which he is the cheerful
cxampler. A popular feeling prevailed in the rural
districts that the Episcopal Church was aristocratic,
and, while suited to the rich in cities, was not adapted
to the unpretending in lesser towns, or among plain
country people. Bishop Dudley has, by his capacity
for mingling with all classes, his interest in their
welfare, and sympathy in their trials, broken down
these barriers and planted the church as firmly in
the humbler localities and among the humbler class
of people as in its former strongholds. Especially
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
535
has his influence been felt with the colored people,
among whom he has established churches, schools
and charities. It is not within the province of this
sketch to enter into the history of church extension
in Kentucky or Louisville, farther than to refer to
it as part of the life of Bishop Dudley. In another
part of this work there will be found, as the product
of his pen, an extended history of the Episcopal
Church and its progress in Kentucky since it was
planted here in pioneer days.
Owing to the extent of territory, the increase of
parishes and the labor attending the personal super-
vision of so large a field, the diocese was, by the last
council of the church, divided into the eastern and
western dioceses, Bishop Dudley reserving the
western diocese, including Louisville, and retaining
his title as Bishop of Kentucky, and Rev. L. W. Bur-
ton, of St. Andrew’s Church, Louisville, being made
bishop of the eastern diocese, with the title of
Bishop of Lexington, with his episcopal residence
in Lexington, Kentucky.
In addition to the laborious duties of his episco-
pate, Bishop Dudley lias always been active in gen-
eral church matters, taking part in the triennial con-
ventions of the church and participating in conse-
crations and other important church services in other
states. Wherever he goes his services are in great
request, and his reputation as a pulpit orator is every-
where recognized. His contributions to church lit-
erature have been large and varied. He has pub-
lished “A Wise Discrimination the Church’s Need”
-—New York, 1881 — being the Bohlen lectures for
i88i;‘A Sunday School Question Book” — Balti-
more, 1872— and occasional sermons and ad-
dresses. He received the degree of D. D. from St.
John’s College in 1874, and from the University of
the South, Sewanee, in 1883; the degree of D. C. L.
from King’s College, Nova Scotia, in 1891, and that
of LL. D. from Griswold College, Iowa, in 1892. He
is vice president of the American Colonization So-
ciety, and holds many other honorary positions in
Kentucky and elsewhere. He is a Past Master of a
Masonic lodge, Knight Templar and Scottish Rite
Mason of the thirty-third degree.
In July, 1859, 'ie was married to Fanny B. Coch-
ran, in Virginia, who died in 1865, leaving four
daughters, three of whom are married; then, in April,
1869, to Virginia F. Rowland, of Virginia, who
died in 1877, leaving two sons and a daughter. In
June, 1881, he was married, in New York City, to
Mary E. Aldrich, who still survives, a worth v help-
meet to her husband.
J OHN J. HARBISON, who has been known to
the people of Louisville as a merchant and busi-
ness man for almost half a century, was born in
Jefferson County, Kentucky, on the South Fork of
Bear Grass Creek, March 3, 1829. He is the son of
the much esteemed pioneer merchant, Alexander
Harbison, who was born in Ireland, had a comming-
ling of Scotch and Irish blood in his veins, and in-
herited many of the characteristics of both peoples.
His mother, who was Rosanna Hikes before her
marriage, was born in Jefferson County, and his ma-
ternal grandparents were among the first settlers of
this county. His grandfather, Jacob Hikes, built
and operated, on Bear Grass Creek, near the pres-
ent head of Jefferson Street, the first paper mill put
into operation in the vicinity of Louisville, and also
built and operated what was known as a “fulling
mill,” higher up on Bear Grass.
Brought up in Louisville. Mr. Harbison was edu-
cated in the city schools, attending first the old school
at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, later the
school at the corner of Tenth and Grayson streets,
and finishing at the High School, at the corner of
Eighth and Grayson streets, John H. Harney, Noble
Butler and Richard Newton being among his in-
structors. On leaving school, he was put to work
in a small cotton factory — located on Main, near
Floyd Street — in which his father was a managing
partner, and in 1849 entered the employ of A. A.
Gordon, under whom he received his business train-
ing. Gordon was engaged in the wholesale dry
goods trade, and Mr. Harbison was associated with
him as clerk, salesman and partner until 1858. He
then embarked in the wholesale clothing business,
in company with his brother, George, the stvle of
the firm being J. J. & G. Harbison. This firm con-
tinued in business until 1861. when it was compelled
to suspend on account of the demoralization of
trade incident to the Civil War, and the innumerable
business complications resulting therefrom.
During the war Mr. Harbison was engaged in no
business, except the settlement of the old firm’s
affairs, his chief aim at that time being to pay off
all its obligations and free himself from indebted-
ness. This both he and his brother succeeded in do-
ing al the close of the war, paying with interest
every dollar of their obligations. Near the close of
the war a New York firm, engaged in the manufac-
ture of clothing, offered them a credit line of one
hundred thousand dollars if they would again en-
gage in the clothing trade, but they declined the
generous offer, fearing that they should not be able
536
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
to meet their obligations on account of the unsettled
condition of affairs then existing.
In 1866 Mr. Harbison again began merchandis-
ing, engaging at that time in the dry goods trade
with A. A. Gordon and his brother, George Harbi-
son, the style of the firm being Gordon, Harbison
& Company. This firm was dissolved in 1868, and,
in the spring of 1869, John J. Harbison associated
himself with Josiah B. Gathright, and organized the
wholesale saddlery firm, of which he is now the
head, and which has since had a prosperous career.
During his long and active life he has formed a
large acquaintance in the city and throughout the
South, and has had an enviable reputation for hon-
esty, public spirit, liberality, and all those elements
which go to make up a useful citizen. He was a
director of the Louisville Exposition in 1883, and, in
that connection, was one of the active promoters of a
very important public enterprise. He was a director
of the Kentucky National Bank from its organiza-
tion until 1882; director and vice president of the
Merchants’ National Bank from 1882 to 1893; is
now a director of the American National Bank,
president of the Citizens’ General Electric Company
and president of the Globe Fertilizer Company.
For fifty years Mr. Harbison has been a member
of the Presbyterian Church, and in 1858 he was or-
dained as an elder of that church. His affiliation has
been with the southern branch of that great religious
denomination, and his devotion to the church and
the cause of religion has been evidenced by fifty
years of faithful membership and thirty-six years of
service as an elder of the church. Outside of the
church and the corporations with which he has been
identified, he has held no official positions, and his
interest in politics, or at least his participation in
political movements, has never been active. In early
life he was a Whig, but when that party was merged
into the American, or Know Nothing, party, he be-
came a Democrat, and has been one ever since.
In i860 he married Miss M. Bettie Berry, daugh-
ter of William T. Berry, of Oldham County, Ken-
tucky, who died April 4, 1881, leaving one child, M.
Rosa Harbison, who married, in 1890, Mr. Alexan-
der McLennan and now resides in Louisville.
EV. AMASA CONVERSE, D. D„ one of the
fathers of Presbyterianism in the South, long
one of the most distinguished among Southern edi-
tors of church papers, was born in the town of
Lyme, New Hampshire, August 21, 1795. His an-
cestors came from England to Massachusetts about
1630, and to England they came originally from
Normandy about the time of the Norman conquest.
The progenitor of the family in America came to
this country with the Massachusetts’ Bay Colonists,
and the names of early representatives of the family
are found in the records of some of the churches
planted at that time, and also in the annals of the
military expeditions of the colonists against the hos-
tile Indians. The mother of Amasa Converse, who
was Elizabeth Bixby before her marriage, was born
in 1760, and died at the advanced age of ninety
years in 1850. Three of her brothers were Revolu-
tionary soldiers, and one of her sisters lived to be
more than a hundred years of age. Brought up on
a New Hampshire farm, Dr. Converse had, as a boy,
all the rugged experiences of the New England
country youth of that period. His early educational
advantages were limited, but he made the best use
possible of such as were afforded him, and having
an inherent thirst for knowledge, laid a good foun-
dation for higher education. When about sixteen or
seventeen years of age he resolved to make an effort
to obtain a classical education and set about devising
ways and means to accomplish this result. His expec-
tation was that his father would be able to give him a
hundred dollars with which to begin life for himself
when he attained his majority. Arranging with his
father to take two years of his time during his minor-
ity in place of the hundred dollars — his prospective
patrimony — he purchased a tract of thirty acres of
wild land near his father’s home and entered upon
the work of converting it into an improved farm.
He worked on this farm in summer and taught
school in winter, and in the meantime made some
progress toward gaining a higher education. In
due course of time the products of his little farm
contributed to some extent to his resources, and
thus he toiled on until he had completed a full col-
lege course, and was graduated with honors from
Dartmouth College. Immediately after leaving col-
lege he opened a select school in Chelsea, and later
took charge of the Sanderson Academy at Ashfield.
With the funds thus obtained, he entered upon a
course of theological study, to which the training of
his early life and a deep religious sentiment predis-
posed him. He was first licensed to preach by the
Franklin Association of Congregational Ministers
of Ashfield, Massachusetts, and studied theology at
Princeton Theological Seminary. Being in delicate
health at that time, he was advised by his physician
to seek a milder climate, and, acting upon that ad-
vice, went to Nottoway County, Virginia, where he
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
537
began his ministerial labors as evangelist for the
Young Men’s Missionary Society of Richmond. A
few months later he was regularly ordained to the
ministry by the Presbytery of Hanover, and in the
thirty-first year of his age was regularly installed as
pastor of a little church at Nottoway. At the close
of the year, 1826, he was solicited to take charge of
the editorial department of the “Family Visitor” and
the “Literary and Evangelical Magazine,” published
at Richmond. He accepted the position, and, although
he had had no previous experience in this kind
of work, he soon devised a plan for establishing upon
a firm basis what was then the only religious paper
published in the Southern States. At the end of a
year and a half he purchased the publications and
began an earnest and systematic effort to increase
the circulation and add to the revenues of the “Fam-
ily Visitor,” published as a weekly paper, discon-
tinuing the publication of the magazine. The “North
Carolina Telegraph,” having been united with the
Visitor, the paper took the name of the “Visitor and
Telegraph," and within three years from the time
Dr. Converse assumed full control of it, it had
become a fairly prosperous publication. Church
controversies arising at this time seriously interfered
with the further growth of the paper, and in 1839
Dr. Converse united it with the Philadelphia Obser-
ver, printed in Philadelphia, and shipped his print-
ing press and office furniture to that city. The new
paper took the name of the “Telegraph and Obser-
ver,” and for a time its patronage steadily increased.
In 1840 it became the “Christian Observer" and oc-
cupied a prominent position among the church pub-
lications of Philadelphia until the breaking out of
the civil war. Although he occupied conservative
ground at all times, he was assailed by the ultra
press and people of the North, and efforts were
made to torture his utterances into something: which
savored of treason. At times his life was threatened,
and on the 22nd of August, 1861, on political
grounds, his paper was suppressed, his property
seized and the earnings of a life time were almost
entirely swept away. His arrest was ordered, but
he was not taken into custody, and was allowed to
make his way to the South. Reaching Richmond,
Virginia, he again began the publication of the
Christian Observer there, continuing it under
many difficulties, but with success, until 1869.
In that year he removed it to Louisville and
consolidated it with the “Free Christian Com-
monwealth” of this city under the name of the
“Christian Observer and Commonwealth.” He was
then seventy-four years of age, but his physical and
mental vigor seemed unabated, and in a few years
he had the satisfaction of seeing his paper become at
the same time a prosperous business institution and
the leading religious newspaper of the Southern
States. He had a green and vigorous old age, and
the number of the Observer which announced his
death contained several articles from his pen. He
died December 9, 1872, revered by those among
whom he had made his home during the latter years
of his life, loved by those who had been most inti-
mately associated with him, and honored by the
Presbyterian Church at large. His wife, who was
Miss Flavia Booth, of Hampden County, Massa-
chusetts, and later of Brunswick, Virginia, before
her marriage, was his devoted helpmeet and co-
laborer during all the years of his useful life as an
editor, and his sons and daughters followed worthily
in the footsteps of pious and worthy parents. Four
of his sons entered the ministry; one became a mem-
ber of the bar, and two of these sons are his suc-
cessors in the editorial management of the Christian
Observer.
OTUART ROBINSON, D. D., for more than
^ twenty years pastor of the Second Presbyterian
Church of Louisville, one of the most eminent of
Southern clergymen and widely known also as an
editor, educator and lecturer, was born November
14, 1814, in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, son
of James and Martha (Porter) Robinson, both of
whom came of Scotch ancestry.
Soon after his birth, his father, who had been for
many years a linen merchant of high standing in
Strabane, was robbed of his comfortable possessions
to meet surety obligations, and hoping to retrieve
his fortune, determined to emigrate to the United
States. Accompanied by his family, he landed in
New York in 1815, and for two years made his home
in that city, striving with indifferent success to better
his condition. At the end of that time he removed
to Virginia and settled in Berkeley County, near the
village of Martinsburg.
Four years after the family settled in Virginia
Stuart Robinson was deprived by death of the ten-
der care and guidance of his mother, a woman of
strong character and fervent piety, always by him
remembered as the sainted mother, who, notwith-
standing her early death, left upon him the vivid
impress of her careful religious training. Both par-
ents were staunch Presbyterians, and the faith to
which Dr. Robinson adhered so firmly to the end
538
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
of his life was the faith of his childhood. Some time
after his mother’s death he found a home with an
old German farmer living near Martinsburg, who
cared for him kindly and gave him his first start
in school. He evinced at once remarkable precocity
and astonished his teacher by completely mastering
his reader in two days. So much impressed was the
teacher by this accomplishment that he wrote in the
back of the book: “This is a wonderful child, and
will some day make his mark in the world,” a pre-
diction which was amply fulfilled. For six years
he continued to reside with this good old farmer and
his wife, who gave him such advantages as they
could afford, and trained him to such farm work as
he was able to perform. Having been injured in his
infancy by a fall, which dislocated his right shoulder,
he was totally unfitted for hard manual labor, and
his kind guardian, realizing that he could only be-
come an indifferent farmer, and being impressed
also with his manifest intellectual superiority, sought
the advice of their pastor, Rev. James Brown, of
Martinsburg, as to what provision should be made
for his future. Wiser counsel could hardly have
been taken. Becoming interested in the promising
boy, Mr. Brown took him into his own home, fitted
him for a collegiate course and then sent him to
Amherst College, where he matriculated in the fall
of 1832. He was graduated from Amherst in the
class of 1836, and the same year entered Union Theo-
logical Seminary. After devoting one year to the
study of theology at Union he taught school three
years in Charleston, Virginia, and then completed
his preparations for the ministry at Princeton Theo-
logical Seminary. April 10, 1841, he was licensed to
preach, ordained to the full work of the ministry in
1842 and installed as pastor of the Presbyterian
Church at Malden, Virginia, in 1843. In 1846, while
still holding the pastorate of this church he was
called to Louisville temporarily to fill the pulpit of
the Second Presbyterian Church, during the ab-
sence in Europe of Rev. Edward P. Humphrey, D.
D., and thus formed the acquaintance of the Presby-
terians of Kentucky, who became greatly attached
to him in later years, and still revere his memory. In
1847 he was called to the pastorate of the Presby-
terian Church in Frankfort, Kentucky, and served
that congregation with zeal and ability until 1854.
While stationed at Frankfort he not only took high
rank as a minister of the gospel, but his executive
ability and varied accomplishments were evinced in
the conduct of important business affairs. He had
married, in 1841, Miss Mary E. Brigham, of Charles-
ton, who belonged to an old and wealthy Virginia
family, and had been called upon to take charge of
the large estate of her widowed mother. This
brought to him large responsibilities, and identified
him with many important business interests, and in
these relations of life he acquitted himself in a man-
ner which would have done credit to a man born and
trained to the conduct of affairs. He was, at the
same time, president of a female seminary at Frank-
fort, and thus contributed to the advancement of
the educational interests of Kentucky, with which he
was prominently identified in other capacities at a
later date.
In 1854 he was called to Baltimore, Maryland,
to assume the pastorate of the Duncan Independ-
ent Presbyterian Church, which he reorganized and
built up as the Central Presbyterian Church of that
city. While in Baltimore he also edited and pub-
lished the Presbyterian Critic, recognized at that
time as one of the most ablv edited Church papers
in the United States. In 1858 he was elected by
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
of the United States to the chair of Church Govern-
ment and Pastoral Theology in the Theological
Seminary at Danville, Kentucky, and returned to
this State to enter upon the discharge of his duties
in that connection.
The period passed by Dr. Robinson at the Dan-
ville Seminary marked probably the most brilliant
and useful of his long career. A natural born
teacher, a profound scholar, and a Presbyterian of
the strongest convictions, the opportunity to im-
press his thought, scholarship and faith upon the
large classes of young men then attending the
school, aroused him to superb effort, and the char-
acter and work of the ministers who went forth
from Danville, during this period, and their influ-
ence on the church even down to this day, is the
noblest tribute that a long and useful life produced.
Resigning the professorship of theology at Dan-
ville to accept the call of the Second Presbyterian
Church of Louisville, he came to this city to enter
upon an eventful pastorate, fruitful of good results.
In connection with his pastoral work he established,
in 1861, “The True Presbyterian,” a weekly church
paper, which became a vigorous exponent of church
doctrines. This paper was outspoken in defense of
the rights of the church and its absolute independ-
ence of state affairs, and boldly and fearlessly dis-
cussed the great questions then uppermost in the
public mind. Through the influence of Dr. Robert
J. Breckinridge, then so potent in military circles,
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
539
the paper was suppressed, and Dr. Robinson was
threatened with arrest and imprisonment. To escape
the harsh treatment which it was proposed to inflict
upon him, he went to Canada and remained there
until 1865, when he returned to Louisville to re-
sume his pastoral relations with the Second Pres-
byterian Church. This relationship continued until
1881, when Dr. Robinson resigned the charge on
account of failing health. So greatly attached to
him, however, were the people of the Second Church
that they declined to consent to a complete sever-
ance of the ties that had bound them together for
twenty years, and Dr. Robinson was elected Pastor
Emeritus, that being the first instance of such elec-
tion in the Southern Church.
His first publication in book form appeared in
1858, when he gave to the public the volume enti-
tled “The Church of God,” which passed through
several editions and is still a standard church work.
In 1865 he published a pamphlet entitled “Mosaic
Slavery,” which acquired a world-wide celebrity.
His greatest work was published in 1866 and bore
the title “Discourses on Redemption." This was
a work which impressed itself upon the Christian
world, was widely read and is still being issued from
the church publishing house at Richmond, Virginia.
In addition to these publications, Dr. Robinson was
a voluminous contributor to church literature
through the public press. After his return to Louis-
ville, at the close of the war, he established the
“Free Christian Commonwealth,” a weekly church
paper, of which he was both owner and editor for
several years.
In 1873 he visited Europe and extended his trav-
els to Egypt and Palestine. Upon his return, lie
delivered a series of exceedingly interesting and en-
tertaining lectures concerning what he had seen
and experienced in the course of these travels. These
lectures were delivered in different cities to crowded
houses for the benefit of churches and charities, the
services of the lecturer being freely given whenever
requested.
Prominent always in the councils of the Presby-
terian church, he was moderator of the general as-
sembly held at Mobile in 1869, and in 1875 took part
in the organization of the Pan-Presbyterian Coun-
cil. He was a delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian
Council held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1877, and
his speeches before that convention, composed of
the leading Presbyterian divines of the world, caused
him to be regarded as one of the greatest ministers
of the church of that period. The degree of doctor
of divinity was conferred upon him when he was
but thirty-eight years of age, by Centre College, of
Danville, Kentucky, and the highest honors in the
gift of the Presbyterian Church were bestowed
upon him, in recognition of his great ability, his
distinguished services to the church, his Christian
character and personal worth.
After his retirement from the active work of the
ministry, he did not long survive, and passed away
full of honors, beloved and lamented by thousands
of people, on the fifth day of October, 1881.
DEV. WILLIAM WALLACE HILL, D. D„
A ^ was born in P>ath County, Kentucky, January
26, 1815. His father was Thomas Hill, a prosper-
ous farmer, who came of Scotch-Irish stock, was a
ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and in all
respects a good and worthy man. This elder Hill
had the firm convictions and tenacity of purpose
characteristic of the Scotch-Irish people in general,
and a story once told by Henry Clay will be of in-
terest in this connection.
When William W. Hill was a student at Princeton
Theological Seminary, the Kentucky students then
in the college and seminary went at one time in a
body to Philadelphia to pay their respects to Mr.
Clay. The young men were presented, one after
another, to the great Kentuckian, and in each in-
stance, he knew something of the student and his
family history. When young Hill was presented
and Clay learned that he was a son of Thomas
Hill, of Bath County, he recalled the fact that he
had once defended a man charged with murder in
Bath County, and that when Thomas Hill was pre-
sented as a juror, he had objected to him, feeling
that he would surely hang his client. His objection
was overruled, and Clay remarked that he would
always remember that uncompromising Scotch-
Irish elder. The mother of William W. Hill was
Jane Matier before her marriage, and. like her hus-
band, she was a devout Christian.
After being fitted for college under the tutorship
of that noted old-time educator, Walter Bourne,
William W. Hill entered Centre College, at Dan-
ville, Kentucky, and was graduated from that insti-
tution in the class of 1835. He then went to Prince-
ton, New Jersey, to enter upon a divinity course,
and received his theological training under the pre-
ceptorship of that renowned pulpit orator and edu-
cator, Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander. Upon the
completion of his course of study at Princeton Theo-
logical Seminary, he was licensed to preach, and
540
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
his first pastorate was at Shelbyville, Kentucky. He
was ordained and installed as pastor of the Presby-
terian Church at that place in 1838, being at that
time twenty-three years of age. There he labored
with untiring zeal, until his health failed, and for
two years he was not able to stand in his place in
the pulpit. While suffering from this affliction, he
was induced by the brethren of the ministry to
undertake the editorship of the Presbyterian paper,
at that time being published by Dr. Nathan L. Rice.
This work he began at Frankfort, Kentucky, but
later removed the paper to Louisville, where he con-
ducted it with remarkable success and to the great
good of the church, under the name of “The Pres-
byterian Herald.” For many years “The Herald'’
was a welcome visitor to thousands of Southern
homes, and men and women, now grown gray, still
remember with what pleasant anticipations they
looked forward to its coming. As a religious
editor, he took high rank among Southern writers,
and both with voice and pen he labored effectively
to advance the cause of Christ and to extend the
power and influence of his church. During the
Civil War he sold “The Herald” to Rev. Dr. Stuart
Robinson, and removed to what was then known
as Hobbs’ Station — now Anchorage — and estab-
lished there the beautiful Bellewood Seminary, an
educational institution for young ladies, which be-
came widely known. This institution he conducted
with signal ability and marked success, and became
as prominent as an educator as he had been as
editor and minister of the Gospel, and was beloved
by his pupils as few preceptors have ever been.
In 1874 he accepted the presidency of the Synodi-
cal Female College, at Fulton, Missouri, and, in con-
nection with this work, also filled the pastorate of
the church at that place. In 1877 he removed to
Sherman, Texas, having been called to the presi-
dency of Austin College, which had just been re-
moved from the city of Austin to Sherman. Soon
after he assumed his place at the head of this insti-
tution his health began to fail, and a year later,
paralysis having overtaken him, he was forced to
give up his work. Soon afterward he returned to
Fulton, Missouri, and died there, on the first day
of May, 1878, lamented by his church and the edu-
cational interests which he had so faithfully served.
The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on
him by Hanover College, and he was honored by
the church in many ways. He was for many years
secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions of the
Presbyterian Church, and in this work, as in every-
thing which he undertook, he was earnest, active
and signally judicious. While residing in Louis-
ville he was a member of the City School Board,
serving as a member of that body when Rev. Dr.
Heywood was its president, and as a member of the
Building Committee, when many of the present
school buildings were erected.
Dr. Hill was married twice. First in December,
1842, to Miss Mary Bracken Downing, at Cynthi-
ana, Kentucky. Two children born of this marriage
died in infancy, and Mrs. Hill died in Louisville in
1856. In 1858 he married, at Danville, Kentucky,
Miss Martha J. Smith, daughter of Rev. James Tod
Smith, who was the pastor of the Presbyterian
Church at Perrvville, Kentucky, at the time of his
death in 1825. Six children were born of Dr. Hill’s
second marriage, and with their mother are the
surviving members of his family. Their names are
Mildred J. Hill, Mary Downing Hill, William Wal-
lace Hill, Patty Smith Hill, Archibald Alexander
Hill, and Jessica M. Hill.
"THOMAS DWIGHT WITHERSPOON, D. D„
1 LL. D., was born in Greensborough, Hale
County, Alabama, January 17, 1836, son of Robert
Franklin Witherspoon, a native of South Carolina,
and Sarah Agnes (Fulton) Witherspoon, who was
born in Tennessee. His more remote ancestors
were Scotch Presbyterians — John Knox, the re-
former, being one of them — and eight successive
generations of these ancestors have been either
ministers or ruling elders of the Presbyterian church.
The immigrant ancestor of Rev. Dr. Witherspoon
was John Witherspoon, a Scotch-Irishman, who was
past seventy years of age and a great-grandfather
when he settled with his family on Pedee River, in
South Carolina. He organized one of the first
Presbyterian churches established in South Caro-
lina, and six generations of his descendants have
continued to be prominently identified with that
church. Gavin Witherspoon, who was a corporal
in Marion’s Rangers during the Revolutionary War,
was of this family.
Rev. Dr. Witherspoon was educated at the Uni-
versity of Mississippi, being graduated from that
institution with the degree of bachelor of arts in
the class of 1856. I11 1859 he was graduated from
Columbia Theological Seminary of South Carolina,
and from 1871 to 1873 pursued a post-graduate
course at the University of Virginia. He was pastor
of a church at Oxford, Mississippi, from 1859 to
1865, and also served as a chaplain in the Confed-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
541
erate Army. In 1865 lie became pastor of the Sec-
ond Presbyterian Church of Memphis, Tennessee,
and filled that place until 1870. From 1871 to 1873
he was chaplain of the University of Virginia, and
from 1873 to :882 pastor of the Tabb Street Presby-
terian Church, of Petersburg, Virginia. In 1882 he
was called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian
Church, of Louisville, and served that church until
1891, when he resigned to take charge of the Theo-
logical School at Richmond, Kentucky. In addi-
tion to his work in this connection, he filled a chair
in Central University and served as pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church of Richmond during the
next two years. When the Louisville Presbyterian
Theological Seminary was organized in 1893, he re-
moved to this city, and has since filled the chair of
homiletics and pastoral theology in that institution.
He is also librarian of the seminary and chairman
of the Evangelistic Committee of the Synod of Ken-
tucky, of the Southern Presbyterian Church, a com-
mittee winch has charge of the mission work of the
church in Kentucky. Eminent as a divine and bib-
lical scholar, Dr. Witherspoon is also well known
as an author and contributor to church literature.
He is a member of the Confederate Veterans’ Asso-
ciation, of the Scotch-Irish Society, and the Sons
of the American Revolution, and is a member and
director also of the Polytechnic Society.
He married in 1866 Miss Charlotte Vernon In-
gram, daughter of Dr. Thomas Ingram, of Madison
County, Tennessee, and Eliza Jane (Pegues) Ingram,
of South Carolina, whose family (the Pegues of
South Carolina) are of pure Huguenot extraction.
They have had eight children, seven of whom are
living. Their eldest daughter is the wife of Rev.
Eugene Bell, and she and her husband are now
laboring as missionaries in Korea.
JOHN WILLIAM STINE, manufacturer, was
^ born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 27,
1836, son of William G. and Louisa (Hicks) Stine.
His great-grandfather came to this country from
Holland, sailing from Rotterdam — which previously
had been his home, on the ship “Edinboro,” in 1747.
Arrived in America, this ancestor of Mr. Stine set-
tled in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, and took a promi-
nent position among the Quaker colonists, although
he was himself a Lutheran churchman. He served
many years as a Pennsylvania justice of the peace,
and was a first lieutenant in the Second Battalion of
the Lancaster County Militia, in active service with
the revolutionary forces during the years 1782 and
1783. His son, the grandfather of Mr. Stine, was a
soldier in the War of 1812. Mr. Stine’s father was
a Baltimore merchant, and the son was brought up
and educated in that city and at Harrisburg, Penn-
sylvania. After completing a high school course of
study, he left Baltimore in the fall of 1856 as super-
cargo of the bark “Juliet,” bound for the West In-
dies. He left the vessel at Saint Thomas and ac-
cepted a position in the leading shipping-house at
that port, retaining the position for ten months there-
after. At the end of that time he was stricken down
with yellow fever and narrowly escaped falling a
victim to the dread Southern pestilence. Gradually,
however, he recovered from an almost fatal illness,
and when he reached a convalescent stage, was ad-
vised by his physician to seek a change of climate
in the North. Returning to the States, he engaged
for a time in business at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania,
leaving there to come to Newport, Kentucky, in
1859. He was employed as a clerk and bookkeeper
at Cincinnati, Ohio, until the 20th of April, 1861,
when he enlisted in Company B, Cincinnati Zou-
aves, for service in the Civil War. He was made
first sergeant of this company and served in that
capacity during the three months for which he had
enlisted under President Lincoln's first call for
troops. At the expiration of this term of enlistment,
he joined the Twenty-first Regiment of Kentucky
Infantry, and served in that regiment from Novem-
ber, 1861, to March, 1863. Mustered out of the
service at that time, he began recruiting a company
of cavalry in Kentucky, but fell sick of typhoid fever
and was compelled to abandon the effort in conse-
quence of his illness. After his recovery he returned
to civil pursuits and was engaged, for a short time,
in merchandising at Columbia, Adair County, Ken-
tucky. In 1864 he left there and came to Louisville,
and has now been a resident of this city for more
than thirty years, exceedingly active in business pur-
suits and in all respects a broad-minded, capable
and intelligent man of affairs.
When he first came to Louisville, Mr. Stine be-
came a member of the firm of W. B. Leonard &
Company, engaged in the grain trade, but within
a year thereafter he identified himself with the man-
ufacture of woolens, and in this field he has become
famous among Southern manufacturers, lie pur-
chased an interest in the 1 1 ope Woolen Mills in the
fall of 1865, and has ever since been actively engaged
in the manufacture of that famous Southern prod-
uct, Kentucky jeans. In one sense he is at the
present time the pioneer manufacturer of this line
542
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
of goods in Louisville, lie having been identified
with this industry for a longer time, continuously,
than any of his contemporaries. He is now one of
the principal shareholders in the Louisville Woolen
Mills and is the manager of this establishment, one
of the largest of its kind in the world. In all his
business enterprises he has been exceedingly fortun-
ate, and his good fortune has been the result of keen
sagacity, close application and continuous effort.
Prosperity in business has enabled him to extend his
activity into other fields of enterprise, and wherever
he has reached out in this way, he has aided move-
ments to increase the commercial importance of
Louisville and develop its tributary country. He
became connected with the Louisville Southern
Railway Company when the building of its line was
a matter of great uncertainty, and to his courage
and genius the completion of this work was largely
due. He served as president of the company in
1886-87, and was also, for two years, president of
the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville
Railroad Company, of which he is still a director.
During his administration as president of the com-
pany last named, its line was completed to Rich-
mond, Kentucky, and substantial progress made
toward opening up a new railway outlet for Louis-
ville.
He was one of the business men of Louisville
most active in establishing and conducting the ex-
position of 1883, which served so good a purpose in
advertising the resources of Louisville and Ken-
tucky, and acted as vice-president of the Board of
Managers. For five years he was a director of the
Louisville Board of Trade, in which body he has
been an active, energetic spirit in the formulation
of measures designed to advance the business inter-
ests and promote the prosperity of the city.
Thoroughly systematic in the conduct of his busi-
ness affairs, he has been able to give attention to
numerous and varied interests, and he is connected
with many corporate enterprises as an official and
stockholder. He is president of the Louisville &
Madison Woolen Mills Company, president of the
Hope Worsted Mills, vice-president of the Eridges-
McDowell Company, vice-president of the Three
Forks Investment Company, and a director of the
First National Bank and American Accident Asso-
ciation. He is interested, as a shareholder, also in
the Louisville Cotton Mills, the Galt House, the
Louisville Banking Company, the Kentucky Heat-
ing Company, and other Louisville corporations.
Mr. Stine’s father was a Jacksonian Democrat,
and the son grew up in that faith, to which he has
adhered with the steadfastness characteristic of the
old school of Democrats. When Judge John M.
Harlan was a candidate for Governor of Kentucky
o J
on the Republican ticket, Mr. Stine voted for him
on personal grounds, but that was probably the only
instance in which he ever failed to evidence his
orthodox Democracy by “voting the straight ticket.”
While he has held many official positions, they have
been of a business character in the main, and only
once has he held a political office. He was elected
to this office in 1875 — at the time of the memorable
Jacob-Baxter contest for the mayoralty — when he
became a candidate for member of the city council.
He ran on the same ticket with Mr. Jacob, and was
elected, although Baxter carried the ward as a can-
didate for mayor. Mr. Stine’s religious affiliations
have long been with the Episcopal Church, and he
has been a vestryman of Calvary Church for the
past seven years. He was married in 1864 to Miss
Mannie Baker, daughter of Captain Alberto Baker,
for many years prominently identified with steam-
boat interests on the Ohio and Red rivers. The
children born of their union have been John Wil-
liam Stine, Jr., Florence B., Maurice and Louisa
Latrobe Stine. Next to the youngest daugnter, Mau-
rice, died at the age of fifteen years. The son, John
W. Stine, Jr., is now treasurer and manager of the
Hope Worsted Mills and a young business man of
much prominence. Their daughter Florence is now
the wife of Mr. Bridges of the well known Bridges-
McDowell Company. ,
1WAVID BAIRD, merchant, who first embarked
in business in Louisville in 1864, and who has
been continuously engaged in the wholesale trade
here since 1868, belongs to that Scotch-Irish ele-
ment of Kentucky’s population which helped to lay
the foundation of the commonwealth and has ever
since been conspicuous in the development of the
State's resources, the upbuilding of its industries
and the advancement of all its interests. A vigorous
people physically and intellectually, these Scoteh-
Iris'i immigrants to the United States, and their de-
scendants, inherited qualities which have made them
a power in shaping the destinies of the nation, as
well as the destinies of the States and communities
in which they have claimed citizenship. Their an-
cestors fought for the “right to choose their religious
teachers, both in Ireland and Scotland,” and the
assertion of their right to choose their own civil
rulers was the legitimate outgrowth of their strug-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
543
gle for religious liberty and the right to worship God
according to the dictates of their own consciences.
An author who has written on this subject has de-
clared that “the Protestant emigrants from the north
of Ireland had learned the rudiments of republican-
ism in the latter country and brought with them to
America these great principles.”
David Baird was born in that region which seems
to have given birth to the ideas of civil and religious
liberty, which first found expression in America in
the “Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence,”
formulated by the Scotch-Irish settlers in North
Carolina in the spring of 1775. He is a native of the
County Down, one of the leading agricultural coun-
ties of Ireland, and the date of his birth was De-
cember 12, 1832. His father was Archibald Baird,
and his mother’s maiden name was Agnes Murray.
He grew up in Ireland and obtained a good educa-
tion in the schools of that country, coming thence
to the United States in 1850, when he was eighteen
years old. Arrived in this country, he located in
Rochester, New York, and for five years thereafter
was engaged in the mercantile business. He was
then attracted to the West, toward which there was,
at that time, a fioodtide of immigration, and went
to Delaware County, Iowa, engaging in farming
and stock-raising among the pioneers in what
is now one of the richest and most populous of
Western States. When he became a resident of
Iowa it had been less than ten years a State, and by
far the greater part of its vast and fertile domain
was in a condition of primitive wildness. The thrifty
and populous cities which have since grown up in
the “Hawkeye State” were then in their infancy,
and as a farmer Mr. Baird found himself distant
from markets, and was compelled to undergo many
inconveniences and hardships incident to pioneer
life. He, however, continued to reside in Iowa until
1864, in which year he came to Louisville and em-
barked in the wholesale millinery business. A year
later he removed to Nashville, Tennessee, in which
city he established a wholesale millinery house, his
impression being at that time that he could reach
the Southern trade to better advantage from that
point. He remained in Nashville until 1868 and
then returned to Louisville, the “Gateway to the
South,” which had begun its rapid development into
the commercial metropolis of a vast region of coun-
try.
Upon his return to Louisville he established the
wholesale millinery house of which lie has ever
since been the head, now nearly thirty years old, a
commercial institution which has extended its trade
throughout the South, which is widely known and
stands high among the mercantile houses of Louis-
ville. In 1880 Mr. Baird took his son, William J.
Baird, into partnership with him, and thus consti-
tuted the present firm of David Baird & Son.
A successful merchant, he has given his business
that thorough and systematic supervision so essen-
tial to the prosperity of any commercial enterprise,
but while doing this he has not been unmindful of
his obligations to the general public. He has been
public-spirited, as well as sagacious in the conduct
of his private affairs, and has always co-operated in
those broader movements designed to promote the
general prosperity of the people among whom he
has lived and labored, or to contribute to the im-
provement of moral and social conditions in Louis-
ville. He has long been a prominent Presbyterian
layman, and has been an elder in the First Presby-
terian Church of Louisville since 1877. Loving the
history and traditions of his native land and taking
pardonable pride in his descent from a sturdy stock
which has enriched the pages of history with its
achievements, he has been an active member of the
Scotch-Irish Society, and has always taken a
warm interest in its social gatherings and stated
meetings. Originally a Whig in politics, he has
been a Democrat since the demise of the old Whip-
o
party. He married in 1859 Sarah Jane Ewart, who
was also of Scotch-Irish origin.
CEWARD MERRILL LEMONT, who has had
^ a most active business career in Louisville, and
who has also been prominently identified with many
enterprises in other fields, was born in Portland,
Maine, January 21, 1834. He is the son of Samuel
Springer Lemont, also a native of Maine, descended
from French Huguenot ancestors, who were driven
out of France by religious persecutions, sojourned
a while in the north of Ireland, and from there came
to America. His mother was Georgiana Prince
Merrill before her marriage, and came of an old New
England family. Her brother married a near rela-
tive of the renowned Phillips Brooks, late Protest-
ant Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts. Another
member of the Merrill family married ex-United
States Senator Palmer, of Michigan.
Both the parents of Mr. Lemont died when lie
was quite young, and he knew little of parental care
am' guidance. He was brought up and educated
in Portland under the care of a guardian, graduat
ing from the high school of that city when lie was
544
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
fourteen years of age. He soon after entered a large
ship-chandlery house, in which he received his early
business training. He remained in the employ of
this house for three years, and these associations
and the fact that both his paternal and maternal rela-
tives were largely interested in ships and ship-build-
ing, naturally inclined him to a sea-faring life. At
the age of seventeen he shipped aboard an Atlantic
trading vessel and made one voyage as a sailor be-
fore the mast, but when he returned from this voy-
age he abandoned the sea, in deference to the wishes
of his guardian. Soon afterward, in 1852, he came
West and became the first station agent of the Jef-
fersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad Com-
pany, at Indianapolis. This was in the days of pio-
neer railroading in Indiana, and the trains of the
J., M. & I. Company reached Indianapolis by way
of Shelbyville, traversing what is now a link in the
Big Four Railway system. At that time, the track
between Edinburg and Shelbyville, Indiana, was
laid with ordinary flat bar iron, on wooden string'-
ers, and Western railroads in general were of the
most primitive kind. Mr. Lemont remained at In-
dianapolis about a year and then came to Jefferson-
ville, Indiana, where he took the position of pay-
master and chief clerk to the superintendent of this
railway company. In 1854, when he was only twen-
ty years old, he was appointed general ticket agent
of the company, and a yeaf later became general
freight agent also.
An incident of historic interest in connection with
his service as general passenger and freight agent
of the J., M. & I. R. R. Co. was his issuance of the
first all-rail passenger tickets to Eastern cities sold
in Louisville. He also issued the first all-rail ‘bill
of lading from this point to Eastern cities. In the
spring of 1855 he attended the first meeting of the
general ticket agents of the United States ever held,
the Meeting being held at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
and resulting in the organization of the General
Ticket Agents’ Association. This association held
its fortieth annual meeting in New York City in the
spring of 1895, and Mr. Lemont is doubtless one of
the very few men now living who participated in
its organization.
In 1857 he resigned his position in the railway
service and embarked in the wholesale grain trade
in Louisville, his place of business being on Second
Street, between Main and Market streets. He con-
tinued in this business until 1872, and for several
years prior to the building of the Louisville bridge,
he was president also of the Louisville Transfer
Company, which was engaged in carrying freight
and passengers between this city and the J., M. & I.
depot in Jeffersonville. He also became interested
as a stockholder in the first sleeping-car lines oper-
ated on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and its
connecting lines, between this city and Nashville,
Memphis and New Orleans. He was one of the
original stockholders also in the Ohio Falls Car &
Locomotive Works, at Jeffersonville.
In 1862 Mr. W. F. McCormick became associated
with him in the grain trade, and they enlarged and
extended their business so as to include the opera-
tion of flouring mills on Broadway and Beargrass
creek. They also became large shippers of pro-
visions and were closely identified, in every way,
with what was then as now a very important branch
of the city’s commerce. Appreciating fully the value
of concerted action on the part of the merchants
and traders of the city in facilitating commercial
transactions and promoting its business interests in
general, he was one of the men who formed the or-
ganization which preceded the Board of Trade, and
later became a charter member of that board and
was chairman of its finance committee for several
years after its organization.
In 1872 he became interested in the Southern
lumber industry, as one of the organizers of the
Muscogee Lumber Company, of Florida. He was
made a director of that company and retained the
position until the corporation sold its properties
to an English syndicate in 1889. Some time before
1880 he became interested in the Mt. Adams &
Eden Park Inclined Railway, in Cincinnati, and sub-
sequently became interested in several large manu-
facturing concerns there — being president of two
and vice-president of a third — and, for ten years,
that city was his business headquarters, although his
family continued to reside in Louisville, and this city
was all the time his home. He disposed of all his
Cincinnati interests in 1889, and resuming active
operations here, organized the Louisville Cold Stor-
age Company, of which he became president, a
position which he still retains. About the same time
he acquired an interest in the Globe Tanning Com-
pany, which operates one of the largest leather
manufactories in the city, and was elected vice-pres-
ident of that corporation. He still retains this offi-
cial connection with the tanning company, and is
thus prominently identified with one of the lead-
ing industries of the city.
As a business man Mr. Lemont lias had an ex-
ceedingly active life, and comparatively few men who
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
545
have confined themselves within this sphere of ac-
tion have had so many interesting and varied ex-
periences. He has been an intelligent student of
commercial problems, has shown himself a capable
man of affairs in all his operations, and has gained a
strong hold upon the confidence and esteem of his
contemporaries. Public appreciation of his ability,
integrity and character was shown in 1895, when he
was appointed one of the receivers of the Southern
States Land & Timber Company, an English cor-
poration owning large tracts of timber lands in Ala-
bama and Florida, and operating extensive mills in
the last named State. This was a business enterprise
of large magnitude, and the fact that Mr. Lemont
was appointed one of the court officers whose duty it
is to manage the affairs of the corporation so as vo
conserve the best interests of stockholders and cred-
itors, attests that he has established an enviable rep-
utation in the business world. He has always taken
a business man’s views of politics, and, although
affiliating with the Democratic party, is more strong-
ly attached to principles than to any partisan organi-
zation, and believes that a candidate’s qualifications
for an office which he seeks should be a consideration
of prime importance in all local elections. On the
two great national issues now uppermost in
the minds of the American people he entertains pro-
nounced views, being uncompromisingly in favor of
sound money and a tariff for revenue only. In
early life he attended generally the Unitarian
Church, but for over thirty years has been a pew-
holder in Calvary Episcopal Church, of which he
was for a time a vestryman.
He was married, in 1859, 1° Miss Emma Bleyle,
who was born in Albany, New York. Her father
was a native of Baden-Baden, Germany. He came
to this country in 1834, and in 1836 married Eliza
Cary, a granddaughter of Sir John Cary, of Lon-
donderry, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Lemont have two
children, Jessie — now the wife of Dr. Philip F. Bar-
bour— and Seward F. Lemont, who resides with his
father.
TAMES CRAIIC, D. D., LL. D„ for nearly forty
^ years rector of Christ Church, Louisville, and
one of the most eminent Episcopal clergymen of the
country, was born in Alexandria, Virginia, August
31, 1806, and died in Louisville, June 9, 1882. He
was the son of George Washington Craik, and
grandson of Dr. James Craik, to whom General
Washington referred as “my compatriot in arms,
my old and intimate friend.” Dr. James Craik was
35
of Scotch nativity and was educated to be a surgeon
in the British Army. He came to Virginia in early
life and accompanied Washington on the expedition
against the French and Indians in 1754, and was in
Braddock’s disastrous campaign in 1755. During
the Revolutionary War he served with Washington
and rose to the first rank in the medical department,
and in 1798 he was made director-general of the
hospital department of the army, in anticipation of
a war with France. At Washington’s request he
removed to the neighborhood of Mt. Vernon after
the Revolutionary War ended, and attended the first
President in his last illness. His son — named for
George Washington long before Washington had
become famous — was educated by him and served as
his private secretary during his second presidential
term.
George Washington Craik, father of the subject
of this sketch, died when the son was two years
old, and the latter was educated by his grandfather
and inherited the bureau which Washington be-
queathed to Dr. James Craik in his will.
James Craik, the noted divine of Louisville, was
brought up in the neighborhood of Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, and first attended a country school near his
father’s home. Later he completed a course of
study in the academy at Alexandria, and then began
the study of medicine. About this time he attended
a course of medical lectures delivered in Washington
by the famous Dr. Charles Caldwell, then professor
of materia medica in Transylvania University, of
Lexington, Kentucky, and became well acquainted
with that noted physician and educator. Acting up-
on the advice of Dr. Caldwell, he came to Kentucky
with the yitention of continuing his medical studies
at Transylvania University. President Horace Hol-
ley, who was then at the head of the University,
thought him better adapted to the law than medi-
cine, and induced him to fit himself for the bar. He
was licensed to practice law in Kanawha County,
Virginia, in 1829, and for ten years thereafter prac-
ticed successfully in Kanawha and adjoining coun-
ties. In the meantime he studied theology, and in
1839 was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church
and immediately afterward called to the rectorship of
the church in Charleston, Virginia,, which place was
at that time his home. In 1841 he was ordained to
the priesthood, and in 1844 was called to C. hrist
Church, Louisville, which was the scene of his
labors to the end of his life.
Here he proved himself an ideal rector and
greatly endeared himself to church people all over
546
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
the South, as well as to those of his own parish.
An able preacher, he had also superior administra-
tive ability, and the result of his labors are in part
apparent in the growth and prosperity of Christ
Church parish. His life was a singularly pure and
beautiful one, and his memory still lingers like a
benediction with those to whom he sustained the
relationship of pastor. As the years passed by, the
aged minister’s hold upon the affections of his peo-
ple grew stronger, and he had come to be revered as
one of the patriarchs of Episcopalianism, when he
was called from the labors of life to the rest of
Paradise. His son, the Rev. Charles Ewell Craik,
succeeded him as rector of Christ Church, and in
the early part of the year 1896 one of his grandsons
- — James Craik Morris — was ordained to the minis-
try in the same church.
In addition to the great work which Dr. Craik
accomplished in the building up of Christ Church
and of Christ Church parish, he did much for the
church at large, its educational institutions and its
charities, the Orphanage of the Good Shepherd and
the Church Home and Infirmary being very largely
indebted to him for their existence. Three times
he served as president of the House of Clerical and
Lay Delegates of the Episcopal Church, and his
election, in 1862, to that position was an important
incident in the history of the church. At that time
there was great danger of the church becoming em-
broiled in a controversy over political issues, but
Dr. Craik skillfully prevented this and thereby ren-
dered a service of inestimable value to the church.
He was himself a Democrat in early life, but later
became a member of the Whig party. He was a
slave owner and opposed to the forcible abolition of
slavery, but was devoted to the Union and opposed
the secession movement of the Southern States. In
the early days of i860, at the recpiest of prominent
citizens of the South, without regard to party, he
delivered a lecture at the State capitol, before mem-
bers of the Legislature and State officers, on the
subject “National and State Sovereignty Alike Es-
sential to American Liberty,” which produced a
profound impression on the minds of the public
men of the State and had much influence upon their
later action.
He was married, in 1829, to Juliet Shrewsbury, of
Kanawha County, Virginia.
EV. WILLIAM HETH WHITS ITT, D. D.,
LL. D., who fills so worthily, as successor of
the late Rev. John A. Broadus, the presidency of the
Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, is a na-
tive of Tennessee. He was born near Nashville,
November 25, 1841, in the same house in which his
father, Reuben Ewing Whitsitt,was born, the latter’s
Christian name being derived from Hon. Reuben
Ewing, of Logan County, who had married his aunt,
Ellen Menees Whitsitt. Mr. Ewing was a promi-
nent man in that portion of the State, having been
a member of the convention which framed the second
constitution of Kentucky in 1799, and a Represent-
ative in the Legislature in 1822. The mother of
Dr. Whitsitt was Dicey Ann McFarland Whitsitt,
who was a native of Wilson County, Tennessee.
The Whitsitts are a Scotch-Irish people. The earli-
est name mentioned is Samuel Whitsitt, of Ireland,
whose son, William Whitsitt, married Elizabeth
Dawson. This son, William Whitsitt, afterward of
Russellville, Kentucky, was born in Ireland, August
20, 1731, shortly after which the family emigrated
to Virginia and thence to Kentucky. William Whit-
sitt, the second, married Ellen Menees. Their son,
James Whitsitt, was a Baptist clergyman of note in
Tennessee and married Jane Cardwell Menees, and
they became the parents of Reuben Ewing Whitsitt.
The subject of this sketch received his early educa-
tion at private schools near Nashville, Tennessee,
until 1855. at which time he was placed at Mount
Juliet Academy, in Wilson County, Tennessee. In
1857 he entered LTnion University, Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, where he was graduated in 1861. Upon
the breaking out of the Civil War he entered the
Confederate Army and served in the Fourth Ten-
nessee Cavalry, Colonel, James W. Starnes, a brave
and capable officer, who was killed at Tullahoma,
on the retreat from Shelbyville to Chattanooga, in
July, 1863. He was succeeded by Colonel W. S.
McLemore, who remained in service until the close
of the war. The first general officer under whom
Dr. Whitsitt served was Colonel Scott, of Scott’s
Louisiana Cavalry, who, in addition to his own regi-
ment commanded the Fourth Tennessee, and Mor-
rison’s Georgia regiments, in General Kirby Smith’s
advance into Kentucky in 1862. The next general
officers were General N. B. Forrest and General
Joseph Wheeler. During the latter portion of the
war Dr. Whitsitt was made chaplain, in which capac-
ity he served in the field until the termination of
hostilities, and was with President Jefferson Davis
on his journey southward, as far as Washington,
Georgia, where his command halted. General John
C. Breckinridge remained with the column several
days after the departure of Mr. Davis, and distrib-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY,
547
uted to each man twenty-six dollars in gold, a por-
tion of which Dr. Whitsitt still preserves as a me-
mento of the war. On the nth of May, 1865, he sur-
rendered with his command to Captain Lot Abra-
ham, and was paroled not to take up arms against
the Federal Government until exchanged, a condi-
tion which he has faithfully observed from that day
to this.
While prosecuting his studies at Union Universi-
ty Dr. Whitsitt had, in November, 1857, joined the
Baptist Church at Mill Creek, on his ancestral es-
tate, and received from it in 1859 a license to preach.
On the 1 6th of February, 1862 — the day on which
Fort Donelson fell — he was ordained to the Chris-
tian ministry, at Mill Creek. This church, founded by
his grandfather, Rev. James Whitsitt, in 1797, is
the oldest existing Baptist church from the Cum-
berland River to the Gulf. In the autumn of 1895,
Dr. Whitsitt had the satisfaction of donating a body
of ground adjacent to the church, upon which a par-
sonage is now being erected, and in the coming
year he looks forward with natural interest to the
celebration of the centennial anniversary of this ven-
erable church'.
After the war, Dr. Whitsitt, although he had for
several years been an ordained minister, resumed
his studies with a view to a more thorough prepara-
tion for the course in life he had marked out for
himself. From 1866 to 1867 he attended the Uni-
versity of Virginia, and for two years, 1867-69, the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In i860
lie went to Germany and studied at the University of
Leipsic and Berlin, returning home in October,
1871. Shortly after coming home from Europe, he
became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Albany,
Georgia, where he remained until May, 1872, when
he was elected an assistant professor in the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary, then located at
Greenville, South Carolina. This institution had,
under great difficulties, maintained its organization
through the war, and with an able and energetic
faculty exhibited a renewed growth upon the return
of peace. But the lack of an adequate endowment
proved a serious drawback to its usefulness. In ad-
dition to this, it was felt that a more central location
was necessary, and the Southern Baptist Conven-
tion, under whose auspices it was conducted, can-
vassed the subject, and after mature deliberation
the offer of the Baptists of Kentucky, pledging
$300,000 on condition of its removal to Louisville,
was accepted. It required several years to perfect
the arrangements and to collect the subscriptions
made to the fund, but finally the seminary was re-
moved to Louisville, and in September, 1877, was
opened for instruction here. With it came Dr.
Whitsitt as a member of the faculty, noted for its
zeal and learning, including as it did its eminent
president, Rev. James P. Bovce, D. D., LL. D., and
Rev. John A. Broadus, D.D., LL. D., both of whom
have passed away, leaving in the institution to which
they consecrated themselves an enduring monument
to their worth. In the meantime, Dr. Whitsitt had
been, in 1875, promoted by the board of trustees,
at their meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, to a
full professorship. In this position he remained for
twenty years, until in March, 1895, when, upon the
death of Dr. Broadus, he was promoted by the
faculty to the position of chairman. At the annual
meeting of the board of trustees at Washington,
D. C., May 9, 1895, he was elected to succeed Dr.
Broadus as president of the Seminary. This selec-
tion, while in the natural order of seniority and
long service, was also universally recognized as a
merited recognition of the thorough fitness of Dr.
Whitsitt for the position, by reason of his profes-
sional scholarship, his fine administrative capacity,
and his great personal worth. His services in con-
nection with the Theological Seminary and its phe-
nomenal success since it came to Louisville are
more appropriately treated by Dr. Eaton, in his
chapter on the Baptist Church of Louisville, else-
where in these volumes.
Dr. Whitsitt, while devoting himself assiduouslv
to his duties connected with the Seminary, has found
time to keep up with other lines of study, and
is broadly read in all branches of human knowledge
and literature. In political affiliations he is a Dem-
ocrat, exercising when he deems necessary a judi-
cious independence in voting. As a member of the
Filson Club he has made the pioneer history of
Kentucky a special subject of study and has con-
tributed to its publications a valuable monogram
upon “The Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace,”
the founder of the prominent family of that name,
whose great-granddaughter he married. Judge
Wallace was a member of several of the conventions
preliminary to the final one which made the first
constitution of Kentucky in 1792, of which — as well
as of that which in 1799 framed the second constitu-
tion— he was also a member, and was one of the
first judges of the Court of Appeals. I lie Wallaces,
like the Whitsitts, were Scptch-lrish. Peter Wal-
lace, the founder of the family in America, married
Elizabeth Woods, sister of Michael Woods, of
548
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Woods’ Gap, Virginia. This Michael Woods had a
daughter, Magdalena Woods, who married John
McDowell and became the mother of the McDowell
family. Samuel Wallace, a son of Peter Wallace,
Sr., married Esther Baker, of Charlotte County,
Virginia. Their son, Caleb Wallace, married first
his cousin, Sarah McDowell, who died without issue,
and second Rosanna Christian, sister of Colonel
William Christian. Their son, Samuel McDowell
Wallace, married Anne Maner, of Beaufort Dis-
trict, South Carolina. Their son, Samuel Baker
Wallace, married Miss Mary Taylor, of Beaufort
District. To Miss Florence, daughter of this last
couple. Dr. Whitsitt was united in marriage, Octo-
ber 4, 1881, by Rev. Gelon H. Rout, D. D., and Rev.
John A. Broadus, D. D.
TAMES PETIGRU BOYCE, D. D., LL. D„
^ founder of the renowned Southern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary and one of the most eminent of
American theologians and educators, was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, January 11, 1827, and
died at Pau, in the south of France, December 28,
1888. His family was of Scotch-Irish origin and
his grandfather, John Boyce, was born in northeast-
ern Ireland — where the name is still common — and
removed to the British colonies of North America
in 1765. In 1777 this John Boyc'e married Elizabeth
Miller, daughter of David Miller, of Rutherford,
North Carolina, and soon afterward settled in New-
berry District — now Newberry County — South Car-
olina. Here he began his married life in the midst
of the Revolutionary War, and in 1778 had his first
military experience as a private in the company
commanded by his brother, Alexander Boyce. Cap-
tain Alexander Boyce was killed at the head of his
company, in a gallant attempt to carry the British
line at the siege of Savannah, in 1779, and John
Boyce afterward joined a company commanded by
Captain Dugan, and participated in the battles of
Blackstock, King’s Mountain, Cowpens and Eutaw.
After one of these battles he returned to his home
for a brief visit, but had hardly seated himself when
he was startled by the noise of approaching horse-
men, and upon opening his door was confronted
by a party of Tories under the leadership of the no-
torious provost marshal, William Cunningham.
Dashing his hat into the faces of the horses, he
broke through the line and made his escape to the
woods, but lost three fingers from one hand as the
result of a saber cut from Cunningham. Binding
up the wound he joined his company and went in
pursuit of the marauding Tories, a dozen of whom
were captured and executed. On another occasion
he was captured and left bound hand and foot in his
own barn, while his captors sought a rope to hang
him with. He was rescued from this peril by an
old negro servant, and in his “Annals of Newberry”
John Belton O’Neall — at one time chief justice of
South Carolina — says that “John Boyce lived long
after the war, enjoying the rich blessings of the glo-
rious liberty for which he had periled so much.”
One of his sons was Ker Boyce, a prosperous mer-
chant of Newberry in early life, who was twice mar-
ried, his first and second wives being sisters of Job
Johnston, a noted chancellor, and daughters of John
“Johnstown,” born in the county of Londonderry,
Ireland.
James P. Boyce was one of the children born of
Iver Boyce’s marriage to Amanda J. C. Johnston,
and the traits of the parents were admirably blended
in the son. His father, who removed to Charleston
in 1817 and became noted as a cotton factor, com-
mission merchant and banker, was a man of great
force of character and superior executive ability,
and was prominent in public life as a member of the
South Carolina House of Representatives and State
Senate. His mother was a gentle, amiable woman,
noted for her graces and personal beauty. Both
were descendants of the Scotch Presbyterians who
had found a home in the north of Ireland, and both
had been reared in Presbyterian families, but Mrs.
Boyce joined the Baptist Church under the preach-
ing of Rev. Basil Manly, and her husband became a
generous supporter of that church, her children be-
ing thus brought up under Baptist influences.
One of the cherished friends of Ker Boyce was
James L. Petigru, the leader, at that time, of the
South Carolina bar, and in his honor James P.
Boyce was named. As a boy he gave promise of
the man that was to be. He was generous, brave,
kindly, fond of books, and a voracious reader. One
of the earliest, perhaps the earliest, organization
with which he became connected was a debating so-
ciety, composed of boys of his own age, which
met in a room over his father’s carriage-house, in
Charleston, and of which he was the recognized
leader. While he was a lover of books from child-
hood he was more fond of general literature than
of his text books, easily mastering his appointed
tasks and then throwing aside the school books to
revel in his favorite authors. He completed the
studies necessary to admit him to Charleston Col-
lege before he was old enough to matriculate in that
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
549
institution, and his father took advantage of this
circumstance to give him a course of training in the
wholesale dry goods house of Wiley, Banks & Com-
pany— in which the elder Boyce was a partner —
where for six months he performed his full share of
all the roughest and hardest work done by other
boys of the same age. Returning to school at the
end of that time, he applied himself with greater zeal
than he had before manifested to his studies and,
from 1843 to 1845, was a student at Charleston Col-
lege, passing through the curriculum of the Fresh-
man and Sophomore classes. In 1845 he was sent
to Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island
— the first American college formed bv the Bap-
tists— entering the junior class at that institution.
At the head of Brown University at that time was
Dr. Francis Wayland, renowned as educator and
political economist, and such able and accomplished
men as Dr. Alexis Caswell, William Gammel, James
R. Boise, and John L. Lincoln, were members of
the college faculty. There were thirty-five members
in the junior class and, from a class report made
forty years after their graduation, it appears that
thirteen of these young men became ministers, eight
lawyers, five college presidents or professors, and
four poets. At Brown University as at Charleston
College, James P. Boyce impressed his individuality
upon his professors and classmates. “He was,” says
Professor James R. Boise, in a letter written in 1889,
“always attentive, scholarly, and a perfect gentle-
man. He was of that type of students whom a
teacher does not soon forget. Though more than
forty years have elapsed since that time, and al-
though I have had classes often very large, through
the entire intervening period — except a year and a
half spent in Europe — yet there is no one of the
many who have been in my class-room whom I have
loved and respected more than James P. Boyce.”
In the spring of 1846, when he returned to his
home in Charleston, he found a mighty religious
movement pervading the community, that wonder-
ful Baptist preacher, Dr. Richard Fuller, being the
leader of meetings which were being held every day.
He had previously been touched by the tender and
eloquent appeals of Dr. Wayland to his students,
and when he sat under the preaching of Dr. Fuller,
these impressions were deepened and he was con-
verted and baptized into the church. When he re-
turned to the college in the fall of 1846 it was to
take a deep interest in religious work during his
senior year and to become more and more interested
in the study of theology. Before the end of the
year he had determined to study for the ministry.
After his graduation from the university he returned
to Charleston, and made known his purposes to his
father, who felt no little disappointment over the
son’s choice of a calling. The elder Boyce had cher-
ished an ambition to have his son become distin-
guished as a lawyer, and, perhaps, as a statesman,
and had also hoped to have him take charge of his
large estate and carry on his great business under-
takings for the benefit of the entire family. Fie
found him, however, immovably resolved to devote
his life to the service of the church, and after a little
time wisely yielded his own to the preferences of his
son, and gave him every advantage for the prosecu-
tion of ministerial studies.
In the fall of 1847 James P. Boyce was licensed
to preach by the church in Charleston, and in the
spring of 1848 went to New York State with the in-
tention of entering the theological department of
Madison University, at Hamilton. He suffered at
that time, however, from a weakness of the eyes, and
on the advice of his physician decided not to enter
upon his proposed course of study. For a time
he feared that he should be compelled to abandon
his purpose of entering the ministry, but rest and
medical treatment brought about his recovery, al-
though it delayed the beginning of his regular min-
isterial work. In December of 1848 he married Miss
Lizzie Llewellyn Ficklin — a daughter of Dr. Field-
ing Ficklin, a physician and planter, of Washington,
Georgia — a lady well fitted by birth and education
to become the companion of such a man. They es-
tablished their home in Charleston, where the young
minister had been made editor of "The Southern
Baptist,” a weekly church paper, which had been es-
tablished two years earlier and gave promise of great
usefulness as a religious auxiliary. The young edi-
tor threw himself earnestly into the undertaking
and managed the paper ablv for several months. It
had not been his intention, however, to devote him-
self permanently to editorial work, and he severed
his connection with “The Southern Baptist” to pre-
pare himself for the active work of the ministry.
In the fall of 1849 he entered Princeton Theolog-
ical Seminary and spent two years at that institution,
leaving there in May of 1851, and remaining in New
York two or three months thereafter, devoting him-
self to a thorough review of his theological studies.
In the fall of 1851 he accepted a call to Columbia.
South Carolina, where he took charge of a small
Baptist Church, the only one in the capital city,
which the faithful few Baptists of Columbia had
550
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
found it difficult to sustain. Having a large private
income, the young pastor was able to relieve the
congregation of a large portion of its burden, and
for four years he labored faithfully and gave gen-
erously of his own means to build up the church. In
the spring of 1854 his father died, leaving to him
the care and management of a large estate. He was
then twenty-seven years of age and entered into an
ample inheritance, feeling that it was a sacred trust,
to be held and used for the betterment of mankind.
His fortune, his great natural ability and thorough
education, combined, at this time, to make him a
powerful factor in promoting the interests of the
Southern church, and he speedily acquired promi-
nence and influence. In July of 1855 he was elected
professor of theology in Furman University, of
Greenville, South Carolina, and thus entered upon
the great work of his life as an educator. He taught
two years in the university, and during this time
gave much thought to the founding of a general
theological seminary for Southern Baptists, con-
ceded to be one of the great needs of the church. In
1857 he spent several months traveling through the
State to raise an endowment for the projected semi-
nary, in the establishment of which he had mani-
fested a deep interest from the time the agitation in
its favor began. He had been a member of the
Southern Baptist convention which considered the
matter at its session, in Montgomery, Alabama, in
1855, and of the convention held at Augusta, Geor-
gia, in the spring of 1856, to formulate plans for es-
tablishing a Southern theological seminary. Under
his leadership the State Convention of the Baptist
denomination in South Carolina, proposed, at the
session held in 1856, to establish at Greenville, in
that State, a general theological institution, to be
endowed with funds to the amount of one hundred
thousand dollars, contributed by Furman Uni-
versity and the Baptists of South Carolina, on con-
dition that the institution should be further endowed
with an additional hundred thousand dollars, to be
raised in other States. A Baptist educational con-
vention was held in Louisville, in May of 1857, at
which it was agreed to establish the seminary in
Greenville, provided the amount pledged by the
South Carolina Baptists should be placed in the
hands of the trustees within the following year. At
this convention Professor J. P. Boyce was appointed
chairman of a committee on organization, which was
to report to a convention to be held at Greenville in
May, 1858. Returning to South Carolina, Professor
Boyce was appointed agent of the State Baptist con-
vention to collect the seventy thousand dollars,
which, added to the contribution of Furman Uni-
versity, was to make up the pledged endowment of
South Carolina Baptists. When the convention met
at Greenville he had obtained nearly all the seventy
thousand dollars and was sure of the rest. Under
these circumstances the organization of the semi-
nary was effected, and Dr. Boyce was one of four
professors unanimously elected by the convention;
Rev. John A. Broadus, his friend and co-worker to
the end of his life; Rev. B. Manly, Jr., and Rev. E.
T. Winkler being the others. Mr. Winkler declined
the appointment to a professorship, and Rev. Wil-
liam Williams was appointed in his stead. These four
men — Boyce, Broadus, Manly and Williams —
opened the seminary in 1859, with twenty-six stu-
dents. Each of the professors— -all young men — had
been made a doctor of divinity by a Southern col-
lege and clothed with the dignity of these titles they
entered upon the discharge of their duties as in-
structors in theology, a work for which they had
given abundant evidence of fitness. Dr. Boyce was
made chairman of the faculty in the beginning, and
while not officially designated as president of the in-
stitution, practically sustained that relationship to
it. He resided in a fine old mansion at Greenville,
which had formerly been the home of General Wad-
dy Thompson, and his home was always open to the
students or friends of the seminary. While strength-
ening its resources, he endeavored in every way pos-
sible to give dignity and character to the institution,
and he and his worthy coadjutors had made flatter-
ing progress toward establishing it upon a prosper-
ous basis, when the Civil War robbed it of its pa-
trons and brought about the suspension -of its ses-
sions in the fall of 1861.
Dr. Boyce had grown up an opponent of seces-
sion, and when South Carolina proposed to go out
of the Union and summoned a convention to con-
sider that issue he offered himself as an anti-seces-
sion candidate for member of that convention. Pub-
lic sentiment was against him, and popular as he
was personally he received comparatively few votes.
When war became inevitable, however, like the great
mass of those who opposed the secession movement,
and foresaw many of its disastrous consequences,
he decided to go with his State. In the autumn of
1861 a regiment of volunteers was recruited in the
Greenville District, and yielding to the solicitation
of friends, Dr. Boyce consented to accompany the
regiment into the field as chaplain. He served as
chaplain of this regiment during the winter of 1861-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
551
62, but resigned in the spring of the latter year to
give attention to the affairs of the seminary and his
father’s estate. Returning home he was elected to
the Legislature and re-elected two years later, serv-
ing until the close of the war. As a legislator he
took high rank among the men upon whom rested
the responsibility of conducting the affairs of the
State during this critical period. From Novem-
ber, 1864, to the end of the war, he was aide-de-
camp to Governor A. G. Magrath, with the rank of
colonel, and was a member of the council of state re-
peatedly consulted by the governor during that
troublous period. He was acting provost marshal of
Columbia when that city was captured by General
W. T. Sherman, retreated with the governor to
Charlotte and thence made his way — partly on foot
— to his home at Greenville, a hundred miles distant.
When the war ended his first thought seemed to
be for the seminary, and early in the summer of
1865 he set on foot a movement for its rehabilitation
During the war the professors had been retained
and their salaries paid in Confederate currency, and
although all had suffered in person and property,
they had proven loyal to the institution and stood
ready to co-operate with him in the effort to revive
the enterprise. A large part of the subscriptions
for endowment had been paid in Confederate bonds
and so had become an utter loss, but the institution
had, in pursuance of the wise financial policy of Dr.
Boyce, been kept free of debt. He felt that it had
gained a hold upon the affections of the Baptist
people in several states and that, notwithstanding
their poverty of resources, they would rally to its
support. The thing to do was to make a new start,
and although he was uncertain as to whether much
would be left of his own estate, he made a personal
contribution of one thousand dollars, and with some
other resources at his command, opened the semi-
nary in the fall of 1865, with seven students. Thus
the seminary rose, phoenix like, out of the ashes of
the Civil War, and Dr. Boyce and his associates be-
gan anew the struggle to build up a Southern theo-
logical school. He was called, about this time, to
render important public services, being made a
member of the convention called to form a new con-
stitution for South Carolina. The article relating to
slavery, which became a part of the constitution, was
drawn by Dr. Boyce, and no member of that body
did more to adapt the State government to the
changed conditions brought about by the war. His
own estate was in a sadly demoralized condition,
and to save as much as possible from the wreck re-
quired that he should give his private affairs a large
share of his attention. But with all these weighty
responsibilities resting upon him the seminary con-
tinued to be the object of his greatest solicitude.
When he was offered a salary of ten thousand dol-
lars a year as president of the South Carolina Rail-
road Company he thanked the gentlemen making
the offer and declared that he had determined to de-
vote his life, if need be, to the building up of the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Year after
year he traveled throughout the South soliciting
subscriptions for the seminary and gradually
strengthened its resources and increased its prestige
and usefulness. Meantime, the advisability of re-
moving the seminary to some other State was much
discussed among Southern Baptists, and without
going into details, it may be said that this agitation
finally led up to its removal to Louisville in 1877.
1 he history of the institution since its removal to this
city is well known to all the people of Louisville.
Here it began a career of prosperity which has made
it one of the leading theological seminaries in the
United States and the pride of the Southern Bap-
tists. Here he was not only the president and chief
executive officer of the institution, but became rec-
ognized as a great theological teacher. He was a
ceaseless worker, and until the seminary was firm-
ly established in its new home he gave himself no
rest. He was a born financier as well as a great
preacher and educator, and to his careful manage-
ment of its financial affairs the upbuilding of the
seminary is largely due. In 1883-84 he set on foot
the movement to erect buildings and pushed this
enterprise to completion with characteristic vigor.
To-day the institution stands a splendid monument
to his memory and to the singleness of purpose
which caused him to decline all other preferments to
give himself up to the prosecution of this work. At
one time he declined the presidency of Brown Uni-
versity, and on other occasions he declined the presi-
dencies of corporations which would have been ex-
ceedingly remunerative, adhering steadily to the
great work which he had planned in his young man-
hood and which he lived to see consummated.
Dr. Boyce was in all respects a great churchman.
He was president of the Southern Baptist conven-
tion in 1872 and was re-elected annually to that po-
sition until 1879 and again in 1888, proving himself
an unrivaled presiding officer. In his young man-
hood he published “Three Changes in Theological
Institutions,” which produced very notable results.
In 1872 he published "A Brief Catechism of Bible
552
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Doctrine,” and in 1882 his “Abstract of Systematic
Theology,” his most important published work.
ft is impossible to give a complete record of the
great achievements of James P. Boyce in this con-
nection, and the writer has aimed to call attention
only to the leading features of his life work and to
his most prominent traits of character. Those who
would know more of the details of his great work
will find much to interest them in the “Memoir of
Dr. Boyce,” prepared and published by his distin-
guished coadjutor, Rev. John A. Broadus, D. D., a
volume from which the data for this sketch has been
gathered. At the session of 1886-87 Dr. Boyce did
his last teaching in the seminary. His health had
become much impaired by his long and arduous
labors, and in the latter year he sought rest and rec-
reation, travelling with his family on the Pacific
coast, and in the summer of 1888 — accompanied on
this trip also by his family — he went abroad. He
became dangerously ill in London, but recovered
somewhat and went to Paris. There his illness
again assumed a dangerous form and he was taken
to Pan, where the end came, on the 28th of Decem-
ber. Before his death he expressed to his wife and
daughter the wish that his splendid theological li-
brary should be transferred to the seminary and al-
most his last thoughts were of his beloved institu-
tion.
His death was mourned by Baptists everywhere
and especially by the Southern Baptist Church, to
the upbuilding of which he had contributed so much
by his labors. His remains were brought back to
Louisville and now rest with those of the city’s hon -
ored dead in Cave Hill Cemetery.
"THOMAS EDWARD COGLAND BRINLY,
* manufacturer, was born in Middletown, Jeffer-
son County, Kentucky, June 10, 1822, son of John
W. and Mary (Bradbury) Brinly. His father was a
native of Jefferson County, and his mother of Man-
chester, England. The father of Mrs. Brinly, John
Bradbury, was a noted botanist, who came to this
country on the invitation of American botanists and
devoted the remainder of his life to scientific labor
and research in this field. He spent much time
among the Western Indians, was at New Madrid,
Missouri, at the time of the terrible earthquake visi-
tation which destroyed that place in 1811, and had
many thrilling experiences in the course of his trav-
els. A book now in possession of his great-grand-
son, John Lyle Brinly, gives an account of his life,
travels and botanical work. He was a distinguished
Mason and helped organize Abraham Lodge at Mid-
dletown, Kentucky, which was one of the five lodges
first organized in Kentucky.
T. E. C. Brinly obtained a good English educa-
tion under the tutorage of his uncle, Henry P. Brad-
bury, at Middletown, and then learned the black-
smith’s trade under the direction of his father, who
was a skillful mechanic. After mastering his trade,
he began the manufacture of plows in Simpsonville,
Kentucky, he being the first manufacturer of steel
plows in this portion of the country. The excellence
of these plows soon made them famous among the
farmers of Kentucky, and Mr. Brinly found himself
unable to supply the demand for them with the lim-
ited facilities at his command in a small town. This
caused him to return to Louisville in 1858, and here
he established the large business now conducted un-
der the firm name of Brinly, Miles & Hardy. From
the time he began the manufacture of plows up to
the present time, he has been known as one of the
most progressive manufacturers in this line of busi-
ness, and his constant aim has been to improve his
product. He has invented and patented many im-
provements in plows, and in competition with the
leading manufacturers of the United States in field
trials has obtained over eight hundred prizes, an evi-
dence of the superiority of his product which has
not been approximated by the prize winnings of any
other plow manufacturer in the world. The celebrity
which he has attained is by no means confined to
Louisville or to the State of Kentucky, but all over
the country his name is a familiar one to the agri-
cultural classes, and there are few men living who
have contributed to a greater extent to lighten their
labors or advance their interests.
In addition to his prominence as a manufacturer
and in building up the industrial interests of Lou-
isville, he has been identified in a conspicuous way
with the city government, having served as a mem-
ber of the board of aldermen man)’ years, and also as
a member of the board of police commissioners, fill-
ing these positions with credit to himself and to the
good of the city. He was active in politics and has
always been a stanch Democrat and a firm believer
in the principles of that party. He became a mem-
ber of the Baptist Church in early manhood and has
ever since been a worthy member of the church to
which his father belonged. He is a member of the
Masonic order, of the Order of Odd Fellows, and
of the Independent Order of United Workmen. Mr.
Brinly has been married three times. The maiden
name of his first wife was Jane McDowell; that of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
55:
his second wife, Catharine Goodnight; and his pres-
ent wife was Eliza Thomas before her marriage. She
was the daughter of Wm. K. Thomas, who was
prominent in Louisville politics for many years, and
also jailer of Jefferson County several years.
T OHN ALBERT BROADUS, D. D., LL. D., em-
inent as theologian, author, educator and pulpit
orator, and for some years prior to his death, presi-
dent of the Southern Theological Seminary, of which
he was also one of the founders, was born in Cul-
peper County, Virginia, January 24, 1827, the son
of Major Edmund Broadus. The Anglo-Saxon
form of the family name was Broadlmrst but Broad-
dus was the name by which its representatives be-
came known in the south of Wales, and it was from
Wales that Edward Broaddus — the immigrant an-
cestor of Dr. Broadus — came to this country. This
Edward Broaddus settled first on Gwynn’s Island in
Virginia, and from there removed to Caroline — then
King and Queen — County in 1715. One of his
great-grandsons was Edmund Broadus, who mar-
ried Nancy Simms, of Rappahannock, and Dr.
Broadus was the youngest son born of their union.
The father of Dr. Broadus was a man of high char-
acter and commanding influence, who for twenty
years represented Culpeper County in the Virginia
Legislature, and was prominent in the politics of the
Old Dominion as a “Henry Clay” Whig. His moth-
er was a woman of earnest and intelligent piety — of
gentle bearing, yet firm in the government of her
household — and the youthful environments of the
son who was to become a celebrated divine, were
such as help to mold strong characters and great
minds. His early education was obtained in a
somewhat noted private school, of which his uncle,
Albert Simms, was the head, which he attended until
he was sixteen years of age. He then taught a pri-
vate school for three years, and in 1846 entered
the University of Virginia. He was graduated from
the university in 1850, at the end of a full classical
course, with the degree of master of arts, his course
having exceeded at several points the academical
requirements of the university.
The year following his graduation he was em-
ployed as a private tutor in the family of General
John H. Cocke, of Bremo, Fluvanna County, Vir-
ginia, and the next year he was called to the Uni-
versity of Virginia to act as instructor in ancient
languages, becoming assistant to Professor Gessner
Harrison, whose daughter, Miss Maria Harrison, he
had married in 1850. That his association with this
eminent man broadened and refined his scholarship
and deepened the piety which was inherent in his
nature, is attested by the feeling which Dr. Broadus
always entertained toward his old master in philo-
logy. “Their relations as professor and assistant,”
says one who has written of them, “were beautifully
intimate and affectionate,” and in later years, in
the dedication of his “Commentary on Matthew,”
the pupil paid tribute to the influences of the master
as follows:
“To the cherished memory of Gessner Harrison,
M. D., for many years professor of ancient lan-
guages in the University of Virginia: At your feet
I learned to love Greek, and my love of the Bible
was fostered by your earnest devoutness. Were
you still among us, you would kindly welcome the
fruit of study, which now I can only lay upon your
tomb; and would gladly accept any help it can give
towards understanding the blessed word of God, the
treasure of our common Christianity, whose conso-
lations and hopes sustained you in life and in death,
and went with you into the Unseen and Eternal.”
While acting as assistant to Professor Harrison,
he labored at the same time as pastor of the Char-
lottesville Baptist Church, and severed his connec-
tion with the university in 1853, to devote himself
entirely to the ministry. In 1855, however, he was
recalled to the university as chaplain, and “tradition
still tells of those fruitful years in which the young
preacher, enriched by the learning of the schools
and the spiritual experience of his pastorate, crowd-
ed the public halls of the university with congrega-
tions of listening youth, and melted to love and
penitence those ingenuous souls.”
His official connection with the University of Vir-
ginia terminated in 1857, when he returned to the
pastorate in Charlottesville. The following year lie
was called upon to become one of the founders of
the theological seminary which is now the pride of
Southern Baptists. The movement to found a
Southern Baptist theological seminary was first
given definite shape by Rev. James P. Boyce, D. D„
whose views were expressed in his inaugural ad-
dress as theological professor of Furman University,
in 1856. When the Southern Baptist convention
was organized in 1855 Southern Baptists found
themselves without a school of divinity. Although
Southern Baptist colleges were offering courses of
theological instruction there was general recogni-
tion of the fact that something better was needed,
and the ablest Baptist theologians sought to bring
about a concentration oi efforts and resources,
554
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
which would result in the building up of a well-
equipped and well endowed Southern school of theol-
ogy. The plan proposed by Dr. Boyce was warmly
endorsed by Dr. Broadus, and when the educational
convention, held in connection with the Southern
Baptist convention, in Louisville, in the spring of
1857, took hold of the matter in earnest and ap-
pointed a committee of organization, the name of
Dr. Broadus stood next to that of Dr. Boyce, who
was at the head of that committee. As a member of
this committee, he was charged with the superla-
tively important duty of drafting the plan of in-
struction, and in this work the influences of his alma
mater were made apparent. Believing that the elec-
tive system of the University of Virginia would be
peculiarly adaptable to the needs of the Baptist min-
istry, he “cut loose from the stereotyped curriculum
of the ordinary theological seminary, and proposed
an organization in distinct and independent schools,
relying upon the regulating effects of a high stand-
ard of graduation, and strict requirements for de-
grees, to secure earnest work, rational order of stud-
ies and breadth and catholicity of culture.”
The plans of the committee of organization were
accepted at a convention held in Greenville, South
Carolina, at which place it had been decided the in-
stitution should be located, in May of 1858, and the
convention, by unanimous vote, invited Dr. Broad-
us to accept a professorship. He declined at that
time, but felt constrained to accept a call to the semi-
nary extended by the trustees in the following year.
Thus in 1859 he became officially connected with
this great institution, and from that time forward,
“his life was so closely interlocked with that of the
seminary that one could not be written without the
other.” Most regretfully he severed his connection
with the church which had grown and prospered un-
der his pastorate at Charlottesville. Charlottesville
had been, in the language of one of his biographers,
“the home of his early manhood, the nursery of his
intellect, the arena of his first forensic triumphs. He
loved the blue hills, amid which her classic build-
ings are set; the billowy undulations of the fertile
fields that swell around their feet; the fragrant airs
which sweep her shadowy colonnades and the cool
vistas of her verdant lawn. Here the thrilling music
of woman’s love had first melted his heart and the
sweet intimacies of wedded life and the soft smiles
of children had been his; and sorrow there had laid
upon his brow her consecrating touch, and beneath
the sighing pines of the old cemetery reposed the
ashes of his fair young wife." Here, too, he had
“knit anew the ties of domestic life,” when, in 1859,
Charlotte Sinclair, the noble woman who cheered
and inspired him until God called him to his reward,
became his wife. Strong, indeed, were the ties which
bound him to the university and the people of Char-
lottesville, but he felt that duty called him to a new
field of labor, and he obeyed the call to enter upon
a struggle which, in the years immediately following,
became both heroic and pathetic. Entering upon
the work with all the ardor of his nature, his per-
sonal influence multiplied the friends of the semi-
nary, his eloquence and scholarship increased its
prestige, and “in distant cities and among a strange
people” he raised more than one hundred thousand
dollars of the endowment fund of the school.
With the blighting effects of civil war came years
of trials and privations. At the close of the session
in May of 1862 educational work at the seminary
came to a standstill. Although the faculty was not
disbanded and salaries were continued, such salaries
were paid in the depreciated Confederate currency,
and Dr. Broadus shared, at that time, the hardships
experienced by those who had families to support
under such unfavorable conditions. After the cessa-
tion of his seminary duties he engaged, for a time,
in pastoral work in the neighborhood of Greenville,
and also began the “Commentary on Matthew,”
which was completed twenty years later.
In the spring of 1863 he joined the Armyof North-
ern Virginia, and preached as an evangelist chaplain
in the various camps, until health considerations
compelled him to desist from the work. For two
years afterward he served as secretary of the Sun-
day School board of the Southern Baptist conven-
tion, and then — when the war had closed — in the'fall
of 1865 he resumed, with others, the attempt to build
up the theological seminary. With Dr. Boyce again
at the head of the institution it was reopened with
seven students in attendance, and gradually it was
lifted by these strong men and those associated with
them to its present proud position among the theo-
logical seminaries of the United States. In 1870 he
established his reputation as an author by writing
his famous book entitled “Preparation and Deliv-
ery of Sermons,” which is used as a text-book in a
majority of the theological seminaries of all de-
nominations in America, some in England, and
also in the evangelical mission schools of foreign
lands.
When the question of removing the seminary to
a larger city and a more accessible location than
Greenville came up for consideration, he united with
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
555
Dr. Boyce in favoring such a change of location.
Kentucky Baptists brought the institution to Louis-
ville by pledging three hundred thousand dollars to
its endowment fund, and Dr. Broadus removed to
this city in 1877, to become recognized at once as the
leading divine of the city, and to endear himself in
a remarkable degree to the people of all religious de-
nominations. Great as an educator and a theo-
logian, he was great also as a pulpit orator. The
announcement that he was to preach would fill any
church in Louisville, and on one occasion President
Boyce of the seminary declared that if one were
called upon “to name the five greatest living preach-
ers he would have to include John A. Broadus in
that number.”
In 1889, after the death of Dr. Boyce, he succeed-
ed to the presidency of the seminary and sustained
that relationship to it up to the time of his death,
which occurred on the 16th of March, 1895. As au-
thor and commentator he was perhaps even more
widely known than as preacher, educator, lecturer
and theologian, famous as he was in all these fields
of labor. He had written voluminously and on a va-
riety of topics. In 1867 he wrote in the Religious
Herald a notable series of critical papers upon the
American Bible Union’s version of the New Testa-
ment. In 1872 he wrote an intensely interesting se-
ries of articles entitled “Recollections of Travel,” in
which he gave an account of a tour he made through
Europe, Egypt and Palestine in 1870-71. In 1876
he published his series of lectures on the “History
of Preaching,” and his later works were a “Com-
mentary on Matthew,” “Sermons and Addresses,"
“Jesus of Nazareth,” “Three Questions as to The Bi-
ble,”-“Memoir of James P. Boyce,” “A Harmony of
the Gospels,” besides numerous smaller treatises on
current religious questions. As a teacher and lec-
turer, he was singularly successful, and a notable in-
stance of the recognition of this fact by other
educators was his being chosen to deliver the open-
ing lectures in the Levering Series at the Johns Hop-
kins University.
After nearly a score of years of active, fruitful
work in Louisville, which had caused him to be be-
loved by churchmen of all denominations and in the
secular world as well, Dr. Broadus laid down the
burdens of life, and the city of Louisville, the State
of Kentucky and the Christian world at large
mourned his demise. Never of robust physique, the
great mental strain to which he was subjected would
doubtless have deprived the world of his inestimable
services many years sooner had it not been for his
strict temperance in diet and sedulous attention to
wholesome rules of living. His spirit was heroic, his
temperament philosophical, and he triumphed over
the bodily ills of his early life and had almost reach-
ed the allotted age of man, when death came to him,
and with tender touch softly stilled his pulse and
closed his eyelids.
As soon as the fact of his death became known
telegraphic messages and letters came to his family
from all parts of the United States, bearing testi-
mony to his exalted character, the nobility of his
nature, the greatness of his achievements, and the
strong hold which he had upon the affections of a
people. Press notices which would fill a volume
found their way into print, and the unanimous
sentiment thus expressed was that a great and good
man had passed away. From the pulpits of the
Baptist churches and from the pulpits of all other
churches, eulogies were pronounced such as have
rarely marked the exit from life of one of God’s min-
isters. His death seemed to bring to almost even-
citizen of Louisville a sense of personal bereave-
ment, and when his remains were laid in beautiful
Cave Hill Cemetery, his memory lingered like a
benediction with the people who had loved him
most in life.
The feeling which the secular world held toward
him was aptly and tenderly expressed in an editorial
which appeared in the Louisville Post, while the
dark winged angel was hovering over the eminent
divine:
“Dr. Broadus, the first citizen of Louisville, is
passing away. By mind and character he has be-
come the leading personal influence in this commu-
nity. He met easily all the requirements of Ameri-
can citizenship, and fulfilled all the duties of modern
life with rare ability. Clear in all his views, lucid
in all statements, earnest and persuasive in argu-
ment, he has that tolerance which is born of broad
culture and wide experience. He has labored here
with great effect, and the work he has done will live
after him. The whole community mourns his ap-
proaching departure, and pays a tribute to character
and conduct which pomp and power can never com-
mand.”
Of the many eulogies which came alike from the
pulpit, the press and the general public, perhaps the
most careful and discriminating estimate of the at-
tainments, the worth and the work of Dr. Broadus
was that in which a renowned doctor of divinity
characterized him as “a multiform specialist.” “He
was,” says this writer, “at home with all classes, a
556
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
brother to the lowliest, and a crowned prince
among the highest.” In social life he was
charming, and “while he awed the great iby his
learning he attracted the simple by his modesty.”
He was a magnetic scholar, who gave himself to
books and still kept close to the people. One of his
greatest orations was on Demosthenes, delivered
some years since at Richmond College. “It was an
intellectual Pentecost,” says Dr. Hatcher, “to hear
that magnificent oration. It was the supreme effort
of a giant. He threw the light of all ages upon the
Athenian orator, until he glowed with majestic light,
and the enchanted and enraptured audience hastened
away to buy the orations of the peerless Athenian,
to find, when they attempted to read them, that they
were dullness itself compared with Broadus.”
He was a born interpreter. He interpreted the
Word of God and also interpreted people to them-
selves. “He was a master in putting things. He
had the truth in solution and he gave it out in forms
so transparent that it lost its dullness and mystery.”
“He was a master of methods. He saw every ave-
nue to important ends, and he could decide quickly
and with extraordinary correctness which was the
best to adopt.” His earnestness was intense. “His
messages glowed through every fibre and nerve of
his being, and went forth freighted with his own
life.”
“If he was not at his greatest as a teacher, he was
among the greatest of teachers. The imprint put
upon his students was peculiarly his own. It was
patented work and no man dared to meddle with
the patent. The reverence which his students g'ave
him was next to worship.”
Tributes to the great powers, the Christian graces,
the charming social and domestic qualities of Dr.
Broadus might be multiplied, but from what has
been written in this connection those who peruse
the history of Kentucky’s chief city in the years to
come may gather a knowledge of the leading events
in the life of one who will long be remembered as one
of the greatest preachers and teachers of the age in
which he lived.
D EV. S. S. WALTZ, D. D., who was born in New
* ' Philadelphia, Ohio, October 24, 1847, was the
son of Elias and Mary Waltz, both of whom died
after having reached the age of three score and ten.
Plis father was an honest, industrious and intelligent
farmer, who was always active in the church and
public spirited as a citizen. His mother was a pious
and devout woman, whose highest ambition it was
to honor God by training her children to be faith-
ful Christians and good citizens. His forefathers
were Protestants from Switzerland, who, coming to
America, settled in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and
later moved to Ohio. His early education was se-
cured in the public schools of his native place, until,
when seventeen years of age, he became a teacher
and remained as such three years. He then, in 1867
- — at the age of twenty — entered Wittenberg College,
taking the full classical course, and was graduated
in 1872. Having consecrated himself to the holy
ministry he pursued his studies one year at the theo-
logical seminary, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and
then completed his theological course at Witten-
berg Seminary, graduating from there in 1874.
During his college course he became one of the
founders and first editors of “The Wittenberger,”
now the college journal of his alma mater.
Immediately after graduating in theology and his
ordination to the ministry, he became pastor of the
Lutheran Church of Dixon, Illinois, then one of the
most important Lutheran congregations in the West.
He remained in charge of this church five years, his
ministrations being attended with marked success.
Thence he was called to the pastorate of the First
Lutheran Church of Kansas City, Missouri, where
he also remained five years. During this connection
he founded and conducted a mission, which has since
become a successful and self-sustaining church. At
the same time he took an active part in all aggres-
sive Christian movements in the city and in the de-
velopment of the Lutheran Church in the West.
For three successive years he was elected president
of the Synod of Kansas and adjacent States.
Near the close of 1883 he resigned his charge in
Kansas City to accept a call to the First English
Lutheran Church of Louisville. This position he
still occupies, rejoicing in the abundant evidences of
the Divine blessing upon his twelve years’ ministry,
enjoying the confidence and esteem not only of the
large congregation to which he ministers, but of the
general Christian public. As further recognition of
the high standing of Mr. Waltz in the estimation of
those who know him best, Wittenberg College, in
1892, conferred upon him the honorary degree of
doctor of divinity. Six times he has been elected
president of synods of which he was a member; sev-
eral times he has been chosen as a delegate to the
general synod, and has been almost continuously
a member of the board of college directors. In
1889, accompanied by Mrs. Waltz, he travelled ex-
tensively in Europe.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
557
/
In political preferences he usually votes the Re-
publican ticket, though by no means a partisan. He
is interested in whatever concerns the public welfare.
He believes that good citizenship requires that
every man should go to the polls and honestly vote
his sentiments. As a citizen, he acts on this convic-
tion. As a minister he believes the highest service he
can render his city and country is by helping to per-
meate society with the spirit and principle of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. From infancy he has been
in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is a firm
believer and loyal advocate of the doctrines of
Christian faith as held by that church. Though a
zealous Lutheran he has no sympathy with narrow
sectarianism. He believes in and loves the polity and
principles of his own church. He believes also in
the communion of saints and the fellowship of
Christian people. Tireless in work for his own
church, he always finds time and strength to give a
helping hand to all charitable and religious move-
ments of a general character. He was president of
the Ministerial Association of Louisville during the
evangelistic campaign of Messrs. Moody and Sankey
in 1887, and chairman of the executive committee in
charge of the meetings conducted by Rev. B. Fay
Mills, in 1895. During his residence in Louisville
he has done a great amount of missionary work for
the Lutheran Church in Kentucky, Indiana and Ten-
nessee.
To Dr. Waltz the editor is indebted for the His-
tory of the Lutheran Church in Louisville, which
appears in these volumes.
On the 23d of September, 1875, he married Miss
Mina L. Hastings, of Springfield, Ohio, daughter of
G. W. Hastings, for many years proprietor of the
Springfield Daily Republic. Their marriage has been
a very happy one. A son and daughter have been
born to them: Fred H. and Helen M. Mrs. Waltz
brought to her husband a wealth of heart and con-
secrated intellect, which has made him happv and
contributed largely toward a successful ministerial
career. She is the type of wife of whom the wise
man said: “The heart of her husband doth safelv
trust in her; she will do him good and not evil, all
the days of her life.”
UERY REV. LUCAS GOTTBEHOEDE, O. S.
F., rector of St. Boniface Church, Louisville,
Kentucky, was born in Damme, a town in the Grand
Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, the son of Arnold
A. and Mathias Agnus (Sagiman) Gottbehoede. 1 1 is
father was a weaver and a descendant of the old
family of Gottbehoede known for several hundred
years. His grandfather, Bernard Gottbehoede, was
ninety-two years of age when he died, and until his
ninetieth year went to church every Sunday and was
known for his sobriety and all churchman virtues to
the whole town of Damme and its surroundings.
The collegiate studies of the subject of this sketch
were prosecuted at the College of St. Francis, Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, where he was instructed in Greek,
Latin, English and German history, geography and
the different branches of mathematics. On the 4th
of October, i860, he entered the Franciscan Order
and- was ordained priest by the Most Rev. John
Bapt. Purcell, archbishop of Cincinnati, November
16, 1862. On the 7th of December, 1864, he was
sent by his superiors to Louisville as assistant to
Rev. Anselm Koch, at that time pastor of St. Boni-
face’s Church in this city and superior of the Fran-
ciscan community. In 1867 he was called back to
Cincinnati, and in 1868 was sent to Hamilton, Ohio,
to take charge of St. Stephen’s Church, where he re-
mained five. years, erecting while there the parochial
residence. In 1873 the provincial chaplain appoint-
ed him guardian of St. Francis’ Convent, Cincinnati,
corner of Vine and Liberty streets, but the Verv
Rev. Anselm Koch, the beloved pastor of St. Boni-
face’s Church, Louisville, being in feeble health, he
was transferred by the chaplain again to Louisville
to take charge of St. Boniface’s Church and became
guardian of the convents connected therewith. On
the 6th of August, 1879, lie was elected by the pro-
vincial chaplain provincial of the Franciscan Prov-
ince of St. John the Baptist in the United States, and
in order to be more in the center of the province his
residence was fixed in Cincinnati, the Very Rev.
Ubaldus Webersinke, ex-provincial, being his su-
perior at St. Boniface’s. Three years after this he
was elected provincial the second time for three
years. LTpon the expiration of his second period
he was made superior of the Franciscan Missions in
Kansas and removed to Emporia in that State, hav-
ing four fathers as assistants. Under their charge
they had a territory one hundred miles from north to
south, and eighty miles from east to west, having
thirteen small churches and some small missions
without churches to look after. In 188c), the father-
general of the order in Rome having given him per-
mission to join the first American pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, he left New York during February, and
going by way of Paris and Marseille to Pisa, Genoa
and to Rome, went thence bv wav of Naples to Alex-
andria and Cario to (lie Holy Land, visiting all the
558
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
sacred places. On the 19th of August, having re-
turned from his pilgrimage, he was again trans-
ferred to Louisville as rector of St. Boniface’s
Church and guardian of the convent in which he has
continued to the present time.
As Provincial Very Rev. Gottbehoede was elect-
ed to the plenary council held in Baltimore in the
autumn of 1884, where nearly all of the archbishops
and bishops of the United States were called by Car-
dinal Gibbons, as apostolic delegate. Mr. Gottbe-
hoede is better known by his monastic name of
Father Lucas and is greatly beloved by those un-
der his charge. It was in his pastoral residence ad-
joining the church that Father Ryan, the priest-poet
of the South, died while in retreat April 22, 1886,
while Mr. Webersinke was rector. The room in
which he died looks out upon a garden walled in by
the church and convent, but cheerful with flowers
and vines.
"THOMAS TREADWELL EATON, D. D, LL.
* D., one of the most noted divines of the Bap-
tists in the South, and widely known also as editor,
author and lecturer, was born in Murfreesboro, Ten-
nessee, November 16, 1845, and came of a family of
noted ministers and educators. He is the son of
Rev. Joseph Haywood Eaton, LL. D., and his
mother was Esther M. Treadwell before her mar-
riage, her family name having been handed down to
the son. His father was the founder of Union Uni-
versity, at Murfreesboro, and was president of that
institution from 1847 until his death, which occurred
in 1859. Rev. George Washington Eaton, D. D.,
L.L. D., at one time professor of Georgetown Col-
lege, Kentucky, later president of Madison Univer-
sity, New York, and still later president of Hamilton
Theological Seminary, in the same State, was the
uncle of Dr. T. T. Eaton. His mother was a talent-
ed woman, who, at one time, edited the “Aurora,” a
literaty and family journal published monthly. He
belongs to the sixth generation of the descendants
of John Eaton, who immigrated to America from
Wales, in the year 1686.
The boyhood of Dr. Eaton was passed in Mur-
freesboro, and his early education was obtained in
the schools of that city. When he was fifteen years
of age — a year after the death of his father — he was
sent to Madison — now Colgate — University, of
which his uncle, Rev. George W. Eaton, renowned
as pulpit orator and educator, was then president,
and remained there until August of 1861. At that
date lie laid aside his books, returned to his home
in Tennessee and afterward enlisted in the Confeder-
ate army as a private soldier, being mustered into
the service as a member of the Seventh Tennessee
Cavalry Regiment. With this regiment he served un-
der General N. B. Forrest until the close of the war,
and then returned to Murfreesboro, near which place
he tatight school for a year afterward. He then en-
tered Washington and Lee University, at Lexington,
Virginia, and was graduated from the university in
the class of 1867. As a student he held a high rank
in the university, being especially distinguished for
his oratorical powers. He was the recipient of much
coveted college honors, being “Medalist” of Wash-
ington Literary Society, and the commencement
day orator, selected by the college faculty to deliver
the students’ oration.
Immediately after his graduation he returned to
Murfreesboro, and became professor of mathematics
and natural sciences in Union University. While
occupying this position he studied law, was admitted
to the bar and began practice as a lawyer. Nature
had, however, designed him for minister rather than
lawyer, and at the end of a few months, a sense of
duty and the feeling that he was called of God to
preach the Gospel, impelled him to abandon the law
and he set about fitting himself for the high and
holy calling to which he has since devoted himself.
He had been baptized into the Baptist Church while
a student at Lexington, by Rev. J. William Jones,
D. D., and it was to fit himself for the ministry of
this' church that he began the study of theology. He
resumed his professorship in Union University when
he determined upon this course, and held that posi-
tion while engaged in the study of divinity, pre-
paratory to entering upon ministerial work. This
course of study completed, he preached his first ser-
mon before the General Association of the Baptist
Church, at McMinnville, Tennessee, and took charge
of a church at Lebanon, Tennessee, January 1, 1870.
In February of the same year he was ordained, and
in 1872 he became pastor of the First Baptist Church
of Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was an important
charge for one so young in the ministry, but he met
the full measure of his congregation’s expectations
and served it faithfully until 1875, when he accepted
a call to Petersburg, Virginia, becoming pastor of
the First Baptist Church of that place. In May of
1881 he was called to Louisville and took charge
of Walnut Street Baptist Church, which has ever
since been blessed by his ministry.
Dr. Eaton’s labors, as a pastor, have given abund-
ant evidence of his power as a preacher and his ex-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
559
ecutive and organizing ability. When he became
pastor of the church in Chattanooga it had a mem-
bership of eighty-eight persons. In three years he
increased this membership to three hundred and
eleven. His church at Petersburg increased its
membership from four hundred to six hundred and
fifty under his pastorate, and besides this sent out a
colony which built up another flourishing church.
Walnut Street Church, in this city, of which he has
now had charge for fifteen years, has increased its
membership from six hundred and fifty to sixteen
hundred since Dr. Eaton took charge in 1881, and
in addition has sent out colonies which founded the
church at the corner of Twenty-second and Walnut
streets, the McFerran Memorial, and Third Avenue
Churches, and others. At one time over seven hun-
dred letters of dismissal were granted to members of
Walnut Street Church who desired to become found-
ers of other churches, and Dr. Eaton’s pastoral work
has been cumulative in its splendid results. Thor-
ough biblical research, a comprehensive knowledge
of general literature, and extended travels have com-
bined, with fine oratorical powers, to make him an
eloquent and persuasive preacher and a popular
pulpit orator. He has delivered many lectures on
such topics as “Poor Kin,” "Women as They Are,”
“Egotism,” “Ideals,” “True Aristocracy,” “Youth,”
“Study of Classics,” “Observations Abroad,” etc.
He made a tour of Europe in 1892, and one of his ,
most interesting lectures, “Observations Abroad,”
was based on notes and incidents of this trip. In
February of 1896 he sailed from New York to make
an extended tour through Europe and the Orient.
As an author and editorial writer Dr. Eaton has
also made his name familiar to the reading public
and has been a voluminous contributor to church
literature. In 1887 he was made editor-in-chief of
the Western Recorder, and under his able manage-
ment this noted church paper has trebled its circu-
lation since that time. He has written and published
“The Angels,” “Talks to Children,” “Talks on Get-
ting Married,” “Faith of Baptists,” “Conscience in
Missions,” “The Bible on Women’s Public Speaking,”
“How to Behave as a Church Member,” “Wives and
Husbands,” and has also contributed largely to
periodical literature. He lias been prominent in the
conduct and management of church and educational
institutions, and is now a trustee of the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary of Georgetown Col-
lege, and of the Southwestern Baptist University. He
hqs taken an exceedingly active interest also in
movements designed to improve the moral condition
of Louisville, and, as chairman of the executive com-
mittee of the Law and Sunday Observance Associa-
tion of the city, has waged a vigorous warfare
against gambling and other vices. He is a member
of the American Philological Society, of the Ameri-
can Academy of Sociology, and of the Conversation
Club of Louisville.
Like the great majority of the American clergy,
Dr. Eaton has abstained from taking an active inter-
est in politics, although he has always had well de-
fined political opinions and positive convictions con-
cerning Governmental issues and policies. He was
reared a Whig, but became a Democrat in principle
when that party went out of existence. He cast his
first presidential vote for Horatio Seymour, and, at
succeeding presidential elections, voted for Greeley,
Tilden, Hancock, St. John and Cleveland. In 1892,
for the first time, he saw a candidate for whom he
had cast his vote elected to the presidency. Endors-
ing in the main the principles of the Democratic
party, it is well known that party ties rest lightly
upon him and that he takes great pleasure in voting
against a member of his party whose character is
bad or whose principles do not commend them-
selves to him.
He was married, in 1872, to Miss Alice Roberts,
and has two children, Joseph H. Eaton, a Master
of Arts and Bachelor of Law of the University of
Virginia, and May C. Eaton.
In 1880 he received the degree of D. D. from
Washington and Lee University, and ten years later
he received the degree of LL. D. from the South-
western Baptist University.
DEV. JOHN HEALY HEYWOOD, son of
1 ' Levi and Nancy (Healy) Heywood, was born
in Worcester, Massachusetts, March 30, 1818. His
grandfather, Seth Heywood, was born in Concord,
Massachusetts, in 1738, and was a descendant of
John Heywood, who came from England to
America in 1650 and settled in that place. Seth Hey-
wood, who resided in Gardner, Massachusetts, was
one of the earliest settlers and founders of the town,
a man of solid good sense and of strong character.
He served efficiently as a soldier in the Revolution-
ary War and died in 1827, aged eighty nine years.
His wife was Martha Temple, of Shrewsbury,
Massachusetts. I heir son, Levi, was a graduate of
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire,
studied law and was admitted to the bar in \\ or-
cester, Massachusetts, but. for the greater part of
his life, was a teacher, having charge of private
560
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
schools or academies in Worcester, Massachusetts,
in Pinckneyville, Mississippi, and in Hackensack,
New Jersey. He died in the city of New York in
1832. His devoted wife, Nancy Heywood, of Wor-
cester, Massachusetts — whose presence was sunshine
in the house and wherever she moved — died in Bos-
ton, Massachusetts, in 1868. They had two chil-
dren, one the subject of this sketch, and Benjamin
Seth Heywood, who was born in the city of New
York in 1829, and, for the last eight years of his life,
was the junior member of the firm of Little, Brown
& Company, Boston, Massachusetts. He died in
1859.
John H. Heywood entered Harvard University
in 1832 and was graduated from that institution in
1836. After teaching for a year in the Winthrop
public school, of Boston, in the autumn of 1837 he
became a student of the Harvard Divinity School,
from which he graduated in the summer of 1840.
Shortly thereafter, he received a call to the pastorate
of the Unitarian Church in Louisville, Kentucky,
and preached his first sermon August 23, 1840, as
the successor of Rev. James Freeman Clarke, who
had been pastor of the church from 1833 t° 1840.
For thirty-nine years Mr. Heywood continued in
charge of the church, building it up from a small
congregation to one of the most prominent in the
city.
At the same time that he was active in the dis-
charge of his duties as pastor, he lost no opportunity
to promote every good work looking to the promo-
tion of religion, charity or education. Especially was
he active in the cause of public education, seeking
to establish a system of a high order. To this end,
he was, for fourteen years — from 1842 to 1856 —
a member of the Public School Board of Louis-
ville, of which he was president for six years. Few
cities in the Union excel Louisville in the excellence
of its system, the character of its schools, and the
standard of instruction maintained in both its high
and graded schools; and to no one is it more in-
debted for this consummation than to the zeal and
laborious interest manifested at all times by Mr.
Heywood. For a time he w'as one of the editors
of “The Louisville Examiner,” and has been a writer
for “The Christian Register,” “The Unitarian Re-
view," and other periodicals.
In promoting the charities of Louisville, he has
always been a willing and effective worker, espe-
cially in the matter of the Old Ladies’ Home, and
objects of similar character. During the war, he
was unremitting in his labors for the United States
Sanitary Commission, being a member of the Ken-
tucky branch from 1862 to 1865. From its geo-
graphical location, Louisville was not only the point
at which permanent hospitals were located for the
Federal sick and wounded, but a principal depot
also for the care of the Confederate sick and dis-
abled prisoners. The benevolent disposition of Mr.
Heywood well fitted him for this service, and to his
assiduous care and that of his associates, not only
were the wants of all relieved, but the acerbity of
war was tempered in a community in which public
sympathy was divided, by the humanity observed
toward the Southern prisoners. Especially were
the services of the commission invaluable after the
battles of Shiloh and Perryville, when hospital stores
and articles of comfort were forwarded to the field
and the sick and wounded of both armies brought
to the Louisville hospitals and provided for.
In a life whose daily work has never flagged in
behalf of every good cause, it would be impossible
to recite the many forms in which Mr. Heywood has
contributed to the bodily, as well as spiritual, relief
of those in need of help. As a divine, he has always
been scholarly, the able defender of the doctrinal
truths of his church, and yet the tolerant Christian,
ready to promote the good work of all Christian
sects seeking a common end. In his active ministry
he was the counsellor and friend of his parishioners,
visiting them in sickness, comforting them in afflic-
tion, sharing their joys and sorrows. Since his re-
tirement from a pastoral charge, he has not been
idle, but, retaining the love of his former parish-
ioners, he mingles with them still as a shepherd who
has surrendered his active charge and yet has a loving
eye to his flock. He is still a regular attendant, and
occasionally at the request of the pastor, officiates
at the several functions of the church — ever a wel-
come attendant, whether in the pulpit, at the altar,
or in affliction. In the ripeness of a well-spent life,
he still mingles with his friends of all denomina-
tions, in the literary, social and benevolent 'field, his
faculties unimpaired and his interest in all good
works unabated.
In 1880, Mr. Heywood resigned his charge as
pastor of the Church of the Messiah, and the follow-
ing nine years he passed — save six months of Euro-
pean travel — in the East. He spent a year or more
in Boston, three months in Baltimore, one year in
Plymouth, two years in Cambridge, and five years
in Melrose, Massachusetts, where lie had pastoral
charge of the Unitarian Church. In the latter part
of 1889, he returned to Louisville and has resided
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
561
here since. In the same year he became a member
of the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Institu-
tion for the Blind, which position he still continues
to hold, under gubernatorial appointment. In early
manhood, he was a Henry Clay Whig, and from
1856 has been a Republican. Since 1847 he has
been a member of Azur lodge, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows.
He was married, August 16, 1848, to Sarah E.
Burrill, of Providence, Rhode Island, who died Oc-
tober 25, 1849. She left one daughter, Mary Healy,
who died in infancy. By a second marriage he was
united, December 29, 1853, to Margaret Cochran,
daughter of John and Helen Cochran. Their only
child, Helen Cochran Heywood, was born in Louis-
ville October 27, 1855, and died at San Remo, Italy,
January 25, 1880.
D EV. EDMUND TAYLOR PERKINS, D.D.,
* ' long rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in
this city, was born in Richmond, Virginia, October
5, 1823. His father, George Perkins, was a wealthy
commission merchant and planter, spending the
summers on his plantation and the winters in the
city. The family is an old Revolutionary one, his
grandfather having been a colonel in the Revolu-
tionary army, and his grandmother a niece of Rich-
ard Henry Lee, signer of the Declaration of In-
dependence. Dr. Perkins was educated at the Epis-
copal High School, in Alexandria, Virginia, and
at the Virginia Theological Seminary. In 1847
he was ordained a deacon and promoted to the
priesthood in the following year. For six years he
was rector of Trinity Church, at Parkersburg-, and
for eight years rector of St. Matthew’s Church at
Wheeling, Virginia. When the Civil War began, he
entered the Confederate service as chaplain at large
in field and hospital, and performed missionary
work in General Lee’s army. In time of battle, he
was always at the front, caring for the wounded and
comforting the dying. In this ministry, he was a
great favorite in all commands, winning the love
and admiration of both officers and men by his cour-
age and consecration to the service. Upon the con-
clusion of the war lie became rector of the church
at Smithfield, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia,
and a year later was called to the rectorship of St.
James’ Church in Leesburg, Loudoun County.
Here he ministered for two years and was then
elected, in March, 1868, rector of St. Paul’s Church,
Louisville, as successor to Rev. E. M. Whittle, pro-
moted to the Bishopric of Virginia. In the follow-
36
ing May, he entered upon this charge and at once
took high rank among the clergy of the city and
State, binding himself to his congregation by ties
of affection which have known no abatement. When
he took charge of St. Paul's, there were three hun-
dred and eighty-two communicants. During his
active service as rector, he added to the church more
than a thousand members and was largely instru-
mental in building up four churches: St. Andrew’s,
St. Matthew’s, Zion and Ascension. Early in 1894
Dr. Perkins resigned the rectorship of St. Paul’s,
having twice before tendered his resignation without
its having been accepted. But, yielding to his solicita-
tion, the congregation relieved him from active serv-
ice and elected him Rector Emeritus, in which rela-
tion he continues his connection with the church
over which he had presided for more than a quarter
of a century. Shortly after his resignation, the ven-
erable church edifice was destroyed by fire, on St.
Paul’s Day, January 25, 1894. Under the rector-
ship of his successor, Rev. Reverdy Estill, D.D., a
splendid new church has been erected at St. James’
Court, Fourth Avenue, which was opened first for
service on Easter Sunday, 1896.
• In all church service Dr. Perkins has been active
and energetic, having been a clerical delegate to the
General Convention and President of the Standing
Committee from the year he entered the diocese, and
has represented the diocese in the General Convention
since 1868. Hehasalsobeen Chairman oftheCommit-
tee on Canons, Chaplain of the Protestant Episcopal
Orphanage, and of the Norton Infirmary from its
foundation and filled other important positions in
the church organization. In the evening of an ac-
tive and well-spent life, he still ministers to the
spiritual wants of a large circle, by whom he is held
in equal affection and veneration.
Dr. Perkins was united in marriage May 15, 1848,
to Miss Mary Addison of Georgetown, D. C., who
died August 22, 1891. Their children surviving are:
Mrs. Dr. C. G. Edwards and Mrs. Walter Walker
of Louisville, and a son, E. T. Perkins, Jr., of the
United States Geological Survey.
I AMES C. McFERRAN whose name was closely
^ linked with the commercial and industrial his-
tory of Louisville for many years and which has
been perpetuated in enduring monuments to his
virtues and Christian graces, was born in what has
long been known as the McEerran homestead, near
Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky, September 14,
1812. II is great-grandfather, with two brothers,
562
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
came from the North of Ireland to America and set-
tled in Botetourt County, Virginia. These Scotch-
Irish colonists were worthy representatives of a
sturdy stock, which has contributed to Virginia,
Kentucky and other Southern States a galaxy of
men distinguished in all the walks of life. Every-
where in America the Scotch-Irish blood means
ability integrity and devotion to principle, and Ken-
tucky has been favored with a generous share of
immigration having this origin.
The McFerrans, who settled among the Virginia
colonists, had their share of the perilous experiences
incident to that period, and the early history of the
family in this country is replete with thrilling inci-
dents. A pewter plate, still in possession of the fam-
ily, is a relic of one of those tragedies of the colonial
era. On one occasion, while the men were at work
in the fields, the Indians attacked the home of James
C. McFerran’s grandfather. They burned the house
and, finding two of his sons in the field, killed one
and carried the other away captive. The father and
neighbors pursued and overtook the band of In-
dians and, in the fight that ensued, one of the In-
dians held up this pewter plate, stolen from the
house, as a shield, and it was pierced by a rifle ball,
which ended the life of the savage.
John McFerran, father of James C. McFerran,
was born six miles from Fincastle, in Botetourt
County, Virginia, and grew up there. In 1791 he
married Annie Rowlands and soon afterward re-
moved to Kentucky along with his brother-in-law,
Andrew Steele. They settled at Logan’s Fort, near
the site of the present town of Stanford, and there
they lived four years. They then removed to Barren
County, settling near the site of Glasgow. There
John McFerran and James Forbes together built
what was called a “half-faced” camp, which con-
sisted of three walls of logs with the front left en-
tirely open, in which they first domiciled their fam-
ilies. A little later a cabin was built for each family,
and the first court ever held in Barren County was
held in John McFerran’s cabin.
It is well to recall, at times, the experiences of
these pioneers and contrast them with present day
conditions of life, to the end that we may more fully
appreciate the blessings which we now enjoy. For
instance, when John McFerran had succeeded in
bringing a portion of his land under cultivation
and had raised a crop of grain, he was compelled to
carry this grain eighty miles to the nearest mill be-
fore he could have it converted into flour. For every
article of merchandise of which he stood in need,
he was compelled to go to Shepherdsville, ninety
miles distant, traversing an “inhospitable region in-
fested with still more inhospitable savages.”
The industry and energy of John McFerran and
the influx of settlers soon brought about im-
proved conditions in the region which they occu-
pied, and prosperity smiled upon him. In time, a
two-story brick house took the place of his log cabin
and this dwelling, long known as the “White
House,” the first brick house built in the county,
was one of the noted pioneer residences of Barren
County. It was a landmark among the early
evidences of civilization in that portion of Ken-
tucky, a home noted for its generous hospitality, a
haven of rest, of peace and plenty. As high sheriff
of Barren County, John McFerran was known to the
pioneers as a faithful, fearless and just official, as
well as a prosperous man of affairs.
He had a large family and James C. McFerran
was the youngest of his children. When the son
was five years of age, his mother died, and when j
he was ten years old, his father’s property was swept
away to pay security obligations, and from that time
forward, he took part in the struggle for a liveli- ‘
hood. Whatever he could find to do, he did with
a will, and when he could spare the time from his ;
labors, he attended an old field school, three miles
distant from his home, where he laid the foundation
of a practical education, which, coupled with his
broad common sense and the self-culture of later
years, made him a man of superior general intelli-
gence. His earliest visits to Louisville were made
in the capacity of teamster or “freighter,” and
he carried many loads of goods between this city and
Nashville, Tennessee, sometimes extending his trips |
as far South as Fayetteville, Tennessee, where he
loaded his wagons with iron and returned.
When he was twenty-two years old, he mar-
ried Margaret Ann Rogers, the worthy daughter
of a neighboring farmer, and four years later
he removed to Hart County, where he rented
a farm on which he raised one crop. He then
bought a farm of two hundred and twenty-
five acres, his first payment consisting of four
horses. The title to the farm proved to be de-
fective, and he was obliged to dispose of his claim
to the best advantage possible and soon afterward
moved to Munfordville, where he became the pro-
prietor of a small hotel. He proved to be well
adapted to the business of hotel-keeping, and three
years later opened a hotel at Dripping Springs, then
a favorite Southern watering place. This movement
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
563
was unfortunate and brought to him the sorrow of
bereavement as well as financial loss. An epidemic
of fever ruined his business and numbered among
its victims his good wife. Removing from there to
Bowling Green, Kentucky, he became part owner
of the leading hotel in that place. At Bowling-
Green he had a prosperous business until he sold
out to his partner, Colonel Gardiner, removing next
to Chameleon Springs. While living at Bowling
Green, he became acquainted with Miss Elizabeth
Vance, a niece of President Monroe, whom he mar-
ried and who survives her husband and is still a resi-
dent of Louisville. At the close of a season in the
hotel business at Chameleon Springs, he returned
to Bowling Green and again kept a hotel in that
place, engaging, at the same time, in the purchase
of horses for the Nashville, Tennessee, market.
When the Louisville & Nashville railroad was
completed, he removed to Nashville and engaged
in the transportation business in that city. That
this business became one of considerable magnitude
may be inferred, for, when the war began, he had
fifty teams and one hundred negroes, all left without
employment by the paralysis of industrial and com-
mercial interests. Although one of his sons — Will-
iam— entered the Confederate army, he was a
staunch and outspoken Union man, and boldly de-
nounced the secession movement. Unpopular as
were his political sentiments in Nashville, his per-
sonal popularity was so great that he was not mo-
lested, intense as was the feeling at that time. At
the battle of Perryville, his son was wounded, and
he at once went to the front to care for the wounded
man and his comrades, proving a veritable good
Samaritan in relieving the sufferings of those who
were in need of assistance, without regard to the
colors under which they had fought.
His business in Nashville being broken up by the
war, he removed to Louisville and engaged in busi-
ness here as a dealer in cotton, grain and live stock.
After the war, he established the large commission
house of McLerran & Menefee, and later engaged
extensively in the business of pork packing as head
of the firm of McLerran, Shallcross & Company.
This business proved immensely profitable and,
within a few years the man who had begun the
battle of life by doing odd jobs at his old home in
Barren County, and had come to Louisville first
as a teamster, had become one of the wealthiest
and most influential business men in the city. When
his fortune began to grow, his love of the country,
fondness for farm life and rural tastes asserted
themselves, and, in 1868, he purchased what is
known as the Glenview farm, near the city. He en-
larged the original tract by subsequent purchases
and made it one of the model stock farms of Ken-
tucky, becoming famous as a breeder of fine horses,
his trotters being especially celebrated among Ken-
tucky stock products. No man in the State did more
to improve the breed of trotting horses than did Mr.
McLerran, and none labored more effectively to
dignify the business of stock raising.
In 1865 Mr. McLerran was baptized into the fel-
lowship of Walnut Street Baptist Church, and was
a member of that church until he died. He was al-
ways one of the most conscientious of men and had
never allowed considerations of gain or selfish in-
terests to compromise his sense of right and justice.
This trait of his character was strikingly illustrated
when he was a hotel-keeper at Bowling Green, where
he closed the bar in his hotel and suffered the loss
incident thereto, because he was unwilling to en-
courage in any way the habit of drink. This was
long before he became a churchman and evinces
the moral sentiment inherent in his nature. When
he became a church member, he carried his religion
into his business and was always and everywhere
the consistent Christian. He contributed liberallv
to advance church interests and, in 1884, observing
the lack of church facilities in the neighborhood of
his home, lie fenced off a lot on the Brownsboro
Pike, planted shade trees on it and erected a beau-
tiful little church, almost entirely at his own ex-
pense. Then, when the church was completed, he
went among the people of the neighborhood and,
by personal solicitation, gathered them into the
house of worship which he had built for their bene-
fit. This was one of his last labors of love. In July
of 1885, his health gave way and on the 26th of Oc-
tober of the same year, he passed to his reward, hav-
ing lived a life prolific of good works, which had
been crowned by abundant success and which may
well incite to honest and persistent effort young men
who have their own way to make in the world. Re-
spected and honored by the public in general, he
was greatly beloved by those bound to him by fam-
ily ties, of whose welfare lie was always tenderly
considerate. His children bv the first marriage were
John B., William Id. and Margaret A. McLerran--
the last named is now Mrs. E. A. Bagby — and the
children born of the second marriage who survive
their father are Catharine — now Mrs. Joseph W.
Davis — and James C. McLerran, Jr. His grand-
children placed a memorial window in the little
564
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
church at Glenview in 1886, as a testimonial of their
regard for him, and McFerran Memorial Church,
at the corner of Oak Street and Fourth Avenue, also
perpetuates his memory.
D EV. JOHN ANDREW McKAMY, son of Sam-
^ uel Walker and Margaret (McNeely) McKamy,
was born in McDonough County, Illinois, Febru-
ary 21, 1858. The McKamys were originally from
the vicinity of Inverness, Scotland, and formed a
part of that large emigration, in the latter part of
the seventeenth century, which found a refuge from
religious persecution in the County of Ulster, Ire-
land, and afterwards came to America. The first
mention of the family in this country is in connection
with Rev. Francis McKamy — spelled also McKemy
and McKemie — who was the first Presbyterian min-
ister in America. He preached at many points from
Baltimore to Boston, and was the founder of the
first Presbyterian church in New York. Branches
of the family settled in Pennsylvania, in Virginia
and in South Carolina. Captain John McKamy, the
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born
in Augusta County, Virginia, and distinguished
himself in the War of 1812, and in the Indian Wars
in the South. His son, Samuel, who had settled in
Tennessee, moved from that State to Illinois in 1834,
and was one of the earlier settlers of western Illinois,
bearing a prominent part in the affairs of that portion
of the new State. In 1850 he went to California, where
he spent six years, but returned to Illinois and re-
sumed his occupation as a farmer. His wife, Mar-
garet McNeely, was born at St. Johns, New Bruns-
wick, and was reared in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His
mother was a daughter of Captain Samuel Walker,
a personal friend of Washington, an officer in his
command, and of a family widely known in the Val-
ley of Virginia.
The eldest of four children — two sons and two
daughters — John Andrew McKamy was left at an
early age to plan not only for himself, but for his
brother and two sisters, for, at the age of fourteen,
he lost his mother and, two years later, his father.
He had been brought up on a farm and practically
trained in all branches of agriculture. His early
education was derived from the country school in
the neighborhood, at such time as he could be
spared from the work of the farm. He early re-
solved to acquire a thorough education and, having
prepared himself at the Normal and Scientific Col-
lege at Macomb, Illinois, lie entered Lincoln Uni-
versity at Lincoln, Illinois. Here his studies were
interrupted for one or two years by more pressing
demands upon his attention, but he was finally grad-
uated from that institution in 1882. The following
year he studied law with Hon. D. W. Hart of Lin-
coln, Illinois — a prominent lawyer in that State —
and afterward attended the Union College of Law
in Chicago, but did not complete the course.
When he began the study of law, it was with the in-
tention of making it the profession of his life, but in
1880, while yet a college student, he had professed
religion, united with the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in Lincoln, and taken an active interest in
the Young Men’s Christian Association and other
forms of religious work. Having become satisfied
that his line of duty was in the ministry rather than
the law, he entered the Western Theological Semi-
nary, a Presbyterian institution at Alleghany, in Sep-
tember, 1885 where he spent two years. Thence he
went to the Theological Department of Cumberland
LTiiversity at Lebanon, Tennessee, where he grad-
uated in June, 1888. Upon relinquishing the law,
he had become a candidate for the ministry under
the care of Mackinaw Presbytery of the Cumberland
Church of Illinois, was licensed to preach in March,
1885, and ordained by the same Presbytery March,
1887. While still a seminary student, he supplied the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church at LeRoy, Illi-
nois, and preached also to churches in Fayette and
Washington counties, Pennsylvania. In 1887, he
supplied the church at Waukon, Iowa, during the
summer.
Upon graduating in 1888, he entered at once upon
the pastorate of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church at Old Concord, Pennsylvania, but, owing
to ill health, he resigned his charge in November
of that year and went to California. Spending the
winter at Selma, in the San Joaquin Valley, and the
summer at San Jose, he preached at both places,
and, his health having* improved, he went to Texas
in the fall of 1889. Accepting a call to Waco, he
remained there until March, 1892. During his
pastorate there were many accessions to the church,
and a handsome new church was built. His success
in this pastorate led to his being called by the Board
of Missions to take charge of the Mission Church in
Louisville, which he accepted and entered upon his
charge March 1, 1892. During the four years of
his ministry the work has grown and promises soon
to be self-sustaining. Elis energy and zeal have not
only met with gratifying favor from his congrega-
tion, but lire success of his ministration has led to
flattering offers of preferment and he has had
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
565
several calls to important pastorates East and North,
which have been declined.
As an expounder of the faith he has espoused, Mr.
McKamy is peculiarly well fitted for the position he
occupies. Brought up under Presbyterian influence
and finding that the doctrinal standards of the Cum-
berland branch more nearly expressed his views,
he united himself with the latter and has labored
unceasingly in proclaiming its tenets. Not bigoted
nor narrowly sectarian, he accords to all other Chris-
tians the same liberty he claims at their hands, be-
lieving that Christ has a larger place in the affairs
of this world than most churches are inclined to ac-
cord. He especially believes in applied religion
and earnestly advocates Christian co-operation as a
step to Christian and church unity. He therefore
takes great interest in all movements looking toward
the progress of religion, whether promoted by his
own church or others. He holds the position of
Official Visitor to the Theological Seminary of his
church, is President of the Kentucky Church Ex-
tension Association, and Vice-President of the Chris-
tian Endeavor Union of Kentucky.
In the great religious movements held in Louis-
ville in the autumn of 1895, under Rev. B. Fay Mills,
he took a conspicuous part and received the formal
thanks of those with whom he co-operated.
Of a quick perception and a mental combination
both subjective and objective, he keeps himself in
touch with his fellow-men, drawing knowledge from
all worthy sources, as well as imparting it. His con-
nection with social organizations is large, being a
member of the following: Louisville Lodge No. 400,
F. A. M.; King Solomon’s Chapter No. 18, Royal
Arch Masons; Louisville Commandery No. 1,
Knights Templar; Azur Lodge No. 35, Odd Fel-
ows; Kentucky Senate No. 2, Knights of the Ancient
Essenic Order; Waukon, Iowa, Lodge I. O. G. T. ;
Louisville Young Men’s Christian Association, and
Auxiliary League Salvation Army. In political af-
filiations he is a Republican, but strongly endorsing
the prohibition movement, voted for St. John for
President in 1884, and has been more or less identi-
fied with that party since. His tendency may be said
to be strongly towards independence in politics gen-
erally, as he expresses it, voting “all over” an Aus-
tralian ballot. In municipal matters, he is decidedly
non-partisan and favors the “good government”
idea.
As a preacher and public speaker, Mr. McKamy is
both attractive and effective. Of fine personal ap-
pearance; a strong voice of sufficient range to be
easily handled without being too highly pitched, he
holds an audience at fixed attention equally by his
force of delivery and thorough treatment of his sub-
ject. Specially trained in debating, he is a ready
speaker and, in public meetings, an effective ad-
vocate of measures. He speaks rapidly and
preaches almost entirely without notes or manu-
script.
In thus summing up the qualities of one so effec-
tive for good in the sphere he has chosen, it remains
to name only one defect, coupled with so much that
is calculated to adorn a man in his highest sphere,
and that is that he is a bachelor.
D E\ . THEOPHILUS F. BODE, pastor of St.
1 ' Peter's Evangelical Church, was born at
Femme Osage, St. Charles County, Missouri, March
24, 1864, the son of Rev. Henry C. and Elizabeth
Bode. His father, who died in 1892, was pastor of
the church at the above named place for forty years,
and a member of the German Evangelical Synod of
North America.
Having prosecuted his elementary education in
the local schools, in 1880 he entered the college at
Elmhurst, Illinois, where he was graduated in 1883.
Having early contemplated following the example
of his pious father and becoming' a teacher in the
same divine calling, he went from the college to the
Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Synod at
St. Louis, and, after three years of close application,
completed his studies and graduated in 1886. In
the same year he was ordained and, soon after, be-
came assistant pastor of the First German Evangeli-
cal Church of Burlington, Iowa, of which he was
later made pastor. After two years’ labor in this
field, he resigned his charge in 1888, in order to ac-
cept a call from St. John’s Evangelical Church at
Troy, Ohio. His pastorate of this church continued
five years, during which time, by his energy and
zeal, the membership of the church was increased
and he left it in a very prosperous condition. His
local success had been such that other churches in
larger communities had not been slow to recognize
his merit and his capacity for usefulness in a broader
field. Believing it his duty to go where the harvest
was abundant anti in need of reapers, he yielded
to an urgent and unanimous call and, on the 1st of
October, 1892, came to Louisville as the pastor of
St. Peter’s Evangelical Church. To this new field,
Mr. Bode brought with him all the energy of an
enthusiastic devotion to the cause of religion, and
to the tenets of his church, coupled with the physi-
566
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
cal and intellectual energy of a zealous church
worker. Systematic in the discharge of his ministe-
rial duties in every department — in the pulpit, in the
Sunday school, in public charities and private visita-
tion— he has built up his church until, in its edifice
and congregation, it is one of the largest in the city.
As a result, as well as the prime cause of his min-
isterial success, he is one of the most effective and
popular ministers in the large and growing sect of
whose creed he is the exponent. Of a religious body
until recently comparatively little known in this
community, his attachment thereto and his com-
petency to speak for it is well manifested in the
sketch of the German Evangelical faith and its
churches in Louisville which he has written for
this history and will be found in its pages. While
devoting himself assiduously to his flock, he takes
a broad interest in everything tending to advance
the cause of Christianity and the Protestant religion,
and is a recognized power among his fellow workers.
On the 2d of October, 1888, he was married to
Miss Louisa Fausel, daughter of Rev. Frederick
Fausel of Burlington, Iowa, in whom he has found
a congenial companion in domestic life and a worthy
helpmate and co-worker in the spiritual service in
which he is engaged.
L. WARREN, distinguished as merchant,
•banker and churchman, was born in West Up-
ton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, August 2,
1808. He was descended, through Eli Warren and
Silas Warren, of Upton; Silas Warren, of Grafton;
Captain Daniel Warren, of Westboro; Ensign John
Warren and Daniel Warren, of Watertown, from
John Warren, who was born in England, in 1585
and settled at Watertown in 1630. His father, Major
Eli Warren, was a prominent citizen of Upton, be-
ing selectman at various times, treasurer of the town
from 1818 to 1834, and member of the General Court
of Massachusetts in 1831.
His youth was spent in his native village, his
leisure hours being improved by study. He enjoyed
the advantages of two years’ instruction at Amherst
Academy in 1828 and 1829. After teaching school
a year, he entered business life in a country store in
1831, the firm being Warren & Taft. This partner-
ship was dissolved in 1833, and another formed
with his father August 28, 1833, under the style of
Warren & Son. On January 5, 1835, he was mar-
ried to Miss Mary Ann Wood, of Upton. Among his
associates at this early period were Judge Chapin, of
Worcester; D. B. Fiske, the wholesale milliner of
Chicago, and H. B. Claflin, dry goods merchant of
New York City, all of whom were natives of Wor-
cester County.
Coming West on a prospecting tour, Mr. Warren
was attracted by the hopeful outlook of this Ohio
A "alley town, and settled at Louisville in September,
1835. He opened, with his father-in-law, Asa Wood,
a boot and shoe store, including bonnets and straw
goods, under the name of Wood & Warren, on the
west side of Wall Street, between Main and Water.
The financial crisis of 1837 followed, and this part-
nership was dissolved January 29, 1838, Mr.Warren
retiring. Resuming the business under the name
of Asa Wood, on the west side of Fourth Street,
between Main and Market, Mr. Warren assumed the
obligations of the firm. By 1844 he had cancelled
the last debt and, returning from the East with but
seven hundred dollars, began his business career
anew. Thus meeting the stern realities of life, during
these ten years of toil, habits of self-denial became
fixed, and the foundation of future success was se-
cured. The location of the business was changed
to the south side of Main Street, between Fourth
and Fifth. In 1845, the name of the firm was
changed to L. L. Warren & Company, and as the
business prospered, was moved, in 1848, to 522 Main
Street, between Third and Fourth, where it contin-
ued until removed, in 1864, to 61 1 West Main Street,
opposite the Louisville Hotel.
A director in the old Northern Bank and presi-
dent after Mr. Richardson’s death, in 1863, Mr. War-
ren was elected President of the Falls City Tobacco
Bank at the time of its organization in 1865. Prom-
inent as a shoe merchant and bank president, Mr.
Warren has been as well known in this city as an
elder in the Presbyterian Church. Uniting with the
Second Presbyterian Church under the ministry of
Dr. Humphrey, in 1840, Mr. Warren became active
in Sunday school and general church work. He
was Superintendent of the Bethel Mission, on Fifth
Street, between Main and the river, from 1842
to 1846, and of its successor, the Wayside Sunday
School, from 1848 to 1854. He was also Superin-
tendent of the Chestnut Street Sunday School for
twenty-one years. Mr. Warren was one of the orig-
inal members of the Chestnut Street Church, and
served as elder, trustee and treasurer of the church.
Appreciating his own need of a higher education,
and having taught school himself, he always took
an active interest in educational matters, both in the
city and State. Mr. Warren assisted in the estab-
lishment of the Presbyterian Female School, on
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
567
Sixth Street, in 1854, and during the war held per-
sonally the control of its property with a view to re-
establishing this useful institution for the education
of young ladies. He served as a trustee of Centre
College, and director of the Theological Seminary at
Danville for many years. In this city his efforts
were untiring in behalf of the public schools of
Louisville. He served as a trustee for eight years,
and as chairman of the Finance Committee, was
watchful of the funds of the Board, and was untir-
ing in behalf of the establishment and maintenance
of the colored schools. The great effort of his public
service was put forth in the establishment of the
Louisville Training School. In behalf of this in-
stitution, Mr. Warren visited the large cities in the
East and Canada, without a dollar's expense to the
city, for the purpose of securing the best methods of
conducting such a school.
Mr. Warren was never active in political matters,
always preferring to vote for honest men, rather
than from party motives. He was a Whig of the old
school, and such an admirer of Kentucky’s great
orator, that he named a son Henry Clay, in his
honor. He was a Union man during the war, and
served as the successor of H. D. Newcomb as treas-
urer of the Western Christian Commission.
Mr. Warren was a member of the Northern branch
of the Presbyterian Church. For forty years, he was
an active working member and a prominent figure
in the church affairs of both city and State. For
a long period, he was an elder in the church and
was one of the founders of the old Chestnut Street
Church, now, in recognition of his services, known
as the Warren Memorial Church, at the corner of
Fourth and Broadway. His donations toward the
building of this church amounted to over sixty thou-
sand dollars. The fine edifice had not long been
erected when it was destroyed by fire. It was
thought, for a time, to have been an almost irrepar-
able loss, until it was discovered that Mr. Warren
had been carrying at his own expense an additional
policy of insurance, which, with the aid of the con-
gregation, secured the building of the present larger
and handsomer church, which was in course of erec-
tion at the time of his death. The same broad liber-
ality characterized him in all matters relating to his
church and other good works, dispensed with so lit-
tle ostentation that many who knew him well were
not aware of the extent of his donations until after
his death. Rev. Dr. Humphrey, his early pastor and
life long friend, in a tribute delivered on the occasion
of his funeral, said, “His liberal contributions to
churches, charities and educational enterprises sur-
passed those of any other rich man that Louisville
has ever produced.” Again, referring to a crisis in
the affairs of Centre College, caused by the Falls
City Bank robbery, Mr. Humphrey said that Mr.
Warren, although himself a heavy loser by the bank
robbery, headed a subscription with a donation of
$10,000. “His pluck,” he said, “as business men
call it, in a hard extremity, saved the College, and
his liberality in its financial distress caused others to
imitate his example.” Upon his death, the Board
of Trustees of Centre Colleg-e passed the following
resolutions: “It becomes the painful duty of this
Board to record the death of Levi L. Warren. He
has served the College as a trustee for the period of
twenty-two years continuously. He was for many
years the custodian of our funds and chairman of
the Committee of Investment. His attention to the
interests of the College was constant and faithful,
and his contributions to our funds amounted to sev-
eral thousand dollars. One of these contributions,
amounting to $10,000, was made at a time and in a
way which largely helped to save the College from
impending ruin. The Board now leaves upon our
records its tribute of respect, gratitude and affec-
tion for his memory.” Similar testimonials of re-
spect and sorrow were adopted by the sessions of
his church, the Board of Directors of the Falls City
Bank, the Louisville Clearing House Association,
the Louisville and Vicinity Bible Society, and other
bodies with which he had official or personal con-
nection. He died in the fullness of a well-spent life,
on the 19th of March, 1884. His wife and nine
children survive him. Their names are: William
B., Harry C., Eug’ene C., Clarence A., Clara L., wife
of E. W. Lee, of Danville; Edward L., Ella M., Cary
I., and Minnie, wife of B. F. Atchison.
T OliN A. CARTER, widely known throughout
^ the Southern States as a Louisville merchant
and equally well known as a distinguished layman
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was born
in Simpson County, Kentucky, August 22, 1822,
and died in Louisville, March 16, 1894. He was the
son of Rev. Caswell Carter, one of the noted pioneer
Methodist preachers ol Kentucky and a man of sterl-
ing worth, who came to this State from Spottsyl-
vania County, Virginia. His mother was Lavinia
(Jones) Carter, who, like her husband, was deeply
pious, possessed many Christian and domestic
graces and was much beloved by those with whom
she was brought into contact as a minister’s wife.
568
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Both father and mother lived long and useful lives,
four score and four years being the age at which they
each passed to their reward.
John A. Carter was one of a family of eight chil-
dren— four sons and four daughters — who blessed
and brightened the lives of this worthy couple. His
father owned a farm on which he grew up and on
which he worked faithfully until he was twenty years
of age, contributing largely to the support of a
family which could hardly have been supported
comfortably on the salary of a Methodist minister
in those days, especially in Kentucky. His attend-
ance at school was necessarily irregular, but he made
the best of his opportunities, and while the educa-
tion which he obtained was limited, it fitted him for
the process of self-education which in later years
made him a man of broad general intelligence and
superior intellectual attainments.
When twenty years of age he left home physi-
cally and mentally a vigorous young man, ambitious
to get on in the world and determined to make the
best of his opportunities for advancement in life.
In commercial life he thought he should find an oc-
cupation both congenial and remunerative, and go-
ing to the town of Franklin, Kentucky, he engaged
himself to S. G. Moore, a successful merchant of
that place, as a clerk. Here he gained his first
knowledge of a business in which he was to attain
great prominence, serving his employer faithfully
and gaining the good will of both employer and pa-
trons. Ambitious to engage in business on his own
account, he left this store to form a partnership with
a Mr. Hale, of Franklin, but this venture, for some
reason, did not prove successful, and he became a
salesman in the employ of McGoodwin & Salmons,
of the same town. Here his capacity, tact, integrity
and devotion to the interests of his employers won
for him admission to the firm as a partner and gave
him an opportunity to broaden his knowledge of the
mercantile business, as well as to share in the profits
of the firm. This connection he severed in 1853 to
come to the metropolis of Kentucky, where he em-
barked with his brother, James G. Carter, in the
wholesale dry-goods trade.
In Louisville the Carter brothers soon took a
prominent position among the merchants of the
city, and before the Civil War began had built up a
business which extended all over the Southern
States. They were known everywhere among the
merchants and large planters of the South, and
wherever they were known were esteemed for their
honorable business methods and their high charac-
ter as individuals. Prompt in meeting every obliga-
tion, they enjoyed the unbounded confidence of all
with whom they had business relations, and their
prosperity was uninterrupted until events which
could not have been foreseen revolutionized trade
conditions. When differences between the Northern
and Southern States suddenly developed into an
armed conflict, Southern merchants were the first to
feel its blighting effects. Commerce was interrupted,
credit shaken, collections could not be made and
men who had never before failed to pay their debts
on the day they were due found themselves unable
to meet their obligations. Louisville merchants oc-
cupied, for the time being, a peculiarly unfortunate
position. They were on the border line between the
two hostile sections of the country. For years they
had been buying goods in the North and selling
them in the South. When the war began their
Southern patrons could not pay, and their Northern
creditors pressed for payment. In this emergency
the firm of Carter & Brother, like scores of their
contemporaries, were compelled to suspend business
operations and effect a settlement of their obliga-
tions. In June of 1862 they had saved enough from
the wreck of their fortunes to pay 50 cents on the
dollar of their liabilities, and in consideration of
this payment were relieved of all further obliga-
tions.
With their experience and the good will which
they had gained, as capital, they again began busi-
ness, adapting themselves to the new conditions of
trade, seeking new markets and prospering, as a
natural consequence. Upon this new foundation
was built up a business of large magnitude, extend-
ing throughout the Southern and Western States,
and among all the men who have been identified
with the wholesale trade of this region during the
past thirty years none has enjoyed higher standing
or been more universally esteemed for honor, prob-
ity and fair dealing than James G. and John A. Car-
ter. Both men were the soul of honor and both
models of business rectitude, and when fortune again
smiled upon them, both determined that the remain-
der of the indebtedness which they had been com-
pelled to compromise in 1862, should be paid with
interest. Accordingly, each set apart in his
will a trust fund of twenty-five thousand dollars —
fifty thousand dollars in all — to be used for the pay-
ment of an original indebtedness of twenty-one thou-
sand seven hundred dollars, with interest thereon.
The trustee who was charged with the duty of dis-
bursing this fund in accordance with the moral obli-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
569
gation which the Carter brothers felt rested upon
them diligently sought out those entitled to become
its beneficiaries, meeting with many interesting ex-
periences in the performance of his task. Of the
forty-eight creditors who had settled their claims
against the firm several years earlier and cheerfully
given the brothers a full release, he succeeded in
finding forty-four, and of these a considerable num-
ber had themselves suffered misfortune in the mean-
time. To these the unexpected payments came as
gifts of a kind Providence, and in no act of their
lives, full of good works as they were, did these two
worthy men bring joy to more hearts. It was a
striking instance of mercantile honor and one as full
of romantic interest as any incident of fiction.
James G. Carter died in 1889, and the co-partner-
ship which existed prior to that time was succeeded
by the Carter Dry-goods Company, which is still in
existence, a monument to the founders and a credit
to the city of Louisville. Of this corporation, John
A. Carter became president and retained that posi-
tion to the end of his life. He was also for many
years a director of the Louisville & Nashville Rail-
way Company and a member of the finance commit-
tee of the board of directors of that corporation dur-
ing the entire time of his service. He was a director
also of the Franklin Insurance Company, of the
Bank of Kentucky and of the Fidelity Trust and
Safety Vault Company, all corporations which oc-
cupy prominent positions in the business world, and
to the upbuilding of which Mr. Carter contributed
to a large extent.
In the church, social and domestic circles he en-
deared himself to those with whom he was brought
into contact to a remarkable degree. He was a man
of lovable disposition, genial temperament and most
generous instincts, and his life was full of good
works and kind deeds. Early in life his heart in-
clined to the religious faith of his father and mother
and he became a member of the Methodist Church.
From that time forward his faith was evidenced in
his works, and few members of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church South have rendered such valuable
services to the church as layman. His love of the
church and its institutions was intense, and he was
ever ready to devote his time and his fortune to the
advancement of its interests. His sagacity as a
business man caused him to be selected for the dis-
charge of many important trusts in this connection
and church affairs with which he had to do were
always wisely managed. For many years he was a
member of the church book committee and one or
the managers of the great church publishing house
at Nashville, Tennessee. At a meeting of the book
committee, called to take action on his death, the
warmest tributes were paid to his Christian charac-
ter and his distinguished services as a layman and
church official, and his demise was the occasion of
mourning throughout the entire church. His church
affiliations in Louisville were first with the Fifth
and Walnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church
South. When the Fourth Avenue Church was or-
ganized in 1888 he became one of its charter mem-
bers and worshiped in that church to the end of his
life. In charitable work outside of that under the
auspices of the church he was the worthy coadjutor
of many other distinguished citizens of Louisville
as a trustee of the Kentucky Institute for the Blind
and a member of the board of managers of the Cook
Benevolent Institute.
Originally a Whig in politics, he became a Demo-
crat in later years, but his business interests and
church and charitable work occupied so large a
share of his attention that he was not active in politi-
cal circles. He served one full term and a portion of a
term as a member of the City Board of Aldermen,
but with these exceptions he held no political offices.
His domestic life was as happy as his business
career was successful. He was married in 1852 to
Miss Albana Carson, of Woodbury, Kentucky, a
woman in every way worthy to be the wife of so
good a man. Her father was T. D. Carson, a man
of prominence in that portion of the State, and other
members of the family have been well known to
the people of Kentucky. For forty-two years Mr.
and Mrs. Carter traveled life’s pathway together, and
the union which ended with the death of Mr. Carter
was an ideal illustration of conjugal love and domes-
tic felicity. Four children were born to them, of
whom one daughter, Lavinia, and one son, Robert,
died, each at twenty years of age. Two daughters
survive, the eldest of whom — Carrie — is the wife of
Dr. C. S. Briggs, an eminent surgeon of Nashville,
Tennessee. The other daughter, Anna Carter, is
unmarried and with her mother resides in the family
homestead on Fourth Street.
REV. EDWARD L. WARREN, D. D, son of L.
L. and Mary A. (Wood) Warren, was born in
Louisville, Kentucky, July 20, 1852. After acquir-
ing the rudiments of his education in the schools of
his native city, he pursued his collegiate studies at
Centre College, Danville, and was graduated there
in 1873, and, in the following year, entering the
570
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
senior class, was graduated at the College of New
Jersey, Princeton. Having early dedicated himself
to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, he re-
turned from Princeton and entered the Theological
Seminary at Danville. Spending two years there,
he terminated his course of study at the Princeton
Theological Seminary in 1877. He had been li-
censed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of
Louisville, April 6, 1876, and was ordained October
25 , 1877.
The following summer, after having finished his
studies at the Theological Seminary, he engaged in
missionary work in the mountains of Southeastern
Kentucky. Pie then took charge of Olivet Chapel,
Twenty-fourth and Portland Avenue, Louisville, at
the time of its organization. Shortly afterward he
went to Europe and further pursued his theological
studies at the Divinity School of the Free Church of
Scotland, at Edinburgh. Thence he visited the
Holy Land, and, returning to Louisville, was in-
stalled as pastor of the Olivet Presbyterian Church,
November 23, 1879. Being thoroughly equipped
for pastoral duty by his full course of study, he min-
istered successfully to this charge for eleven years,
receiving into the church two hundred and seventy-
four members and securing the erection of a hand-
some new church, costing' $18,000, chiefly through-
the liberality of his father. In November, 1888, he
resigned his pastorate in Louisville to accept a call
to Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Clifton, Cincin-
nati, Ohio, where he was installed December 2, 1888.
Here he labored successfully for nearly five years,
during which time a beautiful manse was built by
the congregation for their pastor. Resigning his
pastorate, April 13, 1893, he went to Chicago, just
before the opening of the Columbian Exposition,
where he spent four months studying the great dis-
play of the world’s industries. Always a student
of books, Dr. Warren is an equally close student of
the works of nature and art, never tiring in storing
his mind with treasures drawn from all sources.
With this view he has traveled extensively in the
Phuted States and has twice been abroad. Having
enjoyed the advantages of a thoroug'h classical edu-
cation, his taste for literature has been cultivated
pari passu with his theological studies and pastoral
duties. Especially is he thorough in the history of
the church to which he has devoted his life. Not
content with the facilities for study at Danville and
Princeton, he sought knowledge of its tenets and
history from the fountain source, at Edinburgh.
Thus grounded in the principles of the Presbyterian
Church, and stimulated by the pious example of his
father, he has enjoyed advantages which have
fallen to the lot of few of his age and generation
for a thorough knowledge of church history, both
general and local. In recognition of his scholarship
and attainments, the degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred upon him by his alma mater.
As evidence of his faithful research and his thor-
ough knowledge of local church history, we can cite
the “History of the Presbyterian Church of Louis-
ville,’’ which will be found in these volumes. It
comprises the combined results of collation from
comparatively meagre publications, laborious com-
pilations from original church records, traditions of
the survivors of a generation fast passing away, and
personal recollections and observations. In such
good work as this, and in evangelization, Mr. War-
ren employs himself to the good of the church and
to the glory of God.
In political affiliations he is a Republican, and is
a member of the Assembly Presbyterian Church.
In a modest but very efficient way he has filled a
number of offices of trust in his church organization,
having been stated clerk of the Synod of Kentucky,
October 14, 1884, to October, 1889, and, in 1884,
enjoyed the distinction of being commissioner to the
General Assembly. From October, 1886, to Octo-
ber, 1891, he was one of the trustees of Centre Col-
lege, and from October, 1886, to 1888 was a member
of the board of trustees of Princeton Collegiate In-
stitute. Mr. Warren was named after two well-
known Louisville pastors, Edward (Humphrey) and
Leroy (Plalsey).
On the 28th of October, 1884, he was united in
marriage, at Covington, Kentucky, with Elizabeth
Jouett Crawford, daughter of John A. Crawford,
Esq. Her paternal grandfather was Captain John
A. Crawford, of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, one of the
famous pioneers of his day. Her mother was Mary
Duke (Haden) Crawford, daughter of Elizabeth
(Jouett) Haden, a sister of the artist, Matthew Jouett,
who has not inaptly been styled “the Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds of America.”
T AMES GARLAND CARTER, for many years
^ at the head of a leading- mercantile house in
Louisville, was one of the men whose impress has
been left upon the city’s history, and whose eminent-
ly successful career furnishes a good illustration of
what may be accomplished with no other capital to
begin with than willing hands, a brave heart, and
intelligent, self-reliant manhood. Born on a farm
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
571
in Simpson County, Kentucky, November 25, 1825,
he was one of the sons of Rev. Caswell Carter, who
came to Kentucky from Spottsylvania County, Vir-
ginia, in 1810, who farmed for a living, preached the
Gospel for many years and died at an advanced age.
The farm on which Mr. Carter spent the early
years of his boyhood was about six miles from the
town of Franklin, and the educational facilities of
the neighborhood were comparatively limited. There
was much farm work to be done, and he was early
called upon to make himself useful in this connec-
tion, his attendance at school being mainly during
the intervals between “busy seasons’’ on the farm.
This limited “schooling” was, however, supplement-
ed to a considerable extent by home instruction, and
at thirteen years of age he was a capable, intelligent
youth, with a fair knowledge of mathematics and
other branches essential to success in the practical
affairs of life. In 1838 he entered a store in
Franklin at a salary of thirty dollars a year, and out
of this he had clothed himself and saved four dollars
and fifty cents at the end of the first year. Leaving
Franklin in 1845 an accomplished young merchant
he came to Louisville to accept a position in the
whosesale dry goods house of W. & C. Fellowes &
Company. After remaining with this house some-
thing more than two years, Mr. Carter returned to
Franklin at the solicitation of his old employer, Mr.
Moore, who requested him to take entire charge of
his business, from which he wished to retire on ac-
count of failing health. Fie was admitted to the firm
as a full partner with Mr. Moore, and conducted the
business so successfully that at the end of another
two years he was able to purchase his partner's in-
terest. He continued in trade in Franklin until 1853,
when he associated Uimself with his brother, John
A. Carter, and came to Louisville to embark in the
wholesale trade. Here he opened negotiations with
the firm of Davidson & Brannon, which finally re-
sulted in the retirement of the senior partner and the
establishment of the wholesale dry goods house of
Brannon, Smith & Carters in January of 1854. In
that year a severe drouth prevailed throughout the
Southern States, causing a failure of crops and a
consequent business depression. Like many other
Southern merchants, the firm of which Mr. Carter
had become a member was compelled to ask for an
extension of time, and the outlook was deemed so
unfavorable by Captain Brannon, senior member of
the firm, that he paid his partners a thousand dol-
lars to take his interest and release him from all
obligations, and retired from the partnership. The
remaining partners soon adapted themselves to pre-
vailing- conditions of trade and continued the busi-
ness successfully under the firm name of Smith &
Carters until 1859, when James G. and John A. Car-
ter purchased Mr. Smith's interests, and the firm
became Carter & Brother. For a few years after
1869 — when the business of the establishment was
doubled by purchasing the stock of Garvin Bell &
Company — the firm was Carter, Fisher & Company,
but in 1873, on account of the death of Captain Fish-
er, it became Carter Brothers & Company, retain-
ing that style for nearly twenty years. The loss of
Southern trade and inability to collect outstanding
accounts at the beginning of the war forced the
firm of Carter & Brother into insolvency in October,
1861, and their creditors cheerfully released them
from all oblig-ations upon the payment of fifty cents
on the dollar. Re-establishing- themselves in busi-
ness, their prosperity was continuous thereafter, and
the brothers created a trust fund of fifty thousand
dollars, which was disbursed by their trustee in the
payment of the compromised debt of 1861, with in-
terest from that date. The original amount of this
unpaid indebtedness was something less than twen-
ty-two thousand dollars, but the interest and prin-
cipal paid to the beneficiaries of the fund amounted
to fifty thousand dollars, which James G. and Tolm
A. Carter had set apart for the discharge of what
they considered a moral obligation, although they
had obtained a complete discharge and were under
no other obligation to pay the same.
During all the years of his active business life
James G. Carter was a strong man physically, men-
tally and morally. He was an indefatigable worker,
and until within a few months of his death he gave
to his business interests the most careful and intel-
ligent consideration. A merchant by instinct as
well as by training, he was greatly attached to his
calling, and allowed no other interests of a business
character to interfere with his merchandising opera-
tions. He was, .however, a thoroughly systematic
man in the conduct of his affairs and found time to
interest himself in a number of important enter-
prises, among them being the Union Cement &
Lime Company — of which he was treasurer from
the date of its organization until his death — the
Union Warehouse Company, the Louisville Safety
Vault & Trust Company, and the Kentucky Floating
Company, holding a directorship in each of the
three corporations last named.
Firm in his convictions and tenacious of his opin-
ions, he was a man of great force in moral and reli-
572
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
gious as well as in business circles. He became
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South
when he was a young man in Simpson County, and
to the end of his life he was an earnest, faithful and
effective worker for the advancement of the church
and the cause of religion. From 1882 until his
death he was a member of the Southern Methodist
Church Extension Board, and few of the laymen of
Louisville have been more actively identified with
church work. His membership was in the Fifth and
Walnut Street Church, of which he was long an of-
ficial and always a benefactor. In 1886 he was a
lay delegate to the session of the General Conference
of the Southern Methodist Church, held at Rich-
mond, the highest honor which the church can
bestow upon a layman being thus conferred upon
him.
Unostentatious in his manner of giving, as he was
in everything else, he was broadly charitable, and
public institutions and the worthy poor were alike
the recipients of his cheerfully bestowed bounty.
When the Southern Methodist Widows’ and Or-
phans’ Home was organized he was made a trustee
and treasurer of that institution, and continued to
act in that capacity until his death. He never took
any active interest in politics, further than to exert
himself in the most practical way to secure good gov-
ernment for the city of Louisville. In this connec-
tion he conferred lasting benefits upon the city as
one of the most active members of the “Association
of Louisville” — which did much to check municipal
extravagance— and as chairman of the Executive
Committee of the Law and Order Club, which sup-
pressed public gambling and instituted other im-
portant reforms.
Mr. Carter’s first wife, born Miss James — to
whom he was married in Simpson County in 1847 —
died in 1853, leaving two children, Edwin and An-
netta Carter. He was again married June 6, 1855,
to Miss Melvilla Brown of New Haven, Kentucky,
who survives her husband. The three surviving chil-
dren born of this marriage are James G. Carter, Jr.,
Allen R. Carter and Melvilla E. Carter, now Mrs.
John D. Otter.
In his home, as in other circles, Mr. Carter was in
all respects a model man. His tastes were domestic,
his love of his home and family an absorbing love,
and notwithstanding his fondness for his business
pursuits, he found the sweetest joys of life at his own
fireside. There he was ever the kind husband
and father, always watchful of the best interests of
those endeared to him by the ties of nature.
y HOMAS WILLIAMS was born in Philadel-
1 pliia, Pennsylvania, January 13, 1813, and died
in Louisville, February 23, 1864, after having been
for many years prominently identified with the busi-
ness interests of the city. He was of German de-
scent, but his parents were both natives of Philadel-
phia. One of a large family of nine children, he
was the eldest of two sons, Thomas and Samuel
Williams. His mother was a Miss Bayne before
her marriage, and his grandmother, Katharine
Bayne, and the twin sister of the latter, were inter-
esting historic characters. They both rendered ser-
vices to General Washington during the Revolu-
tionary War as spies, and both lived to be remarka-
bly old women, one dying at the age of ninety-eight
and the other at the age of one hundred and three
years.
Thomas Williams was brought up and educated
in Philadelphia, turning his attention to mechanical
pursuits as soon as he was old enough to learn a
trade. He came to Louisville when a young man,
and soon after his coming found employment with
the Gas Company, as the first inspector employed
by that company. He was a mechanical genius and
made himself exceedingly useful to this corporation
while connected with it, inventing various appliances
which greatly facilitated the manufacture and dis-
tribution of the gas product. At a later date he
established himself in business on Market Street,
between Third and Fourth streets, as a plumber, his
establishment being the pioneer concern of its kind
in the city. That there was need of such an estab-
lishment was evidenced by the fact that the business
grew rapidly and, after a time, Mr. Williams asso-
ciated with himself a partner and extended his me-
chanical work to brass finishing and similar lines.
He became an instructor in these lines of work, and
managers of some of the prominent firms now doing
business in the city learned their trades under his
supervision.
In the days when volunteer firemen protected the
city from the ravages of the fire fiend Mr. Williams
was a member of the fire department, among his
associates at that time being many of the men who
were most prominent in public life and business cir-
cles. He was always ready to aid any project calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of the city, and the
Mechanics’ Fair and other similar enterprises, very
beneficent in their results, were set on foot mainly
through his efforts. In business circles he was
known as a man of sterling integrity, and those of
his contemporaries who are still living hold him in
i;
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
573
kindly remembrance for his many good qualities of
head and heart. His religious leaning's were toward
the Methodist Church, but his views were always
liberal, and right living commended itself to him to
a greater extent than any church creed. All Chris-
tianizing agencies commanded his sympathy and
support, and charities and charitable institutions
found in him a helpful friend. He was a pioneer
member of the Order of Odd Fellows in Louisville
and, at the time of his death, had taken nearly all
the degrees conferred by that order.
He was married in this city, in 1842, to Susan C.
Smith, daughter of Thomas Marshall Smith, of
Virginia, who was prominent as a lawyer and local
preacher. He was the author of several books and
was a near relative of Chief Justice Marshall. Five
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, their
names being respectively John Marshall, Katharine
Bayne, Minnie E., Susan C. and Thomas Williams,
Jr. The three daughters — now Mrs. J. Ambrose
Calloway, Mrs. William FI. Seaton and Mrs. George
T. Seaton, respectively — survive their parents, and
all reside in Louisville.
'T* HEODORE AHRENS, SR., manufacturer, was
A born in Hamburg, Germany, April 28, 1825,
son of Joachim and Dorothy (Greve) Ahrens. His
father was for many years in the Government postal
service at Hamburg, and the son grew up in that
city. He obtained his education in the Hamburg
city schools. Quitting school when he had obtained
a good plain, practical education, he learned the
machinist’s trade — mastering it thoroughly after the
German fashion — and later broadened his knowl-
edge and increased his skill as a craftsman by travel -
ing through Germany, Sweden and Norway, and
working at his trade in the larger cities of those
countries.
In 1848 he volunteered in the German Army,
which sought to liberate the Provinces of Schleswig
and Holstein from the domination of Denmark, and
served through the war waged over what is known
in history as the Schleswig-Holstein question. It
is proper to state, in this connection, that this con-
troversy, which had grown gray with age, originated
in the fourteenth century, when Schleswig was con-
quered by Denmark, but ceded to Count Gerard of
Holstein — the constitution of Waldemar providing
that the two Duchies should be under one lord, but
that they should never be united to Denmark. The
line of Gerard of Holstein expired in 1375, and was
succeeded by a branch of the house of Oldenburg.
A member of the house of Oldenburg was, in 1448,
elected to the throne of Denmark, and thencefor-
ward the Duchies and the Kingdom of Denmark
had the same ruler. The population of Holstein
was, however, entirely German, and the greater part
of the population of Schleswig was also German.
When, therefore, the Danish Crown undertook to
incorporate the two Duchies into the Kingdom of
Denmark and make them an integral part of the
Kingdom, they appealed to the German Diet and
began a war to sever the bonds which bound them
to Denmark. In this war, which began in 1848 and
lasted until 1850^-a war characterized by fierce fight-
ing and bloody battles — Mr. Ahrens was a partici-
pant, serving with distinction as a soldier and receiv-
ing a medal for his bravery on the field of battle.
In 1850, he came to the United States and for sev-
eral years after his arrival in this country was some-
what unsettled in his occupations. He returned to
Germany in 1852 and spent a part of that year and
the year 1853 in his native land. Returning to this
country in the latter year he worked as a brass
molder and machinist, and was for a time a sailor
on an Atlantic coast vessel before coming to Louis-
ville in 1858. When he first came to this city he ob-
tained employment in the then celebrated iron works
of Barbaroux & Snowden as a tool maker. He
continued in the employ of this firm for a year and
then embarked in business for himself, on Market
street, near Jackson, where he opened a small brass
foundry and finishing shop. Later he made plumb-
ing a feature of his business and this small plant
was Ihe foundation upon which the present mam-
moth Ahrens-Ott Manufacturing establishment has
since been built up. Originally, the firm of Ahrens
& Ott was a co-partnership between Mr. Ahrens and
Henry Ott, but, in 1885, it was made a stock com-
pany, of which Mr. Ahrens has ever since been presi-
dent. No better illustration of the industrial develop-
ment of Louisville within the past forty years than is
afforded by the growth of this enterprise, can be
found among its numerous and varied industries,
nor among them all can be found one which reflects
greater credit upon its founders and managers.
Starting in business with little capital other than
mechanical skill, untiring industry, sagacity and
well-balanced judgment, Mr. Ahrens and those
whom he associated with him have built up the
largest manufactory ot plumbers, brass, iron and
enameled goods in the South, and one of the largest
establishments of its kind in the United States. At
the little shop on Market street, in 1859, Mr. Ahrens
574
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
had little assistance and the products of the shop
were nearly all the work of his own hands. The es-
tablishment which is successor to that little shop
employs, to-day, in its various departments, seven
hundred men and sends its wares to all parts of the
United States and Canada. Surely, young men who
have their own way to make in the world may find,
in the splendid success which has attended the labors
of Theodore Ahrens, an incentive to hard work and
honest, intelligent effort. While he may well con-
template with pride the handsome fortune of which
he has himself been the architect, the building up of
a great and constantly growing industry is some-
thing to be contemplated with even more pride.
Hundreds of men and several thousand persons in
all find in this industry the means of gaining a live-
lihood, and it is one of the potent factors in con-
tributing to the material prosperity of Louisville.
While he has now shifted to younger shoulders the
burdens of active management, he is still the offi-
cial head of the corporation, still interests himself
in its operations, and his large experience and judi-
cious counsels still contribute materially to the pros-
perity of a manufacturing enterprise which prom-
ises to become the largest of its kind in the West.
A self-made man, in the broadest sense of that term,
he has risen to his present position from a very
humble beginning. Without friends and without
money, he began life when he arrived in this coun-
try, and to his own energy, industry, honesty and
business capacity, he is indebted for the success
which he has achieved.
He was born with the love of civil and religious
liberty, which is inherent in the natures of those
born and brought up in the free cities and provinc s
of Germany, and when he began to acquaint him-
self with the government, laws and customs of the
United States, like the great majority of German-
Americans, he reached the conclusion that human
slavery was a blot upon the fair name of the Re-
public. As a natural consequence of this policy, he
became a member of the Republican party — which
had then just come into existence — on the same day
that he became a citizen of the United States. He
was one of seven men' who had courage enough to
go to the polls in Baltimore, in 1856, and cast their
votes for General John C. Fremont, first candidate
of the Republican party for the Presidency of the
United States, and that act of his nearly cost him
his life. Ever since that time he has worked and
voted with the party to which he then declared alle-
giance, but has never held nor sought any public
office. For many years he was President of the
Louisville Turngemeinde, and is now an honorary
member of that organization. He is also an honor-
ary member of the Liederkranz, the most prominent
German society of Louisville, and is a member of
Zion Lodge of Masons.
On the occasion of his first visit to Germany he
married, in 1853, Anna Marie Nebel, like himself
a native of the city of Hamburg. Eight children
were born of their union, six of whom are now
living. Mrs. Ahrens died in 1885 and, in 1886, he
married Mrs. Amelia Baas, widow of Henry Baas, of
Louisville.
pORNELIUS GREGORY MACPFIERSON,
clergyman and educator, was born in the State
of North Carolina, September 26, 1806. His name
is indicative of his Scotch ancestry, and his grand-
father, Joseph Macpherson, came from the land of
Bruce and Scott and Burns, to this country, accom-
panied by his three brothers, John, Joshua and
Dempsey, about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury. This immigrant ancestor settled in Camden
County, North Carolina, and reared a family of four
sons, one of whom, Joseph Macpherson, became
the father of the Rev. Cornelius G. Macpherson. His
mother’s maiden name wasMaryTaylor, and she was
a daughter of “J°lm Taylor of Roanoke,” a promi-
nent and prosperous planter. The son was born in
Halifax County, but in the fall of 1813, when he was
seven years of age, the family moved from North
Carolina to Williamson County, Tennessee. Busi-
ness reverses overtook the father, and an accident
which rendered him permanently lame prevented
him from retrieving his fortune.
In consequence of this ebb of the family fortunes,
Cornelius received only the scant education afforded
by attendance at the country schools during a few
months of each year, from the time he was seven un-
til he was nineteen years of age. He worked a por-
tion of the time on his father's farm, and the rest of
the time in the shops of his father and uncle, gaining
among other things a knowledge of mechanics,
which was exceedingly useful to him a few years
later when it was made to contribute in part the
means necessary to the completion of his education.
He had a natural thirst for knowledge and made the
best use of such opportunities as he had to acquire
an education until he reached the ag'e of nineteen
years. At that time he had the good fortune to at-
tend a school kept by Scion Hunt, a wealthy citizen
of Williamson County, who conducted the school
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
575
from motives of philanthropy. This Mr. Hunt was a
fine mathematician and under his preceptorship,
young Macpherson became thoroughly versed in the
sciences of arithmetic, geometry, surveying and
astronomy. Not satisfied with these accomplish-
ments, he sought higher education and despite the
disadvantages under which he labored, determined to
take a full collegiate course. How to begin was a
problem which he found it hard to solve. There
were no scholarships then in the colleges accessible
to him, and few opportunities were afforded to
young men to work their way through such institu-
tions by “tutoring” other less studious boys or pu-
pils not so well advanced. “Where there is a will,
there is a way,” however, and in his twentieth year,
with very limited resources at his command, he en-
tered Cumberland College at Princeton, Kentucky.
Thrifty by instinct and inheritance, as a farm boy he
had become the owner of a colt and this colt had
grown to maturity when he rode to Princeton in
1826 to begin his college course. There he sold
the horse, and the proceeds of this sale, and the
small savings which he had been able to lay aside,
constituted the educational fund at his command.
It was a small sum, which he was compelled to guard
with jealous care, and whenever an opportunity of-
fered to add to his financial resources, he was
prompt to take advantage of it. On Saturdays and
holidays he could generally be found at work in the
shops at Princeton, and during vacations he worked
on a farm, all the while practicing rigid economy,
dressing plainly and living cheaply after the manner
of those days. Among his classmates were Harvey
M. Watterson, afterwards a member of Congress
from Tennessee, and Willis B. Machen, at one time
a Senator of the United States from Kentucky.
Some time before his graduation, he became a
tutor in the college and while acting in that ca-
pacity, having demonstrated his superior ability as
an instructor, he was offered the position of prin-
cipal of the Jefferson Academy at Ely ton, Alabama.
He accepted the position and conducted this institu-
tion successfully, in the meantime pursuing his stud-
ies and retaining his rank in college. In 1830, he
1 returned to Princeton and was graduated with his
class from Cumberland College, and immediately
afterward was tendered the professorship of mathe-
matics and chemistry in his Alma Mater. The acad-
emy at Elyton had, however, grown into a prosper-
ous and somewhat noted institution of learning un-
der his careful and intelligent superintendency, and
| he had become attached to the little Alabama town
in which it was located. He therefore declined the
offer of a professorship in Cumberland College, and
returned to Elyton, and there, in 1830, he was
licensed to preach, having studied theology at Cum-
berland College under the preceptorship of the Rev.
h. R. Cossit, D. D., President of the College, and
at Elyton under the direction of Rev. James S.
Guthrie. He had been imbued with a deep serious-
ness of life in his boyhood, and this principle had
stimulated his religious instincts and naturally in-
clined him to the ministry. It had been with a view
to entering this calling that he had struggled to ob-
tain a finished education, and his studies during his
collegiate course had been shaped to this end. After
being licensed, he preached every Sunday at Elyton,
and conducted prayer meetings regularly in ad-
dition to his labors as principal of the Jefferson
Academy, in which he taught the advanced classes
in Latin and Greek as well as the higher mathe-
matics. This arduous and incessant labor impaired
his health, and after a time he was compelled to re-
sign the principalship of the academy. He then
went to Courtland, Alabama, where for a time he
gave private instruction to the children of a few
wealthy families, relinquishing that work in 1832 to
take editorial charge of the “Moulton Whig,” a
newspaper which he' established at the County Seat
of Lawrence County, Alabama.
Although he was nominally owner of this paper
the real proprietors were politicians and public men
of larger means. It was not long before the doctrine
of nullification become a prominent issue in the
politics of that section, and Mr. Macpherson's senti-
ments not being in harmony with those of his
friends, who favored the theory, he resigned the
editorship, having reached the conclusion that the
management of a political newspaper was neither
suited to his tastes nor consonant with ministerial
duties. For a year or more thereafter, he preached
at various places, finally accepting a call to the pas-
torate of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at
Huntsville, Alabama. After remaining there a year,
he accepted the position of assistant editor of “The
Cumberland Presbyterian,” published at Nashville,
Tennessee. Of this journal lie was practically the
editor for two years, supervising at the same time
a digest of the laws of Tennessee, and “Gunn’s
Domestic Medicine.” During his connection with
this paper he preached nearly every Sunday to the
convicts in the penitentiary, becoming much in-
terested in the work, although he had the unique
experience of preaching to blank walls, so far as he
576
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
could see, the convicts remaining in their cells while
listening to his sermons.
After dissolving his connection with the paper
he established a classical school at Nashville. Be-
coming pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in that city, about the same time, he had a
successful pastorate of eighteen months at this
church, and then took charge of a school at Tuscu-
lum, near Nashville, where he remained until 1840.
He had now become recognized as an accomplished
educator, and had been honored as early as 1833 by
the Alabama University with the degree of Master
of Arts; and the same year Cumberland College
conferred on him the same honor. Recognizing
his ability as a teacher and his earnestness of pur-
pose, Cumberland College renewed its offer of a
professorship in that institution in 1840; and this
time the offer was accepted. Removing to Prince-
ton he occupied the chair of mathematics and chem-
istry, to which he had been elected in the college.
A year later he was elected stated clerk of the Gen-
eral Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, holding the latter position for eight years
thereafter. In 1841 also, he was married to Miss
Maria E. Gorin of Russellville, Kentucky, a most
charming and worthy woman, who is still his faith-
ful and cheerful companion and loving friend, in
the gentlest and most beautiful decline of a happy
old age. When married Mr. Macpherson was thir-
ty-five and his wife was sixteen years of age. She
was the daughter of the late Henry Gorin, of Rus-
sellville, and granddaughter of the pioneer William
W. Whitaker.
Absorbed in his professional work, until two
years before his marriage, Mr. Macpherson had al-
most entirely neglected material affairs, although
he had much natural talent for business, and a large
share of the sagacity of his Scotch ancestors. At
the time indicated, however, he began to save and
invest his money, and at the end of two years, on a
salary of only six hundred dollars a year, he had ac-
cumulated two thousand dollars. To mention this
may seem a digression, but it is proper to state in
this relation that this formed the nucleus of what
afterwards became a large and, without his being-
engaged in any business enterprise for over twenty
years, is still a comfortable fortune, and gives him a
competency in his old age as the result of wise
investments and business operations. The financial
acumen which he manifested at that time led to his
being made assistant business manager of a paper
called “The Banner of Peace,” published by Dr.
Cossitt at Princeton. By direction of the Board of
Trustees of Cumberland College, he was also made
acting president of the college during the absence
of Dr. Cossitt, who rarely visited the institution, dur-
ing two of its sessions. Early in the year 1842 Mr.
Macpherson discovered that there were outstanding
against Cumberland College enough executions for
debt to absorb the college property. Just before the
meeting- of the General Assembly of the Cumber-
land Presbyterian Church in that year, he induced
the trustees to make a full report of its condition to
the Assembly. In anticipation of the abandonment
of the college at Princeton, he communicated with
prominent citizens of Lebanon, Tennessee, urging
them to arrange for the erection of college buildings
and the establishment of a church college at that
place. Acting on his suggestion, due preparation
was made, and when the Assembly met a generous
donation for college purposes was tendered to the
church by the people of Lebanon, and the tender
was accepted. Notwithstanding its impoverished
condition, the people of Princeton insisted that they
could maintain Cumberland College, and the new
institution at Lebanon, Tennessee, was therefore
chartered as Cumberland University. Thus was es-
tablished what has since become one of the leading
universities of the South, Dr. Cossitt becoming
president, and Mr. Macpherson professor of mathe-
matics and chemistry when the institution opened.
There, as at Princeton, Mr. Macpherson was much
of the time acting president, and also retained his
former connection with “The Banner of Peace,”
which had been removed to Lebanon. For three
years only did he retain his connection with Cumber-
land University, but during that period he helped j
to lay the foundation of an institution which has
become famous throughout the South, and which j
numbers among its alumni such distinguished pub- ;
lie men as the late Judge Howell E. Jackson, of the
United States Supreme Court, Governor Foster of I
Louisiana, ex-Governor James B. McCreary of j
Kentucky, ex-Governor Porter of Tennessee, and
many others of the most noted men of the South. j
His farm near Memphis, Tennessee, demanding f
his personal supervision, Mr. Macpherson resigned f
his position in the University, and donated to the
trustees their indebtedness to him, amounting to
something more than one thousand dollars, and re-
moved to his plantation. Here he also conducted
a classical school, for more than three years, as an
avocation in connection with his occupation as a
farmer. In the fall of 1848 he was offered and ac-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
577
cepted the presidency of Chapel Hill College in Mis-
souri, where flattering inducements were held out to
him; but in this particular venture his expectations
were not realized. His reputation and high
scholastic attainments were, at this place, so highly
appreciated, however, that Governor Marmaduke
(whose son, John S. Marmaduke, afterwards a Con-
federate general and Governor of Missouri, was
a pupil), and other patrons induced the curators of
the Masonic College at Lexington, Missouri, to offer
Mr. Macpherson the presidency of that institution.
After retaining this position for a year he was
made president of the Lexington Female Collegiate
Institute, the several churches thereabouts contrib-
uting to its support. Each of these churches had
previously insisted on having its own representative
at the head of the institution, but they agreed now
on Mr. Macpherson as satisfactory to them all. He
was given a three years’ lease of the property and
buildings, part of which he erected himself, and his
management made the institution exceedingly pros-
perous. About this time he sold his plantation near
Memphis for double its original cost, and purchased
a half interest in the Lexington Ferry property, val-
ued at twenty-four thousand dollars. Lexington,
Missouri, at this time was a great crossing place for
Eastern people, and emigrants going to the West,
and the steamboat ventures proved to be one of the
most valuable of Mr. Macpherson’s investments.
In the fall of 1853 he returned to Memphis and
established there the Memphis Female College, of
which he was president, sole owner and financial
manager. This college was chartered by the Legis-
lature of Tennessee, and was exempted from all tax-
ation. It became a prosperous and widely known
institution, and Mr. Macpherson continued at its
head until 1871, in which year he sold the property
to the “Christian Brothers,” a Catholic society, which
still conducts the college for young men, and
he retired from active educational work. In 1874 he
removed to Louisville, and has since lived a retired
life, enjoying the rest to which his many years of
earnest and useful labor entitle him.
During all the active years of his life Mr. Mac-
pherson preached almost every Sunday, frequently
having regular charges and performing other min-
isterial duties. He is still a member of the Presby-
tery and, at ninety years of age, takes a lively in-
terest in church affairs, and is revered as one of the
patriarchs of Cumberland Presbyterianism. Phys-
ically well preserved, with mental faculties unim-
paired, he is yet a student, devoted to Greek, Hebrew
37
and Latin and the higher mathematics, and inter-
ested in the current affairs of life.
While taking no active part in political affairs, the
subject of this sketch has always been a Democrat,
casting his first vote for Andrew Jackson in 1828.
Upon his removal from Lebanon, Tennessee, he was
for a short time the guest of this illustrious man at
“The Hermitage;” and during his early years spent
about Nashville, he was also friendly with James K.
Polk, Felix Grundy, and others of the Democratic
lights of those days.
Of his personal characteristics it may be said that
while he has a kindly, gentle nature, and generous
and charitable instincts, he has always been a man
of perfect courage and of strong convictions, and
his rule is to do exact justice and to know no devia-
tion from the line of right. He has given to
churches, schools and needy individuals more per-
haps than he has retained for himself, and has felt
blessed in the giving, and in his educational work
he has been especially generous and helpful to those
who needed encouragement and financial assist-
ance.
His living children are Mrs. William H. Whitt-
aker of Russellville, Kentucky; Mrs. Will O. Wood-
son, of Louisville; Colonel Ernest Macpherson of
the Louisville bar; Mrs. P. J. Murray of Jackson,
Tennessee; Miss Cornelia G. Macpherson and Mrs.
John J. Otter of Louisville. One son, Victor Mac-
pherson, a graduate of the United States Naval
Academy, died in 1893 at the outset of what prom-
ised to be a brilliant career.
T OHN L. WHEAT, who has been a resident of
^ Louisville for nearly forty years and in all the
relations of life has filled the measure of good citizen-
ship, was born at Otisville, Orange County, New
York, September 14, 1833. His father was Samuel
K. Wheat, a saddler by trade, a man of limited
means, but of sterling worth and high standing in
the community in which he resided. His mother —
who was a Miss Ouackenbush before her marriage —
was an amiable and intelligent lady, and both his
parents were earnest Christians and leading mem-
bers of the Methodist Church of Otisville. Their
home was the favorite stopping place of the itiner-
ant ministers who held religious services in the
little hamlet, and before a church was erected, fre-
quently served as a house of worship,
When [ohn L. Wheat was ten years of age his
mother died, leaving four sons, all of tender age.
The home being thus broken up. the elder sons were
578
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
put out to service, and John was indentured to a
dairy farmer, who lived in the neighborhood of
Goshen, New York, for a period of four years, dur-
ing which time he was to receive for his services
his board and clothing and was to be allowed to
attend school three months each winter. At the
end of the four years he was to be given his free-
dom and a new suit of clothes, but owing to the
capriciousness of his employer he failed to receive
the raiment to which he was entitled, although he
faithfully observed all the conditions of the con-
tract on his own part. When the four years were
drawing to a close a traveling journeyman tailor
was employed to make the clothes at the farm house,
and in one of his capricious moods the farmer sug-
gested that the boy should get down on his knees
and say “thankee'’ for his new coat. The boy could
see no reason why he should thus humiliate him-
self, and, declining to comply with the unreason-
able request, left the farmer’s home without the
coat. Although his employer had at times been
hard and exacting, his home had nevertheless been
a good one during the four years of his service on
the farm. He had had to walk two miles to attend
a country school each winter, but had made the
best use possible of the advantages which it afforded
and had acquired a fair English education when he
returned to his father’s home. The latter had in
the meantime married Miss Elsie Travis, a most
estimable lady, who made a home for his children
and treated them with all the kindness and consider-
ation which she could have shown to her own off-
spring. She is still living, and since the death of
her husband in 1872 has resided with her son, Mar-
vin R. Wheat, in this city.
After remaining at home a year or two Mr. Wheat
went to Corning, in Steuben County, New York, a
portion of the Empire State then comparatively new
in its settlement and civilization. He remained
there and at Addison, in the same county, until 1858,
holding responsible positions for one of his years,
the position of deputy postmaster and deputy sheriff
being among those which he filled. In 1858 he
determined to come farther West, and a visit to
Louisville impressed him so favorably with the re-
sources and prospects of the city that he decided
to make it his home.
He first found <$nployment in Louisville in the
old Northern Bank, of which William Richardson
was then president and John Milton cashier. In
that institution he filled temporarily the position of
individual bookkeeper, during the absence on sick
leave of R. M. Cunningham, the regular bookkeeper.
This gave him an opportunity to become acquainted
with the business men of the city, and after a short
time he was offered and accepted the position of
bookkeeper in the wholesale dry-goods house of
Wheat, Baker & Company, the senior member of
which had the same name as himself, although not a
kinsman. He remained with this house until the
beginning of the Civil War caused a suspension of
its business, and then engaged in a commercial ven-
ture on his own account at Munfordville, Kentucky.
Visiting that place on a collecting trip shortly after
the battle between the Union and Confederate forces
had been fought there, he recognized the impor-
tance of the position and reached the conclusion that
it was likely to be occupied by a considerable force
of troops for some time, and hence would be a good
trading point. Renting a store-house, he soon had it
well stocked with goods for the army and country
trade, and did a good business there until the follow-
ing spring, when the army removed further South.
During this time, business was carried on in the
South under many restrictions, and shipments were
not allowed without Government permits. Mr.
Wheat’s loyalty was, however, unquestioned, and
anything shipped to his address was forwarded with-
out question or delay. His venture proved a suc-
cessful one, but when the army left Munfordville, he
returned to Louisville and connected himself with
the wholesale grocery house of Terry & Company.
He was first bookkeeper for the firm, but later be-
came a partner, the firm name being changed to
John Terry & Company. Terry, Wheat & Chesney
was the style of the firm at a later date, and after
the retirement of Mr. Terry, it was Wheat & Ches-
ney, and still later Wheat & Durff. For nearly
twenty years, this house was one of the leading gro-
cery houses of the city, and everywhere throughout
a wide area of country tributary to Louisville, it was
well and favorably known. In 1882, however, un-
looked for vicissitudes of trade compelled it to sus-
pend business, and Mr. Wheat had to face the task
of building up a new business and paying off old
obligations at the same time. It required several
years of earnest effort and self sacrifice to enable
him to meet all the claims against himself and his
old firm, but all these obligations were met and
honorably discharged, and gratifying success has
attended his business operations in later years.
Since 1883, he has been connected in a managerial
way and as a stockholder with the Salem-Bedford
Stone Company and Union Cement & Lime Com-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
579
pany, joint enterprises prominent among the larger
industrial interests of the city.
During his long business career Mr. Wheat has
shown himself a man of fixed purposes, a practical
man of affairs, capable, honest and upright in all
his transactions. His sympathies have been warm
and his impulses generous, and young men start-
ing in business or serving as his employes have al-
wavs found him a most useful friend. As a Meth-
odist churchman he has been especially- prominent
and useful, and many well deserved honors have
been bestowed upon him in this connection. He
was reared in that church and became a member in
early manhood, and since then has filled almost
every official position which can be filled by a lay-
man of that denomination from class leader and
steward up to delegate to the Annual, General and
Ecumenical Conferences. He was made a member
of the Board of Church Extension of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South at the organization of that
Board in 1882, and has ever since belonged to its
Board of Managers. For more than twenty years
he served continuously as superintendent of the
Walnut Street Methodist Sunday school, and is still
an active participant in Sunday school work. In
his young manhood he became a member of the
Executive Committee of the Bible Society for Louis-
ville and vicinity, and for twenty years past has been
its treasurer. In the noble work of the Young
Men’s Christian Association he has also been an
active participant, and in the early history of the
Louisville Association he was its president. He
has since been a member of the State and Interna-
tional Committees of the Association, has served re-
peatedly as president of the Kentucky conventions,
and, in 1881, presided over the International Con-
vention, held at Cleveland, Ohio. A member of the
Masonic Order, he has taken a deep interest in the
welfare of its renowned charity, the Masonic Wid-
ows’ and Orphans’ Home of Kentucky. Ever since
that institution was established he has been a mem-
ber of its Board of Directors, always attentive to its
affairs and tenderly solicitous for the welfare and
happiness of its widowed and orphaned wards.
Believing it to be the duty of all good citizens to
take an active interest in political affairs, Mr. Wheat
lias acted in accordance with firmly fixed political
convictions where political issues were at stake. He
was a stanch Unionist during the war and has since
been a Republican, having voted for all the presiden-
tial candidates of that party since Abraham Lin-
coln, and for the great emancipator himself. He
has served twice as a member of the city council and
once as a member of the city school board, and in
these capacities proved himself a useful public serv-
ant.
He was married in 1859 to Miss Mary E. Fellows,
daughter of Rev. Nathan Fellows, then pastor of
the North Street Methodist Church, in the city of
Rochester, New York. Five daug'hters were the
children born of their union, three of whom, Eliza,
Lucy and Alice, are dead, and two of whom, Dora
and Mary, are now living.
AW WEN GATHRIGHT, JR., merchant and man-
V ~ ^ facturer, was born April 27, 1850, in Oldham
County, Kentucky, son of Owen Gathright, Sr., and
Eliza Anna (Austin) Gathright. The history of his
family in Kentucky dates back to 1802 in which year
his grandfather, John Gathright, came hither from
Henrico County, Virginia, settling in Oldham
County. All the earlier generations of the family
were resident of Virginia, and many of its repre-
sentatives lived in the neighborhood of Richmond,
where they occupied prominent positions in the busi-
ness and social world.
The Austins — Mr. Gathright’s maternal ances-
tors— have an interesting family history, which is, in
a sense, co-extensive with our national annals. They
were among the earliest colonists of America, and
the military record of the family is an enviable one,
inasmuch as its representatives have been partici-
pants in all the wars waged by the colonists and
their successors down to the present day. John
Austin, the maternal great-grandfather of Owen
Gathright, Jr., was a British soldier in the French
and Indian War, and later a Revolutionary soldier
in the Colonial Army. He served under General
Daniel Morgan at Saratoga, and at the Cowpens, in
the regiment of picked riflemen which General Bur-
goyne declared was “the finest regiment in the
world.” He was also a participant in the battle at
Germantown and was with the forces to which Corn-
wallis surrendered at Yorktown, having served dur-
ing the entire war to establish the independence of
the colonies. This noted old veteran of the Austin
family lived to be one hundred and nine years of
age, and at his death in 1845 was buried with mili-
tary honors befitting his patriotism and historic
achievements, i I is son, James Austin, was a soldier
in the War of 1812, and served under General An-
drew Jackson at New Orleans. One of the sons of
this James Austin gave up his life in Mexico in the
service of his country during the Mexican War, and
580
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
in the Civil War three brothers of Owen Gathright,
Jr., were active participants. One of these brothers,
James R. Gathright, was in the Confederate Army
and fell at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and the others,
John T. and W. P. Gathright, served in the Federal
Army, thus completing an unbroken record of fam-
ily service in all the wars of the nation.
Owen Gathright, Jr., spent the early years of his
life in Oldham County, Kentucky, and his educa-
tion was begun in a country school. In 1858 the
family removed to Louisville, and from that time
until he was eighteen years old, he attended the pub-
lic schools of the city, completing his studies at the
city high school. At eighteen he was made librarian
of the Public Library Association of the city, or-
ganized and established to maintain a public library,
with the books of the old Mechanics’ Library as a
nucleus. The rooms of the library association were
in what was then the Weisiger, now the Polytechnic,
building, and Mr. Gathright had charge of the library
for a year. In 1869, however, he resigned his li-
brarianship to accept a position in the business house
of Gathright & Company, succeeded two or three
months later by the firm of Harbison & Gathright.
Continuing in the employ of this firm until 1876, he
became at that time a partner and has ever since
been actively identified with the conduct and man-
agement of the largest wholesale saddlery house in
the South, which is also one of the largest establish-
ments of its kind in the United States. He has been
buyer for this house for twenty years, and his tact
and sagacity have contributed in large measure to
its prosperity and success as a business enterprise.
His thorough knowledge of every department of the
saddlery business, his ready solutions of problems
presenting themselves to the trade, and his organiz-
ing and executive ability have given him national
prominence among those engaged in the same line
of business, and in 1891 he was honored by election
to the presidency of the Wholesale Saddlery Asso-
ciation of the United States at the annual meeting-
held that year in Chicago. This is the largest and
most important organization of the wholesale sad-
dlery or kindred interests which has ever been ef-
fected, and the compliment paid to Mr. Gathright in
his election to the presidency was also a compliment
to the city of Louisville. In the commercial circles
of Louisville he has been a conspicuous figure, ac-
tive in his efforts to promote the general commercial
prosperity of the city and influential in all move-
ments having that object in view. He was one of
the directors of the Southern Exposition Company,
and for several years a director of the board of trade.
He was one of the organizers of the Commercial
Club, served as director and first vice-president prior
to 1891, and in that year, at the end of the most spir-
ited contest ever waged in any commercial body in
Louisville, was made president of the club.
A member of the First Christian Church of Louis-
ville since 1884 he is a deacon of that church and a
director of the Christian Church Widows’ and Or-
phans’ Home. He is treasurer of the Louisville
Charity Organization Society and a member of its
central council, and also chairman of the employ-
ment committee of the society, which has supervision
of the Wayfarer’s Lodge, a most useful and helpful
public charity. With the work of the Young Men’s
Christian Association he has been most prominently
identified. He has been president of the Louisville
Association for six years, and was president of the
State convention of Young Men’s Christian Asso-
ciations held at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1892. I11
1893 he was elected for a term of six years a mem-
ber of the international committee of the Young-
Men’s Christian Association of America, which has
supervision of all associations in the United States,
Canada and Mexico.
Always a Democrat in his political affiliations, Mr.
Gathright has rendered faithful and effective services
to the party and his friends in numerous political
campaigns, but has never held or sought political
office and his devotion to his party, like his devotion
to church and charitable work, has been unselfish.
He was married in 1873 to Miss Katie Estelle Den-
nis, who died in 1893, leaving a son and daughter,
bom twins in 1877, and named respectively Chester
Harbison Gathright and Margaret Maud Gathright.
On the 17th of September, 1896, he married Miss
Elizabeth Ball, an accomplished lady, especially
prominent in the musical circles of Louisville.
C REDERICK GERNERT, SR, one of the old-
1 time German-American merchants of Louis-
ville, was born February 13, 1827, in Rheindurk-
heim, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger-
many, and was reared and educated in the Father-
land. In the year 1847, when he was twenty years
old, he joined a jolly party of immigrants bound for
the United States, and at the end of a sixty days’ voy-
age aboard a sailing vessel, landed in New York.
After running the gauntlet of Castle Garden, they
were ferried across to the New Jersey coast, and
those who, like Mr. Gernert, proposed to seek homes
in the South, made their way to Pittsburg, and
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
581
from thence down the Ohio River. Henry and
Phillip Gernert, two elder brothers of the subject of
this sketch, who had preceded him to the United
States, had settled in Louisville, and it was his pur-
pose to join them here. It may be remarked in pass-
ing that both these brothers were prominent in busi-
ness circles, and Phillip Gernert is still living near
the city, having amassed a fortune and retired to a
country residence some years since.
Arrived at Pittsburg, Mr. Gernert and his fellow-
countrymen, who were seeking homes in the South-
west, got aboard a steamer and began a tedious jour-
ney down the Ohio River. The water was at low
stage, and some distance above Cincinnati the boat
grounded on a sandbar, and was compelled to await
a rise in the river before the journey could be con-
tinued. This delay consumed several days, and in
the meantime provisions ran low and the passengers
broke the monotony, from time to time, by running
ashore in small boats, going in quest of game and
gathering needed supplies. The German immigrants,
in old country dress, presented a picturesque appear-
ance on these occasions, and in later years Mr. Gern-
ert used to recall with amusement the spectacle of a
fat countryman, of peasant dress, wearing a long
blue apron, who made the last trip ashore for pro-
visions, and who had to make a vigorous struggle
to reach the steamer before it got afloat.
When he reached Louisville, Mr. Gernert found
employment, and his German thrift soon enabled
him to establish a business of his own. Before
coming to this country he had worked in a brewery
in the city of Worms, on the River Rhine, and had
acquired a knowledge of the art of brewing beer.
He had been familiar with the spectacle of jolly par-
ties of German peasants enjoying their mugs of beer
at the inns of the Fatherland and had looked upon
the trade as one in which he might profitably engage
in this country. He soon reached the conclusion,
however, that it was quite a different thing to cater
to the noisy and boisterous crowds of Americans,
treating each other until all became drunken, and
decided to seek another occupation. Pie, therefore,
established himself in the tailoring business on the
north side of Market Street, several doors above
Hancock Street, where the old brick building in
which he did business is still standing. He was a
staid and sober German and found it difficult to en-
dure with equanimity the pranks of the frolicsome
American youth who abounded in that portion of
the city. Some of these youths, since grown fa-
mous, cherish recollections of boyish escapades
which were at first not a little annoying to the Ger-
man tailor, but when his own children grew older
and manifested much of the same freakishness as
their neighbors, he learned too look with less se-
verity on the mischievousness of American boys.
For many years he was an interesting figure in Lou-
isville, and those who knew him best esteemed him
for his sturdy integrity and his many good qualities
of head and heart. For some years prior to his
death, which occurred in 1882, he was engaged in
merchandising on Green Street, near Campbell, and
the business is still carried on by his widow. He
came to this country a few years before the begin-
ning of the Civil War, and as soon as he became a
citizen and voter, allied himself with the Republican
party, with which he found himself in hearty sym-
pathy on account of its opposition to slavery. He
was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and when
the martyr President fell a victim to the assassin’s
bullet, his grief was akin to that which he would
have felt for the loss of his dearest friend. During
the war he served as a member of a cavalry company
in the Louisville Home Guards.
He married Elizabeth Franck in 1854, and their
union was blessed with six children, three sons and
three daughters. Fred Gernert, Jr., John W. and
Peter C. Gernert, all of the well-known Gernert
Brothers Lumber Company, and one daughter,
Lizzie C. Gernert, are the children who survive their
father.
1\A ICFIAEL MLLDOON, who has occupied a
L 1 prominent position among the business men
of Louisville for forty years, was born in the Countv
Cavan, in the North of Ireland, August 16, 1836.
He belonged to an old and much respected Scotch-
Irish family, and his parents were Michael M. and
Margaret (McDaniel) Muldoon. As a boy he was
both adventurous and ambitious and so anxious to
see the world and begin the real business of life that
he ran away from home when only thirteen years of
age. Boarding a vessel bound for New York lie
landed in that city in 1849, and without friends or in-
fluence of any kind to assist him in obtaining a foot-
hold in the business world, he started out to make
the best of the situation, and to achieve that success
which comes to those who strive industriously, in-
telligently and persistently in this country. It did
not take him long to obtain employment in the great
Eastern metropolis, his first work being done for the
well-known commercial house of Lord & Taylor,
and his position being that of cash boy. It was a
5S2
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
humble position, but his duties were discharged no
less faithfully and zealously than the more import-
ant duties of later years. He early evinced an apti-
tude for business and a practical turn of mind which
commended him to his employers and gave promise
of success in future undertakings. He had, how-
ever, a natural fondness for art and this led him to
seek a calling in which he might to a certain extent
gratify this taste in connection with a commercial
pursuit. Quitting the employ of Lord & Taylor, he
learned the marble cutters’ trade, and for some years
before coming West was employed as a journeyman
marble cutter in New York and Baltimore and in
the State of West Virginia.
In 1857, having then just attained his majority,
Mr. Muldoon came to Louisville, and in company
with George Doyle and Charles Bullet — the latter a
noted French sculptor — opened the marble cutting
establishment of which he is still the head, at its pres-
ent location. The combination of business talent
and artistic ability in this firm made their under-
taking at once successful and their business grew
steadily and their prosperity was continuous. In
1863, they opened an art studio and work shop in
Carrara, Italy, and Mr. Bullet was sent there to take
charge of that branch of the business. There they
began and carried on successfully the cutting of fine
marble statuary, large consignments of which were
shipped every month to the United States and found
ready sale in all parts of the country. In Louisville
the firm of M. Muldoon & Company has become
famous for its artistic work in the construction of
monuments and other works in marble. This firm,
of which Mr. Muldoon has been the head for forty
years, has built nine-tenths of all the confederate
monuments erected in the South to commemorate
the deeds of brave men, since the Civil War, and in
the North he has also built many monuments which
mark the resting places of those who fell fighting
for the perpetuation of the Union. One of the finest
specimens of the work done by Mr. Muldoon and
his associates is the splendid sarcophagus at the
grave of John C. Calhoun in Charleston, South
Carolina. All over the United States are to be found
specimens of their workmanship, creditable alike to
their art and their enterprise.
Naturally retiring in his disposition, Mr. Muldoon
has nevertheless much of the warmth of nature char-
acteristic of the Irish people, and becomes always an
enthusiastic advocate of any cause or principle which
commends itself to his judgment or sense of right.
A thoroughly progressive business man, his sturdi-
ness of character is softened by that benevolence and
kindliness which contributes so largely to good citi-
zenship. Successful in the conduct of his affairs, he
has been successful also in gaining the friendship
and esteem of those with whom he has been brought
in contact, and having seen much of the world, he
has gained that broad general knowledge which
gives to so many business men a prominent place
among the accomplished men of our time. For
many years his business called him to Italy at least
once a year, and he has made sixteen trips in all
across the Atlantic. It follows as a natural sequence
that he has become thoroughly familiar with the
customs, manners and habits of European peoples,
and concerning these things and the art of the old
world with which his calling has brought him into
contact, he is at all times a most entertaining and
attractive conversationalist.
In politics a Democrat, he has never been a seeker
after political preferment, and has served in official
capacities only when he felt that he could render
some really valuable service to the community with
which he has been so long identified. He has been
most prominent as an official as a member of the
Louisville Board of Park Commissioners, in which
capacity he has done much to build up and develop
the splendid park system of the city. One of the
important business enterprises with which he has
been identified is the Kentucky Mutual Life
Insurance Company, of which he is a director.
Prominent in Masonic circles, he has taken
all the degrees in that order, and is one
of the five charter members of DeMolay Com-
mandery of Knights Templar, who are now living.
He was one of the philanthropic citizens who aided
in establishing the Home of the Innocents in Louis-
ville nearly twenty years ago, and has been con-
nected with other charitable and benevolent institu-
tions.
Mr. Muldoon was married in 1865 to Miss Alice
Lithgow, daughter of Hon. John S. Lithgow, the
much beloved and eminently successful pioneer mer-
chant and manufacturer who has served the city as
mayor, and at eighty-four years of age is still
actively engaged in business pursuits. Mr. and Mrs.
Muldoon have four daughters, named respectively
Anita, Margaret, Hannah and Aline, all of whom
are noted for their varied accomplishments. Miss
Anita Muldoon is a famous vocalist, who has ap-
peared before admiring audiences in many of the
principal cities of the country and gives promise
of a most brilliant career.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
583
DETER CALDWELL, who has been at the head
* of one of the leading- reformatory institutions
of Kentucky for thirty years, who has devoted his
life to humanitarian work, and is widely known
among those engaged in this field of labor, was
born April 23, 1836, in Huntingdon, Province of
Quebec, Canada. His parents were William and
Janette (Elder) Caldwell, both of whom were born
in Scotland and came to Canada on the same ship
in their early childhood. Their parents settled in
Canada when that country was a wilderness, and
were among the pioneers of what is now a thickly
settled region. There his paternal grandfather lived
to a patriarchal age, dying on the eighty-second
anniversary of his birth. His father lived on a farm
in sight of that on which he grew up, and died there
at the age of eighty-four years, a worthy citizen, hon-
ored by all who knew him. The latter saw service
in the French rebellion, was a man of fine judgment
and high character, and wielded an important influ-
ence in the community in which he lived. For many
years he was a commissioner of schools for his
county, and his interest in educational matters had
much to do with influencing his son to devote him-
self to the profession which finally carried him into
reformatory, as well as educational, work. His wife
— the mother of Peter Caldwell — is still living, and
is now (1896) eigiity-seven years of age.
Peter Caldwell was educated in part at Hunting-
don Academy, and later attended an academy at
Malone, New York. He entered Middlebury Col-
lege, at Middlebury, Vermont, in 1859, and was
graduated from that institution with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1863. He had begun
teaching school at an early age, and devoted ten
years in all to this work, earning in that way the
money which enabled him to complete his colle-
giate education. Immediately after his graduation
from college, he came West, first going to Chicago,
where he was made principal of the Reform School
then in existence in that city. Within three months
thereafter, he was promoted to assistant superin-
tendent of the Reform School, and held that position
a year and a half. At the end of that time, he was
called to Louisville to take the position of superin-
tendent of the Louisville House of Refuge, and, in
1866, entered upon a term of service in that con-
nection which has continued up to the present time.
His long experience as a teacher, his tact and ability
as a disciplinarian, his thorough appreciation of the
responsibilities which rested upon him, and a con-
scientious devotion to duty combined to admirably
fit him for a most important work. Taking charge
of the House of Refuge immediately after the Civil
War and practically at its inception, it has grown
up under his conduct and management and has de-
veloped into a reformatory institution which is the
pride of the city and which has no superior among
similar institutions in the United States. During
all the years of his connection with this institution
he has kept in close touch with the noble men and
women engaged in reformatory and charitable work
in the United States, attending regularly their con-
ventions and co-operating actively in all movements
designed to improve the conditions of prisons, re-
formatories and charities. He has made a close
study of t'he conduct and management of such insti-
tutions, and the splendid results of his management
of the Louisville House of Refuge evidence the fact
that he has studied to good purpose. He is a Pres-
byterian churchman, and, in national politics, votes
with the Democratic party, but acts independently
of his party organization to the extent of supporting
those whom he deems best qualified to fill local
offices.
He was married, in 1866, to Miss Mary T. Wells,
daughter of Rev. Edward Wells, of Chicago. Mrs.
Caldwell was born in the same town in Canada as
her husband, and her father baptized her husband in-
to the church as a child, and was pastor of the church
to which his parents belonged. Separated in child-
hood, there was a tinge of romance in the re-union
and marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell in Chicago,
and their wedded life has been a happy one. They
have seven children, three sons and four daughters.
D ENJAMIN BUSSEY HUNTOON, educator,
who has acquired wide celebrity as superintend-
ent of the Kentucky Institute for the Blind, and
superintendent of the American Printing House for
the Blind, was born January 30th, 1836, in the town
of Milton, Massachusetts. His father was Rev. Ben-
jamin Huntoon, who was graduated from Dart-
mouth College, and was a Unitarian clergyman all
his life. His immigrant ancestor on the maternal
side was Philip Huntoon, an English yeoman, who
came to America in 1689 and settled in Exeter, New
Hampshire. In 1697, this Philip Huntoon removed
to Kingston, New Hampshire, and, in 1710, he was
captured bv the Indians, tortured in various ways,
carried to Canada and sold to the French traders,
who gave him his freedom in return for his services
in “setting up a saw mill” in the English fashion.
The mill thus erected in Canada by the English-
5S4
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
American pioneer Huntoon is said to have been the
first lumber mill put into operation in what now
constitutes the Dominion of Canada. Philip Hun-
toon returned to New England, and his children and
grandchildren served in the Colonial Wars, which
occurred in the early and middle parts of the eight-
eenth century, and his grandchildren and great-
grandchildren were participants in the Revolution-
ary War. The mother of Benjamin B. Huntoon was
Susan Pettingill before her marriage, and both she
and her husband were natives of Salisbury, New
Hampshire.
Brought up in New England, B. B. Huntoon was
sent to school first when he was eight years of age,
and attended Hampden Academy, at Hampden,
Alaine, for the next four years. He then attended
school a year at Canton, Massachusetts, and spent
another year at Bridgewater Academy, after which
he was sent to Phillips Andover Academy to be
regularly fitted for college. This latter course of
study completed, he matriculated at Harvard Col-
lege, and was graduated from that institution in the
class of 1856. Soon after his graduation, he came to
Kentucky, an accomplished and scholarly young
man, peculiarly well fitted both by nature and train-
ing to engage in educational work. During the
years 1856-57, he was a private tutor in the family
of C. D. Bright, at Versailles, Kentucky, but in the
fall of 1857, at the suggestion of Rev. John H. Hey-
wood, he opened a private school in Louisville. In
those days, the public school system of Louisville
was lamentably deficient in the facilities afforded for
the proper education of the youth of the city, and
Mr. Huntoon’s school, modeled after the best acade-
mies of New England, became an exceedingly popu-
lar and prosperous institution. It continued in ex-
istence until 1871, and those years of teaching gave
Air. Huntoon a place in the first rank of the edu-
cators of Kentucky. In his position at the head of
this institution, he had shown himself to be a man
of superior administrative ability, as well as an able
and zealous teacher, and, in 1871, he was appointed
superintendent of the Kentucky Institution for the
Blind, as the successor of Bryce M. Patten, who had
filled the position from the time the institution was
founded, in 1842, up to the date of Mr. Huntoon’s
appointment.
As superintendent of this institution, Air. Huntoon
entered upon a great work, to which he has now
devoted a quarter of a century of earnest and in-
telligent effort, which has been prolific of good re-
sults. The law under which the institution is at
present managed was passed in 1876, and, under
his management, it has made wonderful advance-
ment. All his energies have been concentrated upon
the work which he has had in hand, and many im-
provements in the system of educating the blind, to-
gether with many appliances adapted to their use in
industrial and other pursuits, have been originated
by him.
At the same time that he became superintendent
of the Institution for the Blind, he was made super-
intendent of the American Printing House for the
Blind, founded as a private charity, but now sup-
ported by endowment provided for by act of Con-
gress. As superintendent of this institution, he has
been the active manager of the most noted estab-
lishment of its kind in the United States, and one
which has contributed in the greatest degree to the
great work of educating those who are deprived of
sight. Alany new devices and improvements have
come into existence as a result of the study and ex-
periments of Air. Huntoon and those associated with
him in the joint conduct and management of these
institutions, and the beneficent results of his life
work have not only been felt in Louisville and
throughout the State of Kentucky, but throughout
the whole United States.
He married Sarah Josephine Huntoon, of Han-
over, New Hampshire, in i860. His only child is a
daughter, Mary Josephine, who was born at her
mothers old home in New Hampshire in 1861, and
who is now the wife of Dr. Ap Morgan Vance, of
Louisville.
CREDERICK DANIEL HUSSEY was born
A in Nashua, New Hampshire, August 9, 1857,
son of Daniel and Emily (Perkins) Hussey, the
former a native of New Hampshire, and the latter
of the State of Alaine. He is a descendant of Chris-
topher Hussey, who, with others of the Society of
Friends, bought the Island of Nantucket as a refuge
from persecution and settled there in 1658-59. His
father, Daniel Hussey, was a noted New England
manufacturer, who was born in Rochester, New
Hampshire, in 1819, and died in 1883. Left a half
orphan, at an early age by the death of his father,
Daniel Hussey began the battle of life when he was
twelve years old, struggled upward under adverse
circumstances, accumulated a splendid fortune, and
dying, left behind a name which he had made
famous by his own achievements. He was gifted
with remarkable mechanical genius, and, brought
up as he was in industrial New England, drifted
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
585
naturally into factory work when he first sought
employment which would enable him to contribute
his mite toward the support of his widowed mother
and her family. When he grew a little older, he
learned the blacksmith’s trade, and then the ma-
chinist's trade, in the meantime devoting as much
of his time as could be spared from remunerative
employment to attendance at Andover Academy.
When he was twenty-one years old, he had acquired
a fair education, was a skillful mechanic, and felt that
confidence in his ability to succeed characteristic of
the young man who has thoroughly learned the les-
son of self-reliance. At that age he became an em-
ploye of the Merrimac Cotton Mills, at Lowell,
Massachusetts, and advanced successively from one
position to another, until he became the manager of
these mills. Later, he was interested in mills at
Nashua and Great Falls, New Hampshire, and at
Lawrence, Massachusetts, as well as at Lowell.
Frederick D. Hussey inherited a handsome for-
tune and, along with it, much of the financial genius
of his father. He was fitted for college at Phillips’
Exeter Academy, and then entered Harvard Col-
lege, class of 1880, but on account of impaired
health left college at the end of two years. A year
before he finished his collegiate course, he had visit-
ed Louisville for the first time, and he married one
of Louisville’s fair daughters about the time he
completed his education.
Immediately after his marriage, he established his
home in this city, and here he has since continued
to reside, taking a prominent position among the
capitalists of the city, becoming interested in nu-
merous corporate enterprises and a large holder of
bonds, stocks and other securities. His business
operations in Louisville have all been along financial
lines, and he has shown himself a shrewd and able
financier. It requires one kind of genius to enter the
field of industrial activity with no other capital than
energy, sagacity and mechanical skill, and upon this
basis to rear the fabric of fortune. That this is a
kind of genius which the world especially admires
is shown in the popular regard for and tributes paid
to self-made men. It was this kind of genius which
built up the fortune passed down to his descendants
by Mr. Hussey’s father.
To make a proper use of a fortune of which one
comes into possession in his young manhood, to
conserve it, add to it, and to make such use of it
that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest
enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit, re-
quires another kind of genius. The possession of
this kind of genius has been evidenced by Mr.
Hussey in the management of his estate. By care-
ful and sagacious financiering, he has added largely
to his fortune, and through his investments in
bank stocks, railroad securities and street rail-
way lines, has become closely identified with
leading financial institutions and business en-
terprises, which have contributed toward the build-
ing up of Louisville and the advancement of its com-
mercial and industrial interests.
Socially, he has been prominent as a club man
and one of those most actively interested in building
up the Pendennis Club, of which Louisville is justly
proud. A thorough cosmopolitan in tastes, man-
ners and accomplishments, his genial good fellow-
ship has attracted to him a large circle of friends,
who prize his friendsjhip and enjoy his companion-
ship. Politics has had for him no attractions, and it
is not probable that he could be induced to accept
anv office. Inclining to Republicanism, he may be
said to belong to the liberal, or independent, wing
of that party. He has never endorsed the extreme
high protection policy of some of the leaders of his
party, or favored the imposition of a tariff solely for
the benefit of the manufacturers of this country; but
believes that, in raising the revenues necessary for
the support of the government, tariff duties should
be carefully adjusted with a view to encouraging-
new industries, and affording only such protection
as will be for the best interests of the whole Ameri-
can people.
Mr. Plussey has been twice married. Flis first
wife — to whom he was married in 1880 — was Miss
Mary Winston, granddaughter of William Prather,
and great-granddaughter of Thomas Prather, who
settled in Louisville in the year 1798, and was one
of the most distinguished of the pioneers. Mrs.
Hussey died in 1889. In 1890, Mr. Hussey married
Miss Frances Lee Robinson — a daughter of Golds-
borough Robinson, Esq., of this city — who is also
one of the descendants of Thomas Prather. By his
first marriage he had four daughters. Their names
are Emily Perkins, Katharine Prather, Mary Wins-
ton and Dorothy Hussey.
CREDERICK HERMAN WULKOP was born
1 in Louisville, August 25, 1853, of German-born
parents, who came to this country in 1849, a part
of that great tidal wave of immigration which flowed
from Germany to this country after the revolution of
1848, and which brought to the 'United States an
element which has been potential in the advance-
586
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ment of American civilization and in developing the
resources of the country. His parents established
their home in Louisville, and the son was brought
up here and educated at the German-American
Academy. At an early age he engaged in the to-
bacco business, with which he has ever since been
identified, and has long been recognized as one of
the foremost dealers in Kentucky’s famous tobacco
product. He has engaged extensively in both the
American and export trade, and is the resident and
managing partner of the house of William G. Meier
& Company, widely known to those interested in the
tobacco business, and occupying a position in the
front rank of the leaf tobacco houses of the South.
He is also vice president of the Farmers’ Tobacco
Warehouse, and a director in some of the leading
corporations of Louisville, a business man of high
character and ability. His enterprise and activity
have extended into various fields and all movements
designed to build up the city, to extend its com-
merce, or improve its social conditions have received
his hearty encouragement and support. As a mem-
ber of nearly all the local commercial and social
clubs, his influence has been exerted in favor of
progress and improvement, and he has filled the
full measure of good citizenship. For some years
he was a member of the board of commissioners of
the Louisville School of Reform, and charitable and
reformatory movements of various kinds have
found in him a sympathetic and helpful friend.
Nominally a Republican in politics, his political
action has been influenced largely by the character
of the men presenting themselves as candidates for
office, and party lines have not restrained him from
casting his vote for the best men or for measures
which commended themselves to him. Following
in the footsteps of his ancestors, he has adhered to
the faith of the Lutheran Church. His connection
with fraternal organizations is limited to member-
ship in the Louisville Lodge of Elks.
He was married, in 1881, to Miss Louise M.
Borntraeger, and has four children: Elsie, Amelia,
Frederick F., and Lulie Wulkop.
VyHLLIAM EDWIN APPLEGATE, merchant,
’ ' was born December 1 8, 1851, at Georgetown,
Scott County, Kentucky, son of William H. and
Catharine (Clarke) Applegate, both natives of Ken-
tucky and members of old families which have
been identified with the history of the Common-
wealth ever since it came into existence. The Ap-
plegates were among the early settlers of Scott
County, and the paternal grandfather of William E.
Applegate — who died some years before the Civil
YV ar, leaving a large estate — was a leading merchant
of Georgetown. He came to Kentucky from Mary-
land, in which State his father — who was killed by
the Indians — was a large land owner.
The mother of Mr. Applegate, who is now a
cheery, well-preserved old lady of seventy-eight
years, was born in Scott County. Her father, Cary
Ludlow Clarke, settled in that County in 1792,
practiced law there and served several terms as
Judge of the District Court at Georgetown. He
was noted alike for his ability, his generosity and
public spirit, and one of the land-marks of George-
town is a building which he erected at his own ex-
pense and presented to the Masonic Order as a
lodge hall. The mother of Mrs. Applegate was a
Miss Mather before her marriage and came of an
English family extensively engaged in the manu-
facture of silks at Manchester, England, and later
interested in branch establishments in New York
State. Dr. James Clarke, an eminent physician and
surgeon of New York City — who died at Newton,
Long Island, in 1809 — was one of the maternal
great-grandfathers of Mr. Applegate, and his great-
great-grandfather in the same line was Captain
James Clarke, who was born in Edinburg, Scotland,
and came of a wealthy and aristocratic family. The
Clarke coat of arms is now in possession of a
descendant, named James Clarke, who is a resident
of New York, and many members of this old Scotch
family achieved distinction at the English Court and
in law and medicine. One, Sir Peter Clarke, was
knighted and made court physician to Queen Eliza-
beth. Captain James Clarke was an officer of the
British Navy, who gained honor and distinction in
the service and was a favorite at Court. On a
cruise from Canton to New York, in 1743, he met
a young lady who belonged to a wealthy Knicker-
bocker family, afterward married her and became
the progenitor of the New York branch of the
family.
William E. Applegate lived at Georgetown until
he was nine years of age. At that time the Civil
War began, and his father, being in full sympathy
with the Southern States, which proposed to form
a new government of their own, removed with
his family to Canton, Mississippi, where he was ap-
pointed to a military position in the Commissary
Department of the Confederacy. After the surren-
der of Vicksburg, they removed to Eutaw, Alabama,
and remained there until the close of the great
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
587
struggle between the States. They then returned
to their old home in Georgetown, to find their
fortune wrecked, their property scattered, and
much of it in the possession of other persons.
There Mr. Applegate ; — then a boy fourteen years
old — resumed the course of study which had
been interrupted by the events of the war, and
completed his education at Georgetown College,
giving special attention to the study of chem-
istry, pharmacy, and other branches which he
thought would be useful to him in the practical busi-
ness of life. His father removed with the family to
Louisville in 1868 and established here the whole-
sale whisky house of Applegate & Sons, still in ex-
istence and now widely known throughout the
United States. William E. Applegate at once be-
came a leading spirit in the conduct and manage-
ment of this business and, after the death of his
father, in 1884, became sole proprietor.
Born and brought up in the Bluegrass region,
famous for its beautiful women, its thoroughbred
horses' and choice whiskies, Mr. Applegate had
breathed an atmosphere which peculiarly fitted him
for the business in which he embarked. He was
a spirited, ambitious and energetic young" man, and
quickly demonstrated that, coupled with these quali-
fications for a successful business career, he had
executive ability of a high order and a genius for
commercial pursuits. Associated with his father
and brothers, he entered upon a career of prosperity
winch has been continuous and which has made
him a man of large fortune and high standing in
the business world. In addition to his commercial
interests, he is the owner of a distillery at Yelving-
ton, Daviess County, Kentucky, and is a stock-
. holder in numerous corporations. He has been a
director of banks, insurance and trust companies,
and is a leading member of the Board of Trade and
Commercial Club of Louisville. He is also the
owner of the famous Oakwood Stock Farm, near
Lexington, and is one of the most widely-known
breeders of thoroughbred horses in Kentucky, being
an ardent lover of “the sport of kings.”
Generous traits of character, charming hospitality
and winning courtesy have made him popular with
all classes of people, and he is familiarly known all
over the State as “Colonel” Applegate, the title per-
haps being suggested by the fact that lie has always
a small army of persons in his employ, and bestowed
upon him by his host of friends as a mark of respect
and admiration. Modest and unassuming, he is,
nevertheless, a man of strong character, prompt and
decisive action and very superior accomplishments
as a business man. Politically, he has always been
a Jeffersonian Democrat theoretically, but is in no
sense a strong partisan, considering men and meas-
ures as well as political affiliations in the exercise of
his right of suffrage.
His family affiliates with the Methodist Church,
but he is broadly liberal in his contributions to all
religious denominations, and the charitable and
philanthropic institutions of the city find in him a
generous and helpful friend, as do all the needy or
unfortunate ones who appeal to him for assistance.
In 1872, Mr. Applegate married Miss Martha
Elizabeth Falconer, with whom he first became ac-
quainted when he was twelve years of age, while
his father’s family was sojourning at Eutaw, Ala-
bama. Playmates and lovers in childhood, their
affection for each other strengthened as the years
rolled by, and their domestic life has been a super-
latively happy one. Mrs. Applegate is a descend-
ant of the noted Falconer and Eutaw families of
Alabama, and her father, Alexander Hamilton Fal-
coner, served sixteen years as Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Greene County, Alabama. The children
of Mr. and Mrs. Applegate are: William E. jr.,
Hamilton C., Eddie Perry, Mamie Iv., and Martha
Elizabeth Applegate.
JACOB MILLER, who has earned the right to
be called the chief citizen of South Louisville,
was born April 16, 1853, in Jefferson County, Ken-
tucky, son of Conrad and Christina (Britz) Miller.
His parents came to this country from Germany in
1846 and the same year they settled on a farm in
the county in which the son grew up, where he has
resided nearly all his life. He attended school in the
country until 1863, in which year his father died,
that event changing to some extent his condition in
life. After his father’s death he spent some time
with one of his uncles at Evansville, Indiana, and at-
tended school there two years. He came back to
Kentucky later and in 1870 came to Louisville,
where he may be said to have begun his business
career at seventeen years of age. For some time he
worked in a leather store and later in a grocery
store, driving a delivery wagon, and making him-
self generally useful, while endeavoring to get a
start in commercial life. After serving three years
as an employe he formed a partnership with his
brother, Christ Miller, and established himself in
the grocery business under the firm name of Jacob
Miller & Brother. Their venture was a successful
588
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
one and Jacob Miller especially became noted for
his energy and activity and for his tact in winning
and retaining customers and patrons. Nature en-
dowed him with that kind of foresight which en-
ables men to discover opportunities for the estab-
lishment of profitable business enterprises in new
communities and in the outlying districts of our
larger cities, and in 1877 he removed to his present
location in what is now South Louisville. When he
established himself in business at this place he was
the only merchant in the vicinity and very few peo-
ple had begun building homes in that neighbor-
hood. Louisville’s famous racetrack had, however,
been established near by and Mr. Miller was sa-
gacious enough to perceive that a thrifty and popu-
lar suburb would grow up within a few years in
this locality. At first he did but a small business/
but it was steadily increased until it reached the vol-
ume of fifty thousand dollars a year. His mer-
chandising operations were all the time profitable
and the earnings of his business were so judiciously
invested in neighboring real estate that Mr. Mil-
ler has become one of the principal property-hold-
ers as well as the leading business man of South
Louisville. In 1888 this suburb of Louisville was
organized as a municipal corporation and upon the
election of the first board of trustees Mr. Miller be-
came a member and president of the board. Under
the new constitution of Kentucky, which went into
effect in 1893, South Louisville was given a city
government and Mr. Miller stepped from the presi-
dency of the board of trustees, which he had held
continuously since the organization of that body,
into the mayoralty of the little city. He was elected
first mayor of the town for a period of four years
and had charge of the organization of the city gov-
ernment of which he is still the executive head. Tn
this capacity he has done much to improve and
build up a growing suburb, destined in time to be-
come an important part of the city of Louisville, by
finishing the missing link of Grand Boulevard and
Fourth Street through to the limits. He has been
a leader in all movements designed to promote the
material prosperity of South Louisville and to ad-
vance its business interests, evidencing his enter-
prise and public spirit in numerous ways, both as
a business man and a public official. Politically he
has been prominently identified with the Demo-
cratic party, belonging to what may be termed, in
the present condition of Kentucky politics, “the
sound money” wing of that party. Like the great
majority of German-Americans, he seems to have
inherited sound economic views and has no sym-
pathy with the fiat money tendencies of American
politics. He believes that the monetary system of
the United States should be as good as that of
England, Germany, or any other country in the
world, and that the Democratic party, to which he
is strongly attached, should not lend itself to the ad-
vancement of financial heresies, which the greatest
financiers and economists of the world believe would
bring ruin and disaster to all classes of people, save
a favored few. In religion he has adhered to the
faith of his fathers and is a follower of Martin
Luther and a member of the German Lutheran
Church. In fraternal circles he is known as an ac-
tive member of the Masonic order.
He was married in 1878 to Miss Emma B.
Sonne and they have had seven children, six of
whom are now living. The names of the children
living are Edward J., Katie, Jacob, Emma, Bertha
and Coleman R. Miller. Amelia Miller was the
name of the child deceased.
A LV AH LAMAR TERRY, son of William and
^ Helen Judith (Trabue) Terry, was born in Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1855. His father,
who was a native of Todd County, Kentucky, and
who died in Jefferson County, Kentucky, April 25,
1891, was a wholesale merchant of Louisville for
fifty years or more, and during a portion of his ca-
reer as a business man, served in the city council.
He was one of the incorporators of the First Chris-
tian Church, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut
streets, and was a life-long member of this denomi-
nation. He was the son of William Morris Terry,
whose father, Nathaniel Terry, was a resident of
Antrim Parish, Halifax County, Virginia, in 1752,
and for some time thereafter. He was appointed
justice of the peace by Lieutenant-Governor Din-
widdie, and afterward sheriff of the county. He was
also for some years a member of the House of Bur-
gesses, a member of the Virginia Convention of
May 6, 1776, and was present when Patrick Henry
made his great speech therein. His two bonds as
sheriff given to George III. are still on record. The
records of the court also show that he presided in
the last court held by the justices under King George
III., April term, 1776, and at the first court under
the commonwealth of Virginia, July 18, 1776. His
record of merit in the Revolutionary War is as fol-
lows: Nathaniel Terry, Virginia, first lieutenant,
Fourteenth Virginia, December 2, 1776. Regiment
designated Tenth Virginia, September 14, 1778.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
589
Captain lieutenant, March 12, 1779. Regiment
quartermaster, March 31, 1779. Captain, Decem-
ber 15, 1779. Taken prisoner at Charleston, May
12, 1780. Transferred and sent to Virginia, Febru-
ary 12, 1781, and served until the close of the war.
Mrs. William Terry was Miss Helen Judith Tra-
bue, of Glasgow, Kentucky, and was a worthy de-
scendant of a long line of illustrious ancestors. She
traced her genealogy directly back to the year 1600.
The Trabues were Huguenots, and their estate was
at Montaban, in the southern part of France. In
1687, at the time of the persecution of the Hugue-
nots, caused by the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes, many were driven from France by the
Roman Catholics, and among them Antoine (An-
thony) Trabue, who was at this time about nine-
teen years old. He and another young man loaded
a cart with wine, and disguised as peddlers, trav-
eled through the country selling it until they reach-
ed the furthermost guards, when they left their
horse and cart at night and made their escape to
Lausanne and DuBerne, Switzerland, and went
down the Rhine to Holland. Antoine Trabue aft-
erwards went to England and came from there to
Virginia, in 1700, settling with other Huguenots at
Manakintown, on the James River. Two other an-
cestors, Bartholomew Dupuy, and his wife, the
Countess Sussanne LaVillon, also made very nar-
row escapes. She was disguised as page to her hus-
band, and Bartholomew Dupuy wore his uniform as
king's guardsman, which was a protection to him
a part of the way, but on their route to the frontier
they were overtaken by some dragoons, one of
whom shot the countess. Dupuy was so enraged
at this time that he turned and killed the trooper
with his sword, afterward finding that his wife was
only stunned, for the bullet had lodged in her pray-
er-book, which she wore over her heart. Bartholo-
mew Dupuy and his wife also settled at Manakin-
town, Virginia, and his grand-daughter married the
son of Antoine Trabue, from whom are descended
the Trabues of the State of Kentucky and city of
Louisville, and many other of our best citizens.
Alvah Lamar Terry received a good academical
education in the public schools of Louisville and
at Forest Academy, in Jefferson County. At the
age of fourteen he left home, in January, 1870, go-
ing to Rockport, Kentucky, to assist in building the
Elizabethtown & Paducah Railroad, but after an ex-
perience of several months was compelled by sick-
ness to abandon the work. Returning home in
July, 1870, he took a position as a boy in the whole-
sale dry goods house of J. M. Robinson & Com-
pany, and has remained there since, being admitted
as a member of the firm January 1, 1886. Besides
being close in his attention to business, Mr. Terry
has taken an active part in various capacities promo-
tive of the interests of Louisville. For six years he
served as a member of the Louisville Legion under
General John B. Castleman. He has been an active
member of the Commercial Club, was for several
years a director, and also served one year as sec-
ond vice-president and one year as first vice-presi-
dent. He is also a member of the transportation
committee of the Board of Trade, secretary and
treasurer of the Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ As-
sociation, and a member of the board of directors of
the Louisville Savings, Loan & Building Associa-
tion, and of the Bank of Louisville. In political as-
sociation he has always been a member of the Dem-
ocratic party. The only fraternal organization of
which he is a member is that of the Royal Arcanum.
In religious affiliation he belongs to the Protestant
Episcopal Church, having been confirmed at Christ
Church and afterward becoming a member of Cal-
vary Church, of which he is a vestryman, acting as
registrar. He is also a member of the standing
committee and secretary of the same of the diocese
of Kentucky; a member of the board of directors
of the Orphanage of the Good Shepherd, and one of
the trustees of the Church Home and Infirmary.
On the 15th of July, 1880, Mr. Terry married
Elizabeth Loving, daughter of John and Susan Re-
gina (Patterson) Loving, to whom two children
have been born: John L. and Alvah L. Lerry, Jr.
C^HARLES SOUTHWICK was born in the
town of Junius, Seneca County, New York,
November 27, 1838, son of Adin D. and Susan
Southwick, the last named of whom died in 1869,
and the first named in 1895. The son obtained his
education at a country school taught near his fath -
er’s farm and his attendance at school was limited
each year to the winter months. After he became
old enough to make himself useful on the farm, he
was required to labor diligently when not in school
and about the only vacations he remembers to have
had in the course of a year, in those days, were
Christmas day and the Fourth of July. He left home
at the age of twenty years and went to Toledo, Ohio,
where he formed a business connection with his
brother-in-law and engaged in farming and the
manufacture of drain tile. During a part of the
year 1862 he was clerk in a hotel in Toledo, but did
590
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
not find that a congenial occupation, and in 1863 he
came to Louisville. In 1865 he formed a partner-
ship here with John T. Morris, the style of the firm
being Morris, Southwick & Company, and its busi-
ness general operations in real estate. In 1868 this
firm inaugurated the selling of real estate at auc-
tion in this city and within a few years they had built
up a large and prosperous business. They were
disastrously affected by the financial panic of 1873,
but during the years of their active operations in
real estate, the members of this firm contributed ma-
terially toward improving and rendering attractive
some of the choicest residence portions of the city.
They published what was known at the time as the
Real Estate Bulletin, and in this they agitated the
improvement of streets and were largely instru-
mental in setting on foot movements which resulted
later in the building of Nicholson, asphalt and
granite pavements. Mr. Southwick and Mr. George
Gosnel also obtained, at the request of Hon. John
G. Baxter, then mayor of the city, the right of way
for the western outfall sewer and the widening of
Broadway beyond Twenty-ninth Street to one hun-
dred and twenty feet, improvements which were
made under Mayor Baxter’s supervision.
Recovering after a time from the financial dis-
aster which had overtaken him in 1873, he con-
tinued his real estate operations alone, and later
with other partners, and for many years had a very
extensive business. Politically, he is identified with
the Republican party, and he is a member of the
Presbyterian Church. He has been twice married,
first in 1868 to Kate Lois Mosier, who died in 1877,
leaving one child, who died in 1884. He was mar-
ried a second time in 1880 to Mollie B. Fay.
A NDREW COWAN, merchant and manufac-
turer, son of William Strong and Margaret Isa-
bella (Campbell) Cowan, was born in Ayreshire,
Scotland, September 29, 1841. In 1848 he came
with his parents to the United States and in the
same year settled in Auburn, New York. Here, in
the public schools, he received his early education,
and having been prepared for college, was entered
at Madison — now Colgate — University, Hamilton,
New York. He was- pursuing his studies in (his in-
stitution when Mr. Lincoln made his first call for
troops, April 15, 1861, and he was not only the first
student of that institution to respond to the sum-
mons, bnt one of the first volunteers under the call.
On the 1 6th day of April, 1861, he enlisted as a pri-
vate in Captain Kennedy’s company of riflemen,
which afterward became Company B, Nineteenth
New York Volunteer Infantry. He was elected
first sergeant of the company and served at Wash-
ington and under Generals Patterson and Banks in
Virginia until September, 1861. He then assisted
in raising the First New York Battery of Light Ar-
tillery, at Auburn, New York, and was commis-
sioned senior first lieutenant of the battery, Novem-
ber 23, 1861. This command was attached to Gen-
eral W. F. Smith’s Division, Fourth Corps, Army of
the Potomac, and served with it until the Sixth
Corps was organized before Yorktown, when
Smith's Division, with which the battery continued
to serve, became the Second Division of the Sixth
Corps.
Lieutenant Cowan was promoted to the captaincy
of the battery before Yorktown, Virginia, April,
1862, and commanded the battery in continuous ac-
tive service until December, 1864. He was then
brevetted major for gallantry at the battle of Ope-
quan, Virginia, and at the battle of the Wilderness,
and was assigned to command of the Artillery Bri-
gade, Sixth Corps. He was brevetted lieutenant-
colonel for gallant and meritorious services in the
campaign which terminated in the surrender of
General Lee’s army at Appomattox. In that cam-
paign he commanded the Artillery Brigade, Sixth
Corps. He participated in all the important bat-
tles of the Army of the Potomac, and was severely
wounded at the battle of Gilbert’s Ford, on the Ope-
quan. In the battle of Gettysburg he commanded
this battery, being stationed in the center of Ceme-
tery Ridge, at the “famous clump of trees,” when
Longstreet’s great charge took place on the third
day of the battle. The monument erected there by
the State of New York, in honor of the battery,
bears the inscription, “Double Cannister at Ten
Yards.” He also fought at the “bloody angle” in
the battle of the Wilderness.
Colonel Cowan’s military record is so meritor-
ious, both in regard to length and continuity, and
for its great activity and value, it is proper to in-
sert here copies of letters complimentary to the
young officer, written as the war drew to a close.
These letters have never before passed out of the
private care of Colonel Cowan, but are prized by
him and are carefully preserved. For the purposes
of this sketch he has allowed them to be copied.
The following letter, with the endorsement there-
on, was forwarded to Colonel Cowan, but was only
treasured by him as a greatly prized voluntary trib-
ute:
I - ■
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
591
Headquarters Artillery Brigade, Sixth Corps,
Army of the Potomac.
January u, 1865.
Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, Governor of New York:
Governor: — Understanding that a bill for the or-
ganization of the V olunteer Light Artillery is about
to be introduced into the United States Senate,
which, if passed, will entitle New York to an addi-
tional number of field officers of artillery, I would
respectfully call your attention to the claim of Cap-
tain Andrew Cowan, First New York Independent
Battery, for promotion.
Captain Cowan has served under my command
for the past two years, during which time he has
participated in all the battles of the Army of the
Potomac and more recently in Sheridan’s glorious
campaign in the valley, during one of the engage-
ments of which he was severely wounded. He has
ever proved himself a faithful, zealous, brave and ef-
ficient officer, displaying at times distinguished gal-
lantry, eminently so at Gettysburg-, and always mer-
iting for himself and his battery, the commendation
of his superior officers. I have had occasion to call
the attention of the War Department to Captain
Cowan’s services and recommended him for pro-
motion by brevet.
I sincerely trust that an opportunity may now oc-
cur which will enable the State that he so nobly rep-
resents, to confer well-earned promotion upon him.
I remain, Governor, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
C. H. TOMPKINS,
Colonel Commanding Brigade.
This letter contains the following endorsement:
Headquarters Sixth Army Corps.
January 10, 1865.
I most heartily concur in what is said within by
Colonel Tompkins in behalf of Captain Cowan, and
sincerely hope that it may be in the power of His
Excellency, the Governor of New York, consistent-
ly with the claims of others, to confer increased rank
upon him.
Captain Cowan, who has served in this corps since
its organization, has always shown himself to be a
brave and efficient officer, handling his battery ad-
mirably in action, and moreover bv his length of
service as a captain is believed to be entitled to pro-
motion by seniority. H. G. \\ RfGII I ,
Major-C ieneral Commanding.
The following letter was written by Major-Gen-
eral H. G. Wright after the battle of Sailor’s Creek,
in which Colonel Cowan had handled the Artillery
Brigade of the Sixth Corps so effectively as to elicit
great commendation :
Headquarters Sixth Army Corps.
Ball’s Cross Roads, Va., June 13, 1865.
Bvt. Maj. Andrew Cowan, Commanding Artillery
Brigade, Sixth Army Corps.
Major: — As your connection with the Corps is
about to be severed by the discharge of the bat-
teries composing the Artillery Brigade under your
command, it is fitting that I should express on part-
ing my appreciation of your merits as an officer and
my obligations for the gallantry and skill with which
you have discharged your responsible duties.
Connected with the Corps, as you have been,
since I joined it in the spring of 1863, and 1 believe
since its organization you have participated in the
most eventful of the battles of the great struggle,
and will bear with you on your retirement from the
service, the consciousness of having discharged
your duty well.
For your services as a member of my staff, com-
manding the Artillery Brigade of the Corps, during
the recent campaign, the last of the war, I am under
special obligations. The Artillery was admirably
handled throughout and I have never known it more
effectively used. At Sailor’s Creek, on the 6th of
April, its efficiency exceeded anything in my ex-
perience and demonstrated what Artillery can do,
on the battle field, when well handled. With my
most sincere wishes for your future, I am most sin-
cerely yours, H. G. WRIGHT,
Major-General Commanding.
The following letter from General Hunt, Chief of
Artillery Army of the Potomac, shows the high
estimate in which Colonel Cowan was held. At the
date of this letter, Colonel Cowan was twenty-three
years of age:
Washington, D. C., June 18, 1865.
My Dear Major: — On my return from Richmond,
I received your note of June 11, and regret that I
was unable to see you before you left and to express
to you in person, my sense of obligation for the ser-
vice you have performed under my command.
Peace costs us many sacrifices and the. greatest is
the termination of relations which have existed for
years, which we w ill consider hereafter as the most
exciting and important of our lives.
In the labor and sacrifices which a successful
peace required you have borne your full share and
I wished to assure you that in all your positions,
592
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
from the command of a battery to a Brigade of
Artillery, I have had every reason to be satisfied
with you.
After the many battles and campaigns in which
you have borne a conspicuous and valuable part,
as attested by the official report, you had every right
to expect promotion. The unfortunate policy which
deprived the artillery of the field and staff necessary
to its highest efficiency has alone prevented you
from receiving the reward justly due you. The
same service rendered in any other arm you would
have received your General’s commission.
Should there be hereafter an increase in our arm
of the service, I hope to see you back again and with
higher rank.
With my best wishes for your future and my as-
surance that the past relations existing between us
will ever be remembered by me with pleasure, be-
lieve me to be, very truly yours,
'HENRY I. HUNT,
Major-General Chief of Artillery Army of the Poto-
mac.
Major Andrew Cowan,
Palmyra, Wayne County, N. Y.
Colonel Cowan was mustered out of service at
the close of the war, at Syracuse, June 23, 1865, hav-
ing served two months and one week longer than
four years, being not yet twenty-four years of age.
More than thirty years afterward, in September,
1895, at a meeting of the Twenty-ninth Encamp-
ment of the Grand Army of the Republic at Louis-
ville, he received a gratifying testimonial of the re-
gard in which he was held by the officers and sol-
diers of his command in the presentation of a hand-
some gold badge.
After the war, Colonel Cowan moved to Indian-
apolis, Ind., and resided there until July 1, 1866.
He then came to Louisville and with James E.
Mooney and Charles IT Mantle established the firm
of Mooney, Mantle & Cowan, wholesale dealers in
leather and railway and mill supplies, in which busi-
ness he continues as the firm of Andrew Cowan &
Company, at 435 and 437 West Main Street, his
eldest son, Albert A. Cowan, with him comprising
the firm. He is also President of the National Oak
Leather Company of Louisville, manufacturers of
oak tanned harness and belting leathers, with a paid
up capital of $150,000, and is Vice-President of the
Louisville Leather Company, manufacturers of sole
leather, with a capital of $200,000. The firm of An-
drew Cowan & Company manufactures leather belt-
ing and deals in railway and mill supplies. It also
manufactures boot and shoe uppers and deals in
all kinds of shoe leather and findings, harness
leather, harness and saddles, and saddlery hard-
ware. Besides these several important enterprises,
which largely represent one of the chief industries
of Louisville, Colonel Cowan is connected with sev-
eral financial institutions, being a director of the
Bank of Commerce and of the Columbia Finance
& Trust Company. In political affiliation, he is a
Republican in national politics, but independent in
local elections. He is an active, sagacious and
methodical business man, but finds time to lend a
willing hand in all movements tending to promote
the business interests of Louisville, its charities,
schools and public institutions. Colonel Cowan
took a leading part in the inauguration of the splen-
did park system of Louisville. Being a member of
the Salmagundi Club, which originated the scheme
resulting in the establishment of parks, he was one
of the committee appointed by that club to prepare
a plan. Such a plan was prepared and reported and
he was continued on the Committee for the prepara-
tion of the Park Bill. He procured much informa-
tion for the committee, and was active in getting
the bill passed through the Legislature, going to
Frankfort for that purpose. Being one of the first
elected Park Commissioners, he went to work With
the greatest energy and activity, and devoted his
time and means in obtaining the grounds. The
success of the movement is largely due to him, and
he has thereby earned the gratitude of the citizens
of Louisville. He was elected one of the first mem-
bers of the Board of Park Commissioners on a non-
partisan ticket, serving for three years. He was
defeated for re-election as an independent candidate
for the same office, but upon the impeachment of
Frederick H. Gibbs, one of the Board elect, he was
chosen by the new Board to fill the vacancy. At
the expiration of his second term, he was nominat-
ed by the Republicans for the same office, but de-
clined the nomination.
Colonel Cowan is held in the highest esteem by
the citizens of Louisville and enjoys the confidence
of all. His identification with every enterprise is
sought, and no one more generously gives of his
time and means for the general good of the com-
munity in which he lives. Among other public en-
terprises in the establishment of which he took an
active part was the Manual Training School, after-
ward placed on a permanent basis by the munificent
donation of Mr. A. V. du Pont. He is now Presi-
dent of the Board of Visitors of the Kentucky In-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
593
stitution for the Blind; member of the Board of
Council of the Charity Organization Society; and
a trustee of the Louisville Free Kindergarten As-
sociation. He is a member of the Loyal Legion,
the Grand Army of the Republic, the Society of the
Army of the Potomac, and of the Filson, Salma-
gundi and Conversation Clubs. In religious affili-
ation, he is a member of the Broadway Baptist
Church.
In February, 1864, Colonel Cowan married Mary,
the daughter of Rev. Samuel Adsit, of Palmyra,
New York, who died in September, 1867, leaving a
son, Albert Andrew Cowan, now a member of the
firm of Andrew Cowan & Company. He married a
second time, in January, 1876, Anna L. daughter of
Elisha Morgan Gilbert, of Utica, New York. Their
son, Gilbert Sedgwick Cowan, born October 24,
1876, is now a student at Yale University in the
class of '98.
D ICHARD OWEN GATHRIGHT, son of John
* ^ Radford Gathright and Zarelda Baker Gath-
right, was born near Ballardsville in Oldham Coun-
ty, Kentucky, November 12, 1840. The family on
the paternal side came of early settlers in the col-
ony of Virginia, his grandparents of that branch
coming about the close of the last century from
Culpeper County, Virginia, to Shelby County, Ken-
tucky, in which vicinity their descendants have since
remained. His mother, whose maiden name was
Zarelda Quicksell Baker, was of a distinguished
pioneer family of Pennsylvania. Her grandfather,
Captain John Quicksell, equipped a command at
his own expense and took a prominent part in the
Revolutionary War.
About the year of 1850, when the subject of the
sketch was ten years of age, his parents moved
from Oldham County to the city of Louisville, and
in the admirable schools of this city was commenced
the good education he afterwards attained. At the
age of sixteen he was sent to Transylvania Uni-
versity, after one year was transferred to Asbury
University at Greencastle, Indiana, now known as
De Pauw University. Here he remained until the
close of his collegiate course, which was precipitated
by the opening of the war between the States in
1861. He had taken a full classical course and was
in the second session of his junior year when he re-
sponded to the call to arms and with two Mississippi
classmates made his way into the Southern lines,
where he enlisted as a private in the First Regi-
ment of Confederate Cavalry, commanded by Colo-
38
nel Ben Hardin Helm, afterwards Brigadier-Gen-
eral Helm. He continued with this famous regi-
ment, serving as a private until General Bragg en-
tered Kentucky, in 1862, when he was elected cap-
tain of Company H, Fourth Kentucky Cavalry,
commanded by Colonel Henry L. Giltner. With
this regiment he served conspicuously until the
close of the war. Its operations were chiefly from
Knoxville, Tennessee, to Winchester, in the valley
of V irginia. It had extremely hard service and was
engaged in many important battles and skirmishes.
Being mounted the command was in continual mo-
tion upon the enemy’s front and was rarely at rest
more than a few days at a time.
Captain Gathright had much of the cavalier in
his nature, was extremely fond of dangerous and ad-
venturous encroachments upon the enemy and was
almost uninterruptedly at the head of a large scout-
ing party. He was successful in capturing the en-
emy’s advanced guards, its foraging and scouting
parties. There was a fearless dash in his achieve-
ments that gave him high character among the
Southern soldiers as a free and rough rider, with a
cool head and Steady nerve. Except when in prison
or in restraint on account of his wounds, he was
continuously in active service. About three months
before the close of the war he was placed in com-
mand of six companies of dismounted men of the
division, and was active as a field officer up to the
time of General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
This battalion was made up of soldiers from sev-
eral different states, and when the army of West
Virginia, then under General John Echols, was dis-
banded at Christiansburg, Virginia, there was much
confusion and each company was instructed to join
its own people. Captain Gathright reporting back
to his brigade, was placed in command of the
Fourth Kentucky Regiment.
There was some difference of opinion as to what
direction the troops should take. General Duke,
with a part of Morgan’s command, decided to go to
North Carolina, where General Joseph E. Johnston
was negotiating terms of surrender with General
Sherman, but a majority of the Fourth Kentucky
decided to move through Eastern Kentucky into
Tennessee, and if there was any indication of a con-
tinuance of the struggle to cast their fortunes with
General Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi de-
partment. This programme would have been car-
ried out but for the demoralizing influence of re-
ports from every direction that the armies were all
disbanded, the struggle over and the Southern
594
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
cause lost. In this condition the command decided
to waste no further time in useless marches, but to
go to Mt. Sterling and ask for such terms of sur-
render as General Grant had given to General Lee.
This was wisely done, as the war was really at an
end and it would have been folly to have gone fur-
ther. In the fall of 1863 Captain Gathright was
wounded in the leg in an engagement at Limestone,
Tennessee. In 1864 he received a slight wound
across the loin at Raytown, Tennessee, and dur-
ing the last raid of General Morgan in Kentucky
was shot through the knee at Mt. Sterling. This
was a severe and painful wound, from which he
suffered some time. He was left on the field where
he fell, and taken in charge by the enemy, but in
spite of his crippled condition he contrived to es-
cape within a few weeks and was harbored by
friends between Mt. Sterling and Lexington. The
occasion of his escape was favorable on account of
the slow movement of prisoners, all of whom were
wounded, and the darkness of the night.
After recovering he undertook to make his way
back to his command in Virginia, but had not gone
far when he was recaptured and taken to Fort Clay
at Lexington. There, however, he only remained
two weeks, when he again escaped, and this time
after many chases and hardships, made his way
through the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee
to General Morgan’s headquarters at Abingdon.
After the surrender at Mt. Sterling he returned to
the old homestead in Oldham County to which his
father had returned at the opening of the war. Here
he engaged with his father in farming and contin-
ued with him up to the date of his marriage. On
the 1 2th of December, 1867, he married Bettie Na-
than Howell, daughter of Nathan Howell of Shelby
County. Soon after his marriage he engaged in
farming in Shelby County and continued at the
business until 1879, when he purchased the Mer-
chant Flouring Mill and the business of Smyser-
Milton & Co. at Louisville, and has since been suc-
cessfully engaged in flour making. The mill is a
large one, having a capacity of from three hundred
and fifty to five hundred barrels per day. It pro-
duces a superior grade of flour and its product is
marketed in many cities of the North and South.
It has a large local trade and is kept busy the year
round. Captain Gathright has fine business capacity
with all of the administrative ability necessary for
the conduct of such a large establishment.
He has met with the success that his integrity and
intelligence deserve. He has two children, Virginia
Howell Gathright, a graduate of Hampton Female
College of this city, and Jesse Nathan Gathright, a
graduate of Virginia Military Institute at Lexing-
ton, Virginia. In religious affiliation he has form-
ed no alliance, but his wife is a Baptist and he con-
tributes to the support of that church. In politics he
has been a life-long Democrat, but has never had
any inclination to public office or to taking any ac-
tive part in public affairs.
\
CASCAR TL'RNER, lawyer and orator, was born
in the city of New Orleans, February 3, 1825,
and died in Louisville, January 22, 1896. His fath-
er was Fielding Lewis Turner, a distinguished
Southern jurist, who was for many years judge of
the criminal court of Louisiana, and his mother was
Caroline Sargent before her marriage, daughter of
Hon. Winthrop Sargent, at one time governor of
Louisiana. He inherited intellectual as well as phy-
sical vigor and was born to become a leader of men.
Having a large law practice, which extended over
several of the Southern States, Judge Turner ac-
quired landed interests in various places, and among
them a large plantation near Lexington, Kentucky.
Previous to 1826 members of his family divided
their time between their Kentucky home and the
home in New Orleans, but in that year they estab-
lished themselves permanently at Lexington. Os-
car Turner was one year old when his father re-
moved to Kentucky, and all the subsequent years
of his life were spent in this State.
Favored by fortune, he enjoyed the best educa-
tional advantages from his youth up, and began the
study of law when he was eighteen years of age.
Some time later he entered the law department of
Transylvania University and graduated with high
honors from that institution in the class of 1847.
Before this he had become the owner of large tracts
of land in Western Kentucky, and being a young
man of fortune it was by no means necessary that
he should apply himself assiduously to professional
labor. He had, however, a natural fondness, as well
as a natural fitness, for the law and entered upon
his calling with a zeal and earnestness which showed
the intensity of his nature. His landed interests be-
ing in Ballard County he began the practice of his
profession there and speedily acquired distinction
at the bar of Western Kentucky. In 1851 he was
elected commonwealth’s attorney for the district in
which he resided, and entered upon the discharge of
his official duties in that connection, at a time when
chaos and confusion existed in many portions of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
595
the district, on account of the lax enforcement of
the laws and the immunity from punishment en-
joyed by the criminal classes. This condition of af-
fairs was speedily changed for the better by the
young but able and vigorous prosecutor, who set
his face sternly against leniency in dealing with
those who transgressed the laws of the common-
wealth.
From early manhood to old age the outlining of
a policy by Mr. Turner meant inflexible adherence
to that policy, and when he determined that the dis-
trict of which he was the chief law officer should
be made a law-abiding instead of a law-breaking
community, there was no turning him from his pur-
pose. Courage and tenacity of purpose were then,
as in later years, among his dominant characteris-
tics, and he was absolutely fearless in the discharge
of his official duties.
He held the office of commonwealth’s attor-
ney four years, and during that time malefactors
who came within his jurisdiction either suffered the
prescribed penalties for their crimes, or were driven
beyond the boundaries of the State, and quietude
became the rule, instead of the exception. Having
brought about this improved condition of affairs,
he resigned the office to give attention to his far
more remunerative private practice, which extended
all over that portion of the State known as “Jack-
son’s Purchase.”
Like all of the leading lawyers of that day he had
a general practice and was equally well equipped for
the trial of civil or criminal causes. He had to
measure lances with ma’ny of the great lawyers who
made the old Kentucky bar famous, and held his
own with the best legal talent of the State.
His career as a legislator began in 1867, when he
was elected to the State Senate, in which body he
at once became a recognized leader. For many
years before that, however, he had been a prominent
figure in the politics of the State. He was a Demo-
crat by inheritance and conviction, and very early
in life became a manager of local political cam-
paigns and a counsellor of those who conducted
State and National campaigns. He was for many
years chairman of the Democratic campaign com-
mittee of Ballard County, and chairman also of the
Congressional committee of the hirst Congressional
District. In every campaign his services were in de-
mand as a public speaker, and there were few more
popular campaign orators among the old political
leaders of the commonwealth. In the protracted
and bitter struggle against the “Know-Nothing,”
or Native American movement, he met the ablest
champions of the organization which advocated
proscription of citizens of foreign birth, in joint de-
bates which became famous in the history of Ken-
tucky politics.
Trenchant and forcible in his denunciation of
what he regarded as a wicked conspiracy against
the best interests of the commonwealth of Ken-
tucky and the country at large, he kept up an un-
compromising warfare against the principles of the
Know-Nothing party until that organization passed
out of existence and ceased to be anything more
than a malodorous reminiscence.
Early in the “seventies,” he began a memorable
struggle to remedy evils and correct abuses within
his own party. In the First Congressional District,
what he characterized as “ring rule” existed, to the
detriment of public interests and in defiance of the
principles of popular government. Mr. Turner un-
dertook to break down the power of a few political
leaders who had become accustomed to manipulate
political conventions so that the masses of the peo-
ple had little to do with the selection of candidates
for office. Failing to accomplish his purpose bv
working inside of party lines, he resorted to inde-
pendent action, and in 1874 became a candidate for
Congress, announcing that he would submit his
claims only to the people of the district as a whole.
He asked that a primary election should be held, at
which the rank and file of his party in the district
might give expression to their preferences for a
Congressional candidate. The party managers re-
fused to call a primary, and he went into the con-
test as an independent Democratic candidate. He
fought two losing campaigns, but in 1878 was
elected bv an overwhelming majority over Judge
L. S. Trimble, the regular Democratic nominee. He
was re-elected in 1880 by a vote which came nearer
being unanimous than any similar vote ever cast in
the First District. In 1882 he was again elected,
and in each of his campaigns he had a faithful and
enthusiastic following, which has rarely been
equalled in the history of Kentucky politics. No
man in the State ever scored greater triumphs
against such tremendous odds. All the party ma-
chinery of the district was put in operation against
him, and every politician and political newspaper
was opposed to him. Campaign speakers de-
nounced him from every stump, and his success, un-
der such circumstances, evidenced a personal popu-
larity and a hold upon the confidence and affections
of the masses of the people which has rarely been
596
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
equalled in the experience of public men. It was
only after he had become broken in health, as a re-
sult of his public services and arduous campaigns,
and had established a home near Louisville — al-
though he retained a home in Ballard County — that
his political opponents were able to prevail against
him and retire him from Congress.
He served six years as a member of the Na-
tional House of Representatives, and during that
time occupied a prominent position in that body.
He was one of the leaders in the tariff reform move-
ment and many of his speeches were circulated as
campaign documents in the Presidential campaign
in 1880. He took a broad view of public affairs and
governmental policies, and labored for what he con-
ceived to be the best interests of the country as a
whole, at the same time giving careful attention to
the wants and needs of his immediate constituency.
He was conspicuously identified with the enactment
of much important general legislation and secured
many substantial appropriations for his district,
among them being one of a hundred thousand dol-
lars for the custom house at Paducah. His inde-
pendent political attitude gave him an influence with
the national administrations — Republican, during
his terms of service in Congress — -which enabled
him to secure for his district representation in the
government departments, and, all in all, he was one
of Kentucky’s most conspicuously able and useful
representatives in Congress.
In early life he was thrown from his carriage and
sustained injuries from which he never recovered,
and which were, at times, excruciatingly painful. At
intervals he was compelled to walk with the assist-
ance of a crutch, and the best surgical skill in the
"United States failed to afford him permanent relief.
But, notwithstanding his physical sufferings, he
was one of the most active public and professional
men of his generation, bearing the ills of life and
meeting its storms like a true philosopher.
He was married, in 1854, to Miss Eugenia Gard-
ner, a beautiful and accomplished woman, who be-
longed to one of the first families of Tennessee. Mrs.
Turner was in thorough sympathy with the tastes
and ambitions of her husband, and in an ideal coun-
try home they lived an ideal life. Their home in
Ballard County — appropriately called “Woodlands”
stood in the midst of a grove of forest trees and
overlooked a farm of several thousand acres, slop-
ing away to the Ohio River, four miles distant.
Here, for many years, Judge Turner and his ac-
complished wife kept open house, entertaining
many distinguished guests among those who sought
rest and recreation at this charming rural retreat.
Judge Turner took great pride in his farm and al-
ways retained his residence there, although, about
1878, he built a home in Crescent Hill, near Louis-
ville, at which he spent the larg'er share of his time.
The home in Ballard County was a typical Ken-
tucky estate, stocked with the best breeds of horses
and cattle, and cultivated by tenants, some of whom
have lived there all their lives. This estate was oc-
cupied by his son, Colonel Henry L. Turner, until
his death in the current year. Mrs. Turner and an-
other son, Oscar Turner, living at “Melrose,” the
Crescent Hill residence, and Mrs. William J. Ab-
ram, living in the city of Louisville, are the only sur-
viving members of his family.
DEV. RICHARD HENDERSON RIVERS,
* ^ D. D., an eminent minister of the Methodist
Church South, long resident in Louisville, was
born in Montgomery County, Tennessee, Septem-
ber 11, 1814. His father, Edmunds Rivers, was
born in Virginia, December 31, 1783, and his moth-
er, Sallie Henderson, was born in North Carolina,
April 6, 1787. They were married in 1807. His
maternal grandparents were Samuel Henderson — -
who was the brother of Colonel Richard Henderson,
president of the Transylvania Colony, organized at
Boonesborough, in May, 1775— and Betsy Calla-
way, daughter of Colonel Richard Callaway, of
Boonesborough, whose romantic capture and res-
cue from the Indians, together with her sister Fan-
ny and Jemima Boone, daughter of Daniel Boone,
compose one of the most romantic incidents of Ken-
tucky history. Samuel Henderson was one of her
rescuers, and they were married shortly after their
return to the fort by Squire Boone, brother of Dan-
iel Boone, a Baptist minister.
The subject of this sketch having attended several
private schools in Tennessee was graduated from
LaGrange College, Alabama, in June, 1835, taking
the whole college course in eighteen months, study-
ing sixteen to eighteen hours a day and teaching a
class in languages much of the time. He became a
minister of the Methodist Church South, and was
a professor at LaGrange College for nine years after
his graduation, teaching the languages and mathe-
matics, Bishop Robert Paine being president of the
college. He was then elected president of the Ath-
ens (Alabama) Female College, conducting it suc-
cessfully and being instrumental in erecting a large
and substantial school building. From Athens he
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
597
went to Jackson, Louisiana, where he became presi-
dent of Centenary College, and remained until
1854, when his wife’s health required a change of
climate. He then accepted the presidency of his
alma mater — LaGrange College — -which a year later
was removed to Florence, Alabama. Here he erect-
ed a fine college building, now known as the Nor-
mal College of Alabama. In March, i860, while
discharging his duties, he was called upon to preach
a dedicatory sermon at a church ten miles from
Florence, but was thrown from a buggy and sustain-
ed a fracture of his left leg and right arm, which
lamed him for life. He soon, however, resumed his
active duties and delivered the baccalaureate ser-
mon sitting in a chair, as he was unable to stand.
When the war broke out Dr. Rivers left Florence
and accepted the presidency of Centenary Female
College, Summerfield, Alabama, where he remain-
ed during the war. At the close of the war he re-
moved with his family to Somerville, Tennessee,
where he taught a private school for girls until 1868,
when he accepted the presidency of Logan Female
College, Russellville, Kentucky. Without consult-
ing him, Bishop McTyeire sent him to Louisville
as pastor of the Broadway Methodist Church. He
was there for years and for two years at the Chest-
nut Street Methodist Church, when he was trans-
ferred by the bishop to the Tennessee conference.
He then became president of the Martin Female
College, Pulaski, Tennessee, where he erected an-
other magnificent school building. He was again
transferred to the Alabama conference and station-
ed at Auburn by Bishop Kavanaugh. He remained
there one year and was sent to Eufaula, Alabama,
whence after a stay of three years he was removed to
Greenville, Alabama. After a pastorate here of less
than a year, he was again transferred by Bishop
McTyeire to the Broadway Methodist Episcopal
Church, Louisville, and after a term of four years
to the Shelby Street — -now Main Street — -Church,
where he labored diligently for a year, and was then
superannuated, owing to his failing health. From
September, 1888, to his death, June 21, 1894, he la-
bored at home and abroad, meekly and patiently en-
during intense pain from his broken leg and arm.
He preached frequently in Louisville, Franklin and
elsewhere, and wrote regularly for the “Central
Methodist” and other church publications. A min-
ister and teacher for sixty-two years, he was inde-
fatigable in tbe cause of religion and education, and
his life was one long benediction.
In June, 1836, Dr. Rivers married Miss Martha
Bolling- Cox Jones, daughter of W. S. Jones, of
Franklin County, Alabama. Her father was a na-
tive of Nottaway County, and her mother of Amelia
County, Virginia. Her grandfather Jones was a
Revolutionary soldier. Nine children were born
to Dr. and Mrs. Rivers, four sons and five daugh-
ters. Their eldest son was killed by a falling tree
when a small boy. Their eldest daughter died in
Greenville, Alabama. Their second son, William
Jones Rivers, was drowned in a steamboat accident,
April ir, 1883, at Fort Grimes, Georgia, leaving a
wife and seven children, two of whom are now
grown and married. Mr. B. M. Rivers and Mrs.
William Kendrick, of Louisville, and Mrs. Albert
Buford, of Florida, three of the nine children of Dr.
and Mrs. Rivers, and eighteen grandchildren, with
Mrs. Rivers, survive him.
T OHN AUGUSTUS KRACK, physician, was
^ born in Carroll County, Maryland, September
15, 1823. His father was Rev. John Krack, and
his mother was a daughter of John Hibner, who
came with General LaFayette from France to aid
the American colonists in their struggle for inde-
pendence. At the close of the Revolutionary War
his grandfather Hibner settled near York, Pennsyl-
vania, where he reared a large family and where he
continued to reside until his death. In the paternal
line Doctor Krack comes of German stock, his
grandfather having immigrated to this country
from Germany when a very young man, and set-
tled in Carroll County, Maryland. There the father
of Dr. Krack was born, grew up and was educated
for the ministry. In 1829 he was called to the larg-
est and wealthiest Lutheran church in Baltimore,
and was the pastor of that church for several years.
Later he removed to Montgomery County, Indiana,
intending to make farmers of his family of sons and
being desirous of settling them on the cheaper lands
of a Western State. The sons did not, however,
take kindly to the idea of becoming farmers, and
Dr. Krack, who had been well educated in Balti-
more, came after a time to Kentucky, where he en-
gaged in teaching school in Henry County. After
teaching school several years he came to Louisville
in the year 1847 and became a medical student in
the office of Dr. Joshua B. Flint, who was at that
time taking the initiatory steps toward founding
the Kentucky School of Medicine. After attend-
ing one course of lectures at the old Medical Uni-
versity of Louisville, he entered the Kentucky
School of Medicine and was graduated in the first
598
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
class sent out from that institution, in 1851. After
practicing his profession several years he purchased
a drug store at the corner of Shelby and Market
streets, where he conducted a successful business
for five years thereafter. In 1856 he also purchased
a half interest in the Louisville Glass Works, and
becoming interested in these various business enter-
prises, practically gave up the practice of medicine.
In the early years of his residence in this city he
became interested in municipal affairs and has serv-
ed the city faithfully many years in various official
capacities. He was elected a member of the school
board in 1852 and served five years as a member of
that body, being largely instrumental in introducing
into the public schools the study of the German
language and aiding, in other ways, to lay the
foundation of the present splendid school system of
the city. He was elected a member of the com-
mon council in 1855 and served two years in that
capacity. In 1867 he was elected a member of the
board of aldermen from the Third Ward and serv-
ed until 1873, when he resigned. He was then
elected by the voters of Louisville to the office of
city assessor, which he held for twelve years, re-
signing at the end of that time. Having been suc-
cessful as a man of affairs, and having accumulated
a comfortable fortune, he retired at that time to pri-
vate life, having served the city in various capacities
for thirty years. Three months later he purchased a
drug store at Nineteenth and Chestnut streets and
continued in the drug business at that location un-
til February of 1896, when he disposed of his busi-
ness and retired on account of ill-health. He has
been a resident of Louisville for forty-eight years,
has been closely identified with business and other
interests of the city during the entire time, and has
seen its population grow from forty thousand to two
hundred thousand.
In 1845 lie cast Ms first vote at Madison, Indiana,
for Henry Clay, and was an ardent Whig until after
the death of Clay. Since that time he has been a
stanch Democrat. He is a devout member of the
English Lutheran Church, a man of many admir-
able traits of character and in all respects a good
citizen. He was married in 1849 to Miss Martha E.
Wayland, daughter of Dr. Fielding Wayland, of
Henry County, Kentucky, who died in 1894. They
had no children of their own, but reared and edu-
cated several orphan children, upon whom they be-
stowed warm parental affection. He now makes
his home with his adopted daughter, Mrs. Henry L.
Kremer, of this city.
DEGINALD H. THOMPSON, lawyer and jur-
' ist, son of Robert Augustine and Mary
(Slaughter) Thompson, was born in Kanawha
County, now West Virginia, October 31, 1836. His
father, who was born in Culpeper County, Virginia,
in 1805, was a member of Congress from that dis-
trict from 1848 to 1852, and was appointed by
President Pierce in 1853 to settle the Spanish grants
in California. His mother was the daughter of Cap-
tain Philip Slaughter, who commanded the minute
men from Culpeper County in the Revolutionary
War.
Reginald Thompson, after obtaining a good pri-
mary education in home schools, received his col-
legiate education at the University of Virginia, and
went to California in 1858, where he entered upon
the practice of law. The opening of the war found
him thus engaged, when his Southern sympathies
led him to cast his fortunes with the Confederate
cause. Coming eastward, in August, 1861, he en-
tered the Confederate army as first lieutenant of in-
fantry. After the battle of Shiloh, in which he took
part, he was promoted to captain, and in 1864 was
commissioned lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in Ca-
bell’s Division of Price’s Corps, and served until
the surrender in the Trans-Mississippi Department.
After the war he came to Louisville and was for
a time engaged upon the editorial staff of several
newspapers, among them “The Detroit Free Press,’’
in which capacity he exhibited qualities of a high
order. But his predilection for the law asserted it-
self, and in 1867 he resumed its practice at Napol-
eon, Arkansas, in partnership with Hon. Joseph C.
S. Blackburn. The unfavorable condition of the
South during this period of reconstruction did not,
however, offer an inviting field for the firm, and in
1869 it was dissolved, Judge Thompson coming to
Louisville, and Captain Blackburn going to Chi-
cago, where each started afresh in the practice. In
1882, having by thirteen years of application to the
law -established himself in the confidence of the
community, he was appointed by Governor Luke P.
Blackburn to fill out an unexpired term in the office
of city judge. In 1883, at the expiration of the frac-
tional period for which he had been appointed, he
was elected to the same position and has occupied it
by successive re-elections continuously since. This
frequent endorsement of Judge Thompson for an
office of such responsibility is the highest encomium
which coffld be conferred upon his services. Too
often the judgeship of a city court is filled by some
one who, whatever his legal capacity, has his moral
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
599
tone graded by the atmosphere of the purlieus
whence are drawn the victims of the law, the keen
insight of human nature which enables him to pene-
trate the wickedness and guilt of those arraigned be-
ing- drawn from familiarity with their guilt. But in
the case of Judge Thompson, the purity of his life
has been such that his judicial career has been based
wholly upon the broad principles of the law and
justice. With a heart singularly sensitive to the
misfortunes of his fellow-man, he readily discrimi-
nates between the unfortunate and the vicious, and
while lenient to those who are not of the criminal
class, he is a terror to the wrong-doer. While deal-
ing unsparing justice to the latter class, his attitude
to the young and wayward is reformatory, rather
than punitive, and he has been among the foremost
of our citizens in promoting institutions for the pro-
tection of the young against the danger of becoming
hardened by vice. The Industrial School of Re-
form has always received his earnest support, and
he has rescued many of the youth of both sexes by
committing them to the good influences of that char-
ity instead of making them hardened criminals by
sending them to the work-house. He believes in
the maxim that “Prevention is better than cure.'’
Among other institutions which he has assisted in
founding and fostering is the Newsboys’ Home, of
which he is president, its object being to save from
crime the waifs who, if not subjected to such pro-
tection, would drift into dangerous habits. His
court is a clean one in every sense, elevated by his
dignity and sense of decorum to a position enjoyed
by the higher tribunals of justice both in its meth-
ods of procedure and in the character and bearing
of those who practice in it. He has long been rec-
ognized by his mental caliber and personal char-
acter as fitted to fill the highest judicial station, but
the great public service he renders as judge of the
city court has caused his retention in that respon-
sible office.
In all of the relations of social life Judge Thomp-
son occupies a high station. Unassuming in per-
sonal demeanor, and unostentatious in his personal
habits, he enjoys the respect of everyone and the
warm friendship of a very large circle. He is an
exemplary member of the Episcopal Church and is
active in the discharge of his church duties. In the
Masonic Order lie has been long prominent, and
is now the Eminent Grand Commander of the
Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Ken-
tucky, few men being so well versed in Masonic
lore..
On June 7, 1806, he married Miss Lilly Thomp-
son, a worthy helpmate in all his labors and re-
sponsibilities, who is a representative of one of the
oldest families of Jefferson County and Louisville.
7ACHARY F. SMITH, historian, was born on
^ the 7th day of January, 1827, at the old home-
stead, Dupuy farm, in Henry County, Kentucky,
three miles southeast of New Castle, and about the
same distance from Eminence. Here, also, his
mother, Mildred D. Smith, was born; and here his
maternal grandparents, Joseph and Ann Peay Du-
puy, settled with their slaves, cleared away the vir-
gin forests, and built their first habitations, typical
of those immigrant days. His maternal grand-
father, Joseph Dupuy, was a direct descendant of
the old Huguenot refugee, Bartholomew Dupuy,
who was a captain in the King’s Guard of Louis
the Fourteenth at the time of the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. A stanch Protestant,
he was called upon to renounce his faith under
threat of confiscation of his property and imprison-
ment, and possibly death to himself and young
bride. Asking a few hours to consider, hasty prep-
arations were made. At nightfall, mounting him-
self and wife in guise of a page upon his fleetest
horses, they made their perilous escape over the
borders into Germany. From there, after some
years, they passed to England, and finally, with oth-
er refugees, came to Virginia and settled with the
Huguenot colonists at Manakintown, on James
River, about the year 1700. From this ancestral
pair descended the Dupuys, the Trabues, the Cald-
wells, the Pittmans, the Hardins, the Owens, the
Thomassons, the Brannins, the Majors, the Mc-
Clures, the Handys, the Samuels, and other fami-
lies numerous in Kentucky and throughout the
South and West. Ann Peay, the wife of Joseph
Dupuy and grandmother of Z. F. Smith was a sis-
ter of Austin Peay, one of the well known early
settlers of Louisville.
The father of Z. F. Smith, the subject of this sketch,
Zachary Smith, was a son of Captain Jesse Smith, who
married Joanna Pendleton, of the Virginia family of
Pendletons, and settled over a century ago on a
farm three miles northeast of Danville, Kentucky.
There was but the one issue of the marriage of Zach-
ary and Mildred Dupuy Smith, the husband dying
within a year after the marriage and the widow never
marrying again. Zachary F. Smith was educated
in the country and town schools within the vicinity
of his home, and completed his studies at Bacon
600
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
College, Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Returning
home, he devoted himself to farming and stock-
raising until near his thirtieth year of age. Dis-
posing of this interest just before the outbreak of
the Civil War, he conducted Henry College, at New
Castle, as president of the institution until 1866,
when he sold this interest and removed his home to
Eminence.
In 1867 Mr. Smith was nominated on the Demo-
cratic state ticket for superintendent of public in-
struction along with John L. Helm for governor,
and others for the remaining offices of state. It was
the first state election after the close of the war, and
the Democratic ticket was overwhelmingly success-
ful. On assuming the duties of office, Mr. Smith
made a thorough study of the condition and needs
of the school system. It had never been more
than the skeleton of a system and had been serious-
ly impaired during tbe war period. The pro rata
ranged about eighty cents. The school term was
fixed at three short months, and teachers’ wages
were but from twelve to twenty dollars a month.
Outside of the large cities, there were not fifty
professional teachers devoted to common school
work. The school tax was but five cents on the
one hundred dollars. Evidently nothing could be
done without more money. Mr. Smith had intro-
duced in the Legislature, in December, 1867, a bill
to increase this tax to twenty cents — three hundred
per cent. The measure met with stubborn opposi-
tion; one-half of the leaders of his own party were
arrayed against him, as incredulous as the fact may
appear to-day. After two years of stubborn contest
before the General Assembly, the bill was success-
fully carried through. The measure, involving an
annual increase of revenues of three-quarters of a
million, had to be ratified by popular vote at the
August election, in 1869. After a spirited cam-
paign, the whites only voting then, the measure
won by a majority of 25,000. The foundations of a
splendid system were soon laid; and improvement
has followed to the present day. It may well be
claimed for Mr. Smith that he is the father of the
present school system, with its professionally
trained corps of 10,000 teachers, its thousands of
commodious school-houses with modern equip-
ments, and its growing endowment of means, to
become in time the pride and glory of our Common-
wealth.
In 1869 Mr. Smith projected the Cumberland &
Ohio Railroad, an interior line connecting Cincin-
nati with Nashville, through Eminence, Shelbyville,
Lebanon and Glasgow, Kentucky, and Gallatin,
I ennessee. He was elected president of the com-
pany four successive years and obtained subscrip-
tions to the amount of $2,700,000 from the coun-
ties and towns on the route for construction pur-
poses. Work was prosecuted for two years, until
June, 1873, when he resigned further connection
with the company on account of measures insisted
upon by the directors which he believed would be
obstructive and fatal to success. Mr. W. H. Du-
laney, of Louisville, was elected his successor to
the presidency. Asking time to consider and ex-
amine the affairs of the company, within two weeks
he announced his acceptance and that he found the
enterprise in the best financial condition of any
similar one he had known in the State. The panic
of 1873 culminated a few months after, greatly im-
pairing the value of securities and causing general
disaster to all railroad construction for years. Three
sections of the railroad, however, were finally com-
pleted— from Shelbyville to Bloomfield, from Leb-
anon to Greensburg, and from Scottsville to Galla-
tin, Tennessee — a total of nearly one hundred miles.
Locating his home in Louisville in 1884, in 1885-
86, Mr. Smith wrote and prepared his large “His-
tory of Kentucky” for the library, published by the
Courier-Journal Job Printing Company. The pop-
ularity and success of this work are best shown by
the fact that it has passed through three editions,
with a total of 6,000 copies already. No former
history of the State has reached a second edition in
form, or one-third the sales through the usual chan-
nels of trade. In 1889, the same company published
“The School History of Kentucky,” which was en-
dorsed by the State Board of Education as a suitable
text-book for the schools. Adoptions of it followed
by all the county boards of the State and by most
of the city and town boards. For seven years, it
has been liberally supplied and used in the schools
of our Commonwealth. The value and impor-
tance of these additions to our library and text-book
literature are realized in the fact that, ten years ago,
not one in one thousand of the people of Kentucky
knew anything of the history of the State and their
ancestors; now, Kentucky history is as familiar
as household words in every haunt and hamlet of
the State. The pioneer work of educating our cit-
izenship— old and young — in a knowledge of the
romantic and important history of our grand old
Commonwealth is mainly due to the authorship and
patriotic enterprise of the subject of this sketch.
Since his twenty-fifth year of age, Mr. Smith has
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
601
served as an elder in the Christian Church in the
capacity of both ruler and teacher, and has through
life actively contributed his services and means to
the causes mainly of religion and education. As a
charter member of the board of curators of Ken-
tucky University for over thirty years, he was the
original mover in negotiating the consolidation of
that institution with Transylvania University and
effecting the removal of the former from Harrods-
burg to Lexington. With two associates, he so-
licited $50,000 for the endowment of the Kentucky
Christian Education Society, in 1857-60, and served
as its president and manager for twelve years.
With the proceeds of the invested funds of this
society, four hundred young men have been edu-
cated for the ministry in the Christian Church. In
many other relations, spare time and means have
ever been freely given for the public good, in ways
too numerous to mention.
In 1852 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Sue
Helm, daughter of William S. Helm, Esq., of Shel-
by County, Kentucky. Six sons and two daughters
were born of this marriage, of whom there are now
living Austin D. Smith, M. D., Virgil D. Smith
and Susan, wife of W. Hume Logan, of Louisville,
Kentucky; and William H. Smith, who married
Miss Lillian, daughter of John W. Burgess, Esq.,
of Fort Worth, Texas. One child is born to Wil-
liam H. and Lillian Smith, Helma; and three chil-
dren, Robert Smith, Carter and Eva are born to
W. Hume and Susan Logan. In 1879, the wife
of Mr. Smith died. In 1890, he married a second
time Miss Anna A. Pittman, of Louisville, whose
mother was a daughter of Colonel Edward Trabue,
one of the families of Trabues w.ell known in Ken-
tucky and Louisville.
he was elected circuit judge of the Nineteenth Ju-
dicial District, but in 1861 he resigned the office to
enter the Confederate army as colonel of the Thir-
ty-first Virginia volunteers. After serving a year in
West Virginia, he was transferred to the Army of
Northern Virginia and became a member of the
staff of his cousin, “Stonewall” Jackson, with whom
he fought in the campaigns and battles around Rich-
mond and at Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Har-
per's Ferry and Antietam. After the death of his
distinguished chief, he recruited a brigade of cavalrv
in that part of Northwest Virginia which had been
erected into the state of West Virginia, then within
the Federal lines, and commanded the same with
honorable mention for gallantry in the Shenandoah
Valley, Maryland and Pennsylvania. During the
last year of the war, he served in the Department
of Southwestern Virginia under the command of
General John C. Breckinridge, from whom he re-
ceived the highest commendation for his efficiency
as a commander. After the surrender of General
Lee at Appomatox, and of General Joseph E. Johns-
ton at Greensboro, North Carolina, he, on the 3rd
of May, 1865, at Lexington, Virginia, disbanded
the last organized Confederate troops within the
limits of Virginia. The status of the ex-Confed-
erates of high rank, especially those from the border
states, being undefined and the treatment in store
for them being rendered uncertain in consequence
of an opinion rendered in regard to them by the
United' States attorney general, he made his way to
Mexico, where he remained until affairs should be
more settled. But, on his return to the United
States, he was denied the privilege of practicing
law at his former home. Thereupon he removed
with his family to Louisville and became a member
of its bar. Here he received a warm reception and
soon won the confidence and respect of the com-
munity. In 1872 he was elected judge of the Louis-
ville Circuit Court and served continuously by suc-
cessive re-election until his death in 1890.
As a judge, he was fearless, upright and impar-
tial, qualities well tested when he was selected by
Governor McCreary to act as special judge in the
trial of some desperate cases at a period of excessive
turbulence in one of the remote mountain counties,
where the local judge could not hold court. His
presence restored the confidence and morals of the
community, and the proceedings of the court were
conducted without hindrance. As a man, Judge
Jackson was much beloved by bis friends, and his
death was deplored by the whole community.
ILLIAM L. JACKSON, SR., long judge of
* ' the Louisville Circuit Court and a distin-
guished Confederate soldier, was born in Clarks-
burg, Virginia, February 3, 1825. Of a family
long prominent in that state in the field, at the bar
and on the bench, he early demonstrated his fitness
to maintain its standard of manhood. He fitted
for the law, and began its practice in 1847 and, after
fair success at the bar, was elected commonwealth’s
attorney of the Clarksburg Judicial District. After
serving out his term, he was elected to the Virginia
house of delegates and re-elected for a second term.
He was then twice chosen second auditor and su-
perintendent of the library fund, and in 1856 was
elected lieutenant governor of Virginia. In i860
602
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ISAAC CALDWELL — Few members of the bar
* of Louisville have left a more enduring impres-
sion, both for legal ability of high order and the
individuality of that personal character which im-
presses itself upon the community, than Isaac Cald-
well. Of a family conspicuous for strong intellects,
indomitable courage and energy, he entered upon
his career as a lawyer at a time when the field
seemed already fully occupied by his own distin-
guished brother, George Alfred Caldwell, and oth-
ers of like ability, and when his only province
seemed to be to occupy a comparatively obscure
place under the shadow of his elders of mature ex-
perience. But such was his force of character and
superior qualifications that he overcame all obsta-
cles and before his death had written his name upon
the keystone of the legal arch. He came to Louis-
ville as a contribution from that storehouse of a
city’s mental reserve, the fresh rural district, which
Guizot has said must ever work for the renewal of the
wasted force unseparable from the wear and tear of
a metropolis. He was born January 30, 1824,
near Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky, the son
of William and Ann (Trabue) Caldwell, both of
whose fathers were Revolutionary soldiers. The
former was of Scotch-Irish descent, long settled in
Virginia, and the latter of French Huguenot blood,
thus blending the two great forces so conspicuous
in determining the problem both of American free-
dom and the settlement of Kentucky upon the same
lines. In 1801, William Caldwell, upon the organi-
zation of the county of Adair, became clerk of the
County and Circuit Courts, holding the former un-
til 1841, when he was succeeded by his son Junius,
and the latter until 1851, when he resigned the of-
fice, which had been appointive until made elective
that year by the new constitution, and Mr. Cald-
well, who was an advocate of the organic law, would
easily have been elected, but declined on the ground
that he had held it long enough and wished to give
way to some one else. In this he illustrated his
character, which was one revered by all who knew
him — a strong man with a mind broadened by edu-
cation and great learning in books, as well as men
to whom Washington was the type of patriotic vir-
tue and Jefferson the embodiment of political wis-
dom. After securing the elements of a good edu-
cation at the schools of his native place, Isaac served
in the clerk’s office under his father’s immediate
supervision, when, at the age of seventeen, he was
sent to Georgetown College, Kentucky. Here he
remained until 1844, when he returned to Columbia-
and read law with Judge Zachariah Wheat, after-
wards a judge of the Court of Appeals, and two
years later was admitted to the bar. Subsequently
he became a partner of Judge Wheat and practiced
law with him in Columbia until 1851. In the latter
year, he entered into partnership with his brother,
George Alfred Caldwell, who had distinguished
himself as a colonel in the Mexican War, a mem-
ber of congress and a leader at the local bar. In
1852 they removed to Louisville as offering a
broader field for their services, and it was not long
before their judgment was confirmed by the steady
growth of their business. Col. Caldwell, having
greater prestige and experience at the bar, took
charge of the common law and the criminal cases,
while the younger member attended to the office
work, chancery practice and argument before the
Court of Appeals, and thus, by a division of the
work each evening for his separate department, the
firm, at the time of the death of the senior member
in 1866, had built up a large and lucrative business.
Left to his own resources, it was not long before
Isaac Caldwell proved his capacity to conduct alone
the large business which demanded his attention.
With methodical business habits and untiring in-
dustry, his fine analytical mind enabled him not only
to cope successfully with his adversaries in matters
of chancery, then largely conducted by brief, rather
than oral, argument, but he showed himself equally
capable in the common law and criminal practice,
giving after a time his chief attention to this de-
partment of his legal business and relegating that
which had previously engaged his attentions to his
brother, Junius Caldwell, who became his partner.
He had already acquired a high reputation at the
bar, but this steadily increased as the years ad-
vanced until his position at its head was conceded.
His capacity for work was remarkable, conducting
cases involving large interests and intricate compli-
cations, and at the same time engaged in criminal
cases where the life or liberty of clients were at
stake and arguing tedious examination of witnesses
and impassioned appeals to juries. In the latter,
few attorneys were more effective or labored harder
in defense of their clients. He threw himself, with
all the earnestness and enthusiasm of his nature,
into the case at hand, and for the time knew noth-
ing except his duty to his client whose cause he
made his own. Impassioned eloquence, indignant
invective, cogent reasoning, together with a search-
ing analysis of all the springs which control the hu-
man mind in its judgment of the motives of a fellow
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
603
man, were all brought to bear upon the jury and
rarely without effect. He was a great lawyer, not
only by the qualities of intellect, but by that other
more practical test — the success which attended his
efforts. He was equally great as an advocate in
that calmer field, the Appellate Court, where all
passion gives place to unadorned legal arguments,
and in the highest Court of Appeals known to Amer-
ica, the Supreme Court at Washington. In the lat-
ter court Mr. Caldwell achieved a signal triumph,
when, in 1870, he was appointed by Governor Ste-
venson to appear for the state in the Blyew and Kin-
naird cases, wherein, the parties being charged in
the state courts with the murder of negroes, the
United States District Court claimed jurisdiction
under the civil rights bill of this and all similar
cases. The case was argued by Mr. Caldwell orally
in February and resulted in a decision favorable to
the state. Other cases, celebrated in the court his-
tory of Kentucky, could be cited equally favorable
to Mr. Caldwell’s reputation, but it is needless to
multiply them when none will dispute his claim to
eminence on the highest plane of legal capacity.
Mr. Caldwell never aspired to political office.
Like his father, he was a Jeffersonian Democrat,
but limited his participation in the party politics
to the service of his friends and the success of its
principles without regard to his personal aggran-
dizement. He was the stanch friend of Mr. Guthrie
and took an active part in advocating his nomina-
tion for president by the Charleston convention in
i860. In 1876 he was Democratic elector for the
state at large and made an efficient canvass for Mr.
Tilden, but further than this, he took no personal
part in matters pertaining to office. His name was
once prominently spoken of for the office of United
States senator, but met with no favorable response
from him. In fact, he was so devoted to the law
and so impressed with its practice that no induce-
ment could have turned him from it. And to tins
devotion may be attributed in great part his com-
paratively premature death. Mentally, he seemed
capable of measureless work and physically his en-
durance was apparently inexhaustible. But with
the advance of years and no relaxation, but on the
contrary an increased draught upon his powers, he
succumbed to an attack of illness, at first not thought
to be dangerous, and died at his country home in
Pewee in the sixty-third year of his age.
Mr. Caldwell, on the 20th day of January, 1857,
married Catherine, daughter of Daniel and Hettie
(Palmer) Smith, one of the most accomplished wom-
en of her day in Louisville and a member of one of
the leading families. Her death, which preceded
that of Mr. Caldwell several years, contributed in no
small degree to hasten his own.
C POLK JOHNSON, son of John De Jarnette
* and Evelyn Herndon Quisenberry Johnson,
was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, December
21, 1844. His father, who was the son of James John-
son, of Virginia, a Revolutionary soldier — was born
in Bourbon County, Kentucky, December 8,
1799; his mother, in Orange Court House, Vir-
ginia, October 8, -1808. The subject of this sketch
received a common school education and was pre-
paring for college, when, at the age of seventeen, the
Civil War broke out and changed the tenor of his
life. Following the bent of his sympathies and con-
victions, he joined the Confederate cavalry and fol-
lowed the fortunes of the war until its close. Among
his varied experiences in flood and field and the
casualties of war, he was wounded, his horse twice
shot under him in battle, and for fifteen months was
a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. When the
final catastrophe ensued, it found him in command
of a company which he surrendered at Washing-
ton, Georgia, May 9, 1865.
Educated to manhood in such a school, he re-
turned to his native State while not yet twenty-one,
and went to work upon his father's farm with the
same zeal which characterized his military service,
devoting to his books such time as his agricultural
pursuits admitted. He then taught school in the
neighborhood for two years.
“Delightful task! to rear the tender thought.
To teach the young idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh instruction o’er the mind,
To breathe the intervening spirit, and to fix
The generous purpose in the glowing breast.”
But after his life in war, mingling with the stirring-
scenes of his career and coming in contact with the
bold spirits with whom he was associated, he
yearned for a broader field than was afforded him
in his paternal acres and in the quiet confines of a
school house. He therefore studied law, and in
1869 was admitted to the bar in Louisville. Here
he soon developed a taste for journalism and poli-
tics, and, before he had made his mark in the law
as a lucrative practitioner, he was elected by an
almost unanimous vote as a member of the legisla-
ture from Jefferson County in 1871. serving in the
regular and called sessions with such efficiency that
he received a unanimous vote of thanks from the
604
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
house for his services in committee — an honor whol-
ly without precedent. Returning to the law, he soon
yielded to what seemed an irresistible destiny and, in
1872, became an alternate presidential elector for
the Fifth Congressional District on the Democratic
ticket. In this service, he evinced an aptitude for
stump speaking which marked him as a rising poli-
tician. He also, about this time, became a contrib-
utor to “The Shelby Courant,” and thus formed an
alliance and friendship with Emmett Logan, which
continued for many years in close journalistic asso-
ciation. In 1875, he became a staff correspondent
of “The Courier-Journal’’ and in the same year he
and Logan enlisted together on the office force of
that paper. The following year Mr. Johnson was
elected assistant clerk of the house of representa-
tives and was twice re-elected to the same position.
In the meantime he and Mr. Logan became asso-
ciated with Governor John C. Underwood upon
“The Bowling Green Intelligencer,” but the ex-
periment failing, they returned to their old journal-
istic field in Louisville. In the presidential election
of 1880, he was alternate elector for the State at
large and made an active canvass ; was elected clerk
of the house in 1883, and in 1884, when “The Louis-
ville Evening Times” was started, he became asso-
ciate editor with Emmett Logan. In 1886 he was
made managing editor of “The Courier-Journal,”
and, having declined appointment as railroad com-
missioner, was appointed by Governor Buckner
public printer to succeed John D. Woods, resigned.
In 1890 he was unanimously elected to the same po-
sition by the general assembly, a testimonial from
political friends as well as opponents.
In addition to this active service in the line
of his profession, Mr. Johnson has held many other
positions of honor, having been twice elected presi-
dent of the Kentucky Press Association, chairman
of the Democratic state convention to select dele-
gates to the St. Louis convention of 1888, and thrice
chosen vice president of the Sons of the American
Revolution. In 1883 Mr. Johnson’s name was flat-
teringly mentioned in connection with the nomi-
nation for lieutenant governor. Upon the expira-
tion of his term as public printer, in 1893, he became
a special agent of the United States treasury, to
which position he was appointed by Secretary Car-
lisle without his having filed application therefor,
and which he now fills, his duties involving ex-
tended inspection tours to the Trans-Mississippi.
As a writer, Mr. Johnson has few superiors,
whether as a paragraphist, a correspondent, or as an
editorial contributor. His descriptive letters of
travel have a charm quite their own and make them
eagerly read whenever they appear over his well-
known initials. As an all-round newspaper man
he has long stood in the very front rank. His
acquaintance with men, not only in Kentucky, but
in many other states, is large and intimate, while
his personal popularity is co-extensive with his ac-
quaintance. Of affable manners and always with a
cordial greeting for his friends, he possesses all the
elements of a successful politician. In 1866 Mr.
Johnson was happily married to Miss Florence Tay-
lor of Jefferson County, and their union has been
blessed with four children, three sons and a daugh-
ter.
DICHARD JOUETT MENEFEE was born in
Lexington, Kentucky, August 24, 1837, an(l
died at his residence in Louisville, June 12, 1893.
He was the son of the Hon. Richard Hickman
Menefee, the gifted orator and statesman of Ken-
tuck}", who by his own exertions obtained means
to prepare for the bar, and became a member of
congress at the age of twenty-six and died at thirty-
one, with a national reputation as a lawyer and
speaker second only to Henry Clay.
His mother, Mrs. Sarah B. Menefee, was the
daughter of Matthew H. Jouett, whose father, John
Jouett, was a captain in the Revolutionary service
and recipient of a sword from his native state of Vir-
ginia for gallant services. Coming to Kentucky
in the pioneer days, he was a prominent figure in
the early conventions and legislature.
Matthew H. Jouett died at the early age of thirty-
seven, leaving a reputation as an artist rivaling that
of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Gilbert Stuart. For a
brief time he was a pupil of the latter, who once
said Jouett was the only artist he ever thought
worthy of instructing.
Sprung from such parentage, it is not strange that
Richard Jouett Menefee should have developed into
a manhood of the noblest type and become one of
the most excellent citizens of the State.
The brilliant career of his father was terminated
by death, at the age of thirty-one, in the year 1841.
Upon the occasion of that sad event, Hon. Thomas
F. Marshall, in an eloquent and memorable eulogy,
thus apostrophized the dead name and bespoke the
future of the son:
“Jouett and Menefee. What a nucleus for the
public hopes to grow and cluster around — to cling
to and cleave to. And they are united in a boy — a
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
605
glorious, beauteous boy, upon whose young brow is
stamped the seal of his inheritance. I have seen
this scion of a double stock, through whose young
veins is poured in blending currents the double tide
of genius and art. Bless thee, Jouett Menefee, and
may Heaven, which has imparted the broad brow
of the statesman, along with the painter’s ambrosial
head, and glowing eye — may Heaven bless and pre-
serve thee.”
The son did not perpetuate in like deeds, the
fame of his father or grandfather, but preferring
the walks of business life, achieved a distinc-
tion, in many respects higher than that of more
public characters.
After receiving an excellent education in the
schools of Lexington, he first engaged in business
in Chicago, in the house of Arthur Burley. In
1863 he formed a partnership with J. C. and J. B.
McFerran, wholesale provision dealers in Louis-
ville. He was also associated with Silas F. Miller
in the ownership of the Burnett House, Cincinnati.
During the Civil war he was prevented from partici-
pation in the service by reason of his arm having
been disabled in youth.
In 1871 he made an extended tour to Europe
with his mother, to whom he was tenderly attached
all his life, taking the place, in his care for her, of
his deceased father.
Returning from Europe, he formed in 1873, a
partnership, which under the firm name of Mc-
Ferran, Shallcross & Co., became the leading es-
tablishment of its character in Louisville. In this
he remained the remainder of his life.
In the eulogy by Mr. Marshall referred to, lie
says of Richard H. Menefee, “He was a slave of
honor, not the drudge of avarice. It was inde-
pendence he sought — independence for himself and
his nestlings.” So it may be said of the son, no
sordid love of mere gain polluted his soul. Ener-
getic in business, his heart was open to the gentler
influence of humanity, repaying his mother who
watched over his infancy with a pure love and will-
ing support; lavishing his affections upon his wife
and children and foremost in every charity to the
outside world.
Without public station, he was one of the most
influential men in Louisville. Endowed with
splendid business qualifications, he successfully
managed large enterprises and accumulated a hand-
some fortune. He was associated with various
financial concerns and shortly before his death de-
clined the presidency of one of the leading banks in
the city. Engrossed in business, he was like
Charles Lamb in the India office and though the
poetry of his nature never took the form of expres-
sion which made his father great as an orator and
his grandfather glorious as a painter, it was plain
to his friends that he was full of the genius which
inspired each, but curbed and subordinated to the
duties of business life.
At the time of his death he was trustee of Cen-
tre College and elder of the Warren Memorial
Presbyterian Church.
He had a deeply religious mind and was active
and outspoken in his Christian life. A cheerful
giver to every good work, a helper of the needy
and an example to all of the consistency of busi-
ness success and the pure and gentle graces of
Christian character.
The death of Mr. Menefee in the prime of his
life was greatly lamented, and his loss profoundly
felt in Louisville. His influence was strong over
his fellow-men and always for good. He lived long
enough to round out a beautiful character, the con-
templation of which gives to those who survive him
continuous pleasure and profit in the largest sense.
Reading and travel, and close observation stored
his mind with wide information and his critical taste
in art and literature was very high. His collection
of paintings contained many productions of the
masters.
He was devoted to the fame of his grandfather
Jouett and made himself familiar with all his works
which industrious research could discover. He con-
templated writing his life and making a catalogue of
his paintings, but his career was ended too soon.
Mr. Menefee was married June 23, 1875, to Miss
Elizabeth Speed, daughter of J. Smith Speed, of
Louisville. Of this marriage, which was a pecul-
iarly happy one, six children were born, five sur-
viving. His mother is still surviving, in advanced
years, but enjoying health and unimpaired mental
vigor.
Mr. Menefee’s unusually strong health began to
give way in his fifty-fifth year. All that science
could do to save so valued a life was done. With
his wife he visited Europe, but nothing could be
done, except to alleviate pain and permit him <0
gently close his days in peace. He met the sum-
mons with fortitude and with no misgivings as to
the future.
He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, to which
he had removed the remains of bis father. A hand
some monument marks the resting place of both.
606
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
X\l ORDEN POPE. Among the men who were
conspicuous in the earlier history of Louis-
ville, none left his impress more indelibly upon
it than Worden Pope, who was born in Westmore-
land County, Virginia, in 1776. His father was
Benjamin Pope, whose ancestor, Nathaniel Pope,
came from America to England about the middle of
the seventeenth century and settled in that county
on a stream known to this day as Pope’s Creek. The
family was closely allied to that of Washington, who
was born in the same county and whose great-
grandmother was a Pope. The mother of Worden
Pope was Behethelan Foote. In 1779 three broth-
ers, Benjamin, William and Alexander Pope, hav-
ing disposed of their property in Virginia, crossed
the mountains and coming down the Ohio River in
a flatboat, landed at the falls of the Ohio; and while
the two former remained there, Benjamin shortly
afterward moved to Shepherdsville, now in Bullitt
County. Here Worden, who was then a lad of
eight years, was raised, a witness of the stirring
times when the settlements were subject to the at-
tacks of Indians. His father established a ferry
across Salt River on a route of travel in those days,
and it became Worden's occupation, as soon as his
strength permitted, to attend to the ferry-boat. It
is said that on one occasion Stephen Ormsby, a
prominent lawyer, who was going the rounds of
his circuit on horseback, while being ferried over
by the youth, was attracted by his bright face and
willing hand, and induced him to come with him
to Louisville, where he procured him a place in the
county clerk's office. Here he soon acquired a
knowledge of the business, and in 1798 became
clerk of the county court and later also of the cir-
cuit court. The former he held until 1834, when he
was succeeded by his son, Pendleton Pope, and the
latter until his death in 1838, when he was suc-
ceeded by his son, Curran Pope. He was also post-
master of Louisville from October 1, 1797, to Aprii
1, 1799.
In the beginning of his career as clerk he studied
law, and the statute forbidding his practice in Jef-
ferson, the county in which he held his clerkship,
he practiced extensively in Nelson, Hardin, Bullitt
and Meade. It is said that on one occasion Ben
Hardin, while a candidate for Congress, being re-
buked by some of his clients for his inability to de-
fend large ejectment cases brought for their lands,
replied: “I have asked my friend, Worden Pope,
who is the greatest land lawyer in Kentucky, to rep-
resent me.’’ The result of Mr. Pope's services in
these cases fully justified his friend’s estimate of his
ability. His practice in the Federal courts, as was
that in the Chancery Court of Louisville after his
resignation in one of the clerkships, was large and
lucrative. His learning and ability >at the bar were
long the admiration of his contemporaries. He was
also long prominent as a politician and Democratic
leader. When Andrew Jackson visited Louisville
in company with President Monroe, in 1819, he was
entertained by Mr. Pope and his cousins, William
and Alexander Pope, and it was afterward at the
house of the latter, on Jefferson, between Sixth and
Seventh, that he was brought out for the Presi-
dency at a conference held for the purpose. In the
canvass which followed, Mr. Pope gave to Jackson
a loyal and active support, both by personal effort
and through the columns of “The Advertiser,” the
Democratic organ at that time. Upon his election
he tendered Mr. Pope any office within his gift, but
the offer was declined. General Jackson, however,
appointed his cousin, John Pope, territorial gov-
ernor of Arkansas, and his son, Curran Pope, a
cadet at West Point.
Mr. Pope accumulated a large property, but his
liberality and generosity were such that, at the time
of his death, he was not regarded as wealthy. He
is said never to have charged a widow, an orphan,
or a minister of the Gospel a fee for his services.
Although not a classical scholar, he acquired a thor-
ough knowledge of English literature, and both as a
speaker and writer, he had few equals. His private
letters evince not only excellent penmanship, but
great clearness of expression, a sound morality and
a wide range of reading and observation. He died
literally at his post, being stricken with sudden ill-
ness while making an argument in court, and pass-
ing away shortly afterward, April 20, 1838.
In 1804 he married Elizabeth Taylor Thruston,
daughter of Colonel John Thruston, of Jefferson
County, the son of Colonel Charles Mynn Thrus-
ton, of Virginia, known as the “Warrior Parson,”
from having resigned the pastorate of his church to
take part in the Revolution. They had thirteen chil-
dren: Patrick H., the eldest, was born in Louis-
ville, March 17, 1806, educated at St. Joseph’s Col-
lege and valedictorian of his class. He was a promi-
nent lawyer of Louisville; declined the position of
secretary of State of Kentucky in 1832, and was
elected to Congress in 1834 as a Democrat over
Henry Crittenden, a Whig, in a district with 600
Whig majority. Fie achieved distinction in Con-
gress by his ability and oratorical powers. His
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
007
strong Democratic attachments disinclined him to a
second term. In 1838 he represented Louisville in
the State Legislature and died in the early prime
of life, May 4, 1840. He belonged to the Jackson
school of Democracy and was a man of fine social
qualities, esteemed for his integrity of character, an
eloquent orator and fine conversationalist. He was
universally admired and greatly beloved in his own
family. He was married, July 17, 1827, to Sarah
L., daughter of James and Urith Brown, of Jeffer-
son County. Their only son, Worden, lost his life
at the age of nineteen in Walker’s Nicaragua Ex-
pedition. Their other children were Elizabeth T.,
who married Dr. William H. Galt; Urith, who mar-
ried J. Fry Lawrence; Ellen E., wife of Dr. John
Thruston, and Mary A., who married George Nich-
olas.
Edward Pendleton Pope, who succeeded his
father as circuit clerk, and was the father of the
late Alfred T. Pope; John Thruston Pope, Ed-
monia, Curran (q. v.), who succeeded his father as
county court clerk, and was colonel of the Fif-
teenth Regiment Federal Infantry; Hamilton, a
lawyer of distinction in Louisville, who died in 1894;
Elizabeth, Gibeon Blackburn, Felix Grundy, Paul,
Alfred, Mary, and a child unnamed, were the re-
maining children of Worden Pope.
T OHN M. LETTERLE, who has occupied a
^ prominent position among the business men of
Louisville for many years and has also been promi-
nent in public life and political circles, was born in
Louisville, September 25, 1841, of German parent-
age. Both his father and mother were born in the
Province of Wurtemburg, Germany, and both came
to this country in early life. His father, who was
also named John M. Letterle, came to America in
1832, landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There
he learned the butcher’s trade, and in 1837 came to
Louisville and established himself in the business
to which he had been trained. Two years later he
married Catharine R. Krause, and five children —
three sons and two daughters — were born of their
union. John M. Letterle was next to the eldest of
these children, and the eldest of the three sons. The
elder Letterle was a fine type of the honest, indus-
trious and thrifty German, and he had a prosper-
ous career in Louisville. He retired from business
with a fortune, in 1855, and is remembered as a man
of charitable and kindly impulses, who was especial-
ly solicitous for the welfare of his fellow-country-
men and always stood ready to aid those who were
in distress, who were in search of employment or in
need of assistance of any kind. He was one of the
founders of St. Paul’s German Lutheran Church
and took a deep interest in the upbuilding of that
church and the advancement of its interests. He
died in i860, while still a young man, and his wife
died three years later.
John M. Letterle, Jr., was well educated in the
public schools of Louisville and later took a course
in Boyd’s Commercial College. In i860 he en-
gaged in the business in which his father had been
so successful, establishing- — in company with his
brother, Gotlieb— meat markets at Boone’s Mar-
ket, on Sixteenth Street, and in the Shelby Street
and old Third Street markets. He continued in this
business until 1869, wdren he and his brother en-
gaged in pork-packing, building for this purpose
a packing-house on Adams Street, between Calhoun
Street and Beargrass Creek. He was a member of
the firm of Letterle & Middleton, pork packers, un-
til 1872, when a change of partners took place,
and the firm became Letterle & Company. Mr.
Letterle continued at the head of this firm until
1882, when the partnership was dissolved, and he
abandoned the business of pork packing to become
a trader in live stock at the Bourbon Stock Yards.
This business he has since continued successfully,
becoming well known to the farmers and stock-rais-
ers of the State through his operations in this con-
nection.
A sagacious and prosperous business man, he
has taken an active interest also in public affairs,
and for twenty years or more has been prominent
in official and political circles. A Democrat in poli-
tics he has worked for the success of that party in
all the political campaigns for many years past and
has been a delegate to almost every State Demo-
cratic convention held in Kentucky within the past
twenty years. Lie was first elected a member of the
city council in 1869, and served continuously in that
body until 1878. In 1885 he was elected to the Leg-
islature from the First Louisville District, and in
1887, 1889, 1891 and 1893 he was re-elected to mem-
bership in the Llouse of Representatives. In that
body and in the city council as well he served his
constituents faithfully, guarding carefully the in-
terests committed to his care and seeking always
to legislate for the greatest good of the greatest
number. While serving in the city council he suc-
ceeded in having provision made for the erection of
No. 10 Engine House, and in consideration of his
services to the public and the fire department in this
608
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
connection, the engine house now bears his name.
Letterle Avenue was also named in his honor.
During the Civil War Mr. Letterle had a some-
what interesting experience while serving as a pri-
vate soldier in the Halbert Zouaves. He was one
of the captors of Clarence Prentice, son of George
D. Prentice, the distinguished editor of the Louis-
ville Journal. Notwithstanding the fact that his
father was an ardent Unionist, young Prentice en-
listed in the Confederate army, and was captured at
West Point, Kentucky. Mr. Letterle was one of the
guards who brought him back to Louisville and
lodged him in the military prison. He has been
prominently identified with various fraternal and
trade organizations, and was one of the founders of
the Butchers’ Protective Association of Louisville,
and also of Butchers’ Union No. i. He is a
member of the Firemen’s Benevolent Association,
and belongs to the orders of Knights of Honor and
Knights of Pythias. He was christened and con-
firmed in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, and has al-
ways adhered to the religious faith in which he was
brought up.
He was married in 1875 to Margaret E. Frank,
who died before the close of that year. In 1882 he
married Jennie L. Miles and by his last marriage
has one son, who bears his name.
U"'' OL. CLINTON McCLARTY, who was most
prominently identified with the financial insti-
tutions of Louisville for many years, and was in all
respects one of the most popular men in the city,
was born in Breckinridg'e County, Kentucky, July
14, 1831, and died in Louisville, October 31, 1894.
His parents were John and Jane Allen McClarty,
and both belonged to old Kentucky families. Mrs.
McClarty was niece of the illustrious Colonel John
Allen, who won great renown as a member of the
pioneer bar of Kentucky prior to the War of 1812.
At the beginning of the second war with Great
Britain he raised a regiment of Kentucky volun-
teers and fell in command of it at the disastrous bat-
tle of the River Raisin.
Clinton McClarty received such education as was
obtainable in the schools of Breckinridge County,
in his early boyhood, and beyond that was self-edu-
cated. In his youth, he spent some time in Owens-
boro and in Hardin County, and then went to Bards-
town, where he became deputy county clerk of
Nelson County under his brother-in-law, J. Dar-
win Elliot, in 1851. While serving in this capacity
he was a close student and having obtained a con-
siderable knowledge of the law he entered upon a
more thorough course of study and prepared him-
self for admission to the bar. He then removed to
Owensboro, where for some time he practiced his
profession with success. In 1857 he was elected
chief clerk of the Kentucky House of Representa-
tives and served in that capacity until 1861. At the
beginning' of the Civil War he entered the Confed-
erate military service and was assigned to duty on
the staff of General John C. Breckenridge. At a
later date he was assigned to the Trans-Mississippi
department of the army, in which he served with
distinction until the close of the war. He was con-
spicuously identified with the State military service
in later years and was captain of Company D of the
Louisville Legion at the time of the historic labor
riots in this city. Shortly before the close of the
war he attained the rank of colonel in the Confed-
erate army, but was generally known to his friends
and army comrades as Major McClarty, that hav-
ing been his rank during the greater portion of his
term of service. He did not resume the practice
of law upon his return to Kentucky after the war,
but in 1866 came to Louisville, where he engaged in
the banking business. After serving for a time as
teller of the Western Financial Corporation, he be-
came cashier of the Bank of America, upon the or-
ganization of that institution. That position he re-
tained until 1873, when he returned to the practice
of law, with John S. Kline as his partner and asso-
ciate. When the Louisville Clearing House Asso-
ciation Avas organized in 1876 he became its man-
ager and served in that capacity until his
death. He was the manager and executive
head of the Clearing House for over eight-
een years and conducted its affairs with rare skill
and ability. He had a thorough knowledge of all
departments of the banking business and was
a capable and accomplished financial agent of
the banking interests of the city. In 1879 and
1880 he served as a member of the Kentucky House
of Representatives. Politically he was identified
Avith the Democratic party during all the years of
his manhood and his religious affiliations were with
the Episcopal Church. He was a vestryman of Cal-
vary Church, always active in promoting its inter-
ests and especially prominent as one of the builders
of the church edifice. H^ had attained the high
rank of a thirty-third degree Mason and was Avell
known to members of this order throughout the
State. He married in 1858 Miss Lucinda Beall El-
liott, daughter of Dr. William Elliott, of New Ha-
r
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
609
ven, who was in his day one of the most distin-
guished physicians in Kentucky and still living at
the remarkable age of ninety-eight years. Their
children are Mrs. Cecia Harbeson, of Lexington;
Mrs. Anna Harbeson, of Shelbyville, and Clinton
C. McClarty, cashier of the First National Bank of
Louisville. Mrs. McClarty survives her husband.
D ENJAMIN KIMBALL MARSH was born in
Peacham, Caledonia County, Vermont, in a
portion of the Green Mountain State which has be-
come justly famous by reason of its having been
the birthplace of many men who have achieved un-
usual distinction in public and professional life. Cale-
donia County was the birthplace of Thaddeus Stev-
ens, statesman and patriot, and in the same town in
which Mr. Marsh was born David Merril, the emi-
nent clergyman, first saw the light of day. In the
same portion of the State were born Oliver John-
son, eminent as editor of the New York Independ-
ent, the New York Tribune, and later the Christian
Union; Henry A. Elkins, the artist; United States
senator William Pitt Kellogg, of Louisiana; Peter
Harvey, the famous Boston merchant, and Selah
Chamberlain, one of the most noted railway build-
ers of the United States. In that region also was
born Ephraim Clark, who in the early part of the
present century was sent as a missionary to the
Sandwich Islands, and founded a church in Hono-
lulu, composed of a thousand members, all natives,
among those who attended the services regularly
being the Queen of the Islands, who was a con-
sistent member of the church. Other natives of the
portion of Vermont in which Mr. Marsh was born,
who have acquired wide celebrity, have been some
of the Spragues, Livingstons, Gilfilians, Chandlers,
Eastmans and Martins, all names which have been
made illustrious by the achievements of those who
bore them.
Benjamin K. Marsh is a lineal descendant of
George and Elizabeth Marsh, who came from Hing-
ham, England, to Massachusetts in 1635, accom-
panied by their four children and twenty other fam-
ilies, including their pastor, Rev. Peter Hobard.
This company of immigrants landed at Charles-
town, Massachusetts, and went from there to a place
about fourteen miles southeast of Boston, where
they established the town of Hingham, named for
the place of their nativity in England. The follow-
ing is a copy of George Marsh’s deed of lands in
the new Hingham: “Given unto George Marsh for
a house lot, five acres of land bounded with the
39
land of Richard Osborn eastward and with the
highway leading to Squirrell Hill westward, butting
upon the common northward and upon the town
street southward.”
This George Marsh was made freeman March
3, 1636, and died in 1647, leaving a wife and four
children, as appears from his will made the same
day as follows: “2nd July 1647 Vnto wife Eliza-
beth fower pound & tenn shillings a yeare; On
fether bed on payer of sheets &c. After her desese
to return to my sonne Thomas.
To sonne Onesefers on yerling stere on yerling
hefer one hefer calf on ewe. Dau. Elizabeth Turner
one yerling hefer; Dau. Mary padge to ewe gotes.
Sonne Thomas Marsh my house & all my land in
Hingham.”
Witness Rolfe Woodard, William Hersee.
In New England there are now many of the de-
scendants of this George Marsh and they are to
be found also in almost every State of the Union,
and everywhere the name seems to be a synonym
for good citizenship.
Benjamin K. Marsh, the subject of this sketch,
was educated chiefly at the academy of his native
town in Vermont, and very early in life became a
part of that tidal wave of immigration which flowed
westward from New England, and which has play-
ed so important a part in the development of the
Western States. When he first came West he went
to Wisconsin and later to Illinois, spending some
time in school teaching and studying law in the lat-
ter State. At that time it was his intention to make
the law his profession, but having a natural fondness
for commercial pursuits, when a favorable oppor-
tunity presented itself to him to enter that field of
enterprise he embraced it and abandoned his law
studies. Forming a connection with the Fairbank
Scale Company, which has its factory at St. Johns-
bury, Vermont, in his native county, he found this
business very much to his liking and in 1872 opened
a branch house under the firm name of Fairbank.
Morse & Company in Louisville. He has ever since
been the representative of this large interest in this
city and has become widely known to the business
men of Louisville and the South. He has been
prominently identified with the business interests
of Louisville for more than twenty years and ac-
tively identified also with church and philanthropic
work. Fie is an elder in Warren Memorial Presby-
terian Church and superintendent also of the Sun-
day School of that church. He is unmarried and
has long made his home at the Galt House.
610
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
\X/ ILLIAM PRESTON, lawyer and soldier, was
born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, October
16, 1816, at the family residence a short distance
beyond the eastern terminus of Baxter Avenue. His
great-grandfather, John Preston, came from Coun-
ty Derry, Ireland, to Virginia, in 1739, and settled
in Augusta County, along with his brother-in-law,
James Patton, who was the holder of a grant of
120,000 acres of land in Virginia from “The Lon-
don Council.” His grandfather, the only son of
John Preston, was William Preston, who was a colo-
nel in the Revolutionary War and was surveyor of
Fincastle County, by virtue of which office he was
also surveyor of lands in Kentucky, which original-
ly formed part of that county. He was one of the
active leaders in planning the battle of King's
Mountain, was wounded at the battle of Guilford,
and died before the close of the War of Independ-
ence. He raised a family of three sons and five
daughters, who intermarried with prominent fam-
ilies, and his descendants include some of the most
distinguished names in the history of Virginia and
Kentucky. His third son, William, the father of
the subject of this sketch, entered the regular army
and served with distinction as major under General
Anthony Wayne, and in other Western campaigns.
He inherited from his father a grant of one thousand
acres, conferred for his military service, in Jefferson
County, upon which he settled, and which now in-
cludes a large part of the eastern portion of the city
of Louisville. He died at the Sweet Springs, Vir-
ginia, in 1821, and is buried at his parental home,
Smithfield, Montgomery County, Virginia. His
wife, Caroline (Hancock) Preston, was the daugh-
ter of Colonel George Hancock, of Fotheringay,
Montgomery County, Virginia, officer in the Revo-
lution, member of the Fourth Congress, and a man
greatly beloved in his State. •
General Preston enjoyed the advantages of a
thorough education at St. Joseph’s College, Bards-
town, and at Yale College, New Haven, Connecti-
cut. In 1838 he graduated from the law school of
Harvard University, under the tuition of Judge
Story and Professor Greenleaf, and in 1840 en-
tered upon the practice of law, in partnership with
Hon. William J. Graves, at that time member of
Congress from the Louisville District. He was thus
successfully engaged when, in 1847, a second call
was made upon Kentucky for troops for the Mexi-
can War, and he was appointed lieutenant-colonel
of the Fourth Regiment of Kentucky Foot Volun-
teers, in which capacity he served with credit under
General Scott until the close of the war, when, re-
turning home, he resumed his practice.
In 1849 he was elected, along with James Guthrie
and James Rudd, a member of the Constitutional
Convention. In the convention he early assumed a
prominent position and took an active part in the
debates upon the leading questions which came up
before the convention, particularly upon the organ-
ization of the militia, the apportionment of repre-
sentation, and in opposition to the Native American
and Anti-Catholic views advanced by Hon. Garrett
Davis. Under the first election held under the new
constitution he was elected a representative in the
Legislature, and in 1851 he was chosen State sen-
ator. In 1852 he was an elector upon the Whig
Presidential ticket, and in the fall of that year, re-
signed his place as senator to become a candidate
for Congress to fill the unexpired term of Humph-
rey Marshall, appointed by President Fillmore min-
ister to China. He was elected to this position, as
also in 1853 for the full term, during which he se-
cured an appropriation for the first government
building erected in Louisville, on the southwest cor-
ner of Third and Green streets. In 1855, when the
Whig party was merged into the Know-Nothing
movement, he was tendered the nomination for
Congress, but declined on account of his opposi-
tion to the tenets of that organization, and accept-
ed the Democratic nomination for the same posi-
tion. General Humphrey Marshall, having return-
ed from China, became the nominee of the Know-
Nothing party, and a memorable canvass ensued, in
which a joint debate was conducted until the eve
of the election, notable for the able speeches of both
candidates and the widespread interest they evoked.
In consequence of violence in the city of Louisville
by which the naturalized citizens were driven from
the polls, he was defeated and narrowly escaped
with his life, in his efforts to protect his constituents
from the mob which ruled the city. From that time
forward he was a member of the Democratic party
and prominent in its councils.
In 1856 he was a delegate to the national conven-
tion which nominated Buchanan and Breckinridge,
and in 1858 was appointed by Mr. Buchanan min-
ister to Spain, and while minister entered a vigor-
ous protest against the act of Spain in seizing, in
violation of the “Monroe Doctrine,” the Bay of
Samana, with a view of establishing her monarchy
over San Domingo. Soon after Mr. Lincoln’s in-
auguration he was recalled at his own request, and
returned to Kentucky in July, i86r. Pending the
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
611
neutrality of Kentucky he refrained from all acts
inconsistent therewith, but when the policy of ar-
resting Southern leaders was inaugurated by the
military powers, he left his home, September 19,
1861, on the same night in which Breckinridge and
others fled to escape arrest, and making his way
through the mountains of Eastern Kentucky to
Richmond, Virginia, took service in the Southern
army. He served at Shiloh as colonel on the staff
of General Albert Sidney Johnston, his brother-
in-law, and received him in his arms when he fell
mortally wounded. After the death of General
Johnston, General Preston was transferred to the
staff of General Beauregard, and within a week after
the battle was commissioned a brigadier-general and
assigned to the command of the First Kentucky
Brigade. He served at Corinth and Tupelo, and
aided in the defense of Vicksburg, the first siege of
which was abandoned July 27, by Admirals Farra-
gut and Porter and the land forces. He returned
to Kentucky during its occupation by General
Bragg in the fall of 1862, but not in time to take
part in the battle of Perryville. At the battle of
Murfreesboro he commanded a brigade and par-
ticipated in both actions — that of December 31 and
January 2. In the spring of 1863 he succeeded Gen-
eral Humphrey Marshall in command of the De-
partment of Southwestern Virginia, with headquar-
ters at Abingdon, and at Chickamauga commanded
a division of Buckner’s Corps. After the battle of
Chickamauga General Preston returned to Virginia,
but was soon thereafter appointed envoy extraordi-
nary and minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, the
only minister of that grade ever commissioned by
the Confederate government. Running the block-
ade to Havana, he went to Europe in furtherance
of his mission, but finding that, in consequence of
the revolution then pending in Mexico, he could
accomplish nothing, he requested to be recalled. In
the winter of 1865 he returned to the Southern
States through Mexico, and reported to General
Kirby Smith, in Texas, by whom, in virtue of au-
thority conferred on him, he was promoted to a
major-generalship. Upon the surrender of the Con-
federate armies he went to Europe, and after a short
sojourn there and in Canada returned to his home
in Kentucky.
For the remainder of his life he lived in Lexing-
ton. In 1869 he served as a member of the Legisla-
ture from Fayette County. His name was frequent-
ly mentioned in connection with positions of higher
trust, but he declined all offices and was content to
lead the life of a private citizen, with occasional serv-
ice in posts of honor, as in 1880 when he was a dele-
gate to the national convention at Cincinnati, which
nominated General Hancock for President. He was
a warm personal friend of Mr. Tilden, and exerted
a strong influence both in State and national poli-
tics.
In 1840, General Preston married Margaret,
youngest daughter of Robert Wickliffe, Esq., of
Lexington, who, with a son, Wickliffe Preston, and
five daughters, survives him.
I OHN MASON BROWN, a son of Judge Ma-
son Brown, and a grandson of United States
Senator John Brown, was born in Frankfort, Ken-
tucky, on the 26th of April, 1837. His early edu-
cation was acquired in the best schools of the capital
of his native State, where he was prepared for col-
lege by B. B. Sayre, one of the most thorough and
successful of educators. This distinguished teach-
er prepared him for the junior class of Yale Col-
lege, which he entered in 1854, thoroughly equipped
for this advanced grade. In 1856 he was graduated
from this famous seat of learning, an accomplished
scholar for one so young.
He was only nineteen years old when he left col-
lege, but young as he was he chose his employ-
ment for life and at once began the study of the law
under the Hon. Thomas N. Lindsey, of Frankfort,
Kentucky. At the age of twenty his fine intellect
and studious habits had stored his mind with a suf-
ficient knowledge of the law to secure a license. He
went to St. Louis in 1858 to begin the practice of
his profession, when he yet lacked one year of his
majority. He soon, however, found himself in fail-
ing health and in need of rest, but how could he
rest at the threshold of his professional life in the
midst of the busy scenes of a great city? He de-
cided to go beyond the whirling mazes of civiliza-
tion and secure repose and health in those solitudes
where the Indian and the buffalo of the distant West
yet roamed in nature’s wilds. He went among the
Blackfoot Indians and dwelt with them in their wig-
wams and went with them in the chase. He studied
their habits and mastered their language. His stay
among them during 1859-60 restored him to health
and supplied him with enough knowledge of those
wild men of the woods to enable him to publish an
excellent article on “Indian Medicine,” in the At-
lantic Monthly, in 1866; and another on “The Tra-
ditions of the Blackfoot Indians,” in the Galaxy, in
1867.
612
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
In 1861 he returned to St. Louis, with the pur-
pose of resuming the practice of the law. The
times, however, were not then propitious for the
quiet of the law office. The ominous mutterings of
the Civil War were then swelling through the land,
and no one could foresee to what they might lead.
Buoyant of spirit, active of mind, brave and patri-
otic, with memories of a distinguished ancestry to
inspire heroic deeds, he could not remain a passive
observer of the stirring scenes around him. He re-
turned to his native Kentucky in 1862, and making
his choice of the Union side of the great civil con-
flict he entered the Federal army, November 4,
1862, as major of the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry. The
time of this regiment having expired, he was for a
short time inspector-general of Kentucky, and then
on the 17th of December, 1863, became colonel of
the Forty-eighth Kentucky Mounted Infantry.
While colonel of this regiment he was part of the
time in command of the Second Brigade of the
Fifth Division of the Twenty-third Army Corps.
He was a gallant officer, promoted for meritorious
conduct, and so bore himself in the tent and on
the field as to endear himself to both officers and
men. When the war was over he laid down his
sword and returned to his home, not to keep alive
the consuming fires the Civil War had kindled, but
to begin peaceful life again and join in the great
work of rebuilding the country which had been de-
stroyed by hostile troops.
At the close of his military services he had to
make another beginning of the practice of the law.
What he bad learned of Blackstone and Chitty had
been almost unlearned in his wanderings among
the Indians and in his marches in the army. He
was quick to learn, however, and after a short stay
at Frankfort he went to Lexington and in the great
library of Madison C. Johnson, with whom he early
formed a partnership, he was soon well advanced
on the certain road to the summit of his profession.
In 1869 he married Mary Owen Preston, the tal-
ented and accomplished daughter of General Wil-
liam Preston and Margaret Wickliffe. He now had
the aspirations of another young life blended with
his own as an additional motive for distinction in
his profession. While he had all that could make
social life desirable in Lexington he felt that it was
not the best locality for the practice of the law, and
in 1873 he moved to Louisville and became associ-
ated with William F. Barret, who had married his
sister. In 1882 he formed a partnership with George
M. Davie, also a brother-in-law, and in 1885 Alex.
P. Humphrey joined the partnership which took the
firm name of Brown, Humphrey & Davie. When he
closed his earthly career he was at the head of this
distinguished law firm, then conducting a large and
lucrative practice.
As a lawyer Colonel Brown was the peer of the
ablest lawyers of the distinguished Louisville bar.
He was a learned lawyer and a skillful practitioner.
He bad mastered the law as a science and had no
difficulty in applying its principles to the different
kinds of cases which came under his care. He was
familiar with the decisions of the courts and could
turn to an adjudicated case to shape almost any
new question that came up. The bar of Louisville,
and indeed that of Kentucky, held in the highest re-
gard the learning and the ability which bore him
successfully through many hard fought legal bat-
tles. To the profound learning of the lawyer and
the facile skill of the practitioner he added a gentle-
ness of bearing and a courteousness of manners
which endeared him to all with whom he came in
contact, either in the court house trial or the office
conference. If Colonel Brown had not been a law-
yer he would probably have been a historian with
antiquarian proclivities. He was a great reader of
history and particularly of that branch of it which
pictured the distant past with its primitive modes
and implements of life. He loved the flint-lock rifle,
with which the pioneer father hunted the game and
fought the Indians ; the wheel with which the pio-
neer mother spun the yarn, and the loom with
which she wove the cloth for the clothes of the fam-
ily; the rude implements of husbandry with which
the pioneer crop was cultivated within range of the
rifles of the picketed fort; the heroic stories of dan-
ger and death that were told around the fireside of
the frontier cabin, and in a word he loved the past
and lived its life over again in an imagination that
it fed and delighted.
His love of relics, however, could never have
made him forget the truths of history. Fie loved
the souvenir much, but the annal more. He has
left some historic gems which indicate what kind of
work he might have done if he had pursued this
branch of study. Allusion has already been made
to two fine articles in the Galaxy and Atlantic
Monthly, which were inspired by his stay among
the Indians. His speech to the Federal Flistorical
Societv, published in the Louisville Commercial,
October 30, 1881; his oration at the “Centennial
Celebration of the Battle of the Blue Licks” in 1882,
published in pamphlet form; his paper on “The Old
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
613
Court and the New,” published in the proceedings
of the Kentucky Bar Association, in 1882; his ad-
dress at the “Centennial Celebration of Frankfort,
in 1886, published in pamphlet form; and his ar-
ticle on “The Kentucky Pioneer,” published in
Harper’s Monthly, for June, 1887, are all suggest-
ive of a highly cultured mind cast in the true his-
toric mold. His last and his greatest historic work,
however, was “The Political Beginnings of Ken-
tucky,” a handsome quarto volume of 264 pages.
He wrote this for the Filson Club and read it at the
last meeting he ever attended.
The crowning glory of his useful life was the
patriotic energy and sound judgment he displayed
in securing a system of public parks for Louisville.
There had been previous attempts to secure lands
for parks, one of them dating back to the origin of
the city, but none of them had been successful. Colo-
nel Brown acting in concert with Colonel Cowan,
Captain Speed and other members of the Salma-
gundi, kept the matter under consideration and in-
vestigation in that association until it assumed a
definite and practicable form. He drew the act
passed by the Legislature on the 6th of May, 1890,
under which the lands for an eastern, a southern
and a western park were purchased. Fie did not
live to see the system inaugurated under the law he
had drafted, but his name will always be associated
with it. In his dying moments these parks were
upon his mind. He spoke of them as the lungs of
the city, when these vital organs of his own dis-
solving system had almost ceased their functions.
On the 29th of January, 1890, after a ten days’
struggle with pneumonia, which followed what was
at first deemed a harmless cold, he breathed his last
at his home in Louisville, surrounded by his wife
and two sons and two daughters. When it was
known that his brilliant life had gone out in the
darkness of death, the sad event was passed from
citizen to citizen until the community was wrapped
in a mantle of sorrow. Never was there a death in
Louisville which caused more universal grief. The
press had day by day chronicled every phase of his
malady, and the public had watched with hope that
so valuable a life might be spared. When hope had
vanished and the inevitable had come, the sorrow it
caused burst forth in one universal wail from a
stricken community. Column after column of eu-
logy filled the daily papers, and uncounted tongues
everywhere and in every circle of life recounted his
good deeds. The Board of Trade, the Commercial
Club, the George H. Thomas Post, the Garfield
Club, the Yale Alumni Association, the Central Re-
publican Club, the Salmagundi and other associa-
tions held meetings and adopted resolutions sacred
to his memory. Many ministers of the Gospel who
knew and loved him, sent up from their pulpits ori-
sons to heaven for blessings on the widow and four
children he had left.
The Louisville bar, of which he was a leading
member, paid a tribute to his memory never to be
forgotten. After the members had followed his re-
mains to Cave Hill cemetery, they held a memorial
meeting on the 1st of February, in the circuit court
room. It was one of the largest bar meetings ever
assembled in Louisville. Not only was almost every
member of the Louisville bar present, but distin-
guished lawyers from other parts of the State, and
physicians, and clergymen, and educators, and
bankers, and merchants, and manufacturers, and
agriculturists, and, indeed, persons from every
walk of life were in attendance. The great hall of
the circuit court was crowded to its utmost capacity
and a constant stream flowed from it of citizens who
had come to join in the ceremonies, but could not
gain admittance. A committee on resolutions, made
up of the most distinguished members of the bar,
instead of following the stereotyped form usual on
such occasions, reported a biographical sketch of
Colonel Brown, which presented a striking picture
of his life. Following this report, an unusual num-
ber of members of the bar made memorial ad-
dresses, each of which set forth one or more of the
characteristics of the deceased as a lawyer, as a
speaker, as a writer, as a scholar, as a man of af-
fairs, or as a Christian gentleman. The remarks of
General Alpheus Baker, a Confederate, who had
fought against Colonel Brown in the Civil War,
were so full of eloquence and feeling and beauty
that they left an impression upon his hearers never
to pass away in life.
A LEXANDER BRECKINRIDGE was one of
three brothers who came from the North of
Ireland to America about 1728. He first came to
Pennsylvania, and after a brief sojourn there mov-
ed to Augusta County, Virginia, and settled upon
a tract of land upon which is now the town of Staun-
ton. Among the children of Alexander Breckin-
ridge was Robert, who succeeded to his farm and
became a prominent man in his community, be-
ing king's lieutenant of Augusta County and colo-
nel of the county levies. He married first a Miss
Poague, by whom he had two sons, Alexander and
(514
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Robert. His second wife was Lettice Preston,
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Patton) Preston.
Of this last marriage were five children, of whom
John Breckinridge was the second son, born De-
cember 2, 1760. He served five years in the Vir-
ginia House of Delegates, beginning before he was
of age; practiced law in Charlottesville; was elected
to the Third Congress, but declined and moved to
Kentucky in the spring of 1793. In 1795 he re~
ceived the Democratic vote for United States sena-
tor, being defeated by Humphrey Marshall, the
first historian of Kentucky. He became attorney-
general of Kentucky in 1795 and resigned in 1796.
Elected to the Legislature he was the author of the
criminal code, which repealed existing law, where-
in one hundred and sixty crimes were punishable
by death, limiting this penalty to murder in the
first degree and treason. He was elected to the
Legislatures of 1799-1800, of both of which he was
speaker. He was also author of the resolutions of
1798. In 1801 he was elected senator for six years,
to succeed Humphrey Marshall, who had beaten
him before. In December, 1803, he was appointed
United States attorney-general, and died Decem-
ber 14, 1806, aged forty-six years and twelve days.
Alexander and Robert Breckinridge, the half-
brothers of John, preceded him to Kentucky. CThey
had both served in the Revolutionary War in the
Virginia line. They were taken prisoners and lay
for several months in the prison ship in Charleston
Harbor and were not released until the close of the
war. Soon after this they came to Kentucky as sur-
veyors and finally settled in Jefferson County,
where they became prominent. Alexander was
elected to the Kentucky State Convention of 1787.
He married the widow of Colonel John Floyd,
daughter of Colonel John Buchanan, and was the
father of Henry and James D. Breckinridge, the
latter a member of Congress 1821-23. Robert be-
came an officer in the active militia for the defense
of the State against the Indians and rose to the
rank of a general officer. He began his political ca-
reer as a member of the Virginia House of Dele-
gates from the District of Kentucky in 1788, where
he represented Jefferson County. His next service
was in the Virginia Constitutional Convention,
where he voted for the ratification of the Federal
Constitution. His colleagues from Jefferson, Rice
Bullock and Humphrey Marshall, also voted for it,
while the other eleven delegates from Kentucky
voted aginst it. He was, in 1792, elected to the
Constitutional Convention which framed the first
Constitution of Kentucky, and to the first Legisla-
ture the same year. Of this he was elected
speaker, which he held for four successive terms.
He was at the summit of his influence when his
half-brother, John Breckinridge, came to Kentucky,
and the latter owed much to him for his rapid ad-
vancement in political life. He was never married,
was a bachelor, and was known as “General Bob.”
He lies buried in an old private burial ground with-
out enclosure and with tombstone dismantled, at
Floyd’s Station, about seven miles east of Louis-
ville. The inscription on his monument is as fol-
lows: “To the memory of General Robert Breck-
inridge, born in the year 1754. He died September
10, 1833.”
C RANK SAMUEL OUERBACKER, younger
of the two brothers whose names have been
linked together and closely identified with the com-
mercial history of Louisville for many years, was
born in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana,
July 10, 1841, of German born parents, named re-
spectively Michael and Sarah Gertrude Ouerbacker.
He received a common school education in the
schools of St. Louis, Missouri, and became prac-
tically dependent upon his own resources when a
boy thirteen years old. At that age he left home,
and like his older brother, had a long and useful ex-
perience in the river trade. In 1865 he came to
Louisville and established himself in the produce
and commission business in company with a part-
ner, the style of the original firm being Ouerbacker
& Peckinbaugh. At a later date new partners were
admitted and the firm became Ouerbacker, Benham
& Company, and when Mr. Benham retired this
was succeeded by the present wholesale grocery
firm of Ouerbacker, Gilmore & Company, Mr.
Ouerbacker’s elder brother and the late Captain A.
T. Gilmoi'e, his father-in-law, being his associates
and partners.
His activity in the commercial life of Louisville
began in the closing year of the Civil War, but, not-
withstanding the fact that trade conditions were at
that time unsettled, his business prospered and be-
fore many years elapsed he had taken a prominent
place among the merchants of the city and has
held it ever since. Since he became identified with
the wholesale trade he has gained a wide acquaint-
ance throughout the Southern States, and his pres-
tige and influence in commercial circles has con-
stantly increased. Respected wherever he is known,
he enjoys an enviable reputation for honesty, pub-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
615
lie spirit, liberality and all those elements which go
to make up the good citizen. A fine type of the ac-
tive, energetic and sagacious business man, his en-
terprise has extended into other fields and he is
largely interested in the town of Little Falls, Min-
nesota, and in the famous French Lick Springs. Fie
is president of the corporation owning the springs
and has been largely instrumental in making this
resort one of the most noted of western watering-
places. Identified with the Louisville Board of
Trade as one of its most active and influential mem-
bers, he is a member of the board of directors of
that institution and has co-operated heartily in all
its movements to promote the commercial prosper-
ity and growth of the city. Absorbed in his business
enterprises, he has never held nor sought official
positions of any kind. In politics he has been known
as a stanch Democrat, but he has seldom taken a
more active interest in campaigns than to cast his
vote and use his influence to promote the success of
his party. His religious affiliations are with the
Methodist Episcopal Church South and he has been
a generous contributor in aid of church extension
and to the charities and charitable institutions of the
city.
He was married, in 1874, to Miss Helen T. Gil-
more, who was born in Tishomingo County, Mis-
sissippi, daughter of Captain A. T. Gilmore, of
whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this
history.
I_J ENRY T. STANTON, poet and journalist, son
* * of Richard H. and Asenath (Throop) Stanton,
was born in Alexandria, Virginia, June 30, 1834.
His father, who was also a native of Alexandria,
was the son of Richard Stanton, a Virginian by
birth and of English descent, a soldier in the War
of 1812, who moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and
died there in 1846. Judge Richard H. Stanton was
educated at Hallowell Academy in his native place,
and having decided upon the legal profession, read
law. In 1835 he came to Kentucky and settled at
Maysville, where he edited “The Maysville Moni-
tor,” until 1841. In the meantime he had been ad-
mitted to the bar, and relinquishing the editorship
of “The Monitor,” devoted himself entirely to his
profession. In 1849 lie was elected to Congress as
a Democrat and was re-elected in 1851 and 1853,
taking a prominent position there and in the coun-
cils of his party. He was also for five years com-
monwealth’s attorney and six years circuit judge,
and was the author of a number of standard legal
works, including a digest of the decisions of the
court of appeals. During part of his service in Con-
gress a brother, Hon. F. P. Stanton, was a member
of the House from Tennessee. In 1833 he married
Miss Asenath Throop, daughter of Rev. P. Throop,
a Methodist minister of Alexandria, Virginia, a
lady of rare intellectual endowments, who was the
mother of the subject of this sketch and early left
the impress of her cultured taste in poetry and art
upon his youthful mind.
Henry T. Stanton came with his parents to Ken-
tucky in his infancy and received his early educa-
tion at the Maysville Seminary, conducted by Rand
and Richeson, among whose pupils, at an earlier
day, were General FT. S. Grant, W. N. Haldeman,
and others of prominence. He also attended La
Grange and Shelby Colleges, and was a cadet at
West Point, 1849-51. In the latter year he entered
the Treasury department under Hon. James Guth-
rie and was a clerk in the census bureau, serving as
such during the administrations of Pierce and Fill-
more. In 1855 he became editor of "The Mays-
ville Express,” studied law and was admitted to the
bar in 1856, and practiced in connection with his
father until i860, when he removed to Memphis,
where he was engaged in his profession when the
war broke out. He then came to Kentucky and
raised a company for the Confederate army, and
with it joined General John S. Williams at Pres-
tonsburg, becoming later adjutant-general on the
staff of that officer and serving with him in his cam-
paign in Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and the
Kanawha Valley. In 1864 lie occupied a similar posi-
tion on the staff of Gen. John H. Morgan, Gen. John
C. Breckinridge, and Gen. John Echols, taking his
parole with the latter at Greensboro, North Caro-
lina, May 1, 1865. Few officers were more ac-
tively engaged in the service, participated in
more engagements, or won more distinction for gal-
lantry and efficient discharge of duty. At the bat-
tle of Fayette Court House, although then a staff
officer, he commanded a battery, serving the guns
himself, as his ranks were depleted by death, and^
distinguished himself bv his gallant conduct. At
the close of the war lie retired with the rank of ma-
jor, and, returning to Maysville, resumed the prac-
tice of law, becoming also for a time editor of I he
Maysville Bulletin.” In 1870 lie was made assist-
ant commissioner of the state insurance bureau at
Frankfort, which office he held for three years. In
1876 lie became associate editor of “The Frankfort
Yeoman,” and continued in that position until the
616
MEMORIAL HISTORY OP LOUISVILLE.
suspension of the paper in 1886. Strong in his con-
victions as a Democrat, he sustained them with abil-
ity as an editor and rendered efficient service to his
party in maintaining its supremacy in its better
days. His prose writings have always been char-
acterized by a scholarly force and aptitude of ex-
pression which gave him a recognized position in
the press as one of its ablest members at a time when
that body constituted an unusual array of strong
and influential writers.
But, conspicuous as Major Stanton has been in
his several callings, both in war and peace, it is as
a poet that his enduring fame will live. It is diffi-
cult to fix the date at which he first evinced an apti-
tude for rhyme, since to him the apothegm of
“Poeta nascitur non fit” applies with true Horatian
force. At an early period in his life he was given
to writing verse, and some of his poems by which
his name has been made familiar far beyond the
limits of his State were written in his youth, evinc-
ing a maturity of thought and readiness of expres-
sion acquired generally only after long experience.
This applies notably to his “Moneyless Man,” writ-
ten on the spur of the moment at a sitting, and yet
fresh and above criticism after a lapse of nearly half
a century. His fugitive pieces are without number,
but he has published two volumes, embodying his
leading productions. “The Moneyless Man,” com-
prising forty-four poems, was issued in 1871 from
the press of H. C. Trumbull, Jr., Baltimore, and
“Jacob Brown and Other Poems” from that of
Robert Clarke & Company, of Cincinnati, in 1875.
His leading poems are “Fallen,” “Type and Time,”
delivered before the Kentucky Press Association in
1870; “Jacob Brown,” “Self Sacrifice,” “Drawing It
Fine,” “Heart Lessons,” and “Out of the Old Year
Into the New.” He has also written a number of
poems for stated occasions, as that on the Centen-
nial Anniversary of Corn-planting in Mason Coun-
ty; the centennial of the Battle of Blue Licks; the
centennial of the admission of Kentucky into the
Union, and the dedication of the Confederate monu-
ment in Chicago, May, 1895. The poetry of Major
Stanton is characterized by a faultlessness of meas-
ure and a smoothness of rhythm combined with
vigor of thought and strength of expression. His
versatility has a wide range, his poems embracing
all subjects, from the discussion in verse of grave
problems to the most humorous incidents. He is a
true son of Nature and never sings more sweetly
than in his bird songs and communings with the
trees and fields and flowers. No one is readier as
the writer of impromptu verse, and an epigram or
acrostic comes as readily from his pen as water from
a perennial spring. By universal accord, he has
worn for many years the title of Poet Laureate of
Kentucky, and has, withouh fee or reward, filled
the honorary post without challenge or competi-
tion. Had he lived in New England he would have
ranked with Saxe and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Had
his lot been cast in England, he would have been
voted the successor of Hood in humor, and of
Moore or Campbell in sentiment and thought. Had
he possessed the faculty of self-praise and push
evinced by some of the latter day poets in both
hemispheres, he would have a wider fame than any
of them. But his modesty is equal to his merit, and
he can safely leave to posterity the assignment of
his place among American poets. His personal
character is in keeping with the qualities herein set
forth. Cheerful under every turn of fortune, he is
true to every call of friendship and a model, of do-
mestic affection. Latterly Major Stanton has re-
moved from Erankfort to Louisville, his residence,
being in the suburbs near Crescent Hill. For the
past year he has been associated with his friend,
Colonel Johnston, in the preparation of “The Me-
morial History of Louisville.”
On the 5th day of June, 1856, he married Martha
R., daughter of Alexander Lindsey, of Montgom-
ery County, Kentucky. They have nine living chil-
dren, six daughters: Lutie, wife of J. G. McLean;
Charlotte, widow of the late Philip H. Carpenter;
Dorsey, wife of C. W. Dorsey; Ruth, wife of George
L. Willis; Florence, and Virginia; and three sons:
Edward L., Henry T., and Stoddard Johnston Stan-
ton.
A ARON KOHN, a distinguished member of the
Kentucky bar, was born in Louisville, June 22.
1854, son of Isaac W. and Caroline Kohn, both na-
tives of Germany, the first named born in Wasaw
and the last named in Baden. Born of Jewish pa-
rents in the humbler walks of life, he is indebted to
no adventitious circumstances for the success which
he has achieved in one of the learned professions
and the prominence he has attained as a citizen of
Louisville. He attended the public schools of the
city until he was fifteen years of age, and being then
compelled to earn a livelihood for himself and as-
sist in caring for his aged parents, his school days
ended. The process of education did not, however,
end with his attendance at school. Although he
was obliged to work diligently at the occupation of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
617
making and selling mattresses during almost every
working day, the nights were his own, and his stud-
ies were continued with a well defined object in
view. He had chosen for himself, instinctively it
would seem, a profession for which he has many
times and in many ways demonstrated his peculiar
fitness, and during all the years of his later youth
whatever time could be spared from his daily labor
was devoted to fitting himself for the practice of
law. Thus working and studying at the same time,
he laid up a store of general knowledge and also
completed in part the law course necessary to his
admission to the bar. He then attended one course
of lectures at the Louisville Law School and gained
his admission to practice as the result of a special
examination, in which he gave ample evidence of
his ability and fitness for his chosen calling. He
was but nineteen years of age when admitted to the
bar by special act of Legislature, and, young as
he was, at once began practice. He had read law
under the preceptorship of Isaac R. Greene, now the
oldest living member of the Louisville bar, and the
law firm of Greene & Kohn came into existence in
1874. In 1878 Mr. Kohn formed a partnership with
Henry S. Barker— the style of the firm being Kohn
& Barker — which continued eleven years, and until
Mr. Barker became city attorney of Louisville.
Since then he has been head of the firm of Kohn &
Baird, and later of Kohn, Baird & Spindle.
In the early years of his experience, as a practi-
tioner Mr. Kohn manifested the same indomitable
energy, industry and pluck which characterized him
in boyhood, and in spite of prejudices and many
other obstacles to success which he had to over-
come he fought his way steadily upward to a place
in the front rank of Kentucky lawyers. He has
manifested a genius for the practice of law, and in
all departments of his professional work has been
remarkably successful. He seems to have an in-
tuitive knowledge of men, and his clear and logical
reasoning powers render him peculiarly effective as
a jury and trial lawyer. Quick in his mental pro-
cesses, clear in his perceptions and always on the
alert, he seldom makes a mistake in the conduct of
a case and seems never to overlook a mistake made
by his adversaries in a legal contest. He never tries
a case, however trivial, without thorough prepara-
tion, and the result has been that during the past
ten years his reputation for thoroughness in the
preparation of cases and his recognized zeal in be-
half of his clients has made him a participant in a
very large share of the most important litigation
which has occupied the attention of the courts of
Louisville. Eminently capable and eminently suc-
cessful as well as a civil practitioner, his greatest
distinction has been achieved as an advocate and
criminal lawyer, and it is no flattery to say that he
stands at the head of his profession in this field of
practice in Kentucky at the present time. He has
extended his business as a lawyer also into adjoin-
ing states, and is almost as well known in these
states as in Kentucky. He has been leading coun-
sel in many of the most famous criminal trials of
later years, and in the conduct of these cases has
invariably attracted the attention and commanded
the admiration of the bar by his chivalrous and able
defense of clients. In the case of Kaelin, defended
by him against the charge of wife murder, he saved
his client’s life by establishing the principle that the
failure to charge that the act was feloniously com-
mitted was fatal to the indictment, the rule thus
established having since been recognized in other
states. For four months he was commonwealth's
attorney of Jefferson County, and during that time
he tried ninety-eight criminal cases and secured
ninety-three convictions. His vigorous prosecu-
tion of Banker Schwartz established the criminal
liability of bankers who accept deposits knowing
their banks to be insolvent. As a judge pro tern.,
serving on the bench during the long illness of
Judge W. L. Jackson, he was also a most effective
instrument for the suppression of crime, and as law-
yer and jurist, he has alike evidenced his force of
character, his broad knowledge of the underlying
principles of the law, and his thorough understand-
ing of the manner in which existing laws should be
applied to cases at bar.
Mr. Kohn’s active temperament and the interest
which he feels in everything pertaining to the city of
Louisville have naturally, to some extent, brought
him into public life. He was elected a member of
the board of aldermen in 1880, and served three
terms in succession in that body. Appointed by
judge W. L. Jackson, Sr., commonwealth’s attor-
ney to serve out the unexpirecl term of Hon. Asher
G. Caruth, who had been elected to Congress, he
entered upon the discharge of his duties in that con -
nection in 1887, and ably and zealously guarded the
public interests as prosecutor until his term of of-
fice expired. During the illness of Judge Jackson,
as previously stated, he occupied a judicial position,
serving six months as judge of the criminal division
of the circuit court. In December of 1893 he was
appointed by the late Mayor Henry S. Tyler chair-
618
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
man oi the Louisville Board of Public Works, and
still retains that position. For many years he has
been prominent in the councils of the Democratic
party, with which he affiliates, and for several years
he was chairman of the district Democratic cam-
paign committee. His democracy is, however, of
the Jeffersonian kind, and the fiat money proclivi-
ties of the party in 1896 alienated him temporarily
from the regular Democratic organization. Re-
ligiously, he has adhered to the Jewish faith, and is
a member of Adas Israel Church, and of all the
leading Jewish societies of Louisville. He is also a
member of the orders of Masons, Odd Fellows and
Knights of Pythias.
Although he is a vigorous, powerful and deter-
mined antagonist when faced in a contest, Mr. Kohn
is a man of singularly generous and kindly disposi-
tion, seemingly incapable of entertaining malice or
being in any way vindicative. He has not infre-
quently requited positive injuries with kindly acts,
and friendships once formed by him are seldom
broken. In his home life, he has been singularly
happy. He was married in 1876 to Miss Jennie
Buchen, of Chillicothe, Ohio, and they have three
children, named respectively: Edna F., Carrye May,
and Walter Kohn. Mr. Kohn’s prosperity as a law-
yer has enabled him to make his home an ideal one
in respect to its arrangements and furnishings, and
the affectionate regard of its inmates for each other
have made it an ideal home in all other respects.
| OHN ROWAN. Among the eminent law-
yers and statesmen of Kentucky whose names
have shed luster upon the State, that of John
Rowan deservedly stands pre-eminent. He rose
early to prominence at the bar, and for nearly fifty
years, during which he filled many high offices —
on the bench and in the State and national coun-
cils— he was recognized as the peer of the ablest
of that galaxy of lawyers and statesmen of his day,
whose lives and talents have given to the com-
monwealth an enduring fame.
Pie was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in
the year 1771, his father and mother having been
born in the same county and neighborhood. Pie
came on his father’s side of a sturdy Scotch-Irish de-
scent so largely represented in the early history of
Kentucky, while his mother, whose maiden name was
Cooper, was of Quaker descent. Plis father, Wil-
liam Rowan, at the breaking out of the Revolution-
ary War, held a valuable office under the crown,
but this did not have the effect in the least of weak-
ening his patriotism, for he raised and commanded
a company in that struggle. His generous nature
had led him to impair, through assistance to oth-
ers, his own and his wife’s very ample fortune, and
he lost from the ravages of the war much of the lit-
tle that was left. At the close of the war, with the
hope of repairing his shattered fortune, he emigrat-
ed from Pennsylvania to Kentucky (then a district
of Virginia) in the wild lands of which he had in-
vested the remnant of his fortune. He arrived at
Louisville in March, 1783, and finding the locality
uninviting from prevailing sickness, he resumed his
journey the following spring, and settled at the falls
of Green River, on land which he had bought be-
fore leaving Pennsylvania. After remaining there
several years amid the exciting scenes of the fron-
tier, he removed to the vicinity of Bardstown, for
better educational opportunities for his children. At
Bardstown John Rowan attended the celebrated
school of Dr. Priestly, where he received a classical
education, having as schoolmates Felix Grundy,
Joseph Hamilton Daviess, John Allen and others
who rose to distinction. Here his mind began to
give evidence of his future greatness. He mastered
with ease all the studies of the school, and earned
from his accomplished teacher the encomium of “a
good scholar — a man of genius.” By the light of a
cedar torch he studied the classics, and drank in
those treasures of the ancients which abided with
him to the last. Learning was with him an ambi-
tion— not pursued merely for momentary gratifica-
tion, but to give nourishment and stimulus to his
strong natural mind, that it might grow and expand
under the culture of the great masters of antiquity.
He exhausted the authors studied by him, the in-
timate thoughts of the Greek and Latin poets and
prose writers became familiar to him, and he ac-
quired from these that Roman majesty of charac-
ter so uniquely his in after life.
After quitting the school of Dr. Priestly, Mr. Ro-
wan was sent by his father to study the law under
that master of juris consults, George Nicholas, at
Lexington. Nicholas was the personal and polit-
ical friend and confident of Thomas Jefferson, and
was a man of commanding abilities and great pro-
fessional learning. This is clearly proven by the
fact that the young men who were his pupils be-
came the most successful and celebrated lawyers of
their generation. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, Ish-
am Talbot, Jesse Bledsoe, Solomon P. Sharp, Wil-
liam T. Barry, John Pope, Robert Wickliffe, John
Rowan and others of almost equal celebrity were pu-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
619
pils in his office, and constitute a group of most re-
markable men and lawyers.
In the study of the law his progress was equal to
the wishes of his most sanguine friends, so much so
that Nicholas — a man who never flattered — after
due probation, pronounced him a thorough lawyer,
and sent him forth in his emphatic language, “to
succeed.”
He was admitted to the bar in 1795 and soon at-
tained a high rank in his profession. In 1799 he
was elected a member of the convention which fram-
ed the second Constitution of Kentucky. In 1804
he was appointed by Governor Greenup secretary
of state, and served until 1806, when he was elect-
ed to Congress from the Bardstown District, in
which he did not reside — a compliment accorded to
no other, it is believed, in the history of the State.
He took his seat in 1807, and served with distinc-
tion in the Eleventh Congress, tie then devoted
himself to the practice of law. His success in
civil causes was great, for he was a thorough
lawyer, and he brought to their investigation
an uncommon fund of learning, which, though not
usually possessed by lawyers, is largely auxilliary
to the attainment of success. “His mental or-
ganization,” says one of his early biographers, an
eminent member of the bar, “was fitted for advocacy
more than the duties of a mere barrister in civil
causes, and his wonderful success in defending
criminals marks him as having been one of the
greatest advocates of America. It may seem to
some that in this I claim too much for him, but I
affirm that the annals of the profession, neither in
England nor the United States, can present a paral-
lel to his success. * * * * In defense of life,
Rowan stands alone. * * * There was no re-
sisting him — either with the torrent force of his
reasoning he tore away the obstruction of prejudice
and convinced the jury — or with the deep and im-
passioned relation of the wrongs which had in-
duced the commission of an apparent crime, he
so filled their hearts that they gave way to mercy
in tears. The writer has conversed with many
jurymen who have sat under his eloquence, and
they have told him that there was in the manner and
the oratory of Rowan, a force that overcame them
ere they could steel themselves against it — nay, that
they believed to resist him in a capital case was al-
most impossible.”
All of his efforts at the bar were in defense and
not in the prosecution of unfortunates, with one ex-
ception. When very young and poor he was ap-
pointed public prosecutor by, perhaps, judge Cros-
by; the place was a sure road to eminence and a
lucrative practice. He accepted it, and the first
case was a charge of larceny against a widow’s son.
He prosecuted and convicted him. His feelings
overcame him — he resigned — moved a new trial
and obtained it; and at the next term acquitted the
offender. From that day forward he resolved never
to engage in the prosecution of his fellow man, and
that he kept his resolve is shown by his declaration
in one of the great speeches of his life, made in the
successful defense of the Wilkinsons, at Harrods-
burg in 1838, that in his nearly fifty years of prac-
tice he had never taken a fee nor appeared as an
attorney for the prosecution of a fellow man.
Whether the reasoning that influenced his course
can be sustained or not, his steadfast adherence to
his resolve, to his great pecuniary disadvantage,
must challenge the admiration of all.
He served in the legislature as a member from
Nelson County five consecutive terms, from 1813 to
1817, and in 1819 was appointed by Governor
Slaughter judge of the court of appeals. While
on the bench he delivered, among other able
opinions, one against the constitutionality of the
act of 1816 rechartering the Bank of the United
States. But the confinement of the bench was dis-
tasteful to one of his active habits, and he resigned,
after serving two years. The State was in a ferment,
growing out of the financial embarrassment which
had long oppressed the people, and he became con-
spicuous as a member of the Relief party, which
sought to avert the disasters which seemed to
threaten general bankruptcy. His services at this
juncture are a part of the history of the State.
In 1823, in conjunction with Mr. Clay, he was
appointed by the legislature a commissioner to
represent the State before the Supreme Court, in de-
fense of what was known as the occupying claim-
ant laws of Kentucky. The petition in the case
was drawn by Judge Rowan, and was regarded as
an able vindication of those laws, but the court de-
cided them to be in conflict with the compact with
Virginia at the time Kentucky became a State. In
1824 he was elected to the United States Senate and
served until 1830. The debates of the senate dur-
ing the period of his service show that he partici-
pated in the discussion of all the leading questions
of the day, and his speeches are largely quoted in
Benton’s “Abridged Debates.” In the discussion
upon the bill to abolish imprisonment for debt, and
that to amend the judiciary system of the United
620
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
States, he took a conspicuous part, while upon the
resolutions of Mr. Foote, he shared the honors of
the debate with Webster, Hayne and Calhoun. Mr.
Webster declared that his argument in support of
the state rights theory was masterly in the extreme.
One of his biographers has justly said of him: “In
him centered the chivalry of Kentucky character;
not the gusty evanescent spirit too prevalent in
some quarters, nor the staidness of demeanor ap-
proaching cant, to be found in others; but that just
medium which betokens sincerity, kindness and
resolution. The characteristics of his constituents
were reflected in his senatorial career; and while
Kentucky has a name in the territorial divisions of
our country, she may look upon that career with
pride, and point to that son as an object worthy of
emulation.”
One of Judge Rowan’s characteristics was the
helping hand he gave to young men in his profes-
sion. Many of the most prominent lawyers and
jurists of their day read law with him, among them
Governor Lazarus Powell, James Guthrie, Judge
Henry Pirtle and Judge John McKinley of the
United States Supreme Court.
The last public office he filled was that of com-
missioner under the convention at Washington for
the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United
States against Mexico, of the nth of April, 1839.
In this he labored with great assiduity; and when,
upon an adjournment of the commission he had
returned to his family in Kentucky, and from a
temporary indisposition of health he was unable to
return to Washington at the time expected, he re-
signed his office for fear there might be some disap-
pointment to persons who had business before the
tribunal; such was his delicate appreciation of pub-
lic duty.
He was devoted in friendships and he hated no
man; was exceedingly urbane in his manners;
hospitable, kind in his habits; of uncommonly in-
teresting colloquial powers; dignified and com-
manding in his person and presence.
His wife, who was a sister of General William
Lytle, a prominent and wealthy citizen of Cincin-
nati and the grandfather of the distinguished young
Federal General of the same name, who lost his
life at Chicamauga, was a lady well fitted in all the
charms of womanly grace and virtue to be the wife
of such a man, and their home, “Federal Hill,” in
Nelson County, was the hospitable resort of all the
prominent persons of that period, and of their rela-
tives and friends. It is said that it was a visit to
that hospitable mansion that inspired Stephen
Foster to write “My Old Kentucky Home.” Al-
though Judge Rowan retained his home in Nelson
County he purchased a residence in Louisville
about 1817, and divided his time between the places.
He died in Louisville on the 13th day of July, 1843,
and was buried in the family burying grounds at
Federal Hill. Although he had a family of three
sons and six daughters, but four of his children
survived him, viz: John Rowan, Jr., Mrs. Ann R.
Buchanan, Mrs. Alice Wakefield and Mrs. Eliza-
beth Hughes; all of whom have been dead many
years.
ARNETT DUNCAN, long a prominent mem-
ber of the Louisville bar, was the son of Henry
and Sarah (Shipp) Duncan, and was born in Louis-
ville, March 1, 1800. Both of his parents were
from Virginia, the former of Scotch descent
through the Earls of March and Mar, and the
latter of English descent. His paternal American
ancestor was one of three brothers Duncan who
came to Virginia in 1673. Henry Duncan died in
1814 and was one of the most prominent men of
early Louisville. He established a hat factory near
the present site of the Louisville Hotel and owned
a large tract of land in that vicinity. The Duncan
family have been generally farmers of good educa-
tion and ample means, with many college gradu-
ates, good doctors and eminent lawyers. The
family is to be found in all of the Southern States,
with a few in the North. Thomas Duncan, of Nel-
son County, Kentucky, who lived to an advanced
age, could trace its genealogy a thousand years.
Its motto was “Aut Honor aut Mors,” and he
claimed that there never was a felon in the family to
the remotest generation. They were all patriots in
1776, with not a Tory among them, and many
serving in the army.
Garnett Duncan was educated at Yale College,
New Haven, where he was graduated with honor in
1821, with many others afterwards prominent in
life. He embraced the profession of law and be-
came eminent in its practice both in Kentucky and
Louisiana. He practiced in Louisville, both in the
State and Federal courts, with his residence in this
city from the date of his admission to the bar until
1846. In that year he became the Whig candidate
for Congress and was elected over David Meri-
wether, the Democratic nominee. After serving
one term, he moved to New Orleans and entered
into partnership with Judge Ogden, building up
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
621
a large business. After the death of Caroline Dun-
can, his wife, there in 1854, he retired from his pro-
fession, and, going to Europe, resided for some
years in Paris, becoming intimate with the Imperial-
ist leaders. He returned after several years to at-
tend to the estate of John L. Martin as executor,
and remained for several years on the plantation in
Bolivar County, Mississippi. Upon the outbreak
of the war and the shelling of the plantation by the
Federal gunboats, he ran the blockade at Wilming-
ton, N. C., and returned to Paris. Here he re-
mained until, his health failing, he came to Louis-
ville, where he died at the residence of his son,
Colonel Blanton Duncan, in the spring of 1875.
During the siege of Paris, Mr. Duncan resided on
a leased farm inside the German lines and witnessed
all the stirring events of the siege. He was warm-
ly enlisted in sympathy with the South during the
war, but being too old for military service, preferred
to live abroad rather than to witness the destruc-
tion which he could not mitigate. He was a
scholarly gentleman of strikingly handsome features
and person. He was a warm friend of General
Taylor, and by his advocacy of him for the Presi-
dency, strained his relations with Mr. Clay, of
whom he had long been a devoted adherent. His
friends favored his appointment to the Supreme
Bench, but his nomination was not sent in by Presi-
dent Taylor after the rejection by the Democratic
Senate of Senator Badger, of North Carolina, a
Whig. His most intimate friends in Congress
among the Whigs were Tombs, Stephens, Winthrop
and Crittenden, and the Masons and other promi-
nent Southern Democrats. His only son, Colonel
Blanton Duncan, a lawyer by education, early
raised troops for the Southern army, commanded a
regiment in Virginia, and served afterwards on the
staff of General Joseph E. Johnston, General
Beauregard and others, but retired from the army
and established a large engraving and printing
establishment at Columbia, South Carolina, where
he printed, until the end of the war, the currency
and bonds of the Confederate Government. For
the greater part of the time since the war, he has
resided in Louisville, taking active part in public
affairs; but for some years past has lived in Cali-
fornia, his home being at Redondo Beach, but al-
ways claiming his citizenship in Kentucky.
In 1826 Garnett Duncan married Pattie, daughter
of John L. Martin, a prominent citizen of Lexing-
ton, Kentucky, related by descent to the Washing-
tons, Taylors and Blantons. She died in 1828,
leaving one child, Blanton, to whom reference has
just been made. In 1831, Mr. Duncan married a
second time, Miss Caroline Shipman, of New
Haven, Connecticut, who died in 1854, leaving no
children.
U^OLONEL WILLIAM POINDEXTER
THOMASSON, a distinguished member of
the old Louisville bar, representative in Congress
from this district, a soldier of two wars, and, in the
fullest sense of the term, a man of heroic mold, was
born October 8, 1797, near New Castle, Henry
County, Kentucky, and died in Louisville, Decem-
ber 29, 1882. The earliest record of the Thomas-
son family is found in Leipsic, Germany, and dates
back to the year 1508. The name was then spelled
“Tomassen,” and later in the century two brothers
bearing the name were especially prominent in
Leipsic, one of them being a college professor, and
the other a celebrated divine in the Lutheran
Church. One of these brothers went to England
and became the founder of the English family of
Thomassons, one of whom is at present a member
of the English Parliament. Another member of the
family was Rev. Louis de Thomasin, who was a
leading theologian in Paris in the early part of the
eighteenth century. Rev. Louis de Thomasin had
three sons, the eldest of whom, named William,
came from France to America in 1750. This Wil-
liam Thomasin served in the Virginia line during
the Revolutionary War and his services received
special mention in the records of the War Depart-
ment at Washington for the year 1778. The spell-
ing of the name was changed to its present form
during the lifetime of this William Thomasin, who
was the great-grandfather of William Poindexter
Thomasson. In the maternal line, William P.
Thomasson was a descendant of the French family
of Dupuys, whose history is traced back through
authentic records to the year 1560.
Reared on a farm, Colonel Thomasson had the
usual experiences of a country youth during the
pioneer period of Kentucky’s history and obtained
only such education as Kentucky schools afforded
at that time, supplemented, perhaps, bv some pri-
vate instruction. He was very apt and intelligent,
however, as a youth and, while still very young,
taught school several terms during the winter
months. That he was a chivalrous and patriotic
youth is evidenced by the fact that, young as he
was, he volunteered as a soldier in the War of 1812,
and served as a member of Colonel Duncan Me-
622
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Arthur’s regiment. After the war lie went to Cory-
don, Indiana, which was then the capital of the Ter-
ritory of Indiana, and there he studied law and was
admitted to the bar. At twenty-one years of age
he was elected to the Indiana Legislature, or rather,
was elected before he attained his majority, but took
his seat shortly after he became of age. He served
in the Legislature during the years 1818, 1819 and
1820, and, while living at Corydon, was also pros-
ecuting attorney of the county. In that capacity he
prosecuted a noted desperado, named Sites, for
killing the sheriff of the county, who was the father
of the late Judge Walter O. Gresham, of President
Cleveland's cabinet. After practicing law for some
years in Corydon, he removed to Louisville and at
once took high rank among the members of the
old bar in this city. He was prosecuting attorney
of Jefferson County and also served as a member
of the Kentucky Legislature. In 1833 he made his
race for the State Senate against James Guthrie, he
being a Whig and Guthrie a Democrat. In 1842
he was first elected to Congress, and re-elected two
years later, serving two terms in that body and de-
clining further re-elections on account of the de-
mands of his extensive law practice. At that time
his practice extended all over Southern Indiana and
a considerable portion of Kentucky, and he was
widely known on account of his forensic powers
and his great eloquence as an advocate. The late
General T. Ware Gibson was for a number of years
his law partner, and some of the pioneers of Louis-
ville will remember that his office was located in a
frame building which stood at the northeast corner
of Fifth and Jefferson Streets. At this office, Henry
Clay used to make his headquarters when he came
to Louisville, and there are citizens still living who
remember that it was the custom of his personal
and political friends to pay their respects to him
at that office. Being an ardent Whig, Colonel
Thomasson was a great admirer anti a close friend
of Clay, and when the latter favored, in 1845, the
gradual emancipation of the slaves, he stood with
Clay, and this scheme of emancipation became one
of his pet political projects. In 1849 he was a can-
didate for delegate to the Constitutional Convention
of Kentucky and took strong grounds in favor of
providing for the gradual emancipation of the
slaves in the new organic law of the State. He was
defeated for member of the convention on account
of his emancipation views, the successful candidate
for that position of responsibility and honor
being his brother-in-law, Lion. David Meriwether,
who was afterward appointed successor to Henry
Clay to fill out his unexpired term in the Senate.
Colonel Thomasson was a member of the Na-
tional House of Representatives when the famous
“Wilmot Proviso,” providing against the further ex-
tension of slavery in the Northwest Territory, came
up for consideration, and was the only Southern
member of Congress who cast his vote in favor of
it. He was prominent in politics when the “Know
Nothing" movement overran Kentucky, and, al-
though a member of the Whig party, which was
largely absorbed by the “Know Nothing” party, he
strenuously opposed the proscriptive policies of that
organization. On the memorable “bloody Mon-
day,” when foreigners were assailed in Louisville
by the adherents of the “Know Nothing” party, he
rescued many of the persons assailed, and, living
next door to the Catholic Cathedral, he received
into his home the paraphernalia of the church and
kept it safely until the excitement subsided. As a
member of the National Congress, one of many im-
portant services rendered to the city was that of
having provision made for the building of the Ma-
rine Hospital, which, in those days, was an institu-
tion of considerable consequence.
When the Civil War began, Colonel Thomasson
at once took strong grounds in favor of the Union,
and, in the summer of 1861, while visiting in New
York, left for the seat of war as a member of the
Seventy-first Regiment of New York Volunteers.
He was then sixty-four years of age, but, with mus-
ket in hand, he fought in the ranks at the first bat-
tle of Bull Run. His action was one of those
patriotic expressions of devotion to the Union
cause which attracted attention throughout the
United States and was widely noticed by the press
of the country. At the close of the war, he re-
turned to his old home in Louisville, where he con-
tinued to reside to the end of his life. As a man
and a citizen, lie was esteemed by all who knew
him, always ready to aid those who were in need
and spending the later years of his life in doing good
in many ways. His integrity was unspotted and his
courage so prominent a characteristic that he
seemed never to know what fear was. John C.
Breckinridge said of him at one time: “Colonel
William P. Thomasson, of Louisville, is the most
courageous man, politically and personally, I ever
knew.” This was a high compliment from a high
authority, but his nobility of character and many
things that occurred in the course of his illustrious
career made it Avell deserved.
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
■623
Colonel Thomasson married, in 1828, Charlotte
Leonard, daughter of David A. Leonard, of Rhode
Island. He had nine children, of whom the two
youngest died in infancy. His eldest son, Charles
L. Thomasson, who was born in 1829, gave up his
life in the service of his country at the battle of
Chickamauga, being at the time lieutenant-colonel
in command of the Louisville Legion. His second
child, a daughter, died some years since, the widow
of Hon. John W. Rankin, of Keokuk, Iowa. His
third child died in 1862, the wife of Hon. James M.
Love, of the United States Court, also of Keokuk,
Iowa. His fourth child is now living in LaGrange,
Kentucky, the wife of J. R. Goldsborough. His
fifth child died Mrs. J. Waverly Smith, in 1861. His
sixth child, Nelson Thomasson, an ex-officer of
the regular army, is now living in Chicago, Illinois.
His seventh child, John J. Thomasson, is practicing
law in New York City.
C MMET FIELD, jurist, son of William IT and
Mary (Young) Field, was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, October 28th, 1841. His father, William
LI. Field, was born in Culpeper County, Virginia,
where he was educated and studied law, coming to
Westport, Oldham County, Kentucky, in 1838.
Afterward he came to Louisville and was for many
years a distinguished member of that bar. He
moved to Pettis County, Missouri. When the war
broke out he was a Southern sympathizer, blit a
non-participant, and was killed at his home by Fed-
eral soldiers. His mother, Mary Young, was the
daughter of Dr. Henry Young, a physician of Trim-
ble County, Kentucky.
Emmet Field received his education at Westmin-
ster College, Fulton, Missouri, leaving before the
close of his college course to join the Cenfederate
Army. He enlisted in the Second Missouri Cavalry
before he was twenty and served under Colonels
Alexander and McGoffin. Afterwards he returned
to Louisville, which, with the exception of two
years, has been his residence ever since. He
studied law and, after having been graduated from
the law department of the Louisville University, he
practiced his profession at Springfield, Washington
County, Kentucky, for two years. At the end of
this time he moved to Louisville and was associated
with his brother, Richard Field, now on the bench
in Missouri. The latter having moved to Minne-
sota on account of failing health, after one vear’s
association with Buford T wyman, Judge Field prac-
ticed alone until 1886, when lie was elected Judge
of the Common Pleas Court of Jefferson County,
now known as the Common Pleas Division of the
Jefferson Circuit Court, and was re-elected in 1892.
While engaged in the practice, Judge Field was
known as a painstaking, conscientious lawyer, who
owed his success to his close application, the thor-
oughness with which he prepared his cases, and the
confidence with which he inspired his clients in
his integrity and ability. The same qualities have
characterized his career on the bench. His per-
sonal and official character commend him implicitly
to the respect both of the bar and of litigants, and
his decisions are marked by such evidences of con-
scientious regard for law and equity as to lead,
rarely to appeal or reversal. Notwithstanding the
exacting nature of his duties, Judge Field has. for
ten or twelve years, been a professor in the Law
department of the University of Louisville, and has
found in the avocation of instructing young
men a pleasure and relaxation from the cares of
his judicial position. His political status has been
that of a Democrat, always voting the straight
ticket of his party. His connection with social or-
ders has been limited to membership in that of the
Elks. He was reared in the Presbyterian Church,
and is a member of the Crescent Hill Presbyterian
Church.
In 1869 Judge Field married Sue McElroy,
daughter of Anthony McElroy, of Springfield, Ken-
tucky, whose family were members of the Presby-
terian Church and in which she grew up. They
have five children and one grandchild.
O TERLING B. TONEY, lawyer and jurist, was
^ born at Villula, Russell County, Alabama, May
24th, 1850, son of Washington Toney, a prominent
Southern planter and a most estimable and accom-
plished gentleman. Washington Toney, who was
born at Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1810, was
the son of Colonel William Toney, who was also a
native of South Carolina, and served with distinc-
tion as colonel of a United States cavalry regiment
in the War of 1812. The latter was the owner of
large landed estates in South Carolina, and also of
numerous slaves, and was the founder of the city
of Greenville, South Carolina, in which city he re-
sided in early life and reared his family. Later in
life he removed to his home near Fort Gaines,
Georgia, and died on his plantation in that State
in 1858. For some years previous to his death he
was one of the most extensive cotton growers in
the South, having large plantations in both Georgia
624
MEMORIAL HISTORY OE LOUISVILLE.
and Florida. His son, Washington Toney, the
father of Judge Sterling B. Toney, was educated at
the University of South Carolina, at Columbia, and
graduated from that institution in the same class
with Waddy Thompson, Theodore Croft, William
L. Yancey, and other distinguished Southerners. He
also was a distinguished planter and a scholarly
man, well versed in science and literature. His
home, located near Eufaula, Alabama, was known
as “Roseland,” and there he died in 1874. He had
three sons, the eldest of whom, Captain William
Toney, was captain of Company K, of the Fif-
teenth Alabama regiment of infantry in the Con-
federate Army, and was mortally wounded at the
age of twenty at the battle of Cross Keys, Vir-
ginia, while serving under General “Stonewall”
Jackson, and was buried at Charlotteville, Virginia.
The younger sons are Sterling B. and Tandy W.
Toney, the latter a planter near Eufaula, Alabama.
Sterling B. Toney received careful educational
training in early youth, and graduated first, in 1869,
from an Alabama college, in which he took a full
academic course. Immediately after his graduation
from this college he matriculated in the University
of Virginia, in which institution he was a student
from 1869 until 1873, graduating therefrom under
the renowned Professor McGuffey, in philosophy,
and under Professor John B. Minor, in law. After
graduating from the law school he returned to his
home in Alabama and began the practice of his
chosen profession at Eufaula. In the year 1874 he
removed to New York City and practiced law in
the Eastern metropolis until 1876. In the latter
year he married Miss Martha Burge, an accom-
plished Louisville lady, the daughter of the late
Richardson Burge, a prominent merchant and to-
bacconist, and transferred his home to this city,
which has since been the scene of his professional
labors. \'V ell fitted by natural endowments and by
the training and experience which he had had pre-
vious to his coming to this city, for professional
work, he entered at once upon an active and suc-
cessful career as a practitioner at the Louisville bar.
The impression which he made upon the bar and
upon the general public was alike favorable, and
he soon gained a commanding position both as law-
yer and citizen. In 1886 he was elected judge of the
Louisville Law and Equity Court, and in the ex-
ercise of judicial functions still further strengthened
his hold upon popular favor. I11 1895 he was elected
a judge of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, but
his election to that high office being contested, a
fine sense of honor caused him to decline to accept
the position because the Board of Contest did not
render a unanimous decision in his favor, three
members of the board holding for him and two
members against him and in favor of his Repub-
lican competitor. At the expiration of his term as
judge of the Law and Equity Court he was paid
the high compliment of re-election without opposi-
tion, and is still holding the Law and Equity
judgeship. His term of service on the bench has
now extended over a period of ten years and a vast
amount of important litigation has occupied his
attention. As a jurist he has evinced a broad knowl-
edge of law and equity jurisprudence, a conscien-
tious regard for the rights of all classes of litigants,
and excellent capacity for research and investiga-
tion. Many of his decisions have been widely
copied in the leading law journals of the country
and have been cited and quoted in many of the
Supreme Courts of the different States. His deci-
sion in the famous case of Arnett vs. The Wathen
Mason Manufacturing Company, involving the doc-
trine of the entirety and divisibility of contracts and
the remedies in cases of breaches thereof, is reported
in full in the twenty-sixth American Law Register
(page 59). His opinion in the case of the Louisville
Bagging Company against the Central Passenger
Railway Company on the use of electricity for the
propulsion of street cars, was one of the first in
point of time rendered by the courts of the country,
and this opinion is reported in full in Third Electric
Cases (pages 236 to 272, and 296 to 344). It is
also given prominence and quoted by Mr. Caseley
in his admirable law book, entitled “Caseley on
Electric Wires.” The same decision is referred to
and cited as authority in “Randolph on Eminent Do-
main,” “Booth’s Street Railway Law,” the “Ameri-
can and English Encyclopedia of Law,” and “Amer-
ican and English Railway Companies.” His deci-
sion in the case of the Kentucky Wagon Company
against the railroads, in which he passed upon the
right of the railroad companies to collect demurrage
charges for the detention of their cars by freight
consignees, was another decision which attracted
much attention, and when rendered, in 1892, was
published in all the leading law journals of the
Luited States. His decisions in matters involving
the laws governing corporations and constitutional
questions have been cited in the higher courts in
many instances, and have frequently been published
in full in the leading law periodicals. In the case
of the Adams Express Company vs. The State of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
625
Kentucky, he held the statute providing for a spe-
cial license tax per mile to be unconstitutional, a
decision which was affirmed by the Kentucky Court
of Appeals. This decision obtained wide publicity
in law periodicals and was strongly commended
editorially in the Albany Law Journal and by dis-
tinguished members of the bar in personal com-
munications to Judge Toney. His literary ad-
dresses before colleges and bar associations have
caused him to be in yearly demand on such occa-
sions.
Politically, Judge Toney has been identified
with the Democratic party ever since he became a
voter, and his religious affiliations are with the
Episcopalian Church. In fraternal circles he is
prominent as a member of the Orders of Free Ma-
sons, Knights of Honor, and Elks, and in social cir-
cles he is known as a genial and accomplished gen-
tleman. He has two children, a son, R. Burge
Toney, sixteen years of age, and a daughter, Emma
Louise Toney, aged seventeen, at this time (1896.)
T OSEPH THOMAS O’NEAL, lawyer, was born
February 7th, 1849, near Versailles, Woodford
County, Kentucky, son of Merit Singleton O’Neal,
who was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky, in
1821, moved to Woodford County in 1849, a’M is
still living in that county, where he is well known
as a farmer and stock raiser. The elder O’Neal
married Elizabeth Arnold, a native of Woodford
County, daughter of Younger Arnold, who died in
1849, a victim of the memorable cholera epidemic
of that year. Younger Arnold, the maternal grand-
father, and George O'Neal, the paternal grand-
father of the subject of this sketch, were both sol-
diers in the War of 1812.
Joseph T. O’Neal was one of six sons and was
brought up on a Woodford County farm, attending
the county schools to obtain his rudimentary educa-
tion. From the time he was fourteen until he was
seventeen years of age' he attended the Versailles
Academy, then under the management of the well
known educator, Professor Henry. After that he
was, for three years, a student at the Kentucky Uni-
versity College, and completed his education at
Michigan University, of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Having fitted himself for the law, lie began the
practice in Louisville in 1873, in the office of fudge
John Roberts, with whom he was associated for
several years. At a later date he and judge Emmet
Field occupied offices together, and in 1886 he be-
came senior member of the law firm of O’Neal,
40
Jackson & Phelps. This association and partner-
ship was dissolved, in part, by the election of Judge
W. L. Jackson to the bench, although Mr. O’Neal
and Mr. Phelps continued to be associated together,
and other gentlemen were subsequently admitted
to the partnership. For a time the firm was O’Neal,
Phelps & Pryor, and, still later, O’Neal, Phelps,
Pryor & Selligman; then Mr. O’Neal and Mr. Pry-
or associated themselves together under the firm
name of O’Neal & Pryor, and such is the present
style of the firm, the junior member being one of
the well-known young members of the Louisville
bar and a son of Chief Justice Pryor, of the Ken-
tucky Court of Appeals.
To say that Mr. O’Neal has attained a high stand-
ing among members of the Kentucky bar is to state
a fact well known to his contemporaries and the
general public. Ever since he began the practice
he has been a zealous student, as well as an active
practitioner, and the cast of his mind is eminently
judicial. In 1894 he was a candidate for the Demo-
cratic nomination for Judge of the Kentucky Court
of Appeals against Judge Sterling B. Toney, and
the vote cast for him — while not sufficiently large
to secure his nomination — was a flattering testi-
monial to his character and ability as a lawyer.
With this exception, he has never stood as a candi-
date for any office, preferring to devote his time
and talent to his profession.
A member of the Broadway Baptist Church, he
has long been active in church work and has been
especially so in contributing to the upbuilding of
the Baptist Orphans’ Home, of this city, and the
local Young Men’s Christian Association, of which
he has been a member since 1876. He has been
connected with fraternal organizations as a mem-
ber of the Phi Delta Phi College Society, of the
Masonic Order, and the Ancient Essenic Order.
He married, in 1879, Miss Lydia E. Wright,
daughter of Joseph and Ellen (Briscoe) Wright, of
Louisville, and has a family of four sons.
A LBERT A. STOLL, lawyer and legislator, was
** born in Louisville August 29, 1853, son of E.
L. and Elizabeth (Baab) Stoll, the former a native
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the latter of
Franzhein, Bavaria. He grew up in Louisville, ob-
tained a thorough education in the public schools of
this city and then began the study of law under the
preceptorship of that eminent Kentucky lawver,
Hon. Isaac Caldwell. After reading the prescribed
length of time, he attended the regular course of
626
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
lectures at the Louisville Law School, ancl was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1873. After his admission to
the bar, he continued to be associated with Mr. Cald-
well in the practice of his profession, profiting great-
ly by his association with a man who was recog-
nized by the bar of the State and by the public gen-
erally as one of the most profound lawyers who has
ever been identified with the Kentucky bar.
Well equipped for the profession which he had
chosen by natural qualifications as well as by edu-
cation, vigorous, energetic, and capable in all de-
partments of practice, Mr. Stoll rapidly grew into
prominence at the bar of Louisville, and although
still a young man, has long been known as one of
the able lawyers of the city. While giving close at-
tention to his professional duties, he was not un-
mindful of the obligations which rested upon him
as a citizen, and quite early in life began taking an
active interest in politics and public affairs. A mem-
ber of the Democratic party, he became recognized
as one of the local leaders, and in 1874 was elected
a member of the State Legislature, serving in that
body with credit to himself and his constituents,
having been member of the committee of the Gen-
eral Assembly which revised the Code of Practice
in 1875. He was again elected to the Legislature
in 1883, and after his retirement from that body, in
1885, his constituents made him a member of the
City Board of Aldermen, in which he served by re-
elections until the end of the year 1892, and was
president of the board one term. As a public offi-
cial, he carefully guarded the interests of those who
looked to him as their representative, and was a ca-
pable, efficient, and honored public servant. For
six years he was chairman of the Democratic Cam-
paign Committee of the First Louisville district, and
was recognized as a sagacious and able campaign
manager. A firm believer in the cardinal principles
of the Democratic party, he has acted with that or-
ganization since he cast his first vote, and believes
that sound money and a tariff for revenue only are
articles of faith which have been handed down bv
the patriot fathers of Democracy, and which should
be cherished by their political descendants.
In later years he has devoted himself assiduously
to the practice of his profession, in which he has
achieved a large measure of success. Of an emi-
nently practical turn of mind, he has found his chief
diversion in the exercise of his inventive faculties,
and the result of his labors in this field has been to
give to the public several appliances and devices of
practical utility and considerable value. Singularly
enough, perhaps, these appliances have been mainly
intended for use in the sick room, his attention hav-
ing been attracted to the necessity for such inven-
tions during the illness of his son, some years since.
Among his inventions is a rubber pillow, so ar-
ranged that water may flow through one end and out
at the other, keeping the temperature stationary or
raising or lowering it as the physician may desire.
Another of his inventions is a bed so arranged that
the patient may sit up or be lowered without any
effort on his part. Still another invention makes
provision for giving a patient a bath without re-
moving him from the bed or even changing his po-
sition, by means of a rubber blanket of peculiar de-
sign. Another invention is a rubber tube, horse-
shoe shaped, and so made as to fit the head of a
patient, which can be filled with water or crushed
ice and used to cool the head as the patient lies on
his pillow. These inventions have been patented,
and physicians pronounce' them of great value to
the profession and to suffering humanity.
Mr. Stoll is a member of the Lutheran Church,
and organized the East End Charity organization
in 1894. Since 1879, he has been a member of the
fraternal and benefit order known as the Knights
of Honor. He was married, in 1876, to Miss L. J.
Garrard, and they have had five children, three of
whom are living, their names being Albert A. Stoll,
Tr., Lettie E. Stoll, and Ruth Jennings Stoll.
'"THOMAS BATTS OVERTON, lawyer and
* merchant, of Louisville, Kentucky, son of
Thomas and Susan (Llewellyn) Overton, was born
in Hanover County, Virginia, April 29, 1818. The
Overton family, from which he was descended, were
of old English stock, his first American ancestor,
Major Overton, having been an influential adher-
ent of Cromwell during- his protectorate, and hav-
ing, upon the restoration of Charles II, fled to
America at the same time with Whalley and Goff,
two of the judges by whom Charles I was con-
demned. From him are descended the Virginia
family of that name, with many branches number-
ing- prominent names in Kentucky, Tennessee,
Louisiana and other Western and Southern states.
Of this family, Clough Overton, a great-uncle of the
subject of this sketch, was killed at the battle of
Blue Licks. John Overton, the father of Thomas
Overton, who was the father of Thomas Batts Over-
ton, married Ann Booker Clough, whose sister,
Margaret Clough, was the mother of Colonel Rich-
ard Clough Anderson, father of General Robert An-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
627
derson, of Fort Sumter, and other distinguished
sons. Another member of the Overton family was
Major Overton, who, in the War of 1812, was in
command of Fort St. Philip, above the mouth of
the Mississippi, who gallantly defended that posi-
tion and successfully repulsed the British war ships
in their efforts to ascend the river and compelled a
change of base by the British army to Lake Borgne
as the route of attack in the battle of New Orleans.
When Thomas Batts Overton was six years old
his mother, whose husband had died in Virginia,
moved from that state to Nelson County, Kentucky.
Here he received his education in the neighborhood
schools, the locality being early noted for educa-
tional advantages, and began the study of medicine
in Bardstown. Before, however, he had prosecuted
his studies to completion, he changed his choice of
a profession, and having studied law, settled down
to practice in Lebanon, the county seat of Marion
County, Kentucky. After remaining thus some
years and having married, he moved to Helena,
Arkansas, but in 1844 he returned to Kentucky and,
making his residence in Louisville, became a whole-
sale dry-goods merchant as a member of the firm
of D. R. Young & Company. He subsequently en-
gaged in the tobacco warehouse business as a mem-
ber of the firm of Ray & Company. In 1871 he
moved to Greenville, Mississippi, but returned to
Louisville in 1874 and resumed business as a to-
bacco warehouseman, until his death in this city,
January 9, 1877. His remains rest in Cave Hill
Cemetery.
During the war Mr. Overton was a Unionist, and
in his latter years a Democrat. In religious affilia-
tion, he was a Presbyterian, being for many years
a member of the Second Presbyterian Church. He
was also a member of the Masonic order.
He was married April 22, 1843, t° Eliza Chown-
ing, of Lebanon, Kentucky, who still survives him.
Their children were five in number. Lucy Eliza,
who married Lawrence Dorsey McMeekin, and
died without issue; Dabney Bruce, who studied law
in Heidelberg, Germany, being abroad four years,
and returning to Louisville, practiced law with
Judge W. F. Bullock, dying young and unmarried;
Sarah Llewellyn, who married Lawrence Dorsey
McMeekin, his second wife, and has two children,
Lawrence Dorsey, Jr., and Overton Blanton — liv-
ing in Birmingham, Alabama; Mary Bell, married
William F. Schulte — one son, Batts Overton liv-
ing in Louisville; and Clough Cosby Overton, mar-
ried Lucy Crittenden Stockton, who have one
daughter, Margaret Crittenden, and live on Staten
Island, New York.
T OHN ARVID OUCFITERLONY, A. M„ M.
^ D., LL. D., was born on his father’s estate, in
the Province of Smaland, Sweden, June 24th, 183S.
His father was Captain A. F. Ouchterlony, an offi-
cer in the Swedish Army, and his mother's name
before her marriage was Hedvig Wilhelmina de
Honglin. After having received thorough scholas-
tic training in his native land, lie came to America
and began the study of medicine in the University
of the City of New York, under the preceptorship
of Professors John T. Metcalf and T. Gaillard
Thomas. Entering the United States military serv-
ice as a surgeon during- the Civil War, he was on
duty in different hospitals in and near Louisville
prior to 1863, and thus formed his acquaintance
with the city in which he has since achieved such
celebrity as a medical teacher and practitioner.
In 1864 he was appointed lecturer on clinical
medicine in the University of Louisville, and soon
became conspicuous as an instructor. At the close
of the year 1865 he resigned from the Government
service and began the civil practice of medicine in
this city, impressing himself upon the profession at
once as a man of exceptional talents and rare skill
as a physician. In 1869, in company with other
distinguishecl physicians of the city, he founded the
Louisville Medical College, in which institution he
became professor of materia medica, therapeutics
and clinical medicine. This position he continued
to occupy until the autumn of 1876, when he re-
signed. In 1878 he accepted the chair of principles
and practice of medicine in the Kentucky School of
Medicine, and filled that position for four years.
At the end of that time he severed his connection
with the Kentucky School of Medicine to become
professor of materia medica, therapeutics and clini-
cal medicine in the University of Louisville. Later
he became professor of the principles and practice
of medicine in the same institution and has contin-
ued to hold that position up to the present time.
As a college professor he has become recognized
by the profession as one of the leading medical
educators of the country, his rare talent and superior
ability being evidenced as an instructor to no less
an extent than in the active practice of his profes-
sion. He has been honored by his professional as-
sociates of Louisville with the presidencv of the
Medico-C hirurgical Society, the Louisville Obstet
628
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
rical Society, and the Clinical Society, of this city,
and in much larger State and National medical
circles he has also been a conspicuous figure. He
was president of the Kentucky Medical Associa-
tion in 1890, is an honorary member of the Michi-
gan State Medical Society, and has been vice-presi-
dent of the American Medical Association, of which
he is an influential member.
His fame has not been confined to America, but
has traveled abroad, and in his native land special
appreciation has been shown of his ability and
achievements. In 1890 he was elected a member of
the Swedish Antiquarian Society, and, in 1891, he
received from the Swedish Royal Academy of Sci-
ences the Linnaean Gold Medal. In the same year
he was knighted by King Oscar of Sweden — the
most scholarly and cultivated of the reigning mon-
archs of Europe— who made him a knight of the
Royal Order of the Polar Star. In 1892 the Uni-
versity of Notre Dame conferred upon him the hon-
orary degree of doctor of laws.
His contributions to medical literature have been
numerous, and many of them have attracted wide
attention. Among the most important of these con-
tributions may be mentioned treatises on Angina
Pectoris; on Cystic Degeneration of the Kidneys;
on Cholelithiasis; on the Diagnosis of Syphilitic
Diseases of the Skin; on the Preventive Treatment
of Tuberculosis, and on Epidemic Influenza. He
has been a ready and attractive writer, and his pa-
pers, read before medical societies and associations
and published in medical journals, have covered a
wide and varied field of investigation and research.
He has been all his life an intense student, and has
kept in touch with the most advanced thought and
experimentation of his profession. His library is
one of the larg-est and most carefully selected in
the State of Kentucky, and embraces a large
amount of high-class literature, in addition to his
large collection of medical books and scientific works
of kindred character.
In 1878, Dr. Ouchterlony served as a member of
the Louisville Board of Health, but, with this ex-
ception, has never consented to hold any public
office of a political or semi-political character. His
affiliations have been with the Democratic party,
but he has been too much absorbed in the discharge
of his professional duties and in meeting the re-
quirements of his great practice to give any time or
attention to politics. As a churchman he is a dis-
tinguished Roman Catholic layman, and, in 1894,
Pope Leo XIII. conferred upon him the honor of
Knighthood in the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
He was married, in 1863, to Miss Kate Aubrey
Grainger, second daughter of Hon. William H.
Grainger, of Louisville.
T T HORACE GRANT, A. M., M. D., was born
A • in Kenton County, Kentucky, December 12,
1853. son of Dr. E. L. and Jane R. (Prest) Grant.
His father was a medical practitioner in early life,
and for thirty-five years past has had large fann-
ing interests in Boone County, Kentucky, in which
county he is still living, his place of residence being
at Petersburg.
The subject of this sketch obtained his early edu-
cation in the private schools of the county in which
he was brought up, and entered upon his collegiate
course at Moorse Hill College in Indiana, which he
attended during the years 1870 and 1871. He was
later, for a time, a student at Miami University of
Oxford, Ohio, and completed his collegiate course
at Danville, Kentucky, being graduated from Cen-
tre College in the class of 1875. He then began the
study of medicine, matriculating at the famous Jef-
ferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, from which institution he was graduated in
the class of 1878. Immediately after obtaining his
doctor's degree, he practiced for a time as an in-
terne in Jefferson Medical College Hospital, and
then began the private practice of his profession at
New Castle, Kentucky. In 1880, he was elected
demonstrator of anatomy in the Kentucky School
of Medicine, and removed to Louisville. Plere he
formed a professional partnership with Dr. George
J. Cook, and at once entered upon a career which
has been steadily progressive, which has given to
him well-deserved prominence among- Southern
practitioners of medicine and medical educators,
and which has brought to him also abundant pros-
perity. He was elected demonstrator of surgery in
the Kentucky School of Medicine in 1883, and in
1892 became professor of surgery in the Hospital
College of Medicine. Though a general practi-
tioner, Dr. Grant is chiefly interested in surgery,
and has accomplished some of the most successful
work done in the State in that line, having shown
marked originality in the suggestion of instruments
for certain operative steps. He has now been
identified with the profession in Louisville for a
period of sixteen years, and during that time he has
enjoyed constantly increasing prestige, and a con-
stantly growing practice. Pie has been active also
in all movements designed to elevate the standard
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
629
of his profession, to add to the attainments of those
engaged in the practice of medicine, and to render
them more effective agents for conserving the pub-
lic health. He is a member of the State and City
Medical Society, vice-president of the Kentucky
State Medical Society, member of the American
Medical Association, member of the American
Academy of Medicine, member of the Southern
Surgical and Gynecological Society, and a member
of the Mississippi Valley Medical Society.
Politically, Dr. Grant has affiliated with the Dem-
ocratic party, but as political lines are now drawn,
may be said to belong to the “Sound Money” wing
of that party. He was married, in 1886, to Miss
Leila Ellen Owsley, daughter of judge W. F. Ows-
ley, of Burkesville, Cumberland County, Kentucky,
and niece of the late Judge Nicholas Owsley of
Lewiston, Kentucky. They have one son, Ernest
Owsley Grant, born December 9, 1888.
j_J ENRY A. BELL, who has long been an
official of Jefferson County, and who, by rea-
son of his long and faithful service, has become
well known to the public, was born in Louisville,
April 1, 1845, son of Joseph and Selina A. Bell, the
former a native of New York, and the latter of Vir-
ginia. His grandfather was a soldier in the Mexi-
can War and gave up his life in the struggle which
won for the United States that magnificent domain
lying west of the Rocky Mountains.
After obtaining his primary education in the
county schools, he took a course at Forest Home
Academy, and then went to Centre College, of Dan-
ville, Kentucky, where he completed his studies.
He had been brought up on a farm and, after quit-
ting school, returned to agricultural pursuits, for
which he had a natural fondness. In 1875, lie first
became connected with county affairs as deputy
sheriff under Sheriff Thomas Shanks, and served in
that capacity two years. For the next two years he
was connected with the Louisville & Harrod's
Creek Narrow Gauge Railroad enterprise, but, in
1879, again became a member of the sheriff’s staff
of deputies. From 1879 to 1883 he served under
Sheriff S. S. Hamilton, from 1883 to 1887 under
Sheriff J. D. Barbour and from 1887 to 1891 under
Sheriff William Clark. In 1891 he was himself
elected sheriff and served in that capacity four
years. In all, he was connected with the sheriff’s
office fourteen years and, during all that time, was a
most capable and efficient officer. Familiar with
the work in all the departments of the sheriff’s office,
he discharged his duties with zeal and fidelity, and
was an exceedingly popular as well as a capable
official. After his retirement from the shrievalty,
in 1895, he became chief deputy in the office of
County Clerk William P. Johnson, and still retains
that office. He has always taken a warm interest
in politics and has been a Democrat of the strictly
orthodox kind since he cast his first vote. He is
a prominent member of the Watterson Club, the
Order of Elks, Knights of Pythias and Knights of
Honor.
XX/HLLIAM TEMPLETON DURRETT, son of
’ Reuben Thomas Durrett (cp v.) and Elizabeth
Bates Durrett, only daughter of Caleb Bates, a
prominent merchant of Cincinnati, was born in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, July 13, 1855. Having received his
early education at the public schools of Louisville,
he attended Washington and Lee University and
was graduated from there in 1874 with the degree
of Mining Engineer, having also made a specialty
of chemistry.
Returning to Louisville, he studied medicine and
in 1879 was graduated at the University of Louis-
ville with the degree of M. D. After completing
his medical studies, he took a specialty course for
eye, ear and throat diseases, and devoted himself for
ten years to practice in this department. In 1885
he was appointed one of the board of surgeons for
the examination of pensioners and held the position
during the remainder of Mr. Cleveland’s first Presi-
dential term. LTpon the expiration of this period,
having become interested in the development of
the natural gas fields of Kentucky, he retired from
the practice of medicine and accepted the appoint-
ment of engineer of the Kentucky Heating Com-
pany, which supplies natural gas as a fuel to the city
of Louisville from the wells in Meade County.
This enterprise, which had been projected several
years previous, had not proved successful to the
stockholders. But upon a reorganization of the
company and a more thorough development of the
gas region and the application of more improved
methods for its transmission, the system has been
greatly enlarged and has been made a profitable
industry. Dr. Durrett’s knowledge as a mining en-
gineer, acquired at the university, has served him
well and has proved of great value to the company
in overcoming many- obstacles to success which,
for a time, seemed insurmountable. As supple-
mentary to the supply of natural gas, a plant for
the manufacture of articficial heating gas has been
630
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
added, which is used in very cold weather when,
upon a sudden depression of temperature, the de-
mand for gas is many times multiplied. Formerly,
on such occasions, consumers for a time felt the
deficiency, but the addition to the plant has entirely
remedied this deficit. This is but one of many im-
provements introduced since Dr. Durrett became
connected with the company, and while the supply
of gas has not been such as to warrant its use for
manufacturing purposes, it has steadily met the de-
mand for the increasing extension of the service
for domestic use.
Dr. Durrett is a free silver Democrat in his politi-
cal associations, but, save his service as pension ex-
aminer, has never sought nor held office. In social
organizations, his membership has been limited to
his college society of Kappa Sigma. In the mat-
ter of wheeling and boating, he takes an active in-
terest, and as a member of the Louisville Boat Club,
he is noted for his fast craft and his skill in sail-
ing. He was reared in the Episcopal l hurch and
from an early age has been an attendant upon old
St. Paul’s Church.
On the 15th of July, 1885, he married Sara
Eleanor, daughter of Rev. John J. Cooke, of Louis-
ville, and granddaughter of the late well-known
centenarian, Dr. C. C. Graham. She is also a
niece of the late Mrs. Governor Blanlette and Mrs.
Senator Blackburn. Two children have been born
to them, one of whom, R. T. Durrett, Jr., survives.
FT R. JAMES CHEW JOHNSTON, son of Wil-
Ham Johnston and Elizabeth Winn, was born at
Cave Farm, near Louisville, the summer residence
of his father, and the site of the present attractive
Cave Hill Cemetery, on the 31st of July, 1787. I he
only other child of his parents was a daughter,
Mary, who died in infancy. He evinced a taste for
study when quite young, and after receiving such
preliminary education as the local schools at that
time afforded, he was sent, while still quite young,
to Princeton College, N. J., making the trip on
horseback. Here he obtained a thorough classical
education and after graduating with credit, he went
to Philadelphia and became a private student of
medicine under the celebrated Professor Chapman.
Later, he attended the lectures at the University of
Pennsylvania and in 1810 graduated with the high-
est honors of his class. Returning to his native
city, he at once entered upon the practice of his
profession, and being equipped as few physicians
of that day were, he soon obtained much of the best
practice of the town and county. In point of
scientific attainments, he was one of the most pro-
ficient members of his profession who ever resided
in Louisville, and long after he had retired from
practice, his opinions were sought and his counsel
held in the highest respect by the leading physici-
ans. Unfortunately for the profession and his fel-
low citizens, lie retired too soon and while there was
need of such qualities as he possessed. Had he
been compelled by his necessities to have looked to
his practice for support, there is no doubt but that
he would have attained great eminence, but being
an only child and inheriting a large landed property,
his attention was early directed toward the care of
his possessions and the enjoyment of the independ-
ence they conferred. His father had not only left
valuable suburban property, but was the owner of
much that lay within the town boundary. Among
the list of purchasers of lots at the sale in 1786, his
name appears as one of the largest investors, a large
number of lots descending to the subject of this
sketch. Added to his love of science and literature,
Dr. Johnston possessed a refined taste for horticul-
ture and floriculture, and his place of residence was
always rendered attractive by the fruit trees and
flowers which adorned his spacious grounds.
Woodland Garden, at the head of Market Street,
long noted as a place of public resort, owed its at-
tractiveness to the fact that it was originally laid out
and planted by him as a private garden. For many
years he resided at the foot of Seventh Street, in a
residence famous for its terraced slopes, and made
attractive by choice fruit-bearing trees and flowers
of the finest varieties. No one, save Dr. C. W.
Short, the distinguished botanist, bestowed as much
care upon flowers or had as thorough an acquaint-
ance with them as did Dr. Johnston, and to him as
much, if not more than to any one else, is Louis-
ville indebted for the refined taste for the culture of
flowers, which has been a marked feature in the
community from a very early period. Dr. John-
ston's last home, which he built in the late forties,
is still in the possession of the family. It is 237
East Jefferson, between Brook and Floyd, a sub-
stantial double brick house, with some architectural
peculiarities in the lower story and of quaint plan
within, but embodying elegance and comfort. It
was surrounded with ample grounds and here, in
the evening of his life, the kindly gentleman and
scholar indulged his taste in the rearing of fruit
and flowers, in dispensing a cordial hospitality,
imparting pleasure and instruction to many of all
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
631
ages, who delighted to hear him talk philosophical-
ly, and practically illustrating the teachings of
Cicero’s “de senectute.”
Dr. Johnston was twice married; his first wife
was Miss Maria Booth, daughter of Colonel Wil-
liam Booth, of Shenandoah County, Virgiana, who
died November 15, 1818, leaving a son, who died in
his fourth year. After remaining a widower ten
years, he married, April 3, 1828, Miss Sophia W.
Zane, oldest daughter of Noah Zane, one of the
prominent pioneers of Wheeling, Virginia. Four
children were born of this marriage, three sons and
one daughter. The oldest son, Zane Johnston, died
February 20, 1857, in his twenty-eighth year, hav-
ing graduated in medicine and given promise in
his profession. The other sons were William, who
married Emily, daughter of Robert J. Ward, Esq.;
and James C., who married Julia, daughter of Hon.
S. S. Nicholas. They were both educated at Har-
vard, and served in the Confederate army. The
former has for some time resided in New York, and
the latter died in this city, a member of the bar. The
only daughter is Mary E., wife of Colonel R. W.
Woolley, a prominent lawyer of Louisville; with
their two daughters, Misses Mary and Sophia, they
reside at the old Johnston homestead on Jefferson
Street.
In closing this brief sketch of this excellent gen-
tleman and scholar, who, to other merits, added that
of being one of the original subscribers and trustees
of Christ Church, the writer, who, though not
bound to him by ties of family, knew him affection-
ately for a long time, knows of no better tribute that
can be perpetuated than that of Professor S. D.
Gross, of Philadelphia, privately paid at the time of
his death: “My acquaintance with Dr. Johnston be-
gan in the autumn of 1840, soon after my removal
to Louisville. Although he had then long aban-
doned the practice of his profession, I met with him
very frequently up to the period of my final de-
parture from Kentucky, in 1856, and had the happi-
ness to enjoy his uninterrupted friendship, as well
as that of his excellent family. He was a gentle-
man of the “old school’’ in the true sense of that
term; of a most sociable and genial disposition; of
a highly inquisitive mind full of diversified knowl-
edge; an excellent talker and a warm, trustworthy
friend. Had he not been diverted from his profes-
sional pursuits, he might, and no doubt would, have
attained to marked eminence, for he had talents of
no ordinary character, and that polish of manner
and that kindness of heart which are always sure, in
a physician, to inspire confidence and secure prac-
tice.” He died December 4, 1864, in his seventy-
eighth year, and was laid to rest under the same
sod upon which he was born.
FAOUGLAS DALLAM was born August 25,
1861, in Henderson, Kentucky, son of William
J. and Kate A. (Miles) Dallam. His father was in
early life postmaster and deputy county clerk at
Salem, Kentucky, and later engaged in merchandis-
ing at Henderson, Kentucky, and Evansville, In-
diana, until his death, which occurred in 1893.
The progenitor of the Dallam family in America
was Richard Dallam, who came in 1680 from
Wales, England, to Maryland and there married
Elizabeth Martin, known throughout the colony in
her young womanhood as “Pretty Bettie Martin.”
Many interesting reminiscences and traditions con-
cerning this remarkable woman, who lived to be
one hundred and fourteen years of age, have been
handed down to the present generation and are
cherished by her descendants. William Dallam,
one of the sons of Richard and “Pretty Bettie Mar-
tin" Dallam, was the great-great-grandfather of
Douglas Dallam, and one of his sons, Francis
Mathew Dallam, came to Kentucky in the early
history of the State and married Martha Cassandra
Smith. Nathan Smith Dallam, one of the sons
born of this latter union, married Sarah Hicks, of
Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky, and the
father of Douglas Dallam was one of the children
born of their marriage. Nathan Smith Dallam
represented his county in the Kentucky Legislature
several years, was a noted old-time Whig politician
and a personal friend of Henry Clay and was lieu-
tenant colonel, 97th Regiment, Kentucky State
Militia in 1819.
Douglas Dallam was educated in the public
schools of Evansville, Indiana, and began an ex-
ceedingly active career in a business way, at four-
teen years of age, when he was sent from Evans-
ville to Wadesville, Indiana, with a two-horse
wagon and two trunks full of sample shoes to take
an order for shoes to be filled by the wholesale boot
and shoe house of W. J. Dallam & Son, of which
his father was head. At sixteen he was purser on
the Ohio River steamer “Sunbeam.” Later he
clerked on Mississippi and Tennessee River steam-
boats for nearly four years and then traveled some
years as commercial salesman for W. J. Dallam &
Son. From 1883 to 1884, he was connected with
the wholesale boot and shoe house of Henry Hatch
632
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
& Company, of Philadelphia, and later returned to
Evansville, Indiana, where for a short time he was
city editor of the Evansville “Courier.” He then
returned to the river, and for two years thereafter
was clerk on the steamer “W. F. Nisbet.” In 1887,
he became connected with railway transportation
interests as traveling freight agent for the Nashville,
Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, with headquar-
ters in St. Louis. Called to Evansville by the death of
his brother, he became junior partner in the firm
of W. J. Dallam & Son, but in 1890 severed this con-
nection to return to the employ of the railway com-
pany with which he had formerly been connected.
I11 January, 1892, he was appointed division freight
agent of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Com-
pany, and the following April was made general
agent of the Mississippi Valley Route, with head-
quarters at Evansville, Indiana. In 1894, he was
again made traveling freight agent of the Nashville,
Chatanooga & St. Louis Railway, retaining that
position until February of 1895, when he was made
general Southern agent of the Hoosac Tunnel Fast
Freight Line, with an office in Louisville. This po-
sition he held until August 1, 1896, when he was
promoted to the general agency of the Hoosac Tun-
nel Line, in charge of offices at Louisville, Cincin-
nati, St. Louis and Kansas City. Still a young man,
his life has been a most active one and he has earn-
ed this prominent station which he fills by faith-
ful and persistent effort. He is a Democrat in poli-
tics and an Episcopal churchman.
p HARLES BONNYCASTLE ROBINSCLN,
merchant and manufacturer, was born in
Louisville, March 29, 1853, son of William Meade
Robinson and Ann Mason (Bonnycastle) Robinson.
In the sketches of other members of Mr. Robinson’s
family, which will be found in these volumes, brief
reference has been made to his family history on
both the paternal and maternal sides, and it is un-
necessary to say anything concerning his antece-
dents in this connection. Brought up in Louisville,
he obtained his early education in the public
schools, at the noted old-time school kept by Pro-
fessor B. B. Huntoon. He was then sent to Fari-
bault, Minnesota, where he completed his course of
study and rounded out a thoroughly practical edu-
cation.
Turning his attention to business pursuits im-
mediately after leaving school, he entered the em-
ploy of J. M. Robinson & Company, in 1870, and
was connected with that old and well-known house
until 1875. In the latter year he became an em-
ploye of the Merchants’ National Bank, continu-
ing his connection with that institution two years.
At the end of that time he became secretary and
treasurer of the Wheeler Carriage Company, and
in 1879, in company with the late Irving H. Eddy,
organized the Kentucky Manufacturing Company,
of which he became secretary. In 1882, he and his
younger brother, William Meade Robinson, or-
ganized the Beargrass Woolen Mills Company.
Of this corporation he became president and some
time later, with William Meade Robinson, Jr. and
John C. Hughes, he established the house of Robin-
son-Hughes Company, becoming president also
of that company. In 1892, he assisted in organiz-
ing and became vice-president of the Columbia
Building & Loan Association. In his connection
with these various and important business enter-
prises, he has shown broad capacity and evidenced
the integrity and high character for which members
of his family have been noted ever since they be-
came identified with the city of Louisville.
Mr. Robinson has been in no sense an active
politician, but he has been, nevertheless, an intelli-
gent student of public affairs and political issues.
His views are clearly defined, and his action is in
harmony with his convictions. Previous to 1896
he had acted with the Democratic party, but in that
year declared himself in favor of a single gold stand-
ard, a tariff for revenue only, civil service reform
and close restriction of immigration. He is an
Episcopalian churchman and a member of St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church. He is also a Free Mason
and a member of Falls City Lodge No. 376. He
married, in 1877, Miss Helen Blaisdell Avery,
daughter of the late Benjamin F. and Susanna H.
Avery, of Louisville. Their children are: George
Avery Robinson, Charles Bonnycastle Robinson,
Jr., Goldsborough Cowan Robinson and Helen
Averv Robinson, Jr.
JWl ARTIN BORNTRAEGER, one of the noted
' 1 and eminently successful publishers of Louis-
ville, was born May 22, 1828, at Ruedigheim,
near Marburg, Germany, son of John and Elizabeth
(Schmitt) Borntraeger. He was educated in the
parish school of his native village and remained
there until 1843, when he came to this country a
youth fifteen years of age. Coming directly to
Louisville after his arrival in this country, he ob-
tained his first employment here in the office and
composing rooms of the Catholic Advocate. There
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
he served his apprenticeship to the printers trade
and then began work as a journeyman printer. For
some time thereafter he worked at the case in the
Journal printing establishment, being connected
with that paper as a compositor when the famous
wit and journalist and the talented poet, George D.
Prentice was editor. Connection with this paper
was doubtless of much value to him in his young
manhood and perhaps had much to do with stimu-
lating his ambition to become a journalist and
newspaper manager himself. At any rate, he was
an apt pupil in business affairs and soon familiar-
ized himself thoroughly with the details of news-
paper management. As a result of his acquire-
ments in this connection, he was invited, in 1854,
to become business manager of the Louisville
Anzeiger. He accepted the position and thus began
a connection which continued until his death on
the 4th of May, 1892.
When Mr. Borntraeger became business man-
ager of the Anzeiger it was an obscure German
paper little known, having small influence and
yielding slight profits to its owners. His prudent
conduct of this publishing enterprise soon brought
about an improved condition of its affairs, and
within a few years after he became connected with
the paper, its circulation had largely increased, its
prestige and influence had been greatly extended,
and it was being profitably conducted as a business
enterprise. He inaugurated in the conduct of the
paper, thoroughly systematic methods and strict
discipline in all departments, and everything about
his publishing house moved with the regularity and
precision of clock-work. A faithful discharge of
duty was required from all his employes and sub-
ordinates, and yet his kindly manner and the
reasonableness of all his demands always kept him
on the best of terms with those whom he employed.
All held him in the highest esteem, and all felt that
they had in him a friend, sincere, honest, and al-
ways to be relied on. At the time of his death,
the little publishing enterprise with which he had
become connected in 1854 had been expanded into
a vast enterprise and the Anzeiger had become
recognized as one of the great newspapers of the
United States. Among the German-Americans of
the West and Southwest, its influence has for many
years been so potent as to be recognized by all
classes of public men and by the newspaper press of
the country. Circulating throughout a wide extent
of country, it has been so widely read and its popu-
larity has increased to such an extent that it now
63:1
stands sixth in the list of German-American news-
papers in the number of its subscribers. For some
years its affairs have been managed by a stock com-
pany and at the time of his death, Mr. Borntraeger
was president of this corporation. For thirty-eight
years he had labored earnestly and intelligently to
build up the enterprise with which he had been
identified and doubtless his most sanguine expecta-
tions were more than realized in the growth and
prosperity which attended it up to the time of his
death and which still continues.
Personally Mr. Borntraeger was retiring in dis-
position, but was nevertheless a man of great force,
energy, and business capacity. He was firm in his
convictions, courageous in the expression of his
opinions and a defender under all circumstances of
what he believed to be right. He was the best
known German-American in Louisville and one
of the most widely known in the Southwest, and
might have aspired to distinguished official posi-
tions had he been so inclined. He had no taste
for office holding, however, and although frequent-
ly solicited to accept nominations to office, invari-
ably declined to offer as a candidate. He was al-
ways a Democrat but belonged to the Jeffersonian
school and had no patience with some of the heresies
advocated as Democratic doctrines in later years.
He was connected during his life with many
charitable institutions and his private charities were
almost innumerable, though so quietly were many
of his good deeds done that the public knew noth-
ing and many times even his own family knew
nothing of what he had done to relieve suffering
and distress. He was a member of all the leading
German societies and co-operated with his coun-
try-men in every way possible to advance their in-
terests and better their conditions in this country.
Mr. Borntraeger married, in 1851, Miss Sophie
Grieshaber, of Louisville, and the three children
born of their union are Mrs. bred H. Wulkop, Mrs.
Frank Von Borries and J. M. Borntraeger.
CRANK CONRAD NUNEMACHER, printer
^ and publisher, was born at New Albany, In-
diana, June 16, 1858. Flis father was John
Robert Nunemacher, born at Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania, August 5, 1824, and settled at New Albany,
Indiana, in 1846, where he conducted a book and
stationery business and printing establishment un-
til 1882, when his death occurred. The family came
originally from Basle, Switzerland, where its an-
cestors resided for over four hundred years, and
MEMORIAL HISTORY OR LOUISVILLE.
634
settled in Pennsylvania at an early day. Conrad
Nunemacher, the father of John and grandfather
of Frank, was a Pennsylvanian by birth and a life-
long resident of that State. His mother was Avesta
Anna (Shields) Nunemacher, born in Harrison
County, Indiana, a daughter of Clement Nance
Shields and Mary Stewart Shields, now living in
New Albany. His maternal great-grandfather was
Patrick Henry Shields, a native of Virginia, born at
Danville, in that State and afterwards moving to
Danville, Kentucky. His maternal great-grand-
mother was Polly Nance, also a Virginian and of
Huguenot extraction. His grandfather, Clement
Nance Shields, was born near Danville, Kentucky,
in 1803. the family moving in 1804 to Harrison
County, Indiana. Patrick Shields was a man of
very strong character, a soldier with General Har-
rison at Tippecanoe and afterwards a judge at
Corydon, Indiana, and one of the framers of the
Indiana constitution.
On both sides Frank Nunemacher has been ex-
ceptionally well favored in antecedents. His
father took prominence in business and social
circles as an active, honorable and prosperous citi-
zen, and to his more than to all other influences
combined is due the high character and business
qualities which Frank has developed.
His education was chiefly obtained at Morse
Academy, New Albany, under Professor J. C. Fales,
now of Center College, Danville, Kentucky,
and Professor Morse, now of Hanover Col-
lege, Indiana. His scholastic career was closed
at the high school under the guidance of
Professor James May, now deceased. He
manifested an early aptitude for educational ac-
quirement, and by his wide reading and a favorable
literary experience has since added high finish to
the work of his youth. At the phenomenal age of
fourteen, he became editor of the “New Albany
Telegram” and continued as such until he was
eighteen, when he entered his father's printing
establishment, working regularly during vacations,
and when his school days ended, continuing there
until 1880. In that year, he took a position in the
L. & N. general ticket office and remained two
years, when his father’s death occurred and he re-
tired to assist in the management of his father’s
business. In 1883 he came to Louisville and com-
menced business on a limited scale at 256 West
Main Street. The following year he moved to 337
West Main and in 1885, owing to the growth of
his business, moved to larger quarters at 247 West
Main, corner of Third, and two years later, when
he had become fully established, he moved to the
commodious building he now occupies at 434 and
436 V est Main. This property was much enlarged
to accommodate his presses and material until he
now, with floors in adjoining buildings, has a floor
space of 20,000 square feet and is conducting the
largest exclusive railroad ticket printing establish-
ment in the l nited States. The astonishing prog-
ress made by him as a young man soon became
noticeable in business circles, and while he was yet
in the early stages of his career, the “Louisville
Fimes” began a sketch of him with the expression:
“When the name of Frank C. Nunemacher is men-
tioned, every man on Main Street thinks of suc-
cess.” He made a bold stroke from the start and
opened competition with the largest railroad print-
ing- establishments of the country. He became a
student of modern printing machinery and a practi-
cal economist in every branch of the art affecting
the particular lines which he adopted. Neatness,
order and convenience are characteristics of his en-
tire establishment. It is a marvel of regularity in
every feature and it is not strange that he has lifted
himself to the very top of his profession. In rail-
road ticket printing he is now without a rival and
he has made Louisville the center for the highest
class work of this kind. It is said that in any of
his great work-rooms the appearance is more that
of a parlor than a printing house. Everything
about him moves like clock-work. In addition to
ticket printing he has also made a specialty of
freight tariffs, and no house in America has more
material or better facdities for performing the work.
He now has many tons of type standing in tariff
forms and his patronage extends from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. There is scarcely an important rail-
road in the territory adjacent to Louisville that does
not yield Nunemacher the preference in all of the
higher grades of work. Accuracy and expedition
are the prominent features of his establishment. In
addition to a large patronage from the prominent
railway lines of the United States, orders are re-
ceived from lines in Canada and the majority of the
great ocean coastwise steamship lines of both coasts
are among his patrons. It appears strange, but it is
none the less true, that in this particular line of busi-
ness Mr. Nunemacher has given the interior city
of Louisville a position of pre-eminence among the
great cities of the world. Promptness, integrity
and intelligence are the watch-words of his business
and they have won the battle he has made. His
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
635
Untiring industry, careful guardianship of his em-
ployes and great pride of accomplishment have
made him master of his field, and his perfect success
has been deservedly attained.
He has neither sought nor held any public posi-
tions and, except to serve as a director in the Com-
mercial Club for two years, has confined his atten-
tion entirely to his private business. In politics he is
a Republican, but takes no conspicuous part in po-
litical contests, only exercising his right as a citizen
to vote and express his sentiments. In religion, lie
was reared a Presbyterian and has been an elder in
the Central Presbyterian Church for a number of
years. All his ancestors, Scotch, Irish, Swiss and
French, were of the same denomination, and he
holds his church relationship as well by inheritance
as by inclination. He is much of a philanthropist.
He has been a director in the Y. M. C. A., both
general and railroad associations; director in the
Humane Society, and has a perpetual scholarship in
Center College, at Danville. The only secret so-
ciety to which he belongs is that of the Elks.
He was married October 6, 1870, to Lottie
Stewart Crane, eldest daughter of John E. and
Elizabeth Crane, of New Albany. His wife’s father
was from Massachusetts and her mother from New
Jersey. They have one son, Stewart Crane Nune-
macher, born February 8, 1886.
p OLONEL CURRAN POPE, son of Worden
V'-> and Elizabeth (Taylor) Pope, w'as born in
Louisville, Kentucky, June 30, 1813. His paternal
grandfather, Benjamin Pope, came to the Falls of
Ohio from Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1779,
by way of Pittsburgh and by flat-boat down the
Ohio River. He landed at Patton’s Fort, then situ-
ated at what is now the foot of Twelfth Street, and
subsequently he moved to Shepherdsville, Bullitt
County, where he continued to reside until his death.
His homestead is still in the possession of one of his
descendants. Worden Pope, his son, (q. v.) the fath-
er of Colonel Curran Pope, removed to Louisville,
became deputy county and circuit court clerk, and
filled both offices afterwards for nearly forty years.
He was also an able lawyer and long one of the
most prominent citizens of Louisville. A sketch of
his life will be found in these volumes.
Curran Pope, having received a good academical
education in the schools of Louisville, entered West
Point as a cadet in 1830 and was graduated there in
1834, becoming brevet second lieutenant Julv 1,
1834. After a short service in the army, he resigned
to take the clerkship of the Jefferson County court,
made vacant by the resignation of his father. He
held the office for seventeen years, the last four of
which were by the election of the people. He was
a citizen of much public spirit; one of the original
projectors and directors of the Louisville & Nash-
ville Railroad; one of the main promoters of the
Louisville Water Works; devoted much of his time
as trustee of the Danville College; and as trustee of
various educational institutions of Louisville, espe-
cially to a seminary organized and established by
himself and others in the old homestead of his fath-
er; served for eleven years in the General Council
of Louisville, and on the breaking out of the late
war he espoused the cause of the Union. He raised
the Fifteenth Kentucky Regiment, which, after a
varied service, was decimated in the battle of Perry-
ville, which, for the number and length of time en-
gaged, was said to have been the bloodiest battle of
the war. Early in the action Colonel Pope’s horse
was killed under him, and towards the close of the
engagement he was shot through the shoulder. E.
P. Humphrey, D. D., LL. D., the scholarly author
of “Sacred History from the Creation to the Giving
of the Law,” who was the co-laborer in many fields
of usefulness with Colonel Pope, and who was his
life-long friend, thus writes of him a short time after
Colonel Pope’s death: * * * “Through his father,
the late Worden Pope, Esq. — in his day, one of the
foremost citizens of the commonwealth — and
through his excellent mother and amiable wife as
well, he was allied to some of the most influential
families in the country. His ample private fortune
released him, in a large measure, from profes-
sional labor, so that he was able to devote the last
twelve years of his life to the general interests of so-
ciety. As an office-bearer in one of our largest city
churches, and in many other positions, he rendered
the most important services. He brought to all his
trusts a fine capacity for business, public spirit, un-
wearied diligence, habits of system, order, and punc-
tuality, and a nice sense of duty. Few men of his
generation here have performed as much gratui-
tous and arduous labor for the common good. It
happened to him to be of the number of those in
whom all the great issues of life flow together in a
single hour of supreme necessity and peril; when
the high qualities, which have been for nearlv fifty-
years slowly maturing within them, are brought to
a final and fiery test, and suddenly emerge all aglow
with consummate splendor. Colonel Pope met that
hour on the bloody slopes of Perryville and took
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
636
the crown. The writer of these lines was during the
whole day within hearing distance of the artillery
and musketry ; was at one time on the outskirts of
the field, and before the dead were all buried he
carefully surveyed the ground on which the battle
was fought. The carnage over the whole field was
frightful, and Colonel Pope stood in one of its hot-
test positions. His regiment was posted upon the
brow of the hill ; the enemy was arrayed in two lines
on the slope below him, one of these lines being
partially concealed in a field of standing corn, the
other protected by a substantial stone wall. The
position of the rebels being down the hill, gave them
this important advantage: They would not be like-
ly to fire too high, while Pope’s troops, being so
much above them, could hardly avoid that mis-
take. Besides, the foremost rebel line had the stone
wall in their rear, to the cover of which they could
at any time retreat, and to which, in point of fact,
they did retreat under the fire of our gallant Fif-
teenth. Furthermore, the right of the regiment
rested on a barn, which early in the action was set
on fire by a shell from the enemy, so that our troops
on that wing were nearly roasted by the flames.
And, more than all, the brave Jouett and Campbell
were shot down in the very beginning; the noble
McGrath, who went to Jouett’s assistance, was in-
stantly killed. Pope’s horse was shot under him;
he himself was wounded, and his men were falling
in heaps around him. Col. Pope stood near the
center of the column, about four feet from the line
of battle, giving direction to every movement. Just
in front of the position was a low rail fence; further
down the hill were two trees, the trunks of which
were about the size of a man's body. The bullet
marks in the trees and in the rails leave us in won-
der how any human being standing in that line of
battle could have escaped death. Yet such was the
intrepidity of the regiment and of its commander
that they held their ground until ordered to another
position, when they filed out into the road and
marched off in perfect order. Col. Pope, on reach-
ing his new position, ordered his men to lie down
under the brow of the hill as a protection from the
enemy’s shells. General Rousseau, observing some
change in the field, rode up and suggested to Col.
Pope the propriety of showing his forces to the
enemy. Col. Pope instantly gave the order; the
men sprang to their feet and marched in line of
battle to the top of the hill. The General was so
much struck with their promptness and discipline
that he put his cap on his sword and waved it with
the cry: ‘Hurrah for Kentucky!' Night soon set in;
and of the Fifteenth seventy-two slept in death,
about one hundred and seventy staunched, as best
they could, their bleeding wounds, and the others
rested on their arms. Col. Pope remained with
the army a few days and joined in the pursuit of
Bragg, who fled to the mountains; but, finding him-
self utterly exhausted, he returned to Danville, where
he lingered three weeks and died. He looked for-
ward to the eternal world with pious composure,
and expressed his unwavering confidence in the
Saviour. But for this opportunity on the field of
battle, none, not his most intimate friends even,
would have known the man. In him we have an
instance pointing out the fine distinction between a
certain brutal ferocity, which sometimes passes by
the name of courage, and that more humane and ex-
alted sentiment which springs out of a nice sense of
honor, the love of country and the fear of God. Such
was Col. Pope’s quiet, and amiable, and even diffi-
dent manner in society, that no man, not even he
himself, knew what a brave and gallant heart was
hidden in his bosom, patiently waiting for the hour
of his grand manifestation. The hour came; the
man was fully revealed to the homage of his coun-
trymen, and his life was finished, wearing ‘the beauty
of a thing completed,’ a good work well done. His
name is enrolled with the dead heroes of the com-
monwealth. She will never suffer his memory to
perish."
William R. Thompson, in his “Historical Sketch
of the Pope Family,” thus speaks of Col. Pope:
“He was the idol of the men he commanded.
Though of a very gentle and inoffensive disposition,
he was one of the bravest, most resolute men in the
Union army, equally ready to oppose and smite a
giant, or to soothe and protect a child, and many a
tear was shed by his brave and scar-covered sol-
diers when he had to Have them. The writer of
this, who saw Col. Pope Monday after the battle of
Perrvville, has heard many of his soldiers say that,
after a long and tiresome march, when night came
and they went into camp, others sought a house to
sleep in, but Col. Pope laid down upon the ground
with his men and took their fare. He looked upon
them as a father looked upon his children, and he
said it was his duty to be with them and take care
of them. He never sought or claimed any better
fare than his soldiers got ; hence his immense popu-
larity with his men, who revere his memory to this
dav with the affection of a child for its father. When
you meet one of the Fifteenth Kentucky who fought
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
637
at Perryville, ask him what he thinks of Col. Curran
Pope, and he will give you a better eulogy than I
can write, more graphic and to the point; he can tell
facts I know not in his undying praise, and he will
love to talk to you about him. The writer of this
article was well acquainted with Col. Curran Pope
before the war, and saw him several times in his
camp after he entered the army, and he can bear
witness to his great worth as a man, citizen and sol-
dier. The slaughter of Pope’s regiment at Perry-
ville was so great that afterwards it was given the
sobriquet of ‘The Bloody Regiment.’ ”
General Sherman succeeded General Anderson
to the command in Kentucky in the early stage of
the war. His headquarters were at Louisville, and
there he often met Col. Pope, who had already de-
termined to enter the army of the Union. Gen-
eral Sherman had abundant opportunity to form a
correct estimate of Col. Pope’s character, both as a
soldier and as a gentleman. A few days after he
learned through the public prints of the death of
Col. Pope, although he was burdened with the ab-
sorbing responsibilities of a great military com-
mand, he wrote Col. Pope's widow the following-
letter:
“Headquarters, Memphis, Tenn.
“November 10th, 1862.
"Dear Madam: 1 know you will pardon me,
afar off, if, at this, your dread hour, I come to bear
my feeble show of honor to him whose name you
bear and whose child will in after years look back
upon as one of those heroes who labored and gave
his life to his country. Well do I recall the soft and
gentle voice of Curran Pope, the peculiar delicacy
of his approach, the almost unequal courtesy of his
manner, and the first faint doubt that one so gentle,
so mild, so beautiful in character, should be a war-
rior; but another look, and his eye, the plain direct
assertion of a high and holy purpose, with the press-
ure of his lips, told that he was a man ; one to lead ;
one to go where duty called him, though the path
led through the hailstorm of battle. Among all the
men I have ever met in the progress of this un-
natural war, 1 cannot recall one in whose every act
and expression was so manifest the good and true
man; one who so well filled the type of the Ken-
tucky gentleman.
“He died not upon the battlefield, but from
wounds inflicted by parricidal hands on Kentucky 's
soil, and his blood is the cement that will ever more
bind together the disjointed parts of a mightv na-
tion. Though for a time smitten down by the ter-
rible calamity, may you and your child soon learn to
look upon his name and fame as encircled by a halo
of glory more beautiful than ever decked the vic-
tor's brow. Curran Pope is dead, but millions will
battle on, till from his heaven home he will see his
own beloved Kentucky the center of his great coun-
try, regenerated and disenthralled from the toils of
wicked men.
"I fear that in trying to carry comfort to an af-
flicted heart, 1 do it rudely, but I know you will per-
mit me, in my blunt way, to bear my feeble testi-
mony to the goodness, braveness and gallantry of
the man who more nearly filled the picture of the
preux chevalier of this age than any man I have yet
met. I know you are in the midst of a host of
friends, but should, in the progress of years, any
opportunity come by which I can be of service to
any of the family of Curran Pope, command me.
“With great respect,
“Your obedient servant,
“W. T. SHERMAN,
“Maj. Gen. Vols."
Curran Pope was married to Matilda Prather, a
daughter of John I. Jacob, by whom he was blessed
with one daughter, Mary Tyler Pope, who is pos-
sessed of many accomplishments, great force of
character and intellect, and of much beauty, and who
still lives in the home of her heroic father, the widow
of the late Judge Alfred T. Pope, and the devoted
mother of an interesting family.
I T ERMAN VERHOEFF, for many years one of
1 1 the most conspicuous figures in the southern
grain trade, and whose name is still per-
petuated in connection with the business which he
established in Louisville, was born in the province
of Westphalia, in the northwestern part of Germany,
on New Year's day, 1827. In the paternal line he
came of pure Holland stock and was one of the
descendants of that Admiral Ver Hoeff who was
prominent in the struggle to establish the freedom
of the Netherlands in the days of William of Orange.
On the maternal side he was descended from an old
and well-known German family, his mother's maiden
name having been Augusta biellmann. 1 1 is father,
Hermann Yerhoeff, Sr., immigrated to this country
in 1836, when the son was nine years old, landing in
New York Citv on Inly 4, when the city was in the
midst of an imposing Independence Day celebra-
tion. The elder Yerhoeff was a man who had mam
experiences of historic interest. He left one of the
German universities, in which he was at the time a
638
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
student, to serve under Blucher in the final cam-
paign against Napoleon, and participated in the bat-
tle of Waterloo, going afterward with the allies to
Paris. After his return to Germany he graduated
from the University of Berlin, and before coming to
this country had served as a burgomaster, and held
various important civil offices in his native land. He
came to this country with a comfortable fortune, and
being a man of scholarly attainments and remark-
ably well furnished mind, took a place among the
most prominent German-Americans of Louisville
when he established his home in this city. He came
to Louisville in 1838 and established himself here in
the mercantile business, but this venture did not
prove satisfactory in its financial returns. In conse-
quence of this the family removed to Spencer Coun-
ty, Indiana, where they settled on a farm.
Herman Yerhoeff, Jr., had continued his educa-
tion— begun in Germany — in one of the private
schools of Louisville, then in charge of Professor O.
L. Leonard, to whom Mr. Verhoeff always felt that
lie owed more than to any of his other teachers.
When his father removed to Indiana, the son, then
in his fourteenth year, ceased his attendance at
school and assumed in large part the responsibility
of managing the farm upon which the family set-
tled. The family fortune having become much im-
paired, he found it necessary to apply himself indus-
triously to farm work in order to gain a livelihood
for himself and those who were in a measure de-
pendent upon him. He continued to work on the
farm until lie was twenty-two years of age, evin-
cing in its conduct and management much of the
energy and sagacity which made him a successful
business man in later years. Although lie had quit
school at an early age, he had laid the foundation of
a good education, and having' continued to add to
his attainments by a process of self-education, lie
was, at the time he attained his majority, a voting
man of more than ordinary culture and book learn-
ing. At twenty-two years of age he left the farm
and taught a country school in Spencer County,
Indiana, one term. At the end of the term, he had
saved from the amount of his compensation one hun-
dred dollars, and this capital constituted the basis
of his fortune. With it he opened the second store
established in Grandview, which was then a very
small place. At this store he kept everything that
the farmers of the surrounding country were likely
to need and bought everything they had to sell.
Compelled, as a matter of course, to purchase a por-
tion of his stock on credit, to begin with, he was
prompt to meet every obligation, and it was not long
before he had gained an enviable reputation among
the wholesale merchants with whom he did busi-
ness, and thus early in his career he established a
credit which was never thereafter impaired. Suc-
cessful in his mercantile ventures from the begin-
ning, his trade steadily enlarged and increased, and
he became a large shipper of farm products to New
Orleans and other Southern markets. When the
civil war began, however, these markets were cut off
and he decided to seek a new business location. The
result was that he came to Louisville in 1861 and
here formed a partnership with his younger brother,
Otto Yerhoeff, and engaged in the grain and com-
mission business under the firm name of Verhoeff
Brothers. They soon extended their operations
very widely in the Ohio Valley, shipping grain to a
considerable extent by a tow boat and barge of then-
own, and acquiring interests also in steamers plying
on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. When naviga-
tion was ag-ain opened to New Orleans their business
became one of large magnitude and broug'ht to them
rich returns. The partnership between the brothers
continued until 1870, when it was dissolved by the
death of Otto Verhoeff, junior member of the firm.
Herman Yerhoeff continued the business which they
had established alone until 1873, when he gave an
interest in the house to his nephew, Henry Strater,
who had been in his employ for a number of years,
the new firm taking the name of Verhoeff & Strater.
At a later date the enterprise was incorporated as
IT. Verhoeff & Company, Mr. Verhoeff becoming
president of the corporation and retaining that posi-
tion until his death, which occurred March 14, 1893.
In 1S75 he built the large grain elevator at the cor-
ner of Eleventh and Maple streets, the first elevator
of this kind built south of the Ohio River. This
was an enterprise which attracted great attention at
that time, it being an entirely new departure in the
Southern grain trade. Its success has demonstrated
the wisdom and sagacity of the pioneer grain mer-
chant of the city in this field of operation. In the
later years of his life Mr. Yerhoeff was closely iden-
tified with various important business interests of
Louisville. He was a director and for a number
of years a member of the executive committee of the
Fidelity Trust and Safety Vault Company, serving
in that capacity at the time of his death. He was
also for some time vice-president of the Louisville
Insurance Company. A man of broad public spirit,
he was identified prominently with all movements
designed to advance the growth and prosperity of
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
639
the city. He was one of the founders of the Board
of Trade, participated actively in the movements
which resulted in the purchase of the building now
occupied by the board, and was vice-president of
that organization for many years. He was -one of
the originators and long a director of the Cotton
Compress Company, and was a director in various
city banks. He also served two terms in the City
Council of Louisville, and was a useful and popular
member of the local legislature. He was married in
1859 to Miss Mary Parker, daughter of James Par-
ker, Esq., of Grandview. Their children are Wil-
liam L. Verhoeff; Minnie C. Verhoeff, now Mrs. F.
N. Hartwell; Mary E. Verhoeff; Frederick H. Ver-
hoeff, and Carolyn P. Verhoeff.
H ARLES WILLIAM ERDMAN, long con-
nected with the real estate business of Louis-
ville and during the administration of President
Harrison, United States Consul to Stockholm and
Breslau, is a typical representative of the self-made
men of Louisville, whose success so well illustrates
the beneficence of our republican institutions. He
was born in Holzminden, Kingdom of Brunswick,
Germany, November 2, 1840, the son of Julius and
Bertha (Hord) Erdman, who were both natives of
Brunswick. His father, who was a printer by trade,
emigrated to America with his family and came di-
rect to Louisville in 1844, but finding no opening
for work at his trade, moved to Milwaukee, Wiscon-
sin, to which place there had been a large German
emigration, and secured employment as a type-set-
ter on “The Volksfreund,” a leading German paper.
He had been there but two years when he died, and
in the following winter occurred the death of his
widow.
The subject of this sketch was thus, at the early
age of seven, doubly orphaned and left dependent
upon his own exertions for his present support and
future destiny. Being a bright boy and willing to
work, he found employment in Milwaukee suffi-
cient to keep him from want for a year, and, in
1848, went to Chicago. In the spring of 184.4 he
came back to Louisville, which has been his resi-
dence ever since. He had been a newsboy in Chi-
cago and found his first employment in selling pa-
pers on the J. M. & I. Railroad, then in operation
Hut a short distance from Louisville. Later, he fol-
lowed the same line of business on the L. & N. and
the Short Line Railroads. It was not conducted, as
now, by a news company with the “butcher" in its
employ— the newsboy on a train was the proprietor
of the business, securing the post from the company
upon proper recommendation, receiving free trans-
portation and exclusive right of sale. In return for
this, he was required to assist in loading wood on
the tender, and to serve the passengers with water
from a tin can and cups, with which at intervals he
made tours through the train. Of an obliging dis-
position and willing to work, having withal a good
head for business, he prospered in this service and
fitted himself for higher employment in after years.
In the meantime he lost no opportunity for acquir-
ing an education, and when he had obtained his
majority at the Opening of the war, he had, by read-
ing and such instruction as he could obtain, ac-
quired the elements of a fair education, his penman-
ship being better than that of the average scholar
and his acquirements laying the foundation of a
well cultured mind. On the 27th of August he
joined the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio
Regiment as sergeant major, that organization be-
ing then encamped in Preston’s woods, at the head
of Broadway. Shortly afterward the regiment took
the field and with it he participated in the battle
of Perryville, in Reed's brigade of Jackson s divi-
sion. On the 9th of October, 1862, the day after
the battle, he was promoted to a second lieutenancy
for gallantry in action. Continuing his service with
his command, he was, on the 12th of September,
1863, promoted to first lieutenant, but was never
mustered as such, the regiment being continually
on the march or engaged in action. At the bloody
Hattie of Franklin, Tennessee, December 24, 1863,
he lost his left arm and was compelled to retire from
further service, being mustered out as sergeant
major, April 23, 1864.
In 1865 Mr. Erdman entered into the real estate
business, in which, by bis sound judgment and in-
telligent application, he achieved success. Possess-
ing a pleasing address, the circle of his friends be-
came enlarged and, in 1878, he was elected to the
City Council, of which he continued as a member in
1878-79-8°. A Republican in politics, upon the ac-
cession of Benjamin Harrison to the Presidency, his
name was endorsed bv a large number of his fellow-
citizens, independent of their political sentiments,
for a foreign consulship, and on the 18th o! August.
1891, he was appointed Consul to Colon, Columbia.
This, however, he declined on account of the cli-
mate, and on September 26, 1891, he was appointed
Consul to Stockholm. This position lie filled so
acceptably to the Government at Washington that,
on the 8th of March, 1892, he was promoted to the
640
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Consulship of Breslau, in the Province of Silesia,
Empire of Germany, a position rendered more
genial to his tastes from his German birth. Thus
did the immigrant boy, after passing through the
struggles of an orphaned youth, return to Germany
an honored representative of the American Repub-
lic. On the 30th of April, 1893, upon the change of
administration, Mr. Erdman, having discharged his
consular duties with honor to himself and country,
returned to his adopted home and received a warm
welcome from his friends and fellow-citizens. He
iiad been a Whig prior to the war, but in 1863 be-
came a Republican and has been such ever since.
Since 1867 he has been a member of Boone Lodge,
1. O. O. F., having filled the offices of noble grand,
treasurer, and grand marshal of the Grand Lodge
of Kentucky. He has also been post commander
of George H. Thomas Post and of August Willich
Post No. 132, Department of Kentucky, and has
served as aide-de-camp on the staffs of Grand Com-
manders Lucius Fairchild, William Warner, and
John P. Rea. He was also appointed at Pittsburg,
September, 1894, as a member of the National
Council of Administration, and was reappointed at
Louisville in September, 1895. At one time he was
g-overnor of the Garfield Club and is now its first
vice-president. In religious affiliation he was raised
a Lutheran, but in 1864 became associated with the
Christian Church, of which he is still a member.
On the 20th of August, 1864, he was married to
Clara V. Benfield, of Louisville. They have five
children : Bettie ; Charles T. S. married Miss Bry-
ant; Clarence W. married Miss Rag'land; Clara
Ingels, and John Ouchterlony Erdman.
CREDERIClv GERNERT, JR., one of the most
energetic, active and capable business men of
Louisville, who has been identified in the most di-
rect way with the building up and improvement of
the city, was born in Louisville, July 24, 1857, son
of Frederick, Sr., and Elizabeth (Franck) Gernert.
Both his parents were natives of Germany, his
father having immigrated to this country in 1847,
and his mother in 1850. Their early home in
Louisville was at the corner of Market and Han-
cock streets, in a portion of the city noted in those
days for its diversified foreign population, and the
old brick house in which Frederick Gernert, Jr., was
born — still standing — is notably foreign in its style
of architecture. In the old days, this portion of
the city was the scene of many small feuds between
the native-born and foreign-born citizens, and one
of Mr. Gernert's most vivid recollections of this
period is of the furore stirred up, from time to time,
by an old Virginian, who, when in his cups, took
great delight in marching up and down the street,
singing “Old Virginia, never tire” and “The Devil
and the Dutch, the world is full of such.” The ditty
which classified the Devil and the Dutch together
was exceedingly obnoxious to the elder Gernert,
and when the son — who has been musically in-
clined from boyhood up to the present time — picked
up the tune, it brought down upon him the wrath of
his stern parent, and coupled with the recollection
of the ditty, Mr. Gernert recalls the chastisement
which it provoked.
His earliest recollections of school days are of at-
tendance at the parochial school conducted, in
1862-63, in the building on Hancock Street, be-
tween. Market and Jefferson, now occupied by the
Hook and Ladder Company, but at that time the
property of St. John’s congregation of the German
Evangelical Church. Professor Philip Michel,
who, at a later date, was superintendent of the
public schools of Louisville, was at that time in
charge of St. John’s Parochial School, and his
pupils still remember with pleasure the entertain-
ment which he mingled with instruction, and the
big double sandwiches, cheese and apples, which
he served to them on stated occasions were con-
sidered veritable banquets in those happy days of
childhood. Once a year, too, he gave them a picnic
at Lion Garden — then in the suburbs of the city —
to which the boys and girls marched double file — -
a picturesque procession, the memory of which
lingers in the mind of each participant. It was on
one of these gala days that Fred Gernert was in-
duced, by gentle persuasion of his teachers and the
older scholars, to lend his Christmas drum to the
biggest boy in school to beat time for the march.
In the course of the day’s festivities, disaster befell
that drum and when the boy returned home that
night drumless and hatless, there was grief for the
loss of the drum and chastisement for the loss of the
hat, which was remembered for many a day. In
those days, more heed was given to the scriptural
injunction "Spare the rod and spoil the child” than
at the present time, and if young Gernert was ever
known as a spoiled boy, it was not on account of the
sparing of the rod. If the parent “loveth whom he
chasteneth,” he must have been much beloved, be-
cause, in his case, the chastenings were frequent
and the discipline of the household was stern and
unyielding. But, notwithstanding the fact that
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
641
there may have been something too much of
severity in the parental discipline, he was well
reared and kept at school until his ambition to be-
gin the active work of life caused him to seek em-
ployment, against the better judgment of his pa-
rents.
In 1863, the family removed from the “Old Vir-
ginia” corner to the south side of Green Street, near
Campbell Street, and in 1864 and 1865, he attended
the public school at the corner of Jefferson and
Wenzel streets, the Second Ward School house
proper and other public buildings being at that time
occupied by soldiers. He was an apt pupil and,
after going through the lower school grades and
passing his examinations, he entered the Boys’
High School, in 1870, when he was thirteen years
of age. After spending a year in the High School,
his ambition to get to work at something and the
strenuous effort he made to “get a job” resulted in
his being given employment by the noted old-time
merchant and manufacturer, Henry G. Van Seg-
gern. When he entered this employ, he became
connected with a business house of high character,
at the head of which was a man of excellent ca-
pacity and repute, an honest man and popular mer-
chant. Under the tutorship of Mr. Van Seggern,
Mr. Gernert received his business training and thor-
oughly familiarized himself with the lumber trade
by several years of faithful and efficient service as
an employe. In 1880, in company with J. G. Stein-
acker — who, like himself, had accumulated a small
amount of capital by husbanding carefully his
earnings — he engaged in the lumber business on his
own account. Their first plant was a small one,
but the young men commended themselves to the
public by their honorable dealings and their busi-
ness soon began to expand. It was about this time
that the unique trade mark, “the kicking mule,” ap-
peared, and nothing in the way of a trade mark has
ever better subserved its purpose in attracting the
attention of the public. The trade mark was an ar-
tistic conception and, strangely enough, had its
origin in the meetings of a church choir. Mr.
Gernert was, at the time, a member of the choir of
St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, at the corner of
Preston and Green streets, and among the other
members of the choir was Louis Daeuble, jr., the
artist and designer. At several of the choir re-
hearsals, the subject of appropriate trade marks was
discussed, and the result was the creation of the de-
sign of the kicking mule attached to a lumber
wagon, a novel device and one which has attracted
41
much attention to the firm making use of it as a
trade mark. The business established by Mr. Ger-
nert and his partner rapidly grew to large pro-
portions and, in process of time, was incorporated
as the Gernert Brothers Lumber Company, now
widely known, of which Mr. Gernert is president.
During the year 1890, he was president of the
Builders’ and Traders’ Exchange and evidenced his
broad capacity and first class executive ability in
dealing with the “strikes” of that year. He is, at the
present time (1896), at the head of the Equitable
Building Association, and all his energies are con-
centrated on enterprises which tend to the upbuild-
ing and improvement of the city. While he has
never sought office, he has taken a commendable
interest in politics and public affairs, and is known
as a staunch Republican.
He was married, in 1882, to Miss Ella Olivia
Straeffer, of Belleview, Kentucky, and established
his home in the Highlands, where both he and his
wife joined the Presbyterian Church, of which Rev.
A. D. McClure was then pastor, now in charge of
Rev. T. M. Hawes. Mr. Gernert has been an active
and helpful member of this church and is now one
of its deacons.
Y\l 1LLIAM JOHNSTON, one of the earliest and
’ ' most prominent citizens of Louisville, was
born in Fauquier County, Virginia, being one of a
family of six sons and four daughters. His father,
Benjamin Johnston, was married to a Miss Chew,
of Virginia, also a member of a well-known Vir-
gina family, in 1722. On the nth' of November,
1784, William, having previously moved to the
Falls, was married to Miss Elizabeth Winn, whose
father was a citizen of Fauquier County, Virginia.
In 1873 he was appointed bv the legislature of
Virginia the first clerk of the county court, which
position he held for a number of years. His rec-
ords, which are preserved in the archives of the
court, are models of neatness, and he was regarded
as both an officer and a man of first merit. His
residence was on a farm near the city on the east,
known as the Cave farm, now the site of Cave Hill
Cemetery, and there being no court house, the
court was held and the clerk’s office kept there for
some time. In 1783, he was the hero of a very ro-
mantic adventure in being captured by the In-
dians near Salt River, while returning from a sur-
veying tour upon Nolin and Bacon creeks, in the
present county of Hardin. His two companions.
Walker Daniel, a prominent lawyer, for whom the
642
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
town of Danville was named, and James Keightly,
were killed, and Johnston was taken prisoner and
carried to Lake Michigan, where he remained in
captivity eight months. He was finally ransomed
by some English soldiers at Detroit, and sent with a
party to the falls of the Ohio. When the party ar-
rived on the north bank of the Ohio, opposite Fort
Nelson, at the foot of Seventh Street, then com-
manded by Captain John Helm, a white flag was
put up as a signal for friendly communication. A
detachment from the fort was sent over to inquire
as to the meaning of the flag, and great rejoicing
ensued when they found their friend, William John-
ston, who had long been given up under the belief
that he had shared the fate of his companions,
Daniel and Keightly. While in captivity, he had
bought a bible from the Indians for a pair of silver
sleeve buttons, and this interesting relic is still pre-
served by his descendants. He continued to fill the
office of county clerk until his death, which occur-
red in his thirty-eighth year.
T GNATIUS PIGMAN BARNARD, a conspicu-
* ous figure in the tobacco trade of Louisville, and
prominently identified also with the coal mining in-
terests of Kentucky, was born in Ohio County, Ken-
tucky, September n, 1846. His parents were
Joshua and Rhoda (Brown) Barnard, and his father
was a successful and much esteemed merchant of
Livermore, Ky. The elder Barnard was in all re-
spects a worthy and upright citizen, a leading mem-
ber of the Methodist Church, and a prominent Ma-
son. He was born and reared in Kentucky, his an-
cestors having come to this State about the year
1780. He died in 1857, and his wife passed away
in 1872.
Ignatius P. Barnard obtained his education in the
country schools of Ohio County, and had not as
good advantages as are afforded to-day by the pub-
lic school systems of rural districts. He was pre-
vented from attending school after he was fifteen
years of age by the breaking out of the Civil War,
and his participation in that historic struggle. His
experiences during the war were unique in charac-
ter, and few of the Confederate veterans now living
were placed in greater peril. While still a school-
boy, and considerably under fifteen years of age, lie
was called upon one day by Captain Noel — who
had raised a company of Confederate soldiers in
Daviess County — to act as a guide for his company
and pilot the troops across the country to Green
River. He responded promptly to the requisition
made upon him for services to the Confederate
cause and successfully guided the troops to their
destination. Upon his return home, he learned that
the Home Guards of that region were searching for
him with the intention of putting him under arrest.
Boy as he was, he had the instincts of a soldier and
true soldierly courage, and when he learned that he
was regarded as an enemy of the Union worth hunt-
ing for, he resolved to become such in fact. Mak-
ing his way to Bowling Green, Kentucky- — at that
time the headquarters of the Southern sympathizers
in this State — he made an effort to enlist in the Con-
federate army, but was refused on account of his
age. Going from there to Russellville, he tendered
his services to Dr. Pendleton, who was organizing
a company in that city, and met with better success.
Becoming a member of Company “C” of the Fifth
— later the Ninth — Kentucky Regiment of Infantry,
he was assigned to duty along with that famous
Confederate military organization which became
known as the “Orphan Brigade.” He served with
this command on the retreat from Bowling Green to
Shiloh, fought from Corinth to Vicksburg, and was
with his command during the twenty-eight days of
the bombardment of Vicksburg. After that he went
with his regiment to Baton Rouge, and from there
back to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Being dis-
charged from the army under the conscript act on
account of his age, he returned to his home in Ken-
tucky, and was soon afterward captured by the
Unionists and imprisoned at Louisville. After a
time he made his escape from the prison and re-
turned to the South, but in 1864 he was recaptured
and again was sent to the Louisville military prison.
Being recognized at once as an escaped prisoner, he
was treated with great severity and was held as a
hostage under retalliation orders issued by General
Burbridge. With other prisoners he cast lots at
three different times, when the purpose of the lot
casting was to determine which of the prisoners
should be taken out and executed. After remain-
ing several months in the Louisville prison, he was
sent to the prison at Camp Douglass, Chicago, and
held there until March of 1865, when lie was enabled
to rejoin the Confederate army through an exchange
of prisoners made near Richmond, Va. The war
closed soon afterwards and he surrendered with his
old comrades at Washington, Georgia. He re-
turned to Ohio County at the close of the war, still
a boy in years, but a man in experience. He soon
became interested in business in that county as a
general merchant and dealer in tobacco, and con-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
643
tinued to operate there successfully until 1885. In
that year he came to Louisville, where he formed
a partnership with Captain W. S. Edwards, and
opened the Central Tobacco Warehouse. These
gentlemen continued the tobacco business together
under the firm name of Edwards & Barnard until
1893, when their plant was destroyed by fire, and
Captain Edwards lost his life in the disaster. Short-
ly before the fire, the business had been incorporated
as the Edwards-Barnard Company, and after the
fire, Mr. Barnard and his son became owners of all
the stock and rebuilt the warehouse, which has
since been one of the leading institutions of its
kind in the great tobacco market of the world. The
business of this house has grown rapidly and it now
handles twelve thousand hogsheads of tobacco an-
nually. Mr. Barnard is largely interested also in
other enterprises, and in company with Mr. J. B.
Speed — now President of the corporation — organ-
ized the Jellico Coal Company, of which he is vice-
president. He is general manager also, and for sev-
eral years has controlled and directed the opera-
tions of the Taylor Coal Company, which sends
into the coal markets of the country two million
bushels of coal every year. He is identified with
the banking interests of the state as president of the
Beaver Dam Deposit Bank, of Beaver Dam, Ky.
He is liberal in his religious views, and a Democrat
of the orthodox school. In fraternal circles he is
well known as a Royal Arch Mason. He married,
in 1868, Miss Bettie Bell, daughter of Jefferson and
Mary Bell, and granddaughter of the well known
Dr. Rowan of Ohio County. Three children have
been born of their union, named respectively Alex-
ander P., Belle, and Mamye R. Barnard.
p H ARLES THRUSTON BALLARD, one of
the most enterprising and successful manufac-
turers of Louisville, was born in this city, June 3,
1850, the son of Andrew Jackson and Frances Ann
(Thruston) Ballard. His father (q. v.) was the son
of James Ballard, who, together with his brother,
Bland Ballard, the celebrated pioneer and Indian
fighter, came to Kentucky in 1780 and settled in
Shelby County. His mother, Frances Ann Thrus-
ton, was the daughter of Charles W. Thruston and
Mary E. Churchill, eldest daughter of the late Colo-
nel Samuel Churchill, of Jefferson County, and Abi-
gail Oldham, his wife. Charles W. Thruston was
the son of Charles, youngest son of Charles Mynn
Thruston, of Gloucester County, Virginia, who, at
the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, was
an Episcopal minister and resigned his charge to
become a colonel in the army, continuing in the ser-
vice until the close of the war and being known as
"the fighting parson.” The wife of Charles Thrus-
ton and the mother of Charles W. Thruston was
Frances, widow of Dr. John O’Fallon, of St. Louis,
youngest daughter of John and Ann Rogers Clark,
and sister of General George Rogers Clark, the
founder of Louisville and hero of Kaskaskia and
Vincennes. There thus unites in the subject of
this sketch the blood of many of the most noted
pioneer families of Kentucky.
After having received a thorough academical ed-
ucation in the public schools of Louisville, Charles
T. Ballard entered the Sheffield Scientific School of
Yale College, in 1867, where he was graduated in
1870 as Ph. B. Upon finishing his college course,
he accompanied O. C. Marsh, then professor of
paleontology at Yale, a nephew of George Peabody,
the philanthropist, in a scientific expedition across
the plains, going as far west as San Francisco. In
this trip he acquired a large fund of valuable infor-
mation respecting the geological and mineralogical
resources of that region. The buffalo were still
abundant and Indian life was yet interesting and,
in a degree, primitive. Among other incidents of
the expedition was a visit to Salt Lake City, where
they were entertained by Brigham Young, then the
untrammeled head of the Mormon Church.
Returning to Louisville, Mr. Ballard became, for
a time, exchange editor of the “Louisville Daily
Commercial,” and later assistant cashier of the Lou-
isville Gas Company. This position he resigned to
go to Europe to visit a sick sister and, upon his re-
turn, he became assistant teller in the Kentucky
National Bank. In 1875 he entered the office of
Colonel James F. Buckner, collector of internal rev-
enue for the Fifth District, as deputy and cashier,
resigning in 1880 to engage in the milling busi-
ness. The manufacture of flour had, until then,
never been conducted here upon a very large scale,
and Mr. Ballard brought to it an energy and edu-
cated intelligence which, after sixteen years of close
business attention, has made it one of the leading
industries of Louisville, the output of his mill being
1,600 barrels per day, his product finding a Euro-
pean as well as a domestic market. He has been
president of the Ballard & Ballard Milling Corpora-
tion since its organization in 1880. The estimate
in which he is held by the substantial business men
of Louisville is best shown by the fact that he has
served as director of the Board of Trade twelve
644
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
years and as president four terms. He has also
been a director in several charitable societies.
Too young for military service in the war, he
yet has the title of Colonel by appointment, with
that rank, upon the staff of Governor Magoffin in
i860, when he was only ten years old. In political
association he is a Republican and, while exercising
an influence in his party, has never sought office.
In fact, it may be said that he has steadfastly de-
clined it. On more than one occasion, his friends
have urged his candidacy for mayor under circum-
stances very favorable for his election, but failed
to receive his sanction. He is an Episcopalian in
religion, being a member of Christ Church.
On the 24th of April, 1878, he married, in New
Orleans, Louisiana, Mina, only daughter of Colonel
Gus A. Breaux, a prominent lawyer of that city.
They have had eight children, of whom five, three
sons and two daughters, are living.
T OHN N. OUERB ACKER, merchant, was born
^ in Louisville, November 17, 1839, son of Mich-
ael and Sarah Gertrude Ouerbacker, both of whom
were born in Germany. His parents removed to
Leavenworth, Indiana, in 1840, and he obtained his
education in the public schools of that place. His
business experience began when he was sixteen
years old, in connection with the river trade. At
that age, and in the year 1855, he started down the
Ohio river on a flat-boat loaded with general mer-
chandise, and was gone eight months on the trip.
In the fall of 1856 he made another trip on a flat-
boat, in company with the late Captain A. T. Gil-
more, who was for many years one of the most
prominent men identified with the Ohio River
trade. By the time he had returned from this trip
he had gained a good knowledge of the river trade
and; in the summer of 1857, he went to Cincinnati
and fitted up and loaded another store-boat, with
which he started down the river. This trip extend-
ed to New Orleans, and it was eleven months be-
fore he got back to Louisville. The business was
profitable and he continued to be interested in this
branch of the river trade until it was broken up at
the beginning of the Civil War.
In the fall of i860 he was clerk of the steamer
“Hettie Gilmore,” plying between Louisville and
Henderson, and continued to hold that position
after the boat was taken into the government serv-
ice as a transport. He was aboard this boat when
she ran down the Mississippi River in the early
spring of 1862 to participate in the operations
against Island No. 10 and other Confederate strong-
holds. The river was then at high stage, and the
“Hettie Gilmore” was one of the light draft boats
Which navigated what had been a cornfield the pre-
vious year, passed into a creek which flowed into
the Mississippi near New Madrid, opposite Island
No. 10, and landed troops opposite the island on
the Kentucky shore. After the capture of the island,
the “Hettie Gilmore” was used as a dispatch boat
between the land forces and the gun boats stationed
above Fort Pillow, and was the first boat to land
at the fort after it had been evacuated.
While in this service, Mr. Ouerbacker had many
interesting and some perilous experiences. He did
not return to the regular river service until the close
of the war, and then entered the employ of the
Louisville & Henderson Mail Line Company, serv-
ing as clerk on the steamers “Morning Star,” “Ta-
rascon,” and “Grey Eagle.” In 1868 he quit the
river and embarked in the hay and grain trade in
Louisville, his first place of business being on
Fourth street, between Main Street and the river.
A year later he removed to Main Street, between
Third and Fourth streets, and changing the char-
acter of his business somewhat, became a general
dealer in farm products. In 1880, in company with
his brother and Captain A. T. Gilmore, he organ-
ized the wholesale grocery firm of Ouerbacker, Gil-
more & Company, in which he has since been a
partner and in connection with which he has be-
come conspicuous among Southern merchants. As
a member of this firm, he has been connected with
a business which extends over a wide area of terri-
tory, and his name has become familiar to mer-
chants all over the South, all of whom regard it as
a synonym for fair dealing and thoroughly honest
business transactions. Everything tending to pro-
mote the upbuilding and advancement of the com-
mercial interests of Louisville has received his
hearty encouragement and support, and among the
mercantile establishments of the city none has re-
flected more credit on the metropolis of Kentucky
than the house of Ouerbacker, Gilmore & Company,
which has been steadily growing in prominence and
prestige during the past decade and a half.
As a churchman, Mr. Ouerbacker is no less prom-
inent than as a business man. He has long' been a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South,
and has especially interested himself in the great
work of church extension. He is treasurer of the
Louisville City Church Extension Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South, and treasurer
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
645
also of the Board of Church Extension of the same
denomination. Among all the great agencies for
extending church work, broadening the field of its
operations and expanding its usefulness, none has
been more effective than the church extension board
above referred to. During the year 1895, three hun-
dred and sixty-five churches — one for each day in
the year — were built under its auspices, and to have
had a prominent part in carrying forward this noble
work is something of which Mr. Ouerbacker may
well feel proud. He was married, in 1862, to Miss
Britania Artus Dobvns, who was born in Ohio.
Y\7 ILLIAM FREDERICK SCHULTE, presi-
v ' dent of the New Louisville Jockey Club, was
born in Louisville, Kentucky, December 4, 1858.
His parents, John Christopher and Louisa (Steig'el-
heimer) Schulte, came to America in 1850 from Dis-
sen, Germany, and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. In
1856 they moved to Louisville. His father was for
some time at the head of the large furniture manu-
factory of Wrampelmeier & Schulte, and died in
1867, leaving his widow and two sons, William F.
and John Schulte. The subject of this sketch re-
ceived a good academical education at Lynnland
College, Hardin County, Kentucky, pursuing no
special nor professional course, and upon finishing
his studies returned to Louisville, which has since
been his place of residence. His first business ven-
ture was as a retail dealer in men’s furnishing goods.
After some years’ engagement in this business, he
became a stock and bond broker on Main Street,
until, in the spring of 1893, he purchased a tract of
land in Jefferson County, Kentucky, which he con-
verted into a stock farm and devoted his attention
to breeding thoroughbred race horses. Having
thus become identified with the turf, he was, in the
spring of 1895, upon the reorganization of the
Louisville Jockey Club, elected president of the
New Louisville Jockey Club. Under his adminis-
tration extensive and costly improvements have
been made upon the grounds and the interest in the
turf successfully revived and maintained. Mr.
Schulte is a successful business man and has proven
himself a popular turf manager. In politics he is
a Republican, and by hereditary association, a
Lutheran, in which church he was baptized.
On the 18th of January, 1881, he married, in
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Mary Bell, youngest
daughter of Thomas Batts and Eliza (Chowning)
Overton. One son is the result of this union —
Batts Overton Schulte, born November 27, 1883.
\U ILLIAM AND BENJAMIN POPE.— In
1779, William and Benjamin Pope came from
Westmoreland County, Virginia, where the family
had long been settled, and crossing the Alleghany
Mountains to Pittsburg, came by flat-boat to the
Falls of the Ohio, where the only settlers were in
a primitive fort at the foot of Twelfth street. Their
first American ancestor was Thomas Pope, who had
come to Virginia from Twickenham, England, after-
ward the place of residence of Alexander Pope, the
poet, about the middle of the seventeenth century.
They were of a vigorous stock and allied to the
best families of Virginia, one of the name being the
great-grandmother of Washington.
William Pope, who was born in Fauquier Coun-
ty, Virginia, about 1750, the son of William Pope
and a Miss Netherton, remained a citizen of Louis-
ville while his brother Benjamin settled near Shep-
herdsville, Bullitt County, Kentucky, where his de-
scendants still reside in possession of the homestead.
The wife of William Pope was Penelope Edwards,
daughter of Hayden Edwards, of Virginia, of the
family from which came Ninian Edwards, at one
time governor of Illinois and senator from the same
state, and other prominent men of the same name.
The descendants of William were known from this
marriage as the Edwards-Popes, in contradistinc-
tion to those of Benjamin Pope, who were known
as the Foote-Popes, from his having married a
lady of that name. William Pope was a man of
education and enterprise, and had served as colonel
in the colonial army, and was a surveyor by profes-
sion. He made the first plat of the town of Louis-
ville and was president of the first board of trustees.
His eldest son was John Pope, of whom frequent
mention is made in these volumes. He was born in
Prince William County, Virginia, and died in
Springfield, Kentucky, July 12, 1845. He was in
his tenth year when he came to Kentucky, and while
a youth lost his right arm in a corn-stalk mill. He
studied law and soon became a lawyer of promin-
ence. He settled first at Shelbyville, and repre-
sented that county in the legislature of 1802. He
afterward moved to Lexington and was a repre-
sentative in the lower house from Fayette County
in 1806-07. In 1806 he was elected senator in Con-
gress for the term from March 4, 1807, to March 4,
1813. During a portion of the time he was presi-
dent pro tempore of the senate. He was a Feder-
alist until after the senatorial term, and was then
a prominent Democrat. In 1816 he was Secretary
of State of Kentucky; was state senator from Wash-
646
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
ington County from 1825 to 1829, when he was
appointed by President Jackson governor of the
Territory of Arkansas, and served until 1835. In
1837 he was elected to Congress from the Spring-
field district and served three terms. He was thrice
married ; first, to Miss Christian ; second, to Miss
Smith, sister of the wife of President John Adams;
and third, to Mrs. Walton, widow of General Matt
Walton, M.C., 1803-07. He left no male issue.
The second son of William Pope was William,
Jr., who was born in Virginia in 1775 and married
Cynthia Sturgus, and was a large landholder and
prominent business man For a number of years
he was engaged with his brother-in-law, Judge John
Speed, father of Attorney-General James Speed, in
manufacturing salt at Bullitt’s Lick, near Shepherds-
ville. He was a prominent and influential Demo-
crat. He had nine sons and one daughter, Anne,
who married Larz Anderson, son of Colonel Rich-
ard Clough Anderson, Sr. His sons were John, who
married Maria Preston, sister of General William
Preston, and died young; William H., president of
the United States bank and Bank of Kentucky;
Nathaniel, Minor, Frederick; Godfrey, who was
an editor and captain in the Mexican war; James,
Robert, and Charles.
The third son of William Pope, Sr., was Alexan-
der, who was a lawyer of prominence in Louisville
and representative in the Kentucky House of Rep-
resentatives, 1818, and in the Senate, 1819-23. He
married Matilda Fontaine, daughter of Captain
Aaron Fontaine (q. v.). His two sons, Fontaine
and Henry, fell in duels. Of his daughters were
Maria, who married Dr. A. P. Elston ; Penelope,
who married her cousin, Thomas Prather, and
Martha, who married first her cousin, Charles Pope,
son of William, Jr., and second, Rev. E. P. Hum-
phrey.
The fourth son of William Pope, Sr., was Nathan-
iel, born in Louisville, January 5, 1784, and died in
St. Louis while United States district judge of Illi-
nois, January 23, 1850. He graduated at Transyl-
vania University in 1806 and shortly after settled at
the practice of law at St. Genevieve, Missouri. He
later moved to Vandalia, Illinois, and again to
Spring-field, Illinois. In 1809 he was made secre-
tary of the territory and subsequently was elected
to the Fourteenth Congress; was re-elected and
served until March 4, 1818; was register of the land
office of Edwardsville, Illinois, and in the same year
was appointed United States judge for the District
of Illinois, which he filled until his death. He mar-
ried Lucretia Backus, daughter of Elijah Backus,
of New London, Conn., and had issue the following
children: John Pope, major-general U. S. A., born
in Louisville March 12, 1823, died September 23,
1892; graduated at West Point, 1842, was captain of
engineers when the Civil War broke out; brigadier-
general of volunteers, May 17, 1861; major-general
of volunteers, March 16, 1862; brigadier-general reg-
ular army, 1862, and major-general, 1882. In June,
1862, he was assigned to the command of the army
of Virginia, and after the battle of second Bull Run
asked to be relieved and was assigned to the com-
mand of the Department of the Northwest. His
wife was a daughter of V. B. Horton, M. C. from
Ohio; William Pope, of Springfield, Illinois; Eliza-
beth, wife of Dr. Thomas Hope, of Alton, Illinois;
Penelope, wife of Beverly Allen, of St. Louis; Cyn-
thia, wife of James E. Yeatman, of St. Louis, and
Lucretia, wife of Thomas Yeatman, of New Haven.
The sons of Benjamin Pope wereWorden (q. v.);
George and Benjamin, the former of whom settled in
Louisville and became one of its most prominent cit-
izens, the two latter remaining citizens of Bullitt
County, Kentucky.
YXJ ILLIAM H. POPE, long a prominent bank
officer and merchant of Louisville, was born
in Bullitt County, Kentucky, March 23, 1803. His
grandfather, William Pope, was one of two brothers
who, in 1779, came from Westmoreland County,
Virginia, to the Falls of the Ohio, and afterward
settled near the salt works in Bullitt County. His
father, of the same name, married Cynthia Sturges,
and the subject of this sketch was their second son.
After securing his elementary education in the
schools of Louisville, he went to Harvard College,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1817, and was grad-
uated there in 1821. Returning to Louisville, lie
read law with his father’s cousin, Worden Pope,
and being admitted to the bar, practiced for several
years, but relinquished it to engage in the mercan-
tile business with Benjamin O. Davis, under the
firm name of Pope, Davis & Company. At some
time during his early life he was also associated with
Arthur H. Wallace, merchant. In 1832 he was
president of the branch United States Bank, and
from 1837 to 1840 was president of the Bank of
Kentucky. He resided in the county with his father
as late as 1840, on the Bardstown Road, then three
miles from the city. For him the Everitt house,
now known as Bonnycastle Place, was built in 1835,
upon his father’s estate, but owing to business re-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
647
verses and his father’s increasing age, they moved
to Louisville and lived on the south side of Market,
between First and Brook. His father sold his tract
on the Bardstown Road and bought a tract of nine
hundred and fifty acres, extending from the Ohio
River to what is now the Longest Place and Chero-
kee Park, dying in 1844. Subsequently, William
H. Pope lived, from time to time, in the city, but
chiefly in the county, on a part of his father’s estate
on the Brownsboro Road, near the city. His other
places of residence in the city were on the southeast
corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the late residence
of John I. Jacob, Esq., which burned during his oc-
cupancy, and on Fourth Avenue, between Walnut
and Chestnut. From 1855 until his death, in 1867,
Mr. Pope was associated with his son, Wallace, in
the firm of Wallace Pope & Company, wholesale
grocers and commission merchants. He was a man
of much force of character and of strong intellect.
The great financial storm which swept over the
whole country in 1837 and the several following
years, caught him in its wreck, when in the very
zenith of his power, and doomed him, in after years,
to a dreary struggle. He had the highest sense of
personal and commercial honor, and never wearied
in his effort to discharge his obligations. To the
close of his life he enjoyed the highest esteem of the
community, the respect of all who knew him, and
the warm affection of a large immediate and col-
lateral family.
In 1826 Mr. Pope was married to Mary E. Wil-
son, daughter of Dr. Daniel Wilson, of Jefferson
County. She died in 1864. Their children were
as follows: Cynthia Sturgis, married Richard At-
kinson, died in 1853; Wallace, married Theresa
Steele, died in 1891; Thomas Wilson and Mary
died in infancy; Henrietta, married Thomas P. Ja-
cob, died in 1889; Minor Sturgis, served in the Con-
federate army, died in 1890; Lucinda, married V.
Nicholas Smith, died in 1870; William, wounded at
Shiloh, 1863; Henry Duncan, physician, died in
1877; and Charles D., died in 1871.
'T'HOMAS PRATHER, one of the earliest mer-
1 chants of Louisville, and one of its wealthiest
and most prominent citizens, was a native of Mary-
land, where he was born in 1770. Little is pre-
served of his early youth beyond the fact that he
was an industrious young man of good business
qualifications, who crossed the mountains in the
last decade of the past century and coming down
the Ohio from Pittsburgh established a store in
Louisville. The exact date of his coming to the
falls of the Ohio is not known, although it is cer-
tain that he was keeping a store here as early as
the 14th of May, 1794, as evidenced by an order
of Colonel John Thruston of that date for one pound
of six-penny nails and a quire of paper. Being suc-
cessful in business he made annual trips to Phila-
delphia to lay in his stock of goods, and in 1805,
while returning home from one of those trips, he
met with John J. Jacob, then a young man from
Romey, Hampshire County, Virginia, who was
coming West to seek his fortune. Becoming in-
terested in him he invited him to live temporarily in
Louisville, and after a time took him into partner-
ship— thus laying the foundation of a long and suc-
cessful business connection, under the firm name
of Prather & Jacob. Their association was more
firmly cemented later by the marriage of Mr. Jacob
to his wife’s sister, and they became in time the
wealthiest firm and individuals in the community.
Mr. Prather had then enlarged his business and in
addition to his mercantile establishment was en-
gaged in the manufacture of salt at Bullitt’s Lick.
To this department Mr. Jacob gave his special at-
tention and this being the chief source of supply
for the West the business became large and lucra-
tive. The manufacture of salt was given up when
it ceased to be so profitable, after the development
of the Kanawha fields, and they devoted themselves
to their business house. In an old paper published
in 1817 is an advertisement of the firm in which it
is stated that they were making preparations for
the approaching Christmas egg-nog and that by the
steamboat Vesuvius had just been received thirty
barrels of loaf sugar and two pipes ofTeneriffe wine.
On the 1st day of January, 1812, Mr. Prather es-
tablished the first bank in Louisville, the old Bank
of Kentucky, which had its banking house on Main
Street, near Fifth. The financial disturbances re-
sulting from the war with Great Britain led the di-
rectors to favor suspension of specie payment.
When their conclusion was announced to him he
resigned the office with this emphatic declaration:
“I can preside over no institution which declines to
meet its engagements promptly and to the letter.”
This action illustrated the character of the man.
Prompt and exact in all his business dealings, his
sense of honor would not tolerate in an institution
over which he presided the repudiation of its obli-
gations, even under legal sanction. Mr. Prather's
residence was in the center of the square bounded
by Third and Fourth, and Green and Walnut
648
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
streets. The house, which had been built by his
brother-in-law, Judge Fortunatus Cosby, and
bought from him, was enlarged by Mr. Prather. It
was a large brick building, fronting on Green Street,
and was two stories high, with an attic over the
hall. The servants’ rooms and the kitchen were
built away from the main house. There were nine
rooms, and a verandah ran around the building. It
stood just back of the Polytechnic Building, and
has been removed only within recent years. The
yard was famous for its rare collection of flowers. A
graveled walk ran from the entrance on Green
Street, and another from that on Fourth. On the
Third Street side was an apple orchard. On the
south side was a grove of walnut trees, from which
Walnut Street was named. Near by, and about
where Macauley’s Theater now stands, was the
graveyard. This square, which became known as
“Prather’s Square,” was laid off in 1784 as town
lots Nos. 2, 7 and 8, and was sold by the town trus-
tees to Adam Hoops and Fortunatus Cosby, from
the latter of whom it was bought in 1811. Henry
Clay was a frequent visitor to this house, and in
common with many others of prominence, enjoyed
therein Mr. Prather’s generous but unassuming hos-
pitality. Mr. Jacob’s residence occupied the square
immediately south. Mr. Prather, although he con-
centrated much work within the period of his active
life, died comparatively young, while yet but fifty-
three years of age.
Collins’ History, after referring to him as one of
the first merchants of Louisville, adds: “Possessed
of a strong intellect, bland and courteous manners,
a chivalric and high moral bearing, with superior
business qualifications and an integrity and purity
of character which became proverbial, riches flowed
in upon him, and he distributed his wealth with a
beneficent hand in benefactions which will prove a
perpetual memorial of his liberality.” No one -ever
appealed to him in vain. As to his public charities,
he was called “put me down for balance,” that be-
ing his usual response when asked to subscribe to a
worthy cause. It was not uncommon for him to
leave a fifty-dollar bill in his seat at church. He
donated the major part of the ground upon which
the City Hospital stands, and in recognition of this
gift and of his public and private work, Broadway
was originally named Prather Street. A portrait by
Jouett portrays his features as that of a handsome
man with black hair, a broad forehead and luminous
black eyes, a firm mouth and a countenance replete
with intelligence and the benevolence which filled
his soul, one of those faces upon which the eye de-
lights to dwell as indicative of the highest qualities
of manhood. It bespeaks the character of mind and
heart which made him the man of mark in his day.
He had that clear, mental vision which enabled him
to prolong his view into the future with unerring
sagacity. He laid broad and deep the foundation of
his commercial business and then of his princely
fortune in real estate. His mistakes were few; he
blundered never. But above all, the strict integrity
of his personal character was above reproach, be-
yond suspicion. There was ever a something about
him which inspired in the hearts of all a feeling of
the most implicit trust and confidence.
There is an old tradition in the Fontaine family
which illustrates the wide difference between that
time and ours. Upon the marriage of his sister-in-
law, Maria Fontaine, and Sterling Grimes, all the
kindred from far and near were assembled at the
house of Thomas Prather, from which the bride
and groom were to begin a journey on horseback
from Louisville to some point in Georgia. As she
rode away she waved a last farewell to her kindred;
and although she lived to be an old woman with
children and grandchildren, no one of that assem-
bled company ever aw her again.
Thomas Prather died on the 3d of February,
1823, in the fifty-third year of his age. He was
buried in the little cemetery on Prather Square, but
his remains were afterward removed to Cave Hill
Cemetery, where his wife came, on the 28th of No-
vember, 1850, to sleep beside him.
On the 1 2th of February, 1800, he married Ma-
tilda Fontaine, daughter of Captain Aaron Fon-
taine, to whose sketch reference is made for further
history of the family. Their children were James
Smiley Prather, born March 13, 1801, and Febru-
ary 14, i860, he married Louisa Martin. Their
children were William, James, Thomas, Mary—
who married George Robinson Hunt — and
Blanche, who married Edward Mitchell. William
Prather was born February 9, 1804. He married
Penelope Pope, daughter of Alexander and Martha
(Fontaine) Pope, in 1836. Their children were:
Katie, who married Orville Thruston; Julia, Susan,
who married John H. Zanone; Martha, Maria, Ma-
tilda, who married Goldsborough Robinson; Pene-
lope, and Margaret, who married James P. Luse.
Mary Jane Prather, born August 11, 1809, married
Worden P. Churchill April 22, 1829; married sec-
ond Dr. Charles M. Way, June 8, 1836. Her chil-
dren were Worden P. Churchill, W. H. Way. Ma-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
649
tilda Prather, born September 17, 1811, died March
19, 1844, married Samuel Smith Nicholas, the dis-
tinguished lawyer and jurist. Their children were
George, Thomas, Samuel Smith, Mary, who mar-
ried Isham Henderson, and afterwards Grandison
Spratt; Matilda, who married Richard Barret, and
Julia, who married James C. Johnston. Maria
Julia Prather, born May 16, 1814, died February 13,
1840, married October 10, 1832; Colonel Henry
Clay, Jr., who was killed in battle at Buena Vista.
Their children were Henry, Thomas H. and Nan-
ette, who married Henry C. McDowell, of Ashland.
HARLES JAMES FOX ALLEN, son of Ma-
jor Charles James Fox Allen and Mary An-
toinette (Willis) Allen, was born in Boston, Massa-
chusetts, August 14, 1834. His father was appoint-
ed appraiser of the port of Boston by General An-
drew Jackson, and held that position through all
administrations up to the day of his death in i860.
The family on the paternal side is descended from
Rev. Mr. Allen, who married a daughter of Gov-
ernor Bradford, of Plymouth Colony. He was
probably the immigrant ancestor and the second
great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Rev.
Thomas Allen, well known in Revolutionary annals
as “the fighting parson of Pittsfield,” was his first
great-grandfather. A number of anecdotes and in-
teresting events of his life may be found in Irving’s
“Life of Washington,” and Fisk’s “American Revo-
lution.” He was the father of Dr. William Allen,
president of Bowdoin College, and of Captain Jona-
than Allen, who was the father of Major Charles
James Fox Allen, Sr., and the grandfather of the
present representatives of the family. Dr. William
Allen was a Congregational clergyman and presi-
dent of Bowdoin College for twenty years. On the
maternal side the family is also of early New Eng-
land ancestry. His mother was a daughter of Gen-
eral Nathan Willis and Lucy Fearing Willis. Gen-
eral Willis was prominent socially and politically in
Massachusetts.
Major Allen was educated in the public schools of
Boston, perhaps the first organized and most thor-
ough of the common educational system of the
United States. He graduated from the public Latin
school there in 1851, and was sent to Yale, where
he took his diploma in the class of 1855. Upon
leaving college, he began the study of theology in
compliance with the desire of his parents that he
should enter the ministry. This, however, was not
in accord with his inclination and he abandoned the
idea after one year’s study, accepting a position to
teach in the State of Louisiana, this upon the rec-
ommendation of President Woolsey, of Yale. Aft-
er an experience of two years in this work he de-
cided to adopt the law as a profession, and return-
ed to Massachusetts to take the Harvard law course.
On leaving Cambridge he went to St. Louis at the
instance of his uncle, Hon. Thomas Allen, and be-
gan the practice in 1859. Soon after the outbreak
of the war he received an appointment as additional
paymaster of the army, with the rank of major, for
the Department of the Cumberland. His headquart -
ers were established at Louisville. While on duty
here he met Miss Caroline Belknap, daughter of
William B. Belknap, whom he married in the last
year of the war. He was then admitted as a partner
in the house of W. B. Belknap & Co., in which busi-
ness he has since remained.
He is a member of the Central Council of the
Charity Organization of this city, and has taken
much interest in the general conduct of city affairs,
with no inclination to holding office.
His marriage with Miss Belknap occurred June
6, 1865.
Y->APTAIN JOHN H. WELLER, son of Samuel
and Phoebe (La Rue) Weller, was born in La
Rue County, Kentucky, April 11, 1842. His father
— who was born in Nelson County, Kentucky,
January 9, 1787, and died October 17,1854 — a mem-
ber of Company C, Captain Hardesty, of the Second
Kentucky cavalry in the War of 1812, was the son
of Daniel Weller, son of John Weller, Sr., born Oc-
tober, 1762, and died August 8, 1809. Daniel Wel-
ler came to Kentucky in 1796 and settled near Bards-
town Kentucky. His father, John Weller, Sr., was
born May 24, 1716, and died March 11, 1792. He
and his brothers, Joseph and Jacob, founded Me-
chanicstown, Maryland, in 1750, coming from Penn-
sylvania. The mother of the subject of this sketch,
Phoebe La Rue, was the granddaughter of Jacob
La Rue, and also of Robert Hodgen, of Hodgen-
ville, La Rue County, from whom the county and
its county seat took their name.
John H. Weller received his academical educa-
tion at the Kentucky Military Institute, near Frank-
fort, Kentucky, a full literary course in addition to
that of civil engineering and the school of the sol-
dier. He was graduated from this institution in
i860.
His early youth was spent in his native county
until he was twelve years old, when he came to
630
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
Louisville, and has lived here since. Upon quitting
school he became a member of the Kentucky State
Guard, and was first a private in the National Blues,
a Louisville company, and afterward sergeant-major
of the Second Regiment. In 1860-61 he was com-
missioned by Governor Magoffin captain in the
state militia, and in 1861 was captain of the Louis-
ville Zouaves, K. S. G. Upon the breaking out of
the war, he joined the Confederate army and was
made adjutant and first lieutenant by direct appoint-
ment of the war department at Richmond. When
the Fourth Kentucky Regiment of Confederate In-
fantry was organized in the fall of 1861, he was made
first lieutenant of Company D; became captain of
the company, January 2, 1863, and later major and
lieutenant colonel of the regiment. He fought with
his command in all the principal engagements from
Shiloh to the surrender, and made an enviable rec-
ord for gallantry and efficiency as an officer. At
Chickamauga, in the second day’s fight, September
20, 1863, he was severely wounded in the face, and
was again wounded near Statesboro, South Caro-
lina April, 1865.
Returning from the war, he resumed his residence
in Louisville and entered in the wholesale grocery
business with his brother, Jacob F. Weller, in which
he continued until 1880. In that year he was elected
clerk of the Chancery Court, and served by re-elec-
tion until 1892. In 1894 he was elected state sen-
ator from the Thirty-seventh district, and served two
years, having, in the re-apportionment under the
new constitution, drawn the short term. In politics,
Captain Weller is a Democrat, enjoying a wide pop-
ularity. In religion he is a Baptist, a deacon in the
Walnut Street Baptist church, and superintendent
of its Sunday school. He is also vice-president of
the Louisville Baptist Orphans’ Home. He is a
past grand and past chief patriarch of the order of
Odd Fellows, and a Knight Templar Mason.
On the 16th of January, 1867, he married Miss
Jennie Goodrich, of Oldham County, Kentucky.
\X/ ILLIAM RICHARDSON, the fourth son of
” y Gideon and Lucy Hemenway Richardson,
was born at Sudbury, Massachusetts, May 15, 1791.
The early years of his life were passed at Sudbury,
Massachusetts, where he was born. Not much is
known of the sources of his early education, but he
was trained to mercantile pursuits and was a well
informed and apparently well educated man at the
time of coming to Kentucky.
In 1815, after the close of the last war with Eng-
land, lie made a remarkable journey from Boston
to New Orleans, accomplishing it in fifty-three days,
which, at that time, in view of the means of travel,
was an incredibly short time. The country was
new, and most of his journey was through an un-
broken wilderness, the difficulties and privations of
the trip being a matter of family history. Upon his
return from this journey, in October of the same
year, he passed through Lexington, where he
formed the acquaintance of Synia Higgins, a daugh-
ter of Richard and Sally Ann Higgins, of Virginia,
whom he afterwards married there in 1818. He
went thence to New Orleans, where he resided two
years.
In 1819 he went permanently to Lexington and
engaged with his father-in-law in the manufacture
of woolen goods, a business which he pursued suc-
cessfully for a number of years. He made Lexing-
ton his home until 1837, when he moved with his
family to Louisville. Here he became cashier of
the Northern Bank of Kentucky, and in 1854 was
made president. These positions he filled for
twenty-six years, and he was president of the bank
when he died. He was esteemed one of the ablest
financiers of the city, and the business of his bank
was one of the largest and most important in the
State.
For thirty years he was a ruling elder in the
Presbyterian Church, taking great interest in its af-
fairs and doing all he could for the growth and
spread of Christianity. He lived to see seven of his
children received as members of his church, and
had the satisfaction of knowing that he would leave
honorable and honored representatives of his an-
cient name. Elsewhere in the body of this history
will be found a more extended mention of his
church career and his high Christian character.
In political views, Mr. Richardson was a staunch
Whig, and up to the time of his death was rather
proud of the fact that none of his family were
Democrats. He was a true and steadfast Union
man, and at the time of the disruption of the Whig
party acted with the Republicans.
In early life, it is not known exactly in what year,
he became much interested in the proposal to estab-
lish a colony for American negroes in Liberia, and
was a member of the Colonization Society, as
evidenced by the following certificate found among
his effects :
(A rude wood-cut of the proposed settlement of
Monrovia, Liberia, preceded this certificate.)
“This will certify that William Richardson, by a
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
651
contribution of Twenty Dollars, by himself, is a
member for life of the Kentucky State Colonization
Society.
H. Wingate, Secty. B. Monroe, Brest.”
This society was formed in 1816 and lasted until
1849, its efforts to establish a colony at Monrovia
being unsuccessful on account of a malarious cli-
mate.
He was a member of the Pilgrim Society of Louis-
ville as early as 1838, as evidenced by a silk badge
bearing the coat of arms used by the society, a pro-
gramme of the proceedings of a dinner celebrating
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620,
and a card of admission, as follows:
Admit William Richardson
to the
PILGRIM DINNER.
December 22nd, 1838.
S. S. Goodwin, Secty.
He was also a life member of the Bible and Tract
Societies, and of the Sunday School Union.
He conceived the idea and organized the sunrise
prayer meeting, now observed by many churches
South and West, on New Year morning.
His first wife died December 8, 1854, and he mar-
ried again in 1857, his second wife being Mrs. Mary
A. Lindsley, of New Albany, Indiana, whose maid-
en name was Silliman. By his first marriage there
were thirteen children, eight of whom survived him,
as follows: William Allen Richardson, Mary R.
Belknap, Rev. R. H. Richardson, of Trenton, New
jersey; Caroline, Dr. T. G. Richardson, of New
Orleans; Lawrence Richardson, and Sallie A.
Thome.
He was quiet and rather reserved, but fond of in-
tellectual association and exceedingly hospitable.
Among his many friends, who have been his guests,
were such as Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Dr. Robert
Baird, Judge A. B. Longstreet, Joseph Holt, and
Bayard Taylor. In association with men of this
class, he took especial pleasure and spared no pains
to draw them around him. His death occurred at
Louisville, January 23, 1863, in the seventy-second
year of his age.
Although greatly occupied with his financial busi-
ness, his love of the church was so great that his in-
terest never flagged, and its affairs seemed to be
constantly upon his mind. He was liberal in his
donations to its support and an unfailing attendant
at its service. Prudent in the formation of his
views, he was steadfast in maintaining them after
they were once established. He was neither to he
driven nor persuaded from a course he had deter-
mined was the one he should pursue. Benevolent,
hospitable and honorable, his life deserved the suc-
cess it attained.
Y\T ILLIAM HENRY MAXWELL was born in
’’ Jefferson County, Kentucky, February 21st,
1857, son of Alexander and Cynthia Stuckv Max-
well. His father, who was for many years prior to
his death in 1881, a much esteemed business man
of Louisville, was a native of Ireland and came of
good family, the noted Scotch-Irish family of Jame-
sons being among his near relatives. Cynthia
Stuckv Maxwell was the daughter of Daniel
Stucky, of Jeffersontown, Kentucky, but, being left
an orphan at an early age, was reared and educated
bv her uncle, Stephen Ross Chenowith, who served
at one time as jailer of Jefferson County, and was
well known as a citizen and public official.
Brought up in Louisville, William H. Maxwell
attended the public schools in early childhood and
later attended Jefferson College or Seminary. Still
later he was a student at Professor McCown's fa-
mous academy at Anchorage and was graduated
from that school. After completing his academic
course he entered the Louisville College of Phar-
macy and took a full course in that institution, in-
tending to engage in the drug business as an occu-
pation. For some time after completing this course
of study he was employed as a drug clerk in this
city, but the business and close confinement affected
his health injuriously and he was compelled to give
it up. His father had conducted a profitable livery
and sales stable business in the city and, in 1878, he
turned this establishment over to his two sons, Wil-
liam H. and S. C. Maxwell. Succeeding to a large
business, the sons added new features and popular-
ized more than ever an establishment which the
father had turned over to them with a good name
and abundant patronage. Some years later, S. C.
Maxwell, on account of ill health, removed to bis
home in the country, where he continued to re-
side until his death in 1895. When the latter left
the city he disposed of his interest in the stables to
William H. Maxwell, who continued the business
albne and became well known throughout the city
as a successful man of affairs, an intelligent gentle-
man and useful citizen. He was in the prime of his
manhood when he was stricken with a fatal illness
and, at the end of three months of intense suffering,
he passed away, October 31st, 1891. During this
652
MEMORIAL, HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
long illness the traits of his character, which had
popularized him among his friends and associates,
were made strikingly apparent. The unselfishness,
the sympathy and kindliness which had made fast
friends of all who came in contact with him, shone
forth with a brighter lustre than ever from his bed
of pain, and his thoughtful consideration for mem-
bers of his family and others who gathered about
him evinced a true nobility of nature. He had
grown up a member of the Christian Church — his
membership being with the church at the corner of
Floyd and Chestnut streets — and his life was always
an admirable exemplification of the virtues of the
religion which he professed. He loved his church
and his home, hearkened to the voice of the suffer-
ing, relieved the needs of the poor, cared tenderly
for the members of his own household, lived with-
out reproach, and died lamented by all who knew
him. He was never prominent in public life, but
discharged faithfully all the duties incident to good
citizenship; believed in the political party to which
he belonged as he believed in his church, and was
known as a staunch Democrat, although he sought
no kind of official preferment.
He was married, in 1880, to Miss Kittie Ophelia
Stallings, daughter of Nelson and Margaret Dough-
erty Stallings, and is survived by Mrs. Maxwell and
two children, - Jennie Stallings Maxwell and Mar-
garet Cynthia Maxwell.
D EV. JAMES GIBBON MINNIGERODE. rec-
* ^ tor of Calvary Church, Louisville, was born in
Williamsburg, Virginia, July 25th, 1848, the son of
Rev. Charles and Mary (Carter) Minnigerode. His
father was one of the most distinguished clergymen
in this country. For many years he was rector of
St. Paul’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, and his
name is a household word throughout that State.
His mother was a granddaughter of Major James
Gibbon, of Revolutionary fame, who was the leader
of the Forlorn Hope in the battle of Stony Point.
The subject of this sketch received his early
training in a private school in Richmond, Virginia,
and was remarkably advanced for his age, especially
in classical studies. In the month of March, 1863,
when only fourteen years of age, he entered the
service of the Confederate States, having received
an appointment as midshipman in the Navy. He
served in Mobile Bay under Admiral Buchanan and
afterwards in the James River Squadron. After
the war he resumed his studies under the guidance
and direction of his father, who was one of the most
expert of scholars, and in September, 1867, he
entered the Theological Seminary of Virginia and
became a candidate for orders in the Episcopal
Church. He was graduated from this institution in
1871 and on the 23d of June was ordained to the
diaconate by Bishop Whittle and the year follow-
ing to the priesthood by Bishop Johns. Owing
chiefly to his father’s reputation he received offers
from ten churches, but by the advice of his bishop
he settled in Rappahannock County, Virginia, hav-
ing the whole of the county for his parish with
three or four small churches. He often speaks now
of his life in this beautiful and mountainous coun-
try, twenty-five miles from a railroad, and of the
devotion and loyalty of the people. In December,
r 873, he accepted the call to the old historic St.
Mark’s parish, of Culpeper, Virginia, succeeding
the Rt. Rev. George W. Petirkin, now bishop of
West Virginia. After a rectorship of four years
he was called to Calvary Church, Louisville, and
took charge on Sunday, February 3d, 1878. The
chief work of his life has been in this church. At
the time of his coming there was but half a church
building. The congregation was small and, though
very faithful and loyal, disheartened and discour-
aged by frequent changes in the rectorship and
nearly overwhelmed by a heavy debt. To-day this
church is regarded as one of the strongest in the
diocese. The following, compiled from the parish
register, will show, though in a small measure,
something of the work: Baptisms, 720; confirma-
tions, 536; communicants added, 783; loss by
deaths, removals, etc., 360; present number, 534;
marriages, 116; burials, 260; total contributions,
$276,561.25; being an average of more than $15,300
for each year.
Besides his work as rector of Calvary Church, Mr.
Minnigerode has held many important positions in
the diocese. He has repeatedly been elected to
represent the diocese in the General Convention of
the church, is a member of the standing committee,
dean of the Convocation of Louisville, secretary of
the board of Diocesan Missions, and vice-president
of the Board of Trustees of the Church Home and
Infirmary and of the Home of the Innocents. As
indicated by his long service as rector of Calvary
Church, the relations between Mr. Minnigerode
and bis parishioners is of the most cordial character.
In the performance of all the functions of his rec-
torship he is thorough and indefatigable. His ser-
mons are scholarly, yet not pedantic. His Sunday
School, to which he gives much personal attention,
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
653
is large, vigorous in its growth. Its choir, to which
lie lends his fine voice, is one of the very best in
the city. Over every function of the church and
all his congregation, young and old, he has a watch-
ful and loving eye, ministering to the sick, com-
forting the afflicted and sharing the happiness of
those who rejoice.
On the 14th of May, 1878, Mr. Minnigerode was
married to Miss Annie Gardner Thompson, daugh-
ter of George G. and Eliza Barbour Thompson, of
Culpeper, Virginia, of illustrious family. She ful-
fills with grace and fidelity every duty of life, espe-
cially of wife and mother.
ILLIAM BURKE BELKNAP was born in
Brimfield, Massachusetts, May 17, 1811. He
was the son of Morris Burke Belknap, who was
born at South Brimfield, Massachusetts, June 25,
1780, married Phoebe Locke Thompson at that
place May 24, 1809, and died at Smithland, Ken-
tucky, July 26, 1837. His wife died at De Witt,
Arkansas, February 5, 1873, and the remains of
both are deposited in Cave Hill cemetery at Louis-
ville.
William Belknap, father of Morris Burke Belk-
nap, and grandfather of Willaim Burke Belknap,
was the only son of Joseph Belknap and Mary Mor-
ris, and was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, about
1740. He was twice married, his first wife being
Elizabeth McNaul, who died very soon after the
marriage, and his second being Anna Burke, by
whom he had seven children, six daughters and one
son. The daughters all settled in New York, about
Paris, Clinton, Westmoreland and Cazenovia.
Joseph Belknap, father of William, and great-
grandfather of William Burke Belknap, was a son
of Samuel Belknap, brother of Jeremy Belknap, the
historian of New Hampshire, but it is not known
which was the elder. He came from the neighbor-
hood of Lynn, Massachusetts, and settled at Brim-
field— then called "The Holland District" — where
he took up a large body of land around Holland
Pond and on the Quinebaug River. His wife was a
Miss Morris, aunt of Robert Morris, signer of the
Declaration of Independence. They had three sons
and two daughters, of whom William was the oldest.
Samuel Belknap, father of Joseph, and great-
great-grandfather of William Burke Belknap, was
one of four sons of Abraham Belknap, and was a
settler, first, at Malden, and afterwards at Haverhill,
Massachusetts. He took the oath of fidelity No-
vember 28, 1677. Very little is known of the other
brothers, except that one settled at Salem, one at
Boston, and the other died soon after his arrival in
this country. Their names were Abraham, Jeremy,
Joseph and Samuel. Abraham Belknap, father of
the four sons referred to, and great-great-great -
grandfather of William Burke Belknap, came from
Liverpool, England, in 1635 or 1637, and settled at
Lynn, Massachusetts. He subsequently moved to
Salem, Massachusetts, where he died in 1643.
Of Morris Burke Belknap, father of William
Burke Belknap, it may be truly said that he was also
a father of the iron industry on the west side of the
Alleghany Mountains. To him as much as to any
other individual is due the development of this vast
industry. In 1807 he came from Brimfield, Massa-
chusetts, to Marietta, Ohio, remaining there three
years.
Upon his final settlement at Pittsburg, in 1816,
the real activity of his life began. Here he first ap-
plied his theoretical knowledge to the practical
science of the iron industry. He had little experi-
ence, few models, no skilled assistance, but he had
genius, courage and confidence, and to his super-
vision is due the construction of one of the first roll-
ing-mills at that point.
After eleven years of experience at Pittsburg, he
went in search of "other worlds to conquer,” and
found his new battlefield in the mineral deposits
that seamed the shores of the Tennessee and Cum-
berland rivers. Here, armed with letters from
General Andrew Jackson, he began with like spirit,
making Nashville his central point, and enlisting
the interest of Yeatman, Woods & Company, bank-
ers, he erected furnaces and a rolling-mill first in
Stewart County and afterwards at Nashville. Prior
to this enterprise he explored the mineral region of
Tennessee on horseback, and made a valuable re-
port upon its ore deposits in that section.
William Burke Belknap, his son, was then but
sixteen years of age. He had been reared in the
smoke and heat of iron manufacture at Pittsburg.
He had been a pupil at the school of Rev. Joseph
Stockton, an able scholar of Allegheny, Pennsyl-
vania, who gave him the basis of his learning in
books and the advantage of moral as well as mental
training. At this early age of sixteen, the course of
his studies was abruptly terminated by instructions
from his father to come to him in his new field,
bringing with him the entire family, the household
furniture, and new machinery for an iron furnace,
which he was entrusted to select. The machinery
was soon purchased, the family and household ef-
654
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
fects loaded upon a boat, and the young voyager
took his way down the Ohio. Arriving at Louis-
ville before the existence of the canal, all of his
heavy freight had to be unloaded and carted through
the city below the falls to Shippingport, where it
was again embarked and floated to its landing place
on the Cumberland River, where his father awaited
his arrival.
For two or three years after this event he re-
mained with his father and gave his assistance in
building the projected furnaces, including that
known as the Hillman, which are yet in operation
and of good repute. He was financial agent and
disbursing officer for his father, and a material aid
to him in all his business. At the close of this
period, when only about nineteen, he determined to
start independently and carve his own fortune. This
he did, with his father’s consent. He went first to
Hickman, Kentucky, then called Mill’s Point, a
trading place on the Mississippi River, about forty
miles below Cairo, where he commenced business
in his own name, but soon afterwards engaged with
two young men from Louisville, Woods and Yeat-
man. They established branches at Moscow and
Vicksburg, and were soon fairly launched in a pros-
perous and promising trade. Mr. Belknap had
general supervision over the entire business, and in
a little while the partners considered that their for-
tunes were made. Mr. Belknap sold his interest to
his associates, but before he could realize the pay-
ments the financial revulsion of 1837 ensued, and
the firm became bankrupt. This was a severe blow
and loaded the young aspirant with a heavy debt,
every dollar of which he subsequently discharged.
In 1840, after visiting Texas, St. Louis and Cin-
cinnati, he determined to locate at Louisville, and
did so, and set up that year in business for himself
and as the agent of G. K. & J. H. Schoenberger,
men he had known at Pittsburg during his boyhood,
manufacturers of the Juniata boiler plate and nails.
Seven years later, in 1847, he bought, in conjunc-
tion with Captain T. C. Coleman, an incomplete
rolling-mill, at the foot of Brook Street, which they
afterwards finished and made successful in the
manufacture of iron. This mill stood till 1880, when
it was bought by C. P. Huntington in the interest
of the short route. He had established a separate
business in iron and heavy hardware, which he kept
up under the name of W. B. Belknap & Company,
his brother, Morris Locke Belknap, for several
years being his associate; later this interest was
bought for his sons. I11 1880 the house was incor-
porated by the Legislature, and — still conducted
mainly by his family interests — is one of the largest
and most prosperous houses of its character in the
Western country.
In 1843 he married Mary Richardson, daughter
of William Richardson, president of the Northern
Bank of Kentucky, of whom a sketch appears else-
where in this history.
ILLIAM RICHARDSON BELKNAP, son
’ ’ of William Burke Belknap and Mary (Rich-
ardson) Belknap, was born at Louisville, Kentucky,
March 28, 1849. A full genealogical record of the
family will be found in the biographical sketch of
his father, given elsewhere in this history.
His first schooling, in 1861, was under the direc-
tion of Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson, who, with Pro-
fessor Ben Harney, as teacher of mathematics, con-
ducted a school in the basement of the old Presby-
terian Church on Third, between Green and Wal-
nut streets. Later he took a full course at the Male
high school, graduating there in 1866, at the age of
seventeen. Then he entered the scientific depart-
ment of Yale University, from which he received a
diploma as bachelor of science in 1869. He took
an extra year in the study of natural science, botany,
etc., under Professor D. C. Eaton; zoology under
Professor A. E. Verrill; and history and economics
under Professor D. C. Gilman.
At the close of his scholastic work and after a
visit to Europe, in 1873-74, he was given an inter-
est in the business of W. B. Belknap & Co., then, as
now, one of the largest wholesale hardware houses
in the West. After the incorporation of the firm,
in 1880, he was made vice-president, and in 1882
was elected president, a position which he has since
retained. His life has been devoted to his business
almost exclusively, and besides being for a time di-
rector in the Board of Trade also a director in the
Southern Exposition and other similar enterprises,
he has had little to divert his attention from the
regular business of W. P>. Belknap & Co.
In 1874 he married Alice Trumbull Silliman,
daughter of Professor Benjamin Silliman, of New
Haven, Connecticut, who died in the spring of 1890.
In 1894 lie was married to Juliet Rathbone Davi-
son, daughter of Mr. C. G. Davison.
pROFESSOR E. FI. MARK, superintendent of
*■ the public schools of Louisville, was born in
Fayette County, Ohio, November 13, 1852, the son
of Thomas FI. and Sina (Burnett) Mark. His fath-
PERSONAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
655
er was a native of Pennsylvania, whose ancestors
came from Holland, while his mother was of Vir-
ginia parentage and of English and Welsh descent.
He was reared on a farm and attended a neighbor-
hood school in his early youth. Afterward, his
father moved to Staunton, Ohio. At the early age
of fifteen he began to teach in the county school,
in which occupation he continued for seven years.
He then for a time taught in the village schools of
Staunton. It was in this practical work of instruc-
tion, supplemented by two years of study at school
in Lebanon, Ohio, where he took a special course
in mathematics, that Professor Mark laid the foun-
dation for the eminence he has since attained as an
educator. With an innate love of knowledge, of
fine physical health and capacity for close applica-
tion, he was, while teaching, also a close student,
storing his mind with valuable material for the in-
struction of the youth in his charge and expanding
systematically the field of his inquiry and investiga-
tion into the higher regions of classical and scien-
tific study. His fitness commending him to the pro-
motion, he was made superintendent of the schools
of Bloomingburg, in the same county in which he
had been teaching in the primary schools, and in
1880 became principal of the high school in Wash-
ington Court House, county seat of Fayette County,
Ohio. In 1883 he accepted the position of secre-
tary of the Ohio Meteorological Bureau, of which
Dr. T. C. Mendenhall was the director, the office of
the bureau being at the Ohio State University. In
the fall of the same year he was elected assistant
in mathematics in the university, but declined on
account of his duties in the Meteorological Bureau,
which engaged his full time and were in the line of
a more congenial service. During the four years
of his connection with this bureau, Professor Mark
investigated several tornadoes and acquired a high
standing in the country as an authority upon such
subjects. In these volumes will be found a chapter
on “The Climatology and Meteorology of Louis-
ville,” in which his wide research and thorough
knowledge of the subject are fully evinced. During
several years of his connection with the bureau he
also taught physics in the State University.
In 1887 he became teacher of physics and chem-
istry in the male high school of Louisville and con-
tinued as such until October 1, 1894, when lie be-
came superintendent of public schools. He suc-
ceeded in this office Professor G. Id. Tingley, who,
having filled the position for thirty years with great
efficiency, was compelled to retire on account of
the loss of his eye-sight. The post was difficult to
fill, the growing expansion of the system of public
schools in Louisville requiring a peculiar fitness in
the administration of its large service and a famili-
arity with the technicalities of school management
in schools of all grades, from the primaries to the
high schools. Fortunately, the long training of
Professor Mark as teacher, principal and superin-
tendent had been such as had prepared him for ex-
actly this kind of trust and this experience, added to
fine administrative ability, great energy of appli-
cation and indefatigable zeal in the cause of edu-
cation, have found in him all the requirements for
the responsible position. Linder his administration,
our schools have grown in strength and efficiency,
and the esprit du corps elevated in a gratifying de-
gree. In the current year his report — the first pub-
lished in many years — sets forth the working of the
entire system in a most comprehensive manner, em-
bodying much of the history of its past working and
a thorough exhibition of its present condition, con-
sidered from the educational standpoint.
In religious affiliation, Professor Mark is a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In October,
1875, he married Mary E. Guthrie, whose father
was a prominent physician of Clinton County, Ohio.
They have one son, Ernest G. Mark, born in April,
1878.
EORGE W. WICKS, merchant, was born April
5, 1823, in New Albany, Floyd County, Indi-
ana, son of Joseph L. and Delilah C. Wicks, the
former a native of New York and the latter of New
Tersey. His parents removed to New Albany in 1817,
and were among the first settlers in what was then
a rude western village. His father, who was a car-
penter by trade, helped build the first steamboat put
on the Ohio river below the Falls, and for fifteen
years was carpenter and. engineer on that steamer.
At a later date, he engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness in New Albany, in which he continued up to the
time of his death, which occurred in 1876.
The son was educated at the public school of New
Albany and when quite young became a clerk in his
father’s store. At the age of eighteen years lie went
aboard a large river steamer as clerk, and in a few
years worked his way up to a steamboat captaincy, lie
continued on the river until 1852, and although lie
was a very voting man when he quit steamboating,
lie had been in command of some of the finest boats
on the river and had been prominently identified
with the Ohio river and Tennessee river trade. In
656
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
1852 he connected himself with the firm of Nock &
Rawson, wholesale grocers, and cotton and tobacco
factors, at that time one of the largest houses of the
kind in the South.
A few years later Mr. Rawson retired and Mr.
Wicks became a member of the firm, which then
took the name of Nock. Wicks & Company. His
large acquaintance throughout the South and with
river men extended the trade of the firm rapidly
and added greatly to its prestige and popularity. In
1864 the old firm was dissolved and was succeeded
by the reorganized firm of George W. Wicks & Com-
pany, which for many years was one of the largest
cotton and tobacco commission houses in the South.
Captain Wicks was identified also with many other
enterprises, being at one time largely interested in
the manufacture of “Navy Tobacco,” at a plant es-
tablished in the Jeffersonville penitentiary, where
he and his partner employed several hundred con-
victs for two and a half years. Although they paid
about the highest price ever paid for convict labor
in the State of Indiana, their profits amounted to
nearly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a
fact which evidences that their operations in this
field were carried on on a large scale. He was at
one time a member of the old Board of Trade, was
for many years a director of the Merchants’ Na-
tional Bank, and a director also of the Southern Mu-
tual Life Insurance Company. At one time lie was
president of the Louisville Cotton Exchange, and
during many years of his life he was not only one of
the most active and enterprising, but one of the
wealthiest merchants in Louisville. He suffered
heavy losses in later years, but never lost the respect
and esteem of the people, who remember him as
an honest, upright and public-spirited man, who did
much to advance the commercial interests of the city
and to aid in the upbuilding of numerous charitable
and other institutions, of which the city is justly
proud. For fifteen years he was a director of the
Masonic Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, and for sev-
eral years he was a director also of the Methodist
Orphans’ Home.
He was a member of the Masonic Order for more
than forty years. In 1863 he was made a Knight
Templar and in 1864 was elected treasurer of Louis-
ville Commanderv, to which office he was re-elected
for thirty-one consecutive years thereafter, holding
the office at the time of his death, which occurred
November 27, 1895. Fie was also prominent as a
member of the Order of Odd Fellows, and was a
director of the Odd Fellows’ Veteran Association.
His church affiliations were with the Methodist
Episcopal Church South, and he was a trustee of
Fourth Avenue Church, of Louisville, at the time of
his death. He married Miss Mary Frances Dean
in 1855, and his widow, three married daughters and
one son survive him.
APPENDIX A
TREATY OF FORT STANWIX, NEW YORK, 1768.
To all to whom these presents shall come, or may
concern: We, the sachems and chiefs of the Six Con-
federate Nations, and of the Shawnees, Delawares, Min-
goes of Ohio, and other dependent tribes, on behalf of
ourselves, and of the rest of our several nations, the
chiefs and warriors of whom are now here convened by
Sir William Johnson, baronet, his majesty’s superin-
tendent of our affairs, send greeting:
Whereas, his majesty was greatly pleased to propose
to us, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-
five, that a boundary line should be fixed between
the English and us, to ascertain and establish our limits,
and prevent those intrusions and encroachments of
which we had so long and loudly complained; and to
put a stop to the many fraudulent advantages which
have been so often taken of us; which boundary ap-
pearing to us a wise and good measure, we did then
agree to a part of a line, and promised to settle the whole
finally, whensoever Sir William Johnson should be
fully empowered to treat with us for that purpose;
And whereas, his said majesty has at length given
Sir William Johnson orders to complete the said boun-
dary line between the provinces and Indians, in con-
formity to which orders Sir William Johnson has con-
vened the chiefs and warriors of our respective nations
who are true and absolute proprietors of the land in
question, and who are here to a very considerable num-
ber;
And whereas many uneasinesses and doubts have
arisen amongst us, which have given rise to an appre-
hension that the line may not be strictly observed on the
part of the English, in which case matters may be worse
than they were before; which apprehension, together
with the dependent state of some of our tribes, and
other circumstances, retarded the settlement and be-
came the subject of debate; Sir William Johnson has at
length so far satisfied us upon it as to induce us to come
to an agreement concerning the line, which is now
brought to a conclusion, the whole being explained to us
in a large assembly of our people, before Sir William
Johnson, and in the presence of his excellency the Gov-
ernor of New Jersey, the commissioners from the prov-
inces of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and sundry other
gentlemen; bj which line so agreed upon, a considera-
ble tract of country, along several provinces, is by us
ceded to his majesty, which we are induced to and do
hereby ratify and confirm to his said majesty, from the
expectation and confidence we place in his royal good-
ness, that he will graciously comply with our humble
requests, as the same are expressed in the speech of the
several nations, addressed to his majesty, through Sir
William Johnson, on Tuesday, the first day of the pres-
ent month of November; wherein we have declared our
expectations of the continuance of his majesty’s favor,
and our desire that our ancient engagements be ob-
served, and our affairs attended to by the officer who
has the management thereof, enabling him to discharge
all the matters properly for our interest: That the
lands occupied by the Mohocks, around their villages,
as well as by any other nation affected by this our ces-
sion, may effectually remain to them, and to their pos-
terity; and that any engagements regarding property,
which they may now be under, may be prosecuted, and
our present grants* deemed valid on our parts, with the
several other humble requests contained in our said
speech ;
And whereas, at the settling of the said line, it ap-
peared that the line described by his majesty’s order
was not extended to the northward of Owegy, or to the
southward of great Kanawha River; we have agreed to
and continued the line to the northward, on the supposi-
tion that it was omitted, by reason of our not having
come to any determination concerning its course, at the
congress held in one thousand seven hundred and sixty-
five. And inasmuch as the line to the northward be-
came the most necessary of any, for preventing encroach-
ments on our very towns and residences; and we have
given this line more favorably to Pennsylvania, for the
reasons and considerations mentioned in the treaty; we
have likewise continued it to the south to the Cherokee
River, because the same is, and we declare it to be
our true bounds with the southern Indians, and that we
have an undoubted right to the country as far south as
that river, which makes our concession to his majesty
much more advantageous than that proposed;
Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the sachems and
chiefs aforementioned, native Indians and proprietors
of the lands hereafter described, for and in behalf of
♦The grants which the Six Nations then made, and are here
alluded to, were as follows: One to Mr. Trent, one to George
Croghan, Esq., and one to Messrs. Penn, proprietors of the VTo\ -
ince of Pennsylvania.
42
657
I
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOtJISVILLE.
658
ourselves and the whole of our confederacy, for the con-
siderations hereinbefore mentioned, and also for and in
consideration of a valuable present of the several arti-
cles in use amongst the Indians, which, together with a
large sum of money, amount, in the whole, to the sum
of ten thousand four hundred and sixty pounds seven
shillings and three pence sterling, to us now delivered
and paid by Sir William Johnson, baronet, his majesty’s
sole agent and superintendent of Indian affairs for the
northern department of America, in the name and be-
half of our sovereign lord, George the Third, by the
grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King,
Defender of the Faith; the receipt whereof we do hereby
acknowledge; we, the said Indians, have, for us, our
heirs and successors, granted, bargained, sold, released
and confirmed, and by these presents, do grant, bargain,
sell, release and confirm, unto our said sovereign lord,
King George the Third, all that tract of land situate in
North America, at the back of the British settlements,
bounded by a line which we have now agreed upon, and
do hereby establish as the boundary between us and the
British colonies in America; beginning at the mouth of
the Cherokee or Hogohege River, where it empties into
the Ohio; and running from thence upwards along the
south side of the said river to Kitanning, which is above
Fort Pitt; from thence by a direct line to the nearest
fork of the west branch of Susquehannah; thence through
the Allegheny Mountains, along the south side of the
said west branch, till it comes opposite the mouth of a
creek called Tiadaghton; thence across the west branch,
and along the south side of that creek, and along the
north side of Burnet’s Hills, to a creek called Awandae;
thence down the same to the east branch of Susque-
hannah, and across the same, and up the east side of
that river to Owegy; from thence east to Delaware River,
and up that river to opposite to where Tianderha falls
into Susquehannah; thence to Tianderha, and up the
west side thereof, and the west side of its west branch
to the head thereof; and thence by a direct line to Cana-
da Creek, where it empties into Wood Creek, at the west
end of carrying place beyond Fort Stanwix, and extend-
ing eastward from every part of the said line, as far as
the lands formerly purchased, so as to comprehend the
whole of the lands between the said line and the pur-
chased lands or settlements, except what is within the
province of Pennsylvania; together with all the heredita-
ments and appurtenances to the same, belonging or ap-
pertaining, in the fullest and most ample manner; and
all the estate, right, title, interest, property, possession,
benefit, claim and demand, either in law or equity, of
each and every of us, of, in, or to the same, or any part
thereof; to have and to hold the whole lands and prem-
ises hereby granted, bargained, sold, released, and con-
firmed, as aforesaid, with the hereditaments and appur-
tenances thereunto belonging; under the reservations
made in the treaty, unto our said sovereign lord, King
George the Third, his heirs and successors, to and for
his and their own proper use and behoof, and forever.
In witness whereof, we, the chiefs of the confederacy,
have hereunto set our marks and seals, at Fort Stanwix,
the fifth day of November, one thousand seven hundred
and sixty-eight, in the ninth year of his majesty’s reign.
ABRAHAM, or Tyahanesera,
(The mark of his nation.) Chief of (L.S.) the Mohawks.
The Steel.
HENDRICK, or Saquarisera,
Chief of (L.S.) the Tuscaroras. The Stone.
CONAHQUIESO,
Chief of (L.S.) the Oneidas. The Cross.
BUNT, or Chenaugheata,
Chief of (L.S.) the Onondagas. The Mountain.
TAGAAIA,
Chief of (L.S.) the Cayugas. The Pipe.
GAUSTARAX,
Chief of (L.S.) the Senecas. The High Hill.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
WILLIAM FRANKLIN,
Governor of New Jersey.
FREDERICK SMYTH,
Chief Justice of New Jersey.
THOMAS WALKER,
Commissioner for Virginia.
RICHARD PETERS,
JAMES TILGHMAN,
Of the Council of Pennsylvania.
APPENDIX B.
TREATY OF WAUTAUGA, 1775.
COPY OF THE DEED MADE BY THE CHIEFS AND HEAD MEN OF THE CHEROKEES TO R.
HENDERSON & CO.
This indenture, made this seventeenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord Christ one thousand seven hun-
dred and seventy-five, between Oconistoto, chief war-
rior and first representative of the Cherokee Nation, or
tribe of Indians, and Attacullacullah (Little Carpenter),
and Savanooko (Raven Warrior), otherwise Coronoh, for
(hemselves, and in behalf of the whole nation.
Being the aborigines, and sole owners by occupancy,
from the beginning of time, of the lands on the waters
of the Ohio River, from the mouth of the Tennessee
River up the said Ohio to the mouth or emptying of the
Great Canaway (Kanawha), or New River, and so across
by a southward line to the Virginia line, by a direction
that shall strike or hit the Holston River six English
THE APPENDICES.
659
miles above or eastward of the long island therein, and
other lands and territories thereunto adjoining, of the
one part, and Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathan-
iel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell, William John-
ston, James Hogg, David Hart and Leonard Hendley
Bullock, of the Province of North Carolina, of the other
part; Witnesseth, that the said Oconistoto, for himself
and the rest of said nations of Indians, for and in con-
sideration of the sum of ten thousand pounds of lawful
money of Great Britain, to them in hand paid by the said
Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John
Williams, John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg,
David Hart and Leonard Hendley Bullock, the receipt
whereof the said Oconistoto, and his said whole nation,
do, and for themselves, and their whole tribe of people,
have granted, bargained and sold, aliened, enfeoffed, re-
leased, and confirmed, by these presents do grant, bar-
gain and sell, alien, enfeoff, release and confirm unto
them, the said Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Na-
thaniel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell, William
Johnston, David Hart, James Hogg and Leonard Hend-
ley Bullock, their heirs and assigns forever, all that
tract, territory, or parcel of land, situate, lying and being
in North America, on the Ohio River, one of the east-
ern branches of the Mississippi, beginning on the said
Ohio River at the mouth of Kentucky, Chenoa (Ken-
tucky), or what, by the English, is called Louisa River,
from thence running up the said river and the most
northwardly branch of the same, to the head spring
thereof; thence a southeast course to the top ridge of
Powell’s Mountain, thence westwardly along the ridge
of the said mountain unto a point from which a north-
west course will hit or strike the head spring of the
most southwardly branch of the Cumberland River;
thence down the said river, including all its waters, to
the Ohio River; thence up said river as it meanders to
the beginning, &c.
And also the reversion and reversions, remainder and
remainders, rents and services thereof, and all the es-
tate, right, title, interest, claim and demand whatsoever
of them, the said Oconistoto and the aforesaid whole
band or tribe of people, of, in, and to the same premises,
and of, in, and to every part thereof. To have and to
hold the same messuage and territory, and all and singu-
lar the premises above mentioned, with the appurten-
ances, unto the said Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart,
Nathaniel Hart. John Williams. John Luttrell, William
Johnston. James Hogg, David Hart and Leonard Hend-
ley Bullock, their heirs and assigns, in several, and ten-
ants in common, and not as joint tenants; that is to say,
one-eighth part to Richard Henderson, his heirs and as-
signs forever; one-eighth part to Thomas Hart, his heirs
and assigns forever; one-eighth part to Nathaniel Hart,
his heirs and assigns forever; one-eighth part to John
Williams, his heirs and assigns forever; one-eighth part
to John Luttrell, his heirs and assigns forever; one-
eighth part to William Johnston, his heirs and assigns
forever; one-eightli part to James Hogg, his heirs and
assigns forever; one-sixteenth part to David Hart, his
heirs and assigns forever; one-sixteenth part to Leonard
Hendley Bullock, his heirs and assigns forever; to the
only proper use and behoof of them the said Richard
Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John Wil-
liams, John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg, Da-
vid Hart and Leonard Hendley Bullock, their heirs and
assigns; that, under the yearly rent of four-pence, or
to be holden of the chief, lord or lords of the fee of the
premises by the rents and services thereof due and of
right accustomed; and the said Oconistoto, and the said
nations for themselves do covenant and grant to and
with the said Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Na-
thaniel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell, William
Johnston, James Hogg, David Hart, and Leonard Hend-
ley Bullock, their heirs and assigns, that they, the said
Oconistoto, and the rest of the said nation of people
now are lawfully and rightfully seized in their own right
of a good, sure,, perfect, absolute, and indefeasible estate
of inheritance in fee-simple of and in all and singular
the said messuage, territory and premises above men-
tioned, and of all and every part and parcel thereof, with
the appurtenances, without any manner of condition,
mortgage, limitation of use or uses, or other matter, cause
or thing to alter, change, charge, or determine the same,
and also that the said Oconistoto, and the aforesaid
nation, now have good right, full power and lawful au-
thority in their own right, to grant, bargain and sell and
convey the said messuage, territory, and premises above
mentioned, with the appurtenances, unto the said Rich-
ard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John Wil-
liams, John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg, Da-
vid Hart, and Leonard Hendley Bullock, their heirs and
assigns, to the only proper use and behoof of the said
Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John
Williams, John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg,
David Hart, and Leonard Hendley Bullock, their heirs
and assigns, according to the true intent and meaning of
these presents, and also that they, the said Richard Hen-
derson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John Williams,
John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg, David
Hart, and Leonard Hendley Bullock, their heirs and
assigns, shall, and may, from time to time, and at all
times thereafter, peaceably and quietly, have, hold, oc-
cupy and possess, and enjoy all and singular the said
premises above mentioned to be hereby granted with
the appurtenances, without the let, trouble, hindrance,
molestation, interruption, and denial of them, the said
Oconistoto, and the rest, or any of the said nation, their
heirs and assigns, and of all and of any other person and
persons whatsoever, claiming or to claim, by, from or
under them, or any of them, and further, that they, the
said Oconistoto, Attacullacullah (Little Carpenter), and
Savanooko (Raven Warrior), otherwise Coronoh, for
themselves and in behalf of their whole nation, and their
heirs, and all and every other person and persons and
his and their heirs, anything having and claiming in the
said messuage, territory, and premises above mentioned,
or any part thereof, by, from, or under them, shall and
will at all times hereafter, at the requests and costs of
the said Richard Henderson. Thomas Hart, Nathaniel
Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell. William Johnston,
James Hogg, David Hart, and Leonard Hendley Bullock,
their heirs and assigns, make, due and execute, or cause
or procure to be made, done, and executed, all and every
further and other lawful and reasonable grants, acts and
660
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
assurances in the law whatsoever, for the further, better,
and more perfect granting, conveying and assuring of
the said premises, hereby granted with the appurtenances
unto the said Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Na-
thaniel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell, William
Johnston, James Hogg, David Hart, and Leonard Hend-
ley Bullock, their heirs and assigns, to the only proper
use and behoof of the said Richard Henderson, Thomas
Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell,
William Johnston, James Hogg, David Hart, and Leonard
Hendley Bullock, their heirs and assigns, according to
the true intent and meaning of these presents, and to
and for none other use, intent, or purpose whatsoever,
and lastly, the said Oconistoto, Attacullacullah (Little
Carpenter), and Savanooko (Raven Warrior), otherwise
Coronoh, for themselves, and in behalf of their whole
nation, have made, ordained, constituted and appointed,
and by these presents do make, ordain, constitute and ap-
point Joseph Martin and John Farrer their true and lawful
attornies, jointly, and either of them severally, for them
and in their names into the said messuage, territory, and
premises, with the appurtenances hereby granted and
conveyed, or into some part thereof, in the name, of the
whole, to enter into full and peaceable possession and
seisin thereof, for them and in these names, to take and
to have, and after such possession and seisin so thereof
taken and had, the like full and peaceable possession and
seisin thereof, or of some part thereof in the name of the
whole, unto the said Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart,
Nathaniel Hart, John Williams, John Luttrell, William
Johnston, James Hogg, David Hart and Leonard Hend-
ley Bullock, as their certain attorney or attornies in that
behalf, to give and deliver, to hold to them, the said
Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathaniel Hart, John
Williams, John Luttrell, William Johnston, James Hogg,
David Hart, and Leonard Hendley Bullock, their heirs
and assigns forever, according to the purport and intent
and meaning of these presents, ratifying, confirming and
allowing all and whatsoever their attornies, or either of
them, shall do in the premises. In witness whereof the
said Oconistoto, Attacullacullah (Little Carpenter), and
Savanooko (Raven Warrior), otherwise Coronoh, the
three chiefs appointed by the warriors and other head
men to sign for and in behalf of the whole nation, hath
hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first
above written.
OCONISTOTO, X His Mark.
ATTACULLACULLAH (LITTLE
CARPENTER), X His Mark.
SAVANOOKO (RAVEN WARRIOR).
Otherwise CORONOH, X His Mark.
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
Wm. Baily Smith, George Lumkin,
Thomas Houghton, Castleton Brooks,
J. P. Bacon, Tilman Dixon, Valentine
Turey, Thos. Price, Linguist.
APPENDIX C.
x LETTER FROM GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TO THE
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.
Kaskaskia, Illinois, April 29th, 1779.
Dear Sir —
A few days ago I received certain intelligence of Wil-
liam Morris, my express to you, being killed near the
Falls of the Ohio; news truly disagreeable to me, as 1
fear many of my letters will fall into the hands of the
enemy at Detroit, although some of them, as I learn,
were found in the woods torn to pieces. I do not doubt
but before the receipt of this, you will have heard of my
late success against Governor Hamilton, at post St. Vin-
cenne. That gentleman, with a body of men, possessed
himself of that post on the 15th of December last, re-
paired the fortifications for a repository, and in the
spring meant to attack this place, which he made no
doubt of carrying; where he was to be joined by two
*At the date of this letter, Patrick Henry was Governor of
Virginia, but before it reached Williamsburg, then the capital of
Virginia, Mr. Jefferson had succeeded him in office, his term
beginning June 1, 1779. This letter, which gives such a succinct
account of the capture of Vincennes, together with the proceedings
of the council thereon, will be found in Randolph’s “Jefferson,”
Vol. 1, Appendix “A.” — Editor.
hundred Indians from Michilimackinac, and five hundred
Cherokees, Chickasaws, and other nations. With this
body he was to penetrate up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, sweep-
ing Kentucky on his way, having light brass cannon for
the purpose, joined on his march by all the Indians that
could be got to him. He made no doubt that he could
force all West Augusta. This expedition was ordered
by the commander-in-chief of Canada. Destruction
seemed to hover over us from every quarter; detached
parties of the enemy were in the neighborhood every
day, but afraid to attack. I ordered Major Bowman to
evacuate the fort at Cohas, and join me immediately,
which he did. Having not received a scrap of a pen from
you for nearly twelve months, I could see but little prob-
ability of keeping possession of the country, as my num-
ber of men was too small to stand a siege, and my situa-
tion too remote to call for assistance. 1 made all the
preparations I possibly could for the attack, and was
necessitated to set fire to some of the houses in the
town, to clear them out of the way. But in the height
THE APPENDICES.
661
of the hurry a Spanish merchant, who had been at St.
Vincenne, arrived, and gave the following intelligence:
That Mr. Hamilton had weakened himself, by sending
his Indians against the frontiers, and to block up the
Ohio; that he had not more than eighty men in garri-
son, three pieces of cannon, and some swivels mounted;
and that he intended to attack this place, as soon as
the winter opened, and made do doubt of clearing the
Western waters by the fall. My situation and circum-
stances induced me to fall on the resolution of attack-
ing him before he could collect his Indians again. I
was sensible the resolution was as desperate as my sit-
uation, but I saw no other probability of securing the
country. I immediately dispatched a small galley, which
I had fitted up, mounting two four-pounders and four
swivels, with a company of men and necessary stores
on board, with orders to force her way, if possible, and
station herself a few miles below the enemy, suffer
nothing to pass her, and wait for further orders. In
the meantime, I marched acros sthe country with one
hundred and thirty men, being all I could raise, after
leaving this place garrisoned by the militia. The inhab-
itants of the country behaved exceedingly well, numbers
of young men turned out on the expedition, and every
other one embodied to guard the different towns. I
marched the 7th of February. Although so small a body,
it took me sixteen days on the route. The inclemency
of the season, high waters, etc., seemed to threaten the
loss of the expedition. When within three leagues of
the enemy, in a direct line, it took us five days to cross
the drowned lands of the Wabash River, having to
wade often upward of two leagues to our breast in
water. Had not the weather been warm, we must have
perished. But on the evening of the 23d we got on dry
land, in sight of the enemy; and at seven o’clock made
the attack, before they knew anything of us. The town
immediately surrendered with joy, and assisted in the
siege. There was a continual fire on both sides for
eighteen hours. I had no expectation of gaining the fort
until the arrival of my artillery. The moon setting
about one o’clock, I had an entrenchment thrown up
within rifle shot of their strongest battery, and poured
such showers of well directed balls into their ports, that
we silenced two pieces of cannon in fifteen minutes,
without getting a man hurt.
Governor Hamilton and myself had, on the following
day, several conferences, but did not agree until the
evening, when he agreed to surrender the garrison
(seventy-nine in number) prisoners of war, with con-
siderable stores. I got only one man wounded; not
being able ’ose many, I marie them secure themselves
well. Seven were badly wounded in the fort, through
ports. In the height of this action, an Indian party
that had been to war and taken iwo prisoners, came in,
not knowing of us. Hearing of them, I dispatched a
party to give them battle in the commons, and got nine
of them, with the two prisoners, who proved to be
Frenchmen. Hearing of a convoy of goods from De-
troit, I sent a party of sixty men, in armed boats well
mounted with swivels, to meet them, before they could
receive any intelligence. They met the convoy forty
leagues up the river, and made a prize of the whole,
taking forty prisoners, and about ten thousand pounds
worth of goods and provisions; also the mail from Can-
ada to Governor Hamilton, containing, however, no news
of importance. But what crowned the general joy was
the arrival of William Morris, my express to you, with
your letters, which gave general satisfaction. The sol-
diery, being more sensible of the gratitude of their coun-
try for their services, were so much elated that they
would have attempted the reduction of Detroit, had I
ordered them. Having more prisoners than I knew what
to do with, I was obliged to discharge a greater part of
them on parole. Mr. Hamilton, his principal officers,
and a few soldiers, I have sent to Kentucky, under con-
voy of Captain Williams, in order to be conducted to you.
After dispatching Morris with letters to you, treating
with the neighboring Indians, etc., I returned to this
place, leaving a sufficient garrison at St. Vincenne.
During my absence, Captain Robert George, who now
commands the company formerly commanded by Cap-
tain Willing, had returned from New Orleans, which
greatly added to our strength. It gave great satisfac-
tion to the inhabitants when acquainted with the pro-
tection which was given them, the alliance with France,
etc. I am impatient for the arrival of Colonel Mont-
gomery, but I have heard nothing of him lately. By your
instructions to me, I find you put no confidence in Gen-
eral McIntosh’s taking Detroit, as you encourage me to
attempt it if possible. It has been twice in my power.
Had I been able to raise only five hundred men when I
first arrived in this country, or when I was at St. Vin-
cenne, could I have secured my prisoners, and could have
had three hundred good men, I should have attempted it,
and since learn there could have been no doubt of suc-
cess, as by some gentlemen, lately from that post, we
are informed that the town and country kept three days
in feasting and diversions on hearing of my success
against Mr. Hamilton, and were so certain of my em-
bracing the fair opportunity of possessing myself of that
post, that the merchants and others provided many nec-
essaries for us on our arrival ; the garrison, consisting of
only eighty men, not daring to stop their diversions.
They are now completing a new fort, and I fear too
strong for any force I shall ever be able to raise in this
country. We are proud to hear Congress intends putting
their forces on the frontiers, under your direction. A
small army from Pittsburg, conducted with spirit, may
easily take Detroit, and put an end to the Indian war.
These Indians who are now active against us are the
Six Nations, part of the Shawnees, the Meamonies, and
about half the Chesaweys, Ottawas, Jowaas and Pottaw-
atimas nations, bordering on the lakes. These nations,
who have treated with me, have behaved since very
well; to wit, the Peankishaws, Kickapoos, Orcaottenans
of the Wabash river, the Kaskias, Perrians, Mechagamies.
Foxes, Sacks, Opays, Illinois, and Poues, nations of the
Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Part of the Chesaweys
have also treated and are peaceable. I continually keep
agents among them, to watch their motions and keep
them peaceably inclined. Many of the Cherokees. Chick-
asaws and their confederates are, I fear, ill-disposed. It
would be well if Colonel Montgomery should give them
a dressing, as he comes down the Tennessee. There can
662
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
be no peace expected from many nations while the Eng-
lish are at Detroit. I strongly suspect that they will
turn their arms against the Illinois, as they will be
encouraged. I shall always be on my guard, watching
every opportunity to take the advantage of the enemy,
and if I am ever able to muster six or seven hundred men,
I shall give them a shorter distance to come and fight
me than at this place.
There is one circumstance very distressing, that of
our money’s being discredited, to all intents and pur-
poses, by the great number of traders who come here in
my absence, each outbidding the other, giving prices
unknown in this country, by 500 per cent., by which the
people conceived it to be of no value, and both French
and Spaniards have refused to take a farthing of it.
Provision is three times the price it was two months
past, and to be got by no other means than by my own
bonds, goods, or force. Several merchants are now ad-
vancing considerable sums of their own property, rather
than the service should suffer, by which I am sensible
that they must lose greatly, unless some method is taken
to raise the credit of our coin, or a fund be sent to New
Orleans for the payment of the expenses of this place,
which should at once reduce the price of every species
of provision, money being of little service to them un-
less it would pass at the posts they trade at. I men-
tioned to you my drawing some bills on Mr. Pollock in
New Orleans, as I had no money with me. He would
accept the bills, but had not money to pay them off,
though the sums were trifling; so that we have little
credit to expect from that quarter. I shall take every
step I possibly can for laying up a sufficient quantity of
provisions, and hope you will immediately send me an
express with your instructions. Public expenses in this
country have hitherto been very low, and may still con-
tinue so if a correspondence is fixed in New Orleans for
payment of expenses in this country, or gold and silver
sent. I aim glad to hear of Colonel Todd’s appoint-
ment. I think the government has taken the only step
they could have done to make the country flourish, and
be of service to them. No other regulation would have
suited the people. The last account I had of Colonel
Rogers was his being in New Orleans with six of his
men. The rest he left at the Spanish Ozack, above the
Natches. I shall immediately send him some provi-
sions, as I learn he is in great want. I doubt he will not
he able to get his provisions up the river except in
Spanish bottoms. One regiment would be able to clear the
Mississippi, and to do great damage to the British inter-
ests in Florida, and by properly conducting themselves
might perhaps gain the affection of the people, so as to
raise a sufficient force to give a shock to Pensacola. Our
alliance with France has entirely devoted this people to
our interest. I have sent several copies of the articles
to Detroit, and do not doubt they will produce the de-
sired effect. Your instructions I will pay implicit regard
to, and hope to conduct myself in such a manner as to do
honor to my country.
I am, with the greatest respect,
Your humble servant,
G. R. CLARK.
P. S. — I understand there is considerable quantity of
cannon ball at Pittsburg. We are much in want of four
and six-pound ball. I hope you will immediately order
some down.
In Council, June 18th, 1779.
The board proceeded to the consideration of the letters
of Colonel Clark, and other papers relating to Henry
Hamilton, Esq., who has acted for so many years past
as lieutenant-governor of the settlement at and about
Detroit, and commandant of the British garrison there,
under Sir Guy Carleton, as governor-in-chief; Philip De-
jean, justice of the peace for Detroit, and William La-
mothe, captain of volunteers, prisoners of war, taken in
the county of Illinois.
They find that Governor Hamilton has executed the
task of inciting the Indians to perpetrate their accus-
tomed cruelties on the citizens of the United States, with-
out distinction of age, sex, or condition, with an eager-
ness and avidity which evince that the general nature
of his charge harmonized with his particular disposition.
They should have been satisfied, from the other testimony
adduced, that these enormities were committed by sav-
ages acting under his commission, but the number of
proclamations, which, at different times, were left in
houses, the inhabitants of which were killed or carried
away 'by the Indians, one of which proclamations is in
possession of this board, under the hand and seal of
Governor Hamilton, puts this fact beyond a doubt. At the
time of his captivity, it appears, he had sent considerable
bodies of Indians against the frontier settlements of these
States, and had actually appointed a great council of
Indians to meet him at Tennessee, to concert the opera-
tions of this present campaign. They find that his treat-
ment of our citizens and soldiers, taken and carried
within the limits of his command, has been cruel and
inhuman; that in the case of John Didge, a citizen of
these States, which has been particularly stated to this
board, he loaded him with irons, threw him into a dun-
geon, without bedding, without straw, without fire, in the
dead of winter, and severe climate of Detroit; that, in
that state, he wasted him with incessant expectations
of death; that when the rigors of his situation had
brought him so low, that death seemed likely to draw
him from their power, he was taken out and somewhat
attended to, until a little mended, and before he had
recovered ability to walk, was again returned to his
dungeon, in which a hole was cut, seven inches square
only, for the admission of air, and the same load of irons
again put on him; that, appearing a second time in
imminent danger of being lost to them, he was again
taken from his dungeon, in which he had lain from Jan-
uary to June, with an intermission of a few weeks only
before mentioned. That Governor Hamilton gave stand-
ing rewards for scalps, but offered none for prisoners,
which induced the Indians, after making their captives
carry their baggage into the neighborhood of the fort,
there to put them to death, and carry in their scalps to
the governor, who welcomed their return and success
by a discharge of cannon. That when a prisoner,
brought alive, and destined to death by the Indians, the
THE APPENDICES.
663
fire already kindled, and himself bound to the stake, was
dexterously withdrawn, and secreted from them by the
humanity of a fellow-prisoner, a large reward was of-
fered for the discovery of the victim, which, having
tempted a servant to betray his concealment, the present
prisoner Dejean, being sent with a body of soldiers,
surrounded the house, took and threw into jail the un-
happy victim and his deliverer, where the former soon
expired under the perpetual assurances of Dejean that
he was again to be restored into the hands of the sav-
ages, and the latter when enlarged, was bitterly repri-
manded by Governor Hamilton.
It appears to them that the prisoner Dejean was, on
all occasions, the willing and cordial instrument of Gov-
ernor Hamilton, acting both as judge and keeper of the
jails, and instigating and urging him, by malicious in-
sinuations and untruths, to increase, rather than relax
his severities, heightening the cruelty of his orders by
his manner of executing them, offering at one time a
reward to one man to be hangman for another, threaten-
ing his life on refusal, and taking from his prisoners the
little property their opportunities enabled them to ac-
ciuire.
It appears that the prisoner Lamothe was the captain
of the volunteer scalping parties of Indians and whites,
who went, from time to time, under general orders to
spare neither men, women, nor children. From this de-
tail of circumstances, which arose in a few cases only,
coming accidentally to the knowledge of the board, they
think themselves authorized by fair deduction to presume
what would be the horrid history of the sufferings of the
many who have expired under their miseries (which,
therefore, will remain forever untold), or who have
escaped from them, and are yet too remote and too much
dispersed to bring together their well founded accusa-
tions against the prisoners.
They have seen that the conduct of the British officers,
civil and military, has, in the whole course of this war,
been savage and unprecedented among civilized nations;
that our officers taken by them have been confined in
crowded jails, loathsome dungeons and prison-ships,
loaded with irons, supplied often with no food, generally
with too little for the sustenance of nature, and that lit-
tle sometimes unsound and unwholesome, whereby such
numbers have perished that captivity and death have
with them been almost synonymous; that they have
been transported beyond seas, where their fate is out of
the reach of our inquiry, have been compelled to take
arms against their country, and, by a refinement of cruel-
ty, to become murderers of their own brethren.
Their prisoners with us have, on the other hand, been
treated with humanity and moderation; they have been
fed, on all occasions, with wholesome and plentiful food,
suffered to go at large within extensive tracts of country,
treated with liberal hospitality, permitted to live in the
families of our citizens, to labor for themselves, to ac-
quire and enjoy profits, and finally to participate of the
principal benefits of society, privileged from all burdens.
Reviewing this contrast, which cannot be denied by
our enemies themselves in a single point, and which has
now been kept up during four years of unremitting war,
a term long enough to produce well-founded despair that
our moderation may ever lead them to the practice of
humanity; called on by that justice which we owe to
those who are fighting the battles of our country, to deal
out, at length, miseries to our enemies, measure for meas-
ure, and to distress the feelings of mankind by exhibit-
ing to them spectacles of severe retaliation, where we
had long and vainly endeavored to introduce an emula-
tion in kindness; happily possessed, by the fortune of
war, of some of those very individuals who, having dis-
tinguished themselves personally in this line of cruel
conduct, are fit subjects to begin on, with the work of
retaliation; this board has resolved to advise the gov-
ernor that the said Henry Hamilton, Philip Dejean and
William Lamothe, prisoners of war, be put into irons,
confined in the dungeon of the public jail, debarred the
use of pen, ink and paper, and excluded all converse
except with their keeper. And the governor orders ac-
cordingly.
ARCH BLAIR, C. C.
In Council, September 29th, 1779.
The board, having been, at no time, unmindful of the
circumstances attending the confinement of Lieutenant-
Governor Hamilton, Captain Lamothe, and Philip De-
jean, which the personal cruelties of those men, as well
as the general conduct of the enemy, had constrained
them to advise; wishing, and willing, to expect that their
sufferings may lead them to the practice of humanity,
should any future turn of fortune, in their favor, sub-
mit to their discretion the fate of their fellow-creatures;
that it may prove an admonition to others, meditating
like cruelties, not to rely for impunity in any circum-
stances of distance or present security; and that it may
induce the enemy to reflect what must be the painful con-
sequences, should a continuation of the same conduct on
their part impel us again to severities, while such mul-
tiplied subjects of retaliation are within our power; sen-
sible that no impression can be made on the event of the
war by wreaking vengeance on miserable captives; that
the great cause which has animated the two nations
against each other is not to be decided by unmanly
cruelties on wretches who have bowed their necks to
the power of the victor, but by the exercise of honorable
valor in the field; earnestly hoping that the enemy,
viewing the subject in the same light, will be content to
abide the event of that mode of decision, and spare us
the pain of a second departure from kindness to our cap-
tives; confident that commiseration to our prisoners
is the only possible motive, to which can be candidly
ascribed in the present actual circumstances of the war.
the advice we are now about to give; the board does
advise the governor to send Lieutenant-Governor Ham-
ilton, Captain Lamothe and Philip Dejean to Hanover
court house, there to remain at large, within certain
reasonable limits, taking their parole in the usual man-
ner. The governor orders accordingly.
ARCH BLAIR, C. C.
Ordered, that Major John Hay be sent, also, under
parole, to the same place.
ARCH BLAIR, C. C.
664
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
In Council, October 8th, 1779.
The governor is advised to take proper and effectual
measures for knowing, from time to time, the situation
and treatment of our prisoners by the enemy, and to
extend to theirs, with us, a like treatment, in every cir-
cumstance; and, also, to order to a proper station the
prison-ship fitted up on recommendation from Congress
for the reception and confinement of such prisoners of
war as shall be sent to it.
ARCH BLAIR, C. C.
APPENDIX D.
When George Rogers Clark bad laid his plans for the
capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes before the governor
and council of Virginia, he received from Governor Pa-
trick Henry two letters of instruction, one of a public
and the other of a private nature, the contents of which
latter were not to be disclosed. They were as follows:
PUBLIC INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL CLARK.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark:
You are to proceed, without loss of time, to enlist seven
companies of men, officered in the usual manner, to act
as militia, under your orders. They are to proceed to
Kentucky, and there to obey such orders and directions
as you shall give them, for three months after their
arrival at that place; but to receive pay, etc., in case
they remain on duty a longer time.
You are empowered to raise these men in any county
in the commonwealth; and the county lieutenants re-
spectively are requested to give you all possible assist-
ance in that business.
Given under my 'hand at Williamsburg, January 2d,
1778.
P. HENRY.
PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL CLARK.
Virginia; Set. In council, Williamsburg, Jan. 2d, 1778.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark:
You are to proceed, with all convenient speed, to raise
seven companies of soldiers, to consist of fifty men each,
officered in the usual manner, and armed most properly
for the enterprise; and with this force attack the British
post at Kaskasky.
It is conjectured that there are many pieces of cannon
and military stores, to considerable amount, at that place;
the taking and preservation of which would be a valu-
able acquisition to the State. If you are so fortunate,
therefore, as to succeed in your expedition, you will take
every possible measure to secure the artillery and stores,
and whatever may advantage the State.
For the transportation of troops, provisions, etc., down
the Ohio, you are to apply to the commanding officer at
Fort Pitt for boats; and during the whole transaction you
are to take especial care to keep the true destination of
your force secret; its success depends upon this. Orders
are therefore given to Captain Smith to secure the two
men from Kaskasky. Similar conduct will be proper in
similar cases.
/ It is earnestly desired that you show humanity to
such British subjects and other persons as fall in your
hands. If the white inhabitants at that post and the
neighborhood will give undoubted evidences of their
attachment to this State (for it is certain that they live
within its limits) by taking the test prescribed by law,
and by every other way and means in their power, let
them be treated as fellow-citizens, and their persons
and property duly secured. Assistance and protection
against all enemies whatever shall be afforded them;
and the Commonwealth of Virginia is pledged to accom-
plish it. But if these people will not accede to these
reasonable demands, they must feel the miseries of war,
under the direction of that humanity that has hitherto
distinguished Americans, and which it is expected you
will ever consider as the rule of your conduct, and from
which you are in no instance to depart.
The corps you are to command are to receive the pay
and allowance of militia, and to act under the laws and
regulations of this State now in force as militia. The
inhabitants at this post will be informed by you, that
in case they accede to the offers of becoming citizens of
this Commonwealth, a proper garrison will be main-
tained among them, and every attention bestowed to
render their commerce beneficial, the fairest prospects
being opened to the dominions of both France and
Spain.
It is in contemplation to establish a post near the
mouth of the Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify
it. Part of those at Kaskasky will be easily brought
thither, or otherwise secured, as circumstances will make
necessary.
You are to apply to General Hand for powder and lead
necessary for this expedition. If he can’t supply it, the
person who has that which Captain Lynn brought from
Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my or-
ders, and that may be delivered you. Wishing you suc-
cess, I am, sir,
Your h’ble serv’t,
P. HENRY,
THE APPENDICES.
665
LETTER OF GOVERNOR PATRICK HENRY TO
THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF VIRGINIA AN-
NOUNCING THE CAPTURE OF KASKASKIA.
Williamsburg, November 14th, 1778.
Gentlemen:
The executive power of this State having been im-
pressed with a strong apprehension of incursions on
their frontier settlements from the savages situated about
the Illinois, and supposing the danger would be greatly
obviated by an enterprise against the English forts and
possessions in that country which were well known to
inspire the savages with their bloody purposes against
us, sent a detachment of militia consisting of one hun-
dred and seventy or eighty men, commanded by Colonel
George Rogers Clark on that service some time last
spring. By dispatches which I have just received from
Colonel Clark, it appears that his success has equaled the
most sanguine expectations. He has not only reduced
Fort Chartres and its dependencies, but he has struck
such a terror into the Indian tribes between that settle-
ment and the lakes that no less than five of them, viz.:
The Puans, Socks, Renards, Powtowata.mies and Mi-
amies, who have received the hatchet from the English
emissaries, have submitted to our arms, given up all
their English presents, and bound themselves by treat-
ies and promises to be peaceable in the future.
The great Blackbird, a Chippewa chief, has also sent
a belt of peace to Colonel Clark, influenced, he supposes,
by the dread of Detroit’s being reduced by the American
arms. The latter place, according to Colonel Clark’s
representations, is, at present, defended by so inconsid-
erable a garrison, and so scantily furnished with pro-
visions, for which they must be still more distressed
by the loss of supplies from the Illinois, that it might be
reduced by any number of men above five hundred. The
governor of that place, Mr. Hamilton, was exerting him-
self to encourage the savages to assist him in retaking
the places that had fallen into our hands, but the favor-
able impression made on the Indians in general in that
quarter, the influence of the French on them and the
reinforcement of their militia, Colonel Clark expected,
flattered him that there was little danger to be appre-
hended. Included in the dispatches is a letter from
Captain Helm, who commands a party posted by Colonel
Clark at St. Vincents. According to this information,
the Wabash and upper Indians, consisting of the Pinke-
shaws, Tawas, Puans, Delawares, Mackenaws, and some
of the Shawnee chiefs, had also given up all their tokens
of attachment to our enemies, and pledged their fidelity
to the United States. Captain Helm adds, that he was
on the point of setting out with the assistance of part of
the inhabitants of St. Vincents, and some of the prin-
cipal Wabash chiefs, with a view to retake a quantity
of merchandise seized by the English from Detroit, be-
longing to the people of St. Vincents and on its way to
them. The captain speaks with confidence of success
in this enterprise, and extends his hopes even to the
destruction of Detroit, if joined on his way by the ex-
pected number of Indians and volunteers. My reason
for troubling Congress with these particulars is, that
they may avail themselves of the light they throw on
the state of things in the western country. If the party
under Colonel Clark can co-operate in any respect with
the measures Congress are pursuing or have in view,
I shall with pleasure give him the necessary orders.
In order to improve and secure the advantages gained
by Colonel Clark, I propose to support him with a rein-
forcement of militia. But this will depend on the pleas-
ure of the assembly, to whose consideration the measure
is submitted.
The French inhabitants have manifested great zeal
and attachment to our cause, and insist on the garri-
son’s remaining with them under Colonel Clark. This
I am induced to agree. to, because the safety of our fron-
tiers, as well as that of those people, demands a compli-
ance with the’ request. Were it possible to secure the
St. Lawrence and prevent the English attempts up that
river by seizing some post on it, peace with the Indians
would seem to me to be secured.
With great regard, I have the honor to be,
Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,
P. HENRY.
P. S. — Great inconveniences are felt here for want of
letters of marque.
Honorable Virginia Delegates.
In the House of Delegates,
Monday, the 23d Nov., 1778.
Whereas, authentic information has been received that
Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark, with a body
of Virginia militia, has reduced the British posts on the
western part of this Commonwealth, on the Mississippi
River and its branches, whereby great advantages may
accrue to the common cause of America, as well as to this
Commonwealth in particular;
Resolved, That the thanks of this house are justly due
to the said Colonel Clark and the brave officers and
men under his command for their extraordinary resolu-
tion and perseverance in so hazardous an enterprise,
and for the important services thereby rendered then-
country.
Test, E. RANDOLPH, C. H. D.
Williamsburg, in Council,
September 4th, 1779.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark:
Sir — I have the honor to inform you, that by Captain
Rogers I have sent the sword, which was purchased by
the governor, to be presented to you by order of the
General Assembly, as a proof of their approbation of your
great and good conduct and gallant behavior. I heartily
wish a better could be procured, but it was thought the
best, that could be purchased, and was bought of a gen-
tleman who had used it but little, and judged it to be
elegant and costly. I sincerely congratulate you on your
666
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF LOUISVILLE.
successes, and wish you a continuation of them, and a
happy return to your friends and country, and am, sir,
with great regard, your most ob’t serv’t,
JOHN PAGE, Lt.-Gov.
GOVERNOR BENJAMIN HARRISON'S LETTER TO
GENERAL GEORGE R. CLARK.
In Council, July 2d, 1783.
Sir:
The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situa-
tion of the State, with respect to its finances, call on us
to adopt the most prudent economy. It is for this reason
alone that I have come to a determination to give over
all thought for the present of carrying on an offensive
.Q
war against the Indians, which you will easily perceive
will render the services of a general officer in that quar-
ter unnecessary, and will therefore consider yourself as
out of command, but before I take leave of you, I feel
myself called upon in the most forcible manner to
return you my thanks, and those of my council, for the
very great and singular services you have rendered your
country, in wresting so great and valuable a territory
out of the hands of the British enemy, repelling the
attacks of their savage allies, and carrying on successful
war in the heart of their country. This tribute of praise
and thanks so justly due, I am happy to communicate to
you as the united voice of the executive. I am, with
respect, sir, yours, etc.,
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
INDEX
A
Architects’ Club
327
Rarkhouse, Lewis
47
Arditi, A
93
Barnes, Rev. Albert
157,
159
Arion Society
110
Barnes, J. M
183
Abell. Robert...
116, 118, 120
Arnold, Rev. Thomas N
243
Barnum, Joseph P
182
Abbott, W. R...
16
Asbury Chapel
991
Barnes, Richard
....138,
143
Adams, John
95, 252
Asbury, Francis
..207, 210, 213
Barnwell. Rev. R. W...
147
Adams, Rev. John
198
Ashbridge, Rev. George C..
156
Barnes, Sarah N
156
Adams, John Q.
252
Ashbridge, Rev. G. W
157
Barnes, S. S
313
Adams, Rev. L.
J
186
“Association Record"
281
Barnum. P. T
86
Adams, Martha
B
95
Atchison, S. A
292
Barnwell, Rev. Stephen
E . . . .
....147,
303
Adams, Simon .
298
Atherton, ,i. M
....20, 91, 325
Barnwell, Rev. William
H . . . .
14S
Adams, Rev. William 181, 209, 210, 211
Adas Israel Cemetery 345
Adas Israel Congregation 274
Adas Jeshurum Congregation 27G
319, 320
6G
210, 214, 21G
2S9
175, 283
223
179
162
23
216
183
221
.239,
Adkins, Lucien
Advertiser
Akers, Rev. Peter
Akin, Elizabeth
Akin, Dr. J. W
Akin, Rev. S. D
Albaugh, George C
Alexander, Rev. Archibald
Alexander, J. C
Alexander, Rev. Robert A
Alexander, T. T
Alexander, Rev. William..
Alford, B. F
Allan, Rev. Benjamin
Allegheny College
Allen, Archibald
Allen, Rev. Benjamin
Allen, David B
Allen, David H
Allen, Rev. Ethan
Allen, Mrs. E. A
Allen, Rev. H. H
Allen, J. C
Allen, Rev. J. H
Allen, Col. John
Allen, Joseph D
Allen, Mrs. J. D
Allen, Rev. D. W
Allen, M. K
Allen, Rev. Richard
Alliance Church
Allin, J. C
Allison, Geo. S
Allison, Young
Allmond, Angus R. . .
Allmond, Marcus B
Alpenroesli Society
Amateur Orchestra
American Baptist
American Legion of Honor
Am. Natl. Bank Bldg
American Protective Association
American Revision Association
Amphitheatre Auditorium
Ancient Essenic Order
Ancient Order of Hibernians
Anderson, A. G
Anderson, Rev. A. L
Anderson, Rev. David
Anderson, Rev. D. D
Anderson, G. W
Anderson, Rev. Henry T
Anderson, Dr. James
Anderson, Mrs. J. R
Anderson, John
Anderson, John W
Anderson, L. L
Anderson, Mary
.69,
1, 74,
...319,
.144,
.242,
.296,
.161, 168,
79, 119,
Anderson, Richard C 3, 258, 298,
Anderson, Gen. Robert 68, 121,
Anderson, S. H
Anderson, Dr. Turner
Anderson, Rev. W. H 176, 220,
Andrew, Rev. James O 216, 217, 218,
Angel, R
Annan, Dr. Samuel
Athletic Club
Atkinson, Joab
Atkinson, William H.
Atmore, Charles P ...
Atmore, Rev. W. C...
Atwood, Robert
Audubon, John J
Augusta College
Avenue Theater
Avery, B. F
Avery, Samuel L
Averill, Marvin D
Averill, Rebecca
Avis, E. C
Ayers, Elias
Ayers, Mrs. Elias
326
52
138
221, 284
221
182
59
213
331
164
.182, 183, 282
156, 157
156
284
156
155
Barr, Alex. T 178, 186
Barr, John W 32, 348
240
214
154
191
161
185
135
199
187
173
253
299
198
199
195
174
224
186
174
279
84
322
82
91
91
201
315
337
315
19G
331
315
316
182
222
200
200
301
243
297
ISO
182
183
173
331
305
258
186
37
221
219
217
38
.114,
Babcock, Rev. W. R
Baber, George
Rackrow, Judel
Bacon College
Bacon, John
Bacon, William H
Badin, Rev. Stephen
Bagby, Rev. D. Y
Bailey, Dr. William 37, 39,
Bailey, Dr. William O
Baird, David
Baird, Rev. Robert
Baker, John
Baldwin, Rev. Asa
Baldwin, Frances 158,
Baldwin, Harriet J
Baldwin, Jabez 155, 158, 162, 164,
Baldwin, Josephine E
Baldwin, Rev. S. D
Ballard, Bland 10, 291,
Bamberger, Emanuel
Bamberger, Isaac
Bamberger. Simon
Bangs, Rev. Joshua
Bankruptcy Act
Banks, Rev. Daniel C
65, 154, 155, 156, 157, 160,
Banks, James
Banks, R. Henry...
Banta, Dr. William P
Baptist Banner 69,
Baptist Book Concern
Baptist Church
Baptist Herald
Baptist Missions
Baptist Monitor
Baptist Orphans' Home 195, 198,
Baptist Recorder
Baptist Register
Baptist Theological Seminary
Barbour, Rev. John
Barbour, Philip
Barbour, Dr. Philip F
Barclay, Joseph
Barclay, Steven
Barclay, T. P
Barfield, J
Rarker, Henry
Barker, John
222
72
274
236
255
253
115
19S
47
37
174
278
242
138
164
164
165
182
221
348
274
274
274
215
26
168
192
335
39
199
200
194
199
198
199
337
73
199
337
184
300
40
312
312
184
179
312
306
337,
! !i55," i56,"
■ . . . .39,'
Barr, Paralee
Barr, Sara C
Barret, Hugh L...
Barret, John G...
Barry, Col. E. C.
Barth, George W
Barton, S. B
Bascom, Rev. Henry B
210, 213, 214, 216, 218
Base Ball Club
Bate, James S
Bate, Dr. R. A
Bates, Rev. C. C
Bates, J. W
Bauer, Fred
Bax, Rev. Lawrence
Baxter, Arthur
Baxter, John
Baxter, John G
Baxter Square
Bayless Abijah
Bayless, Benjamin
Bayless, Dr. George W..
Bayless, Jesse
Bayless, John C
Boardman, R
Boa, William
Bobbs, John
Bockee, Jacob S
Bode, Rev. P. F
Bodine, Dr. James M....
Bodley, William S
Bodley, W. T
Boehler, Peter
Boeswald, Rev. C
Boettger, Christian
Bohmer, Charles
Boles, Newton
Boles, W. A
Bolling. Dr. W. H
“Bon Ton”
Booker, William F
Boone Square
Boone, Squire
Boone, Col. W. P 303,
Booth, Edwin
Booth, Junius Brutus
Booth, J. Wilkes
Borie, Zerelda R
Borntraeger M
Bottomley, Rev. Thomas.. 212, 219, 279,
Bow. Rev. J. G
Bowden, M. B 42, 320,
Bowers, Rev. G. A
Bowie. Alice D
Bowman, John B
Bowser, Anna C 255,
Bibb, George ivi 5, 6, 12,
Bigelow, J
Biggert, Mary
Birge, Benjamin
Birgman, Margaret
Birgman. William
P.irkenmire, Jacob
Bishop, Hattie 91, 93
Bissenger, Henry
Bitzer, Rev. G. L
Beach, Rev. C. F
186
186
177, 178, 179, 182, 183
166, 183, 185, 292
58
303
182
219
327
13S
40
200
330
1S2
124
179
32
341
341
15S
292
345
302
161
207
174
298
1S5
265
37
291
72
204
122
261
262
1G7
166
40
69
175
341
4
308
329
329
329
179
69
303
197
321
261
178
236
288
299
59
199
137
179
179
169
97
274
177
185
.47,
.10,
.166,
.'.".*39,
C67
668
INDEX.
Beaman, Rev. E. A 267
Beaman, J. E 267
Beard, Sarah 5
Beattie, Rev. Francis R 73, 187
Beattie, James A 303, 308
Beatty, W. B 165
Beaucamp, Rev. S. A 106
Becker, Theodore 89, 90
Becker, Thomas 255
Beckmann, C. A 92
Beddinger, Rev. B. F 176, 178, 179
Beecher, Henry Ward 157
Beecher, Rev. Lyman 159
Reeler, Emily P 288, 2S9
Beeler, Lorenzo 183
Beeler, Sarah 182
Beers, Elizabeth 289
Beers, Lydia 154
Beers, Stephen 154, 16S
Beethoven Piano Club 89
Beilstein, Effie D 97
Belknap, M. B 182
Belknap, Mary R 283, 286
Belknap, William B 286, 292, 325, 34a
Belknap, W. R 182
Bell, Garvin 183
Bell, John 82a
Bell, John A 59
Bell, Dr. Theodore S „ „
35, 241, 290, 291, 301. 345, 348
Bellican, Charles 119
Bellican, Charles F L9
Bellican, Fannie B L9
Bellican, Fannie W L9
Bellows, Rev. H. W *-o3
Bench and Bar— Of the Pioneer
Period 1
Bender, Frederick i°'>
Bender, Kate 186
Benedict, Jennie C
Benedict, John C 4i, L4, 185, -SI
Benham, Col. Joseph 65
Benjamin Parke 2i8
Bennet, David 186
Bennett, Mrs. M. E 18-
Benseman, John A 182
Bensinger, Nathan 2G
Benson, Rev. Joseph 206
Benton, Angelyn -89
Benton, Rev. M. M 148
Bergstein, Carl 40
Bernheim, I. W 2i0
Berry, Rev. I. D 144
Berthoud, James £4
Bessie, Mary
Best, Joseph 186
Beth Medresh Hagodel 216
Bethany College 236
Bethel Academy 213
Bethlehem German Evangelical
Church 466
Betts, Rev. George C 148
Between-the-Logs 215
Beutel, Henry 60
Black, Charles Q 312, 313
Black, Capt. W. H 286
Black, Rev. W. H ^. 223
Blackburn, Rev. Gideon.. 155, 160, 16i, 168
Blackburn, Gov. Luke P 35
Blackhart, T. W 303
Blackwell, James *
Blaes, John '*3
Blain, Randolph H 175
Bland, E. H 243
Blanton, Rev. L. H 187
Bledsoe, John 240, 241
Bliss, Leonard 64
Bliss Martha 161-
Block, Dr. Oscar E 39
Bloom, Dr. I. N 3i
Blue, Dr. William R 40
B’nai B’rith 276
B’nei Jacob Congregation 2i6
Bouchet, Very Rev. Michael 119
Boyce, Rev. James P 195, 201. 202
Boyce, Lizzie F 47
Boyd, J. G. A 178, 183, 348
Boyer, Rev. J. W 186
Boyle, B. Gill 72
Boyle, John 31
Bracken, Rev. Thomas 163
Braden, George 320
Bradford, D 299
Bradford, John 57
Bradley, Clark 161, 165, 168, 185
Bradley, Thomas 71
Bradley, Gov. William 0 294
Brady, Rev. A. J 129
Brainerd, George 87
Bramlette, Gov. Thomas E 292, 303, 308
Brandeis, Dr. Florence 39
Brannin, A. 0 292
Brashear, Emily 179
Brashears, Marsham 3
Breathwit, Dr. William 40
Breck, Dr. Robert L 39
Breckinridge, Alexander 3, 329
Breckinridge, James D 9, 329
Breckinridge, John C 299
Breckinridge, Robert 2, 3, 44, 58
Breckinridge, Rev. W. L
73, 156, 161, 163, 166, 167, 187, 18S
Breckinridge, Rev. R. J
156. 158. 160, 165, 169, 291, 299
Breed, James E 253
Breeding, J 173
Breen, Rev. Edmond 129
Breuhaus, Rev. O. W 266
Breuning, William 261
Brewer, David J 32
Brewer, Henry 186
Brewer, Rev. S. R 222
Brice, Thomas 312
Brigham, Alethea 179
Bright, Dr. J. W 217
Britton, Rev. J. B 142
B’rith Scholum 276
Broadford, John C 163
Broadus, Rev. John A
196, 199, 201, 202, 203, 274
Broadway Baptist Church 196, 197
Broadway Christian Church 244
Broadway Methodist Church 220
Brockie, Mrs. A 177
Brockie, George 177
Brockie, Jennie 186
Brooks, W. C 164, 166
Brook Street Methodist Church.. 212, 220
Brotherhood of St. Andrew’s 148
Browder, Rev. G. R 221
Browinski. R. A 348
Brown, Henry B 32
Brown, Col. John M 82, 318, 340
Brown, Gov. John Y 13
Browm, Joseph E 202
Brown, Nannie B 178
Brown, R. W 72
Brown, Rev. T. J 148
Brown, Thomas 339
Brown, W. W 52
Browne, Horatio W 94
Brownell, Bishop 140
Browjtfield, Lulie 178
Bruce, H. W 12
Bruce, Helm 47
Bruce, Mrs. Helm 47
Bruce, J. E 178
Bruce, Mrs. J. E , - 178
Bruce, Rev. J. G 223
Bruner, Ambrose 255
Bruner, Rev. J. W 198
Brush, Rev. George W 212, 291
Brvan, Anna E 288, 289
Brvan, Dr. G. T 42
Bryan, P. G 97
Bryant, Edwin H 68
Bryce, Rev. W. E 184
Buchanan, Andrew 253
Buchanan, Mrs. James 47. 187
Buchanan, Dr. Joseph 61, 77
Buck, Rev. C. W 70
Buck. Rev. William C 194, 196, 199
Buckle, B 55
Buckner, Col. James F 303
Buckner, Philip 3
Buckner, Gen. S. B 69
Buford, Thomas 20
Bull Block 337
Bull William 52
Bulkley, Adelaide 179
Bulkley, Albert 179
Bulklev, William H
161, 164, 165, 166, 168, 178, 187
Bullen, S. H 58, 61, 253
Bullitt, Alex. S 5S
Bullitt, Cuthbert 44, 154
Bullitt. C. M 185
Bullitt, Henry M 179
Bullitt, Mrs. Henry M 179
Bullitt, Dr. Henrv N 38
Bullitt. Joshua F 10
Bullitt. Thomas 44
Bullitt, Col. Thomas W 175, 187, 279
Bullitt. Mrs. W. C 187
Bullock, A. H 157
Bullock. Rev. J. J 162, 168, 188
Bullock, Col. John 0 70
Bullock, Dr. Thomas S 37
Bullock. W. F 5, 6, 9. 12, 70. 290, 291
Burck, Henry 93, 96, 97
Burdett. Samuel 69
Burk, Dr. H. S 41
Burke, Rev. Thomas 126
Burke, Rev. William 211
Burkhardt, Henry 166, 1S1
Burkhardt. William 278
Burley, Rev. J. M 200
Burlison, Rev. J. H 184
Burnett, Rev. D. S 241, 243
Burns, James 52
Burrows, Rev. J. L 197
Burton, Finie M 288, 290
Burton, G. W 198
Burton, Rt. Rev. Lewis W..148, 151, 152
Bush, Cornelia 182
Bush. Dr. James M 3S
Bush, W. P. D 72
Bushneli, Rev. D. E 193
Bustard, John 138, 142
Butler, G. S 138
Butler, Jarvis 93
Butler, Mann 58, 79, 253, 301
Butler, Noble 79, 253
Butler, Dr. Thomas L 37
Butler, Rev. W. C 147
Butts, Archie W 72
Buxton, A. S 63
Byer, J. M 89, 91, 96, 97
Byrne, William 116
Cable, James E 301
Cabot, John 112, 133
Caldwell, Calvin N 179
Caldwell, Carrie M 186
Caldwell, Dr. Charles 36
Caldwell, Mary 186
Caldwell, Mary E. B 129
Caldwell, Mary T 186
Caldwell, Minnie N 47
Caldwell, Nettie A 186
Caldwell, Peter 186, 285
Caldwell, Rev. Robert E 178
Caldwell, Shakespeare 330
Caldwell, Dr. William B 198, 199
Caldwell, William E 186
Caldwell, William S 128
Callagee, Very Rev. Denis 129, 130
Callahan. Kate M 97
Calvary Church 147, 337
Calveard, Samuel R 303
Cambern, Rev. H. H 163
Campbell, A 186
Campbell, Addie C 186
Campbell, Rev. Alexander
194, 226, 227, 230, 231, 232, 234, 236
Campbell, J. 0 184
Campbell. Col. John 338
Campbell, Rev. R. E 1S4
Campbell, Robert 350
Campbell, Rev. Thomas 227, 228, 231
Campbell Street Christian Church.. 244
Canby, ,W. B 313
Capers, Rev. William 215, 21S
Caperton, Rev. A. C 199
Carley, F. D 284
Carlisle, John G 72
Carpenter, Rev. William 25S
Carr, John 4
Carroll, A. J 72
Carroll, Columba 119
Carroll. Very Rev. John 114
Carroll, John 134
Carson, J. M 184
Carson, Rev. R 184
Carter. J. M 165, 166
Carter, John A 292
Carter, Mrs. John A 2S8
Carter, Sallie R 177
Carter, Thomas L 166
Cartledge, Dr. A. Morgan 41
Cary, George H 50, 52. 55, 163
Casliin, Dr. John E 40
Casler, J. S. 0 177, 186
Casseday, A. A 161
Casseday, Benjamin 60, 69, 80
Casseday, Jennie 187, 287
Casseday, Morton 69
Casseday Rest Cottage 287
Casseday, Samuel
156, 161, 16S, 173, 174, 291, 292
Casseday, Mrs. Samuel 186, 187, 291
Caswell. Rev. Henry 141
Castleman, Gen. John B 303, 326, 340
Catholic Advocate 69
Catholic Cathedral 337
Catholic Church— Distinctive Doc-
trines of, 98: Antiquity of, 100:
Keynote of Authority, 101: Chief
of 102: the Roman Chair, 104; Me-
dieval Church, 104; Norse Church-
men, 105; the Church in America,
109: in Kentucky, 114: in Louisville. 118
Catron, John 32
INDEX.
669
Cave Hill Cemetery, 344; Cemetery
Company, 345; Additions to Ceme-
tery, 347; Geology of Cave Hill, 350;
Interments 352
Cawein, Madison J 82
Caye, Simon 177
Cecil, Dr. J. G 41, 175, 284
Central Christian Church 244
Central Presbyterian Church 184
Cerf, Nathan 274
Chaix, Rev. Edward 115
Chamberlain, Edward W 255
Chamberlin, Columbus 254
Chamberlin, W. G., Jr 282
Chambers, Henry 54
Chambers, James P 10
Chambers, W. B 199
Champion, Dr. Robert A 314
Channing, Rev. W. E 251
Channing, Rev. William H 66
Chapin, Gad 254
Chapin, William 290
Chapman, Rev. George 140, 252
Chapman, Julia Drake 328
Charlton, H 90
Charlton, W. M 185
Charities 285
Charity Organization Society 285
Chase, Bishop 137
Chatterson, Mrs. J. M 93
Cheatham, Dr. William 41
Cheatham, Mrs. William 94
Chenault, D. A 203
Chenowith, Fannie 179
Chenowith, Helen M 179
Chenowith, Mrs. J 291
Chenowith, Richard 3. 8
Cherokee Park 341
Chestnut Street Baptist Church ... 196
Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church
165, 180
Children’s Free Hospital 47, 287
Children’s Home Society 286
Childress, Rufus J 83
Chilton, William H 75
Chipley, E. S 284
Cholera Epidemic 121
Christ Church 138, 337
Christ German Evangelical Church. 266
Christian, Rev. J. T 196
“Christian Baptist” 244
Christian Church, 226; First Organi-
zation of, 229; Secession Church,
231; Redstone Association, 232;
First Meetings in Kentucky, 233;
the name “New Lights,” 234; Union
of Reformers, 235; the Church in
Louisville, 236; Long Run Associa-
tion, 238; the Name “Disciples,”
241; The Bible Its Creed 244
Christian Church Orphans’ Home... 244
Christian Commission 278
“Christian Guide” 244
Christian Journal 70
Christian Messenger 235
Christian Observer 73, 187
Christiansen, Rev. C 266
Christie, Rev. Robert 182, 184
Christopher, John 241
Church Charities 287
Churchill, Henry 2, 3
Churchill, Mary 182
Churchill, Samuel 138
Churchman, W. H 291
Church Observer 73
Church of the Advent 14S
Church of the Blessed Sacrament.. 129
Church of St. Francis 129
Church of St. Frances of Rome 130
Church of the Holy Name 132
Church of the Messiah 253, 254, 337
Civil Code 17
Citv Gazette 65
City Hall 337
City Hospital 337
City Work House 337
Claggett, Rt. Rev. T. J 135, 136, 137
Claggett, Rev. W. H 175
Clark, Francis 208
Clark Gen. George R 338
Clark, James 299, 325
Clark, Mrs. J. R 2S7, 288
Clark, Dr. J. W 42
Clark, Col. M. Lewis 323
Clark, Nicholas 58
Clark, Rev. Spencer 199
Clarke, Adam 206
Clarke, Cary L 29S, 299
Clarke, C. J 181, 291, 303
Clarke, Rev. James Freeman
65, 155, 250, 252, 253
Clarke, Peyton N 321
Clarke, W. L 173, 174
Clary, Mary Louise 97
Clausnitzer, G. H 91
Clay, Rev. Elisha 201
Clay, Green 298
Clay, Henry 299, 336
Clayland, Sarah 149
Cleland, Rev. R. W 183
Cleland, Rev. Thomas 160
Clemens, W. W 303
Clemmons, J. L 10
Cleveland, Eli 8
Cleveland. Henry M 82
Clifford, John D 137
Clifton Methodist Church 222
Clinton, De Witt 305, 307
Clokey, Dr. Allison 42
Cluskey, Col. M. W 72
Clyce, Rev. T. S 17S
Cobb, Jedediah 345
Cockrill, Rev. B. 0 193
Cochran, George C 75
Cochran, G. H 292, 293
Cochran, Mrs. Harriet H 47
Cochran, Jessie 90, 97
Cochran, John 253
Cochran, Robert 292, 293
Cochran, Dr. Samuel 41
Cochran. Thomas B 12, 30
Cocke, Sarah 156
Cockrill, Rev. H. B 73
Cohn, Henry S 69
Coit, Rev. Thomas W 141
Coke, Rev. Thomas 215
Cokesbury College 213
Coleman, Mrs. Chapman 79, 291
Coleman, Rev. J. S 199
Coleman, John W 277
Coleman. Rev. Samuel 200
Colgan, Edwin 54
Colgan, John 54, 55
Colgan, William 240, 321
College of Pharmacy 55
College St. Church 182
Collier, Rev. J. R 183, 186
Collier, Rev. R. Laird 253
Collier, P. M 193
Collins, W. A 71
Colored Baptists 200
Colored Orphans’ Home 287
Columbia Building 337
Columbus, Christopher Ill
Combs, Gov. Leslie 299
Gommercial Advertiser 58
Commercial Club 318, 340
Commercial Law 29
Compton, John E 177
Comstock, C. J 1S6
Conant, J. L 253
Conant, M. W 253
Conant, P. H 253
Concordia Society 89
Connolly, Rev. Henry A 128
Connolly, Dr. John 33S
Constance. George W 174
Constitutional Law IS
Contempt of Court 22
Conversation Club 327
Converse, Rev. Amasa 73
Converse, Rev. Francis B 73
Converse, Mary F 179
Converse, Rose 179
Converse, Thomas 176
Converse, Rev. Thomas E.73, 177, 179, 184
Cook Benevolent Institution. 254, 287, 337
Cook, E 182
Cook, Elisha D 363
Cook. F. S 186
Cook, T-I. T 186
Cook, Rev. J. .T 173, 176
Cook, Rev. Valentine 213
Cooke, Dr. John E 36, 51, 140, 142
Coombs, Joseph 302
Coomes, Dr. Martin F 39, 42
Coon. Dr. G. S 42
Coons, Rev. J. F 1.64
Cooper, Emily 149
Cooper, Mrs. E. S 182
Cooper, James 330
Cooper, J. T 182, 183
Copway, George 216
Corn Island 339
Cornwall, William 146
Corwine, Rev. R 210
Cosby, Fortunatus, Sr.... 5, 153 , 252 , 345
Cosby, Mrs. Fortunatus 252
Cosby, Fortunatus, Jr 64, 78
Cotrell, Rev. ,T. B 222
Cottell. Dr. H. A 37. 14
Cotton, Charles B 182
Courier 68
Courier Journal 68
Court Controversy 21
Courtenay. Thomas A 179
Court House 3, 336
Courtney, Ellen F 182
Courtney, R. H 183
Courts— Of Virginia, 1; Of Kentuc-
ky, 2: Queer Decisions of, 3; For-
mation and Development of, 11 :
Chancery, 12: Circuit, 12, 14; Com-
mon Pleas, 12; County, 13, 27; City,
14; Limitations of, 26; of United
States 32
Covenant Church 183
Covington. Rev. J. N 200
Cowan, Col. Andrew 294, 340
Cowan, Thomas 157
Cowling, Dr. Richard 35
Cowling, Dr. Richard 0 42
Cox, Isaac 3, 4
Coxe, Daniel 297
Cragg, Timothy 95
Cragg, Thomas P 95, 267
Craig, A 166
Craig, E. S 14, 301
Craig, Thomas P 320
Craighead, Rev. W. H 201
Craik, Rev. Charles E 145
Craik, Rev. James 45, 138, 139, 144, 145
Crain, Rev. E. D 222
Crawford, Mrs. A. T 178
Crawford, Browne C 178
Crawford, Ella J 177
Crawford, George 173
Crawford, George M 176, 178
Crawford, George W 304
Crawford, Margaret C 178
Crawford, Mary 177
Crawford, R. 1 161, 173, 178, 184, 185
Creath, Jacob, Jr 239
Crebs, S 93
Cree, T, H 81
Crenshaw, Rev. L. P 222
Crescent Hill Church 179
Crisp, Charles F 331
Crisp, W. H 330, 331
Crisp, Mrs. W. H 330, 331
Critic 74
Crittenden, Thomas T 5
Croghan, John 44
Croghan, William 138
Cromie, Isaac 301
Cronk, Edward L 73
Cross, Jeremy L 306
Crouch, Rev. B. T 211
Crow. Rev. D. C 165
Crowe, Edward 345
Crowe, Dr. John E 35
Croxton, Gen. John T 71
Crumbaugh, Rev. G. W 222
Crump, Ben.iamin M 302
Crutcher, Henry 177
Crutcher, Mrs. M. E 187
Cully, J. L 179
Culver, Louisa 15S
Cumberland Presbyterian Church,
189; Presbytery Dissolved, 190;
New Church Formed, 191; Louis-
ville Churches 192
Cummings, Emma 1S6
Cummings, Thomas 186
Cummins, Dr. David 35
Oummins. Rt. Rev. George D 149
Cunniff, Rev. J. J 120
Cunningham, Rev. F 132
Cunningham, Rev. John W 225
Cunningham, R. M 183
Curd, Haiden T 208, 217
Curl, John B 194
Curry. Rev. E. H 224
Currv, Gordon L 56
Curry. S. B 184
Curry. Rev. W. W 254
Curtis, George W 27S
Curtis, J. P 162, 168
Cushman. Charlotte 330, 331
Custom House 332
Cutter, George W 79
D
Dabney, Dr. Samuel C. 40
Daily Commercial 71
Daily Dime 68
Daily Sun 6S
Daily Whig 69
Dally, Elizabeth 164
Damrosch, Walter J 92
Daniel, Coleman 217
Daniel, Walker 7. 9
Danforth. Joseph 155, 168
Danner. W. M 282, 284
Dashiell. J. Y 313
Da tbn, John 182
670
INDEX.
Daubert, Rev. Charles L 262
Daumont, E. B 183
Daumont, E. J 1S2
Davenport, Fanny 329
Davenport. Rev. P. J 198
Davidson, Andrew 162, 168, 177
Davidson, Rev. C. B 177
DaVidson, Eva 178
Davidson, James 168, 182, 185
Davidson, Louis T 1S2
Davidson, Mrs. Louis T 47
Davie, George M 81, 340
Davies, Helen R 199
Daviess, Joseph H 299
Davis, B. 0 144
Davis, Garrett 299
Davis, George 254
Davis, George R 253
Davis, J. W 182
Davis, Mary 208
Davis, R. C 12
Davis, Royce 163
Davis, Rev. S. N 192
Davis, Vincent 55, 56, 175
Davis, Maj. William J 82
Davis, W. S 217
Davison, Emily 90, 96
Davison, Rev. L. B 221, 222
Da^Ves, Rev. B. A 198
Dawes, S. Fisher 53, 55, 182
Datvson, James A 72
Dawson, Rev. J. P 186
Day, Mrs. Albert 187
Day, Joseph 158
Day, Phoebe 158
Dean, A. B 175, 182
Dean, Edmund 330
Dehn, Julia 79, 328
De Bruler, Elizabeth S 289
Decker, Maud 186
Deering, Rev. Richard 211
Deitchman, Maggie 186
Denison, Rev. Henry M 146
Denwood, Mary 156
De Pauw University 214
Deppen, Very Rev. Louis G 132
Dernette, A. H 260
Detweiler, Rev. J. S 260, 261
Devan, Thomas 312
DeVere, Clementine 92
Dick, Elizabeth 166
Dick, S. P 182
Dickenson, Dr. Samuel 277
Dickinson College 214
Dickinson. Samuel 138, 291
Diefenbach, George 184
Diehl, C. Lewis 55, 56
Dietzman, A. S 72
Dillingham. W. H 282
Dills, Dr. M 42
Dilly, Oscar C 55, 56
Dinkelspiel, Isaac 74
Dinkelspiel, Rabbi Joseph 271
Dinwiddie, Anna 16 1
Dinwiddie, W. J 158. 161, 164, 165, 168
Dix, W. H 199
Dobbs, Katharine W 97
Dock, Sarah E 47
Doern, George P 69, 72
Doggett. Bishop 220
Dollar Farmer 69
Doman, C. J 186
Douglass, George L 186, 187, 348
Douglass, J. J 324
Douglass, Rutherford 277
Dowdall, Joseph 314
Dowling, Rev. F. M 242
Drake, Alexander 79, 328, 330
Drake, Rev. Ben 217
Drake, Sir Francis 133
Drake, James G 79, 329
Drake, Julia 80, 328, 336
Drake, Samuel. Sr 79, 328, 329
Drake, Samuel. Jr 328
Drane, Dr. E. C 253
Drane, Rev. Robert B 144
Draper, Elizabeth 164, 182
Dresel, Rev. Theodore 265
Driving and Fair Association 324
Drumm, Simon 274
Drury, Martha 119
Dryden, J. F 165
Duckwall. David 177
Dudley, Dr. B. W 38
Dudley, Dr. E. L 38
Dudley, Rev. R. M 196, 199 279
Dudley, Rt. Rev. T. U
45. 150, 293, 294, 295, 303, 308
Duesing, John H 17S
Duesing, Mary B 17s
Duffield, Charles 277
Duffield, Rev. George 159
Duke, Gen. Basil W 41, 81
Duke, Currie 91, 97
Duke, Rev. William 135
Dulaney, W. H 34S
Dunham, Rev. H. C 267
Duncan, Blanton 10, 31
Duncan, C. Y 199
Duncan, Garnett 9, 61, 158, 291
Duncan, Henry _3
Duncan, Rev. J. D 176
Duncan, James M 174, 185
Duncan, John 73
Duncan, W. J 281, 284
Duncan, Rev. W. W 167, 177
Duncanson, Kate 178
Duncanson, Mary 17S
Dunn, A. J 193
Dunn, Charles E 307
Dunn, Dr. Jesse T 39
Duomovich, Rev. V 125
duPont, B 71, 72
DuPont, Zara 47
Dupuy, Rev. James 109
Dupuy, James R 308
Dupuy, J. R 14
Durbin, Rev. Elias 117
Durbin. Rev. J. P 213, 214, 216
Durrett, Col. Reuben T 1, 10
47, 58, 68, 81, 97, 137, 142, 146, 327, 328,
339, 340.
Dyer, Rev. Sidney 195
E
Eakin, Joseph 69
Early, Rev. John 218
East Baptist Church 196
Eastin, Richard 3
Eastwood, Samuel S 179, 183
Eaton, Rev. T. T 65, 196, 199
Echsner. Fred 89
Edgar, Rev. John T 156
Edmunds, James 196
Edmunds, J. A 175
Edwards, F. G 291
Edwards, Isaac W 12, 15, SOS
Edwards, Ninian 9
Effenheim, Bernard 274
Ehrman, E. A 262
Eichrodt, Louis 55
Eighth Street Methodist Church 212
Ekel, Martin 69
Elder, George 116
Elder, Rev. Joseph 124
Eliot, Rev. W. G 253
Elk Presbytery 191
Elley, Rev. George W 241
Elliott, Kate 97
Elliott, Robert J 10
Elliott, Rev. S. W 184
Elliott, Rev. W. G 66
Elmer, Rev. W. T 149
Elsom, Dr. J. F 42
Embury, Phillip 206, 207
Emerson, Ralph W 253
Emmanuel Church 146
Emmons, H. H 32
Emory College 214
Episcopal Church, 133; American
Episcopate, 134: The Church in
Kentucky, 135: First Missionary of,
136; First Church Organization.
137: Early Conventions of, 140:
Theological Seminary, 143; Division
of Diocese 151
Erni, Dr. G. 0 42
Eruptive Hospital 48, 285
Ervine, J. E 183
Escott, Benrv V 154, 174
Escott, J. V 161, 168, 173
Estill. Rev. Reverdy 147
Etheli. Pauline J 182
Eubank, Martha 164
Eutropius, Abbot 115
Evans, Addison 182
Evans. Maj. Alex 82
Evans, Alexander 301, 305
Evans, Helen C 17, S
Evans, Dr. Thomas C 39
Evarts, TJ. B 181
Everts, Rev. W. W ...195, 196
Evarts, Mrs. W. W 195
Evening News 69, 72
Evening Post ’ 72
Evening Times 72
Everett, Isaac 34s
Everhart. Rev. George M 147
Ewing, Butler 298
Ewing, Rev. D. L 198
Ewing, Rev. Finis 191
Ewing, S. L 279 284
F
Fall, Rev. Philip S
194, 236, 237, 238, 242
Fallis, Dr. Robert G 40
Farmers’ Library 58
Farnam, Helen 186
Farnam, Lillian 186
Farrell, Thomas 184, 186
Faulds, D. P 87, 89, 96
Faulkner, Rev. T. M 200
Faxon, Len G 69
Federal Courts, 31; Clerks of 34
Fetter, Daniel 157
Fetter, David 44, 165
Fetter, G. G 335
Fetter, Rod 335
Feierabend, August 261
Fenley, Alice 179
Fenley, Oscar 292, 293
Fenner, Rev. H. K 260, 261
Fenwick, Rev. Edward 114
Ferguson, Andrew 185
Ferguson, Benj. P 1S5
Ferguson, David 1S4
Ferguson, Dr. J. P 40
Ferguson, John K 301
Ferguson, Richard 44, 138, 305
Ferguson, Dr. Richard W 49
Fertig, S. H 260
Fessler, J. K 192
Field, Annie 179
Field, Emmett 12, 15, 25, 179
Fielding, Rev. J. H 214
Field, Sue M 179
Field, William H 10
Filson Club 327
Finley, Rev. J. P 213
Finley, Rev. John 194
Finley, William M 74
Finley, W. N 72
Finnell, Gen. John W 71, 303
Finney, G. C 159
Finzer, John 261, 308, 340
Finzer, R. H 261
Finzer, Rudolph 261
First Christian Church 243
First German Lutheran Church 263
First Lutheran Church 259
First Presbyterian Church— Original
Members of, 154: Destroyed by
Fire, 156; New Church Erected,
161, 173, 337
Fischer, J. J 88
Fish and Game Club 327
Fishback. Dr. Charles 168
Fisk, Wilbur 213, 214
Fitch, E. S 310
Fitzgerald, Rev. Edward S 132
Fitzgerald, Rev. I. J 132
Fitzhugh, Dennis 44, 138
Flagg Edmund 64
Flagg, Edmund T 78
Flaget, Rt. Rev. B. J
115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 122
Fleming, Susan 177
Fleming, W. B 41, 177, 17S
Fletcher, Francis 133
Flexner, J. A 50
Flint, Dr. J. B 37, 38, 253, 345
Flint, Nannie 182
Flower Mission 287
Floyd, Ben A 301
Floyd, G. R. C 305
Floyd, Mrs. James 90
Floyd, Col. John 3
Floyd, Robert 4
Fonda, David B 277
Fontaine, Aaron 153
Fontaine, Maletta 164
Fontaine, Massena 164, 165
Foote, Rev. Henry W 250
Ford, Arthur 69
Ford. Albert H 176, 17S
Ford, James C 302
Ford, Mrs. James C 29]
Ford, Rev. S. II 196, 199
Foree, Dr. E. D 35, 39, 40
Forrester, Col. W. S 71
Fosdick, Thomas R 328
Fosdick, W. W 80
Foskett, G. H 221
Foster, Hugh 156
Foster, Rev. J 223
Fountain Ferry Cycle Club 326
Fourth Street Methodist Church....
209, 218, 220, 222
Fowler, J. W 56
Fowler, John 298
Fowler. Rev. Littleton 210, 216
Fox, F. T 12
INDEX.
671
Francis, Rev. J. M 261
Frank, Rev. John H 200
Frank. Dr. Louis 30
Frankel, Henry U 00
Frankfort Commonwealth 62
Frankfort Palladium 37
Frankfort Yeoman 68
Franklin Street Baptist Church ..196, 198
Frazee, Rev. Bradford 212
Free Christian Commonwealth 187
Free Dispensaries 287
Free Kindergarten 287
Freeman, Rev. James C 250
Freeman, Dr. John K 37
Free Sons of Israel 276
French, F. B 6S
Frese, William 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97
Frick, C. Henry 309
Frogge, Rev. T. C 222
Fry, Rev. Henry 200
Fuller, Charles C 174
Fulton, Elizabeth 288, 289
Fulton, Dr. Galvin 37, 39
Fulton, Henry 59
Fulton, James 267
Fulton, W. J 183, 184
Funk, Peter 61
G
Caddie, Rev. D. A 200
Gaines, Annie 179
Gaines, J. T 179
Gaines, Mrs. J. T 179
Gaines, Maggie 179
Gaines, Mariam 179
Gaines, Russell 179
Gallahar, Rev. James 155, 156
Gallagher, Rev. John B 145
Gallagher, William D 65, 68, 79
Gamble, James T 157, 158
Gambon, Rev. Thomas F 123
Ganier, Elinor 5
Ganier, Margaret 5
Gant, Rev. Edward 136
Gardner, I. W 184
Gardner, Peter 52
Gardner, W. J 183
Garfield Club 326
Garland, E 11
Garland, William C 50
Garnet, William 292
Garrard, Gov. James 5
Garth, C. M 185
Garvin, James 187
Garvin, William ..155, 156, 158, 161, 168, 173
Garvin, William E.
Gates, Charles D
Gates, Guerdon
Gathright, Col. J. T.
Gathright, Owen, Jr.
Gaulbert, George —
Gault, Joseph
George, Rev. Enoch
George, L
Gerhart, N. D.
301
183
301
184
.282, 284, 319, 320
293
164, 168, 173
210, 211
52, 60
182
German Baptist Church 196, 198
German Evangelical Synod 264
German, L. W 261
German, O. H 176
Gernert, Fred, Jr 178
Gerstle, Abraham 274
Gheens, Joseph P 183, 184
Giese, Ernest 302
Gilbert, J. M 193
Gilbert, Nathaniel 215
Gilbert, Dr. R. B 37
Gilbert, Mrs. U. P 182
Gill, John 267
Gillespie, Shelby 175
Gillis, George 161
Gillett, Nellie
Girty, Simon
Given, Dr. Adam
Gleason, J. M
Goddard, Francis E
Godfrey, John
Goeble, Edward .•
Good, John H
Goodloe, Abbie
Goodloe, John K
Goodman, Henry
Goodman, Dr. H. M
Goodman, Dr. John
Goodman, John
Goodson, Rev. J. P
Goodwin, S. S
Goose, A. R
Goose, H. N 259,
Gordon, A. A 165, 166, 175,
Gordon, A. W
294
215
309
279
253
163
55
177
S3
348
274
.... 36
.... 94
221, 222
Gordon, David
Gordon, J. M
Gordon, William J
Gottbehoede, Very Rev. Lucas
Gotthelf, Raum B. H
Gough, John B
Gould, A. L
Gould, Charles
Gould, Julia
Gould, Vvnliam
Gowan, W. L
Grabfelder, Samuel
Grable, D. B
Grace Church
Grace Lutheran Church
Graham, Andrew
Graham, Mary L 287,
Graham, John 167, 168, 181,
Grainger, William H
Grand Army Encampment
Grand Army of the Republic
Grand Opera House
Grant, Dr. Charles L
Grant, Dr. E. A 303,
Grant, E. A., Jr
Grant, Elouise
Grant, H. B 299, 303,
Grant, Dr. H. Horace
Grant, Solomon K 301,
Grant, Dr. William E
Grant, W. T 187,
Graves, Rev. A. C 196,
Graves, Mrs. E. G
Gray, Annie
Gray, Rev. B. D
Gray, Fannie B
Gray, Henry W 301,
Gray, J. S
Gray, John T 138, 329,
Gray, Mary 0 139, 142,
Gray, William L
Green, David S
Green, Edmund 240,
Greenwood, Rev. F. W. P
Greene, Isaac R
Green, Rev. J. B 252,
Green, John E
Greene, Rev. J. P
Green, M. M 254,
Green, Rosa
Green, Theodore
Green, Dr. Waller O
Green, Warren
Greenbaum, Joseph
Greensborough Female College
Green Street Baptist Church
Greene, Willis
Greenup, Christopher
Gregory, Smith 302,
Gregory, W. Frank
Greulich, Rev. Leo
Griffin, Alice M
Griffin, G. W 71
Griffin, Dr. Hamilton
Griffin, Isaac
Griffith, Mrs. L. P
Griffith, Mattie
Griffith. William
Griffiths. Dr. George W
Griswold, H. A
Groene, J. F
Gross, Dr. Samuel D 35.
Grossman, F. W
Grove, Benjamin
Grubb, James
Grubb, Julian
Grubbs, Rev. W. M
Grutin, George
Guerrant, Rev. Edward O
Guest, Dr. J. W
Guilford, E. H
Gumperts, Isaac
Gundelfinger, Sampson
Gunn, Rev. William
Gunter, E. W SS, 89, 93,
Gustavus Adolphus
Guthrie, James — As Member of the
Bar, 9; Political Influence of, 62:
Connection with Journalism, 66,
292, 299, 301, 302, 336, 339.
Gwathmey, George C
Gwathmey, John
Gwathmey Temple
Gwynne, John S
241
174
131
120
275
280
185
186
177
177
174
326
55
148
261
280
28S
182
312
321
316
331
40
307
179
179
308
40
307
39
327
199
289
179
196
179
308
179
330
148
177
47
241
250
10
254
90
196
255
97
95
39
S3
274
214
200
4
7, 9
305
178
125
83
S3
331
301
182
SO
1S3
47
318
193
302
1,86
348
157
157
222
8
174
39
182
274
274
212
96
154
301
.164, 165, 166,
.165, 166,
.166, 185,
165,
Haldeman, Walter N..68, 72, 292, 293, 294
Hale, Rev. E. E 252
Hale, Rev. F. B 197, 19S
Hall, Dr. B. H 156
Hall, Rev. B. F 241
Hall, E. G 308
Hall, George A 281
Hall, H. L 293
Hall, Horace 298
Hall, Mrs. J 182
Hall, Rev. J. R 221
Hall, John R 301
Hall, Lucy 156
Hall, Rev. Nathan N 163
Hall, W. E 186
Hall, W. P 284
Haller. C 53
Halliday, William
Halsey, Edward T....
Halsey, E. W
Halsey, Rev. J. Leroy
Hamilton, Rev. S. L..
Hamilton, Rev. S. N.
Hamilton, S. S
Hamline, Rev. L. L..
Hanford, Horace T...
Harbison, Alexander .
T-Iarbison. George
Harbison, John J
Harbough, Lilie
Harbough. Mollie
Hardin, Col. John
Hardin, Dr. John
Hardy, Bartlett
Hardin, Mark
Hardy, J. Edward 279, 280, 283,
Hardy, Nathaniel 267,
Hargraves, Rev. W. M
Harlan, James
Harlan. John M
Harlow. Charles
Harmonia, Maennerchor
Harney, John H 66, 253
Harney, William W 68, 80
Harnist, Very Rev. Alex 120
Harris. Rev. Adam 164
Harris, A. W. K 217
Harris, A. W. R 312
Harris, Lloyd ,. 161
Harris. Theodore 199, 279
Harris, W. 0 13
292
212
3
156
156
186
34 S
200
217
97
177
182
72
167
134
181
352
212
178
168
283
175
177
177
211
162
241
171
284
306
185
12
32
253
92
.211,
Harrison, James
Harrison, Rev. J. C
Harrison, John
Harrison, Dr. John P
Hart, William
Hart. W. H
Hartwell. F. N 255, 319.
Harvey, Rev. W. P
Hasbrook, James
Hast, Louis H 89, 90, 91, 93, 96,
186
274
...10, 30
.20S, 209
178
H
lateher, John E...
fatten, Robert ...
lausah, Theodore
lauser, William A.
TTaw, James
I awes. Rev. T. H.
Tawes, T. M 174, 187
lawkins, John 312, 313
Jawley, W. A 164
lawthorne. Rev. J. B 197
Jayden, Elizabeth 12S
layes, Dr. John E 40
layne. Dr. Archie 330
lavs, Edward 165
Jays, E. W 34S
Jays, Hugh 165
lays. Dr. John E •• 41
lays, Rev. John S 1S3. 185
Jays. Mattie B 179
lays, Thomas B 165
lays, Maj. Thomas H 41
lavs, William H 31
lays. Col. Will S 84, NT
leek. Barbary 206
leddington, Joshua 154
leeter, J. VV 1.86
lagan, Mary 199
leick, Helen 288, 2S9
leilig. Rev. J. S 259
leising, Rev. John 129
I eiskell. D. C 175
I eld, Rev. C 266
I elm, Ben II 299
I elm. James P 38
1 elm. Rev. S. I. 196
lemphill, Rev. Charles R.175, 179, 1ST. Inn
lendee. Rev. Homer 1"
252
Hackney, Elizabeth
I lenderson,
I I enderson,
Rev. D. P ...
tsham
...,232. 212. 213
283
Hackney, Thomas J
Iladdon. J. F
186
1 1 enderson.
1 1 enderson.
Col. Richard .
135
174
Haeusgen, II. <>
Hendrick,
lev. J. T
ITS
672
INDEX.
Hejm, Anna E
. 288
Heiiry, Mrs. H. B
. 182
Henry, James
. 69
Hepburn, Susan P
. 310
Heptasophs
. 316
Herbener, Rev. J. H
. 183
Germany, Charles
255,
, 340
Hervev, W. H
. 182
Herzer, Dr. Edward ...
42
Hewitt, J. Marshal
5
Hewitt, Dr. R. C
35
Hewitt, R. C
Heybach, Daniel
Hevwood, Rev. John H
259
66, 252, 253,
254,
290, 292,
293
Hibbs, H. Alice
179
Highland Presbyterian Church
177
Higgins, Dr. J. M
42
Hikes Mamie
179
Hill, Hawthorne
71
Hill, Mary D
288,
289
Hill, Mildred J
290
Hill, Patty S
Hill! Rev. W. W
.179,
288, 289.
290
70. 73, 163, 164,
166,
167, 179.
187
Hillsborough Female College
211
Hilj), Elias
274
Hilton, D. W
184
Himes, Rev. Thomas A..
261
Hinkle, George D
68
Hinkle, J. A
279
Hinzen, Julius
Hirsch, Rabbi Emil
275
Hirst, George W
179
Hite, Abraham
....3, 61,
348
Hite, Albert
309
Hite, W. C
348
Hite, W. R
186
Hobbs, Rev. A. i
243
Hobbs, Edward D
.158, 217,
221
Hobbs, Rev. Hinson
194
Hobson. Rev. B. L
178,
179
Hobson, Rev. B. M
163
Hodge, Dr. Charles
169
Hodges, A. G
Hoffman, J. C
61
301
Hoge, Rev. Moses D
174,
179
Hogeland, A. A
187
Hogue, Rev. Charles L..
173
Hoke, William P>
14,
307
Holland, Rev. Robert
168
Holliday, Rev. Charles...
209, 211,
213
Hollingsworth, Mary
198
Holloway, Dr. James M..
39, 41
Holloway, Dr. Samuel W
39
Holman, Rev. William
211,
212, 219,
222
Holmes, Oliver W
278
Holt, Diodate
161
Holt, O. G
182
Holy Cross Church
132
Holy Rosary Academy ..
126
Holy Trinity Church —
130
Holyoke, Augustus
254
Holzknecht, Julius
89
Home and Farm
72
Home for the Aged
337
Home for the Friendless
28 1
Home Journal
73
Homeopathic Medical College
41
Homire, John 161,
163,
168, 182,
183
Homire, Lucy
182
1 food, George
254
Hooping, Lawrence
186
Hopkins, Albert
184
Hopkins, R. W
179
Hoppeii, J. W
69
Hopson, Rev. W. H
243
Hospitals
44
Hospital College of Medicine
39
Houghton, George A
254
House of the Good Shepherd
122
House of Refuge
339
Houston, John W
174
Howard, John
25S
Howard, Dr. John L
37
Howe, James L
178
Howe, Julia Ward
252
Howe, Dr. Samuel G
290
Howland, Dr. James
42
Howlett, L. S
71
Hovt, Rev. Thomas A
161.
188
Huber, James
184,
187
Huber, James F
163,
165, 168,
281
Huber, James H
277,
283
Huber, Rev. Joseph
163,
168
Hubbard, Rev. W. H
197
Huckebv, Zerelda
2S9
Huffman, E. L
Huffman, Mrs. E. L
352
Hughes, H. A
52
Hughes, James
9,
13S
Hughes, Mrs. James —
291
Hughes, John 3
Hughes, Rosanna 1ST
Hughes, Thomas 66, 298
Hughes, William E 66
Huhlein, Charles F 179, 319
Hull, C. C 89, 96
Hull, Mrs. Charles 199
Hull, George 181
Hull. G. A 278. 283
Hulliken, Rev. W. Q 148
Humane Society 286
Humphrey, A. P 12, 280, 292, 293, 348
Humphrey, Rev. E. P
156, 157. 160, 161, 162, 163. 164, 167, 168,
178, 1S2, 183. 185, 188, 291. 346, 347.
Humphrey, E. W. C 183
Hunt, Abraham D 325
Hunt. Rev. M. B 197
Hunt, Robert 133
Hunt. Rev. Thomas P 166
Hunt, William 313
Hunter, Rev. H. A 192
Hunter, Rev. J. G 187
Hunter, John 3
Hunter, Matthew 165
Hunter, N. D 173, 174
Hunter, Wm 62
Huntoon, B. B 254, 292, 293
Huntley, John B 185
Hurley, Thomas A 52
Huston, John B 299
Hutchings, E 253
Hutchins, John B 17S
Hyland Baptist Church 197, 198
Hyman, Jacob 274
Hynes, Andrew 3
Industrial School of Reform 285, 337
Ingalls, R. M 182
Injunctions 25
Innes, Harry 31
Institution for the Blind 290
Ireland, Dr. J. A 41
Ireland, Dr. R. L 41
Iroquois Club 326
Iroquois Park 341
Irvine, Rev. H. S 19S
Irvine, Rev. William IS"
Irving, Washington 64
Irwin, H. S 1S3
Irwin, Joseph 166, 107
Irwin, Joseph, Jr 177
Israel, Rabbi Sundel 276
J
Jackson, Howell E 32
Jackson, Rev. Joseph 137, 138
Jackson, Rev. William 143, 144, 145
Jackson, Mrs. William 291
Jackson, W. L., Sr 12
Jackson, W. L., Jr 12, la
Jacob, Charles D 337, 338, 340
Jacob, John 1 86, 153, 291
Jacob, Mrs. John 1 291
Jacob, Col. R. T 174
Jacob, Rev. Thomas P 148, 348
Jacobson, S. E 97
Jair, Rev. Otho 119
James, Rev. Fleming 147
James, William 1S6
James, Rev. E. S 217
Jarvis, Dr. Edward 253
Jarvis, Mrs. Edward 291
Jean, John W 193
Jefferson, Joseph 330
Jefferson, Thomas L., Sr 292, 302, 308
•Jefferson. T. I,.. Jr 308
Jefferson Street Baptist Church.. 196, 197
Jefferson Street Christian Church.. 214
Jeffries, Rev. M. D 196
Jellette, Nellie 46
Jenkins, Thomas E 54, 55
Jenkins, W. W 181
Jennie Casseday Infirmary 46, 287, 337
Jennings, Rev. W. B 185, 1S6
Jerome, Lucy 182
Jews and Judaism 273
Jockey Club 323
Johnson, Charles F 292. 293
Johnson, E. Polk 69, 74
Johnson, Jabez H 70
Johnson, James 302
Johnson, Rev. John 210
Johnson, John W 64
Johnson, John T 235
Johnson, Richard M 299
Johnson, Sylvester 131
Johnson, Rev. Thomas 215
Johnson, Rev. Thomas C 176
Johnston, Gabriel J 3, 22
Johnston, George W 5, 12, 14, 302
Johnston, Henrietta T 149
Johnston, James C 138, 345, 34S
Johnston, Mary S3
Johnston, Dr. T. C 188
Johnston, William P 69
Jonas, George 90
Jones, Rev. C. H 198
Jones, Charles K 182
Jones, Rev. C. J. K 252, 254, 255
Jones, James 185
Jones, Rev. J 184, 1S5
Jones, Rev. J. J 1S3
Jones, John R 3, 9
Jones, Liebe F 289
Jones, S. E 182
Jones, Simon M 55
Jones, Thomas 157
Jordan, William 328
Journal of Education 66
Journal of Medicine 69
Joyce, John 312
Joyce, Rev. Thomas 123
Joyes, Dr. Crittenden 37
Joyes, John 5, 14
Joyes, Patrick 10, 161, 173, 174, 348
Joyes, Thomas 301
Judicial Power 20
Julien, H. S 253
Junkin, Rev. D. P 176
Junkin, Rev. George 161
Justi, John 260
K
Kampfmeuller, E 55
Kasselman, Dr. H. C 42
Kastenbine, Dr. L. D 41, 55, 56
Kavanaugh, Rev. Ben T 214, 216
Kavanaugh, Rev. H. H 210, 211, 218
Kavanaugh. Rev. W. B 216
Kavanaugh, Rev. Williams 136, 137
Kaye, William 242
Kean, D. A 175
Kean, L. R 21
Kearny, John W 126
Keats, George 252
Keely, William 119
Keene, Rev. T. S 194
Keener, Rev. John C 221 ■
Keigwin, Rev. Albert 16S
Keigwin, Rev. Henry 184
Keigwin, Jane 182
Keith, Rev. James C 243
Keller, Rev. B 125
Keller, Rev. Jacob 259
Keller, Dr. W. A 41
Kelly, Dr. A. H 39
Kelly, Dr. Clinton W 39, 41
Kelly, Elisha W 72
Kelly, Col. Robt. M 71
Kelly, Rev. Samuel 243
Kemper, Rt. Rev. Jackson 141, 144
Kemple, J. B 183
Kendall. Amos 62
Kendrick. Rev. Allen 241
Kendrick, Rev. Carrol 241, 242
Kendrick, Rt. Rev. Francis P 1 17
Kendrick. William 217, 291, 303, 348
Kendrick, Wili'am C 284, 293
Kennedy, James 254
Kent. Charles J 254
Kent, Phineas M 66
Kenton Club 325
Kenton Place 341
Kentucky Gazette 57
Kentucky Gun Club 327
Kentucky School of Medicine 38, 337
Kentucky University 236
Kenyon Building 337
Kerr, William R 301
Kershaw, Annie 179
Kershaw, Isaac 179
Kessler, Fred 260
Kice, George H 178
Kice, Maria G 17S
Kidd, Peleg 313
Kidd, W. C 241
Kindergarten Home 287
King, Caroline 153
King, Charles B 153, 155, 156, 301
King, Rev. Samuel 191
King’s Chapel 250
Kinkead, Joseph B
163, 174, 182, 183, 301, 318
INDEX.
673
Kinkead, R. C 47, 183
Kirk, Charles D 69
Kirk, Dr. George 40
Kirk, Dr. W. Redin 40
Kirkpatrick, Rev. James 148
Kissell, Rev. A. J 261
Kitts, E 313
Kleeburg, Rabbi Levi 275
Kline, D. B 184, 185, 186
Klooz, W. H 260
Kneffler, Joseph 89
Kneisel, Frank 92
Knight, Moses G 166
Knights of the Golden Rule 316
Knights of Honor 315
Knights and Ladies of Honor 316
Knights of the Maccabees 315
Knights of Pythias 314
Knott, Richard 163, 182, 183
Knott, Richard W 69, 72, 76, 340
Knott, Wallie 182
Knox Church 185
Koehler, Dr. Henry H 39
Kohlhaus, Max 277
Kohlhepp, Albert •••• 53
Krack, Dr. J. A 259, 260
Krack, Rev. John 259
Kramer, Rev. W. P 147
Kramm, Percy B 178
Krapt, Maier 274
Kreel, Rev. August 2a9
Kreiger, Jacob 302
Krim, J. M 55
Krippenstapel, William 69
Kunkler, E. A 52
Kurtz, Rev. Henry A 258
Kurz, Rev. Aloysius 125
Labor Unions 316
Lackey, William 165
La Fayette, George W 301
Lafon, Mary 47
Lagrange College 214
Laisch, Daniel 261
Lamar, Rev. J. S 243
Lampton, Mark 194
Lancaster, Joseph B 10
Lander Memorial Church 222
Landoldt, Christ 92
Lane, D. W 282
Langan, R. W 93
Lannon, Lannie 186
Lannom, Sallie 186
La Reunion Musicale 90
Larrabee, Hattie N 177
Larrabee, Dr. John A 39, 40, 177
Lasley, Rev. M. N 222
Lasater, C. M 193
Latimer, W. A 183
Laufer, John 277
Lavialle, Rt. Rev. Joseph 117
Lawler, Rev. P 123
Laws, Dr. William V 39
Lawyers — From 1781 to 1800, 8; In
1825, 9; In 1850 10
Laws, W. W 156, 157
Layer, Gottleib 340
Layer, William 261
Leach, James A 294
Leacock, Rev. H. J 144
Leacock, Rev. W 147
League of Wheelmen 3-6
Leathers, Capt. John H....38, 175, 303, 30 1
Lee, Eleanor Percy 79
Lee, Rev. N. H 222
Lee, Richard 133
Lee, Robert A 179
Lee, Rev. S. L 222
Lee, Rev. Silas 222
Lee, Rev. Wilson 209
Leech, James A 164, 182
Leidenfaden, Hugo 89
Lemon, James 59
Lemon, James I 182
Lemon, James K 163, 175
Lenn, John T 176
Letzer, Charles 93
Levering, Joshua 203
Lewis, Annie^E 47
Lewis, Asa K 301
Lewis, Charles H 253
Lewis, E. H 253
Lewis, Rev. John 200
Lewis. John F 183, 284
Lexington Herald 57
Lexington Reporter 61
Lieber, Henry 274
Liederkranz Society 87
Light, Rev. George C 210, 212
43
Lightburn, R. P 241, 243
Lincoln, James M 165
Lindenberger, George 324
Lindenberger, James 176
Lindley, L. W 193
Lindsay, Rev. Marcus 211, 215
Lindsey, William 173, 174
Linn, Rev. John H..212, 220, 221, 300, 303
Lintner, Anna 157, 158
Lintner, Margaret 165
Lintner, Mary 165
Lipps, Rev. Gabriel 125
Literary News-Letter 64
Lithgow, James S 217, 220
Little Sisters of the Poor 126
Little, Mrs. W. N 288
Livermore, Mary A 252
Logan, Caleb 10
Logan, C. W 12
Logan, Eliza 330
Logan, Emmet G 69, 72, 76
Logan, Rev. J. V 73, 187
Logan, John 330
Logan, R. T 182
Logan Place 341
Logan Presbytery 191
Logan Street Baptist Church — 197, 198
Long, Rev. Abram 222
Long, Dr. Le Roy 41
Longfellow, Henry W 64
Longstreet, Rev. A. B 212
Look, S. J 182
Loos, W. J 244
Lord, Henry R 179
Lorimer, Rev. George C..195, 198, 199, 279
Lougborough, Preston S 10
Lougborough, Mrs. P. S 291
Louisville Anzeiger 69
Louisville Boat Club 327
Louisville Botanical Club 56
Louisville Chemical Works 54
Louisville Correspondent 58
Louisville Democrat 66
Louisville Focus 60
Louisville Gazette 58
Louisville Hospital 285
Louisville Journal 62
Louisville Ledger 72
Louisville Medical School 337
Louisville Methodist 73
Louisville Notary 65
Louisville Theatre 330
Louisville Times 70
Louisville Trust Building 337
Love, John 345
Love, J. Y 162, 165
Loveland, C. E 176
Loving, Hector V 182
Low, Andrew 253
Low, Emory 253
Lowrie, Rev. W. J 174
Lowry, Helen B 179
Loyd, Bateman 267
Lubke, Rev. 0 263
Lucas, Dr. Charles G 37
Lucket, Samuel N 300
Lucy, Dr. J. A 42
“Lucy Walker” Disaster 163
Ludwig, John 277
Ludwig, William 92
Luesing, Amelia 186
Luesing, Rose H 186
Lurton, Horace H 32
Lusk, Rachael 158
Luther, Martin 257
Lutheran Church, 256; In America,
257; In Kentucky, 258; Kentucky
Synod, 259; General Synod 262
Lyle, Rev. J. N 177
Lyon, G. W 284
Lyon, Matthew 58
Lyon, Sidney S 267, 312
Lyons, Rev. J. S 174, 187
Lyons, W. L 47
Lythe, Rev. John 135
M
Macauley, Barney 331
Macauley’s Theater 331
Macfarlane, Graham 325
MacGregor, Alex 298
MacKenzie, F. E 186
Mackey, Albert G 308
Mackin, Rev. W. P 129
MacNeal, W. H 261
Macpherson, Donald
S9, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97. 168. 1S2
Macrea, William S 175
Madden, E. F 72
Maddin, Rev. Thomas 219
Madison College 213
Maffitt, John N 206, 211
Magee, V. T 183
Magruder, Eva 288
Malcolm, Rev. Thomas 194
Male Choir 94
Mallory, Robert 299
Mandolin and Guitar Club 93
Manley, Rev. Basil 196, 201, 202
Marcell, Jacob 15S
Marcell, Sarah 158, 163
Marine Hospital 48, 285, 337
Marion, J. N 1S6
Mark, Fais 274
Marks, A. J 193
Marquess, Rev. William H 179, 187
Marrs, Rev. E. P 200
Marsee, Rev. J 232
Marsh, B. K 182
Marshall, B. K 175
Marshall, Humphrey 299
Marshall, J. Burney 65
Marshall, John J 5, 6, 12, 65, 299
Marshall, Naomi 182, 184
Martin, Daniel 3
Martin, Jane 163
Martin, John 164
Martin, Peter s
Marvin, Dr. J. B 38, 39, 199
Marx, Benas 274
Mason, George 134
Mason, John 182
Mason, Rev. John K 148
Masonic Orphans’ Home 287, 337
Masonic University 3S
Masonry, 296; In America, 297; In
Kentucky, 298; Literature of, 299;
Blue Lodges, 300; Capitular Ma-
sonry, 304; Cryptic Masonry, 306;
Chivalric Masonry, 307; The Mys-
tic Shrine 310
Massie, Rev. Peter 209
Mathes, H. D 175
Matthews, G 69
Matthews, John D 168, 177
Mathews, Dr. Joseph M
35, 38, 39, 43, 44, 47
Mathews, Stanley 32
Matthews, Rev. W. C 168, 184
Mathis, D. H 173
Mauzzey, Mrs. Duncan 291
Maxwell, Elizabeth A 179
Maxwell, Grey 179
May, George 3
May, John 4, s
May, William 3
McAdow, Rev. Samuel 191
McAfee, James A 55
McAfee, Capt. J. J 83
McAfee, Mrs. J. J S3
McAfee, Robert S3
McAllister, Daniel 217
McAlister. T. H 52
McBride, J. P 183
McBride, M. J 174
McCallister, Daniel 13S
McCarthy, H. M 6S
McChesney, Rev. W. R 259
McClean, John 32
McClellan, Rev. B. G 200
McClelland, Alexander 163
McClelland, E. L 149
McClelland, Henry E 164
McClelland, Jane A 164
McCloskey, Very Rev. George 129
McCloskey, Rt. Rev. William G..9S, US
McClung, Rev. John A 161
McClung-, William 32
McClure, Rev. A. D 177, 17S
McConnell, Rev. A. T 120, 129
McCorkle, J. M. S 300, 303
McCoskry, Rt. Rev. Samuel A 141
McCown, Rev. A 222
McCown, Rev. Burr H 210, 213
McCreary, Rev. James 163
McCulloch, Daniel 167
McCulloch, Hectorina 166
McCulloch, Jane 166
McCulloch, Mary 166
McCullough, Daniel 168
McCulIum, John 4
McDaniel, Rev. Charles T 261
McDaniel, Rev. H 210
McDougall, Belle 199
McDowell. Dr. Epphraim 140
McDowell, Kate G S3
McDowell, Maj. William P S3, 284
McElroy, Rev. William P 164
McFaden, Rev. Frank T 179
McFarland, Rev. J. N 19s
McFarland. Patrick 156
McFeran, James C 196. 198, 292
McFeran, John B 196, 197, 279, 282
674
INDEX.
McFeran, Menefee 196, 198
McFeran Memorial Church 196, 197
McGee, John W 284
McGee, Rev. W. H 11»
McGill, Mrs. D. T Ill
McGill, John ">1
McGill, S. W 282
McGinnis, E.
McGready, Rev. James 189> 233
McGuire, Charles A ■ ■■■■ •
McHenry, Rev. Barnabas ..209, 210, 211
McHenry, John H. 2U»
Mcllvaine, Rt. Rev. Charles P HI
McKamy, Rev. JT lii'Wsn ’ V*' ' 979 292
McKee, Rev. John L..166, 180, 185, 279, -9.,
McKee, Col. Robert ™
McKee, Sallie
McKendree College . 214
McKendree, Rev. W 249
McKnight, Virgil ^
McKown, William H
McLaughlin, Columba 42‘
McMahon, Rev. William 299
McMullen, Isabella
McMurtrie, Dr H ......... . ■ • • • • • • • • • • • ‘ ‘
McMurtry, Dr. Lewis S....40, 42, 47, 294
McNair, Rev. J. L 182>
McQuown, W. R.. ™
McReynolds, Rev. R. V f22
Meade, Rt. Rev. William 40
Meade, William IS
Meagher, Rev. D. J AS2
Meal, M. £
Medical Colleges “
Medical Journals "
Medical Societies .. „„
Meldrum, George F
Meldrum, O.
Mendelssohn Club ■ "is?" V«V ' 284
Menefee, R. J 181< 182’ 28A
Merker, Jacob
Meriwether, A. „
Meriwether, David
Meriwether, George W 2^
Merritt, Rev. G. W 212, 220
Merriwether, James
Merriwether, J.
Mertins, Rev. Henry 129
Merwin, I ,52
Merwin, S. N — 166
Messick, Rev. B. M 220
Metcalf, Alfred At." \b\; ’
Metcalfe, Joseph 291, 212, 212
Metcalfe, Gov. Thomas 208
Methodist Book Concern 212
Methodist Cemetery •• 845
Methodist Church, 204; First Socie-
ty, 205; Significance of Name, 205;
Initial Work in America, 206; Early
American Preachers, 207; First
Preachers in Kentucky, 208; In
Louisville, 209; Church Publica-
tions, 212; Missions of, 215; Colored
Methodists, 216; Slavery Agitation,
217; M. E. Church South, 217, 219;
General Book Agency of, 218;
Board of Extension, 218; Mission-
ary Board of, 219; Church Choirs,
219; Louisville Conference, 222; M.
E. Church, 222; Bishops of, 223;
German Methodism, 223; Colored
Methodists, 223; Protestant Metho-
dists 225
Methodist Orphans’ Home 222
Methodist and Way of Life 73
Meyer, Charles D 262
Meyers, Avena 186
Meyers, Barbara 186
Michel, Rev. K. A 266
Miles, A. D 86, 97
Miles, Anna B 157
Miles, Chloe J 157
Miles, J. J 156, 157
Miles, Maria R 157
Miles, Rev. W. II 224
Military Hospitals 121
"Millennial Harbinger” 244
Miller, Albert 255
Miller, Alvira Sydnor S4
Miller, Charles 192
Miller, Fred C 55, 56
Miller, H. F 52
Miller, Heath J 155, 156, 157
Miller, Dr. Henry 35, 36, 168
Miller, J. J ..' 73
Miller, Rev. John 212, 220
Miller, John A 166, 180
Miller, Mrs. John A ISO, 187, 18S
Miller, Rev. Louis
Miller, Rev. M. R
Miller, Samuel A
Miller, Shackleford
Miller, Capt. Silas F
Miller, Rev. W. G
Miller, Warwick
Milliken, John H
Mills, Rev. B. Fay
Mills, Rev. S. J
Milsop, Dr. Sarah J
Milton, Ann
Milton, John 162, 164, 165, 166,
Milton, Newton
Minnigerode, Rev. James G
Miner, Rev. O
Mitchell, J. D. H 176,
Mitchell, J. W
Mix, William
Mockridge, Whitney
Moffit, Eliza A
Montfort, Rev. J. G 73, 155,
Monheimer, L •••••
Monroe, Andrew 14, 182,
Monroe, Dr. A. Leight
Monroe, H. H 279
Monroe, Thomas B 21,
Montcalm, O
Montefiore, Sir Moses
Montgomery, James
Montgomery R
Montgomery, Rev. T. E ....
Montserrat, David T 301,
Moody, S. S 166.
Moore, Rev. Aaron ••••
Moore, Anna E 2°°>
Moore, Edith ••• ■ -v-
Moore, Rev. James 136, 137, 138,
Moore, James F ••••
Moore, Dr. J. A.. V™ ' '177
Moore, Rev. J. H 176, 1m,
Moore, Dr. John R
Moore, Sarah
Moray, H. H
Morey, Rev. Reuben
Morgan, George W
Morning Post
Morris, Edwin
Morris, Rev. F. A 216,
Morris, George P
Morris, George W.156, 168, 174, 175, 278,
Morrison, James
Morris, J. H. M
Morris, Dr. John K
Morris, J. S “2,
Morris, Lucy F •••••••■
Morris, Dr. Robert 299, 300, 306,
Morris, Rev. Thomas A
Morris, W. W 174,
Morrison, Rev. A. A
Morrison, Rev. H. C
Morrison, Isaac
Morrison, Rev. J. H 177,
Morrison, Rev. Robert 164, 165,
Morse, R. C 280, 281,
Morsell, B • •
Morton, Rev. David 218,
Morton, Dr. Douglas
Morton, Charles M
Morton, John P 61, 149, 292, 345,
Morton, Mary Q
Morton Church Home 48,
Moses, Rabbi Adolph 275,
Moses, F. S
Mourey, Margaret
Mourning, G. H
Mourse, Rev. W. L
Moxley, Richard S
Mozart Hall
Mozart Quintet
Mozart Society
Mt. St. Agnes Academy
Mudd, Sebastian
Muench, Dr. Albert
Mueller, Otto E
Mueller, J. J
Mueller, Rabbi Ignatz
Muhlenberg, Henry M
Muir, John 165,
Muir, P. B
Muir, William 182,
Muldoon, Anita
Muldoon, Hannah
Muldoon, Michael
Muller, Rev. Edwin
Mullins, Rev. George C
Mundy, W. H
Munhall, Rev. L. W
Munn, A. G 253, 254, 255,
Munn, W. G
Munz, George A 177,
Murray, Gen. Eli H
Murray, Logan C
125
164
325
174
325
220
164
321
283
155
42
165
292
165
147
266
184
284
161
92
177
187
184
210
42
284
31
301
273
311
166
186
303
179
223
290
288
139
3 ,
186
178
161
182
313
194
93
61
53
221
64
348
300
348
40
318
97
307
210
182
220
73
3
178
166
282
52
222
174
281
348
182
337
294
186
199
175
187
183
86
93
86
127
127
39
56
276
258
166
32
279
97
47
294
387
243
183
281
348
255
386
71
294
Murray, William 9, 298
Musical Club 91
Musical Fund Society 89
Musical Literary Club 94
Musical Societies 94
Music of the Pioneers 85
Muter, George 7, 9
Myrick, T. T. W 261
N
Nahstoll, George W
Napier, A. E
Nall, I. B
Nast, Rev. William
National Medical College
Neal, M. W
Neal, Rev. R. D
Needham, C. K
Nelson, Mary E
Nesbitt, H. M
Newbold, Edward C
Newcomb, Horatio D
New Era
Newhall, F. A
Newman, Eugene W
Newman, George A
Newsboys’ Home
Niccolls, Rev. Samuel J..,
Nicholas, George
Nicholas, Nicholas
Nicholas, Samuel S
Nickol, Mrs. Jesse
Nickol, William
Nikisch, Arthur
Nippert, Rev. L
Noble, Col. John C
Noble, L. H
Nock, Douglass
Nock, William
Noel, Rev. Silas M
Nones, Lida
Nones, W. C
Norton, Rev. John N
89
65
73
223
42
193
90,' 168,' 'iso,' 182
182
183
178
253
73
177
69, 72
54, 55, 253
287
181
174, 185
301
5, 9, 12, 252
177
177
92
223
70
183
50
49, 50, 175
199, 239
177
168, 177, 178
45, 145, 148, 149, 294
Norton, M. Louise 294
Norton, William F., Sr 199, 103
Norton Domitory 337
Norton Memorial Infirmary
45, 149, 294, 337
Nourse, J. W 174
Nowlin, Rev. W. D 198
Nunemacher, F. C 185
Nunn, Dr. J. Campbell 40
Nuttall, W. D 186
O
O’Connor, Rev. John 132
Odd Fellowship 311
Odiorne, Joseph S 325
Ogden, Benjamin 208
Oglesby, Rev. Joseph 209
O’Grady, Rev. Joseph 132
O’Hara, Theodore 68, 70
Ohio Wesleyan University 214
Ohle, Rev. Louis C 130
Oldham, John P *. 5, 301, 335
Oldham, Samuel 3
Oldham, T. C 335
Oldham William 3, 4
Old Ladies Home 287
Olin, Rev. Stephen 214
Olivet Pres. Church 185
Olmstead, Frederick L 341, 343
O’Neal. Joseph T 25, 284
Oratorio Choir 94
Oratorio Society 91
Order of Elks 315
Orendorf, Dr. Henry 39
Ormsby, Eliza 140
Ormsby, Peter B 44, 138, 139
Ormsby, Stephen ..2, 5
Orphanage of the Good Shepherd 149
Orpheus Society 90
Ort, Rev. S. A 260
Osborne, Rev. A. C 196
Osborne, Mrs. J 182
Osborne, John D 65
Osborne, Thomas D 292
O’Sullivan, Daniel 69, 74, 84, 129
Ouchterlony, Dr. J. A 37
Overstreet, James H 44
Overstreet, Rev. W. T 179
Overton, Walter G 68
Oviatt, Mary J 164
Owen, George H 267
Owen, Rev. J. H 222
Owsley, Gov. William 5
INDEX.
675
P
...69,
.140,
'.214,
.182,
.219, 220,
Paden, T. H
Padman, Donald
Paducah Herald
Page, Charles A
Page, Rev. David C
Page, Samuel H
Paine, Rev. R
Painter, Rev. H. M
Palmer, Dr. B. M
Palmer, Rev. D. M
Panic, Rev. Thomas
Parent, Minerva
Parker, Annie
Parker, J. C
Parker, William S
Parkhill, Sarah
Parkland Baptist Church
Parks, Floyd
Parr, Rev. S. W
Parrish, Rev. C. H
Parsons, Rev. C. B
Parsons, E. Y
Parsons, T ” .
Patti, Adelina
Patten, Otis 164, 165, 166, 168, 186,
Patton, Bryce M 277, 290, 291, 292,
Payne, John Howard
Paynter, Rev. H. W
Peabody, Rev. Ephraim .’.'.'.66
Pearce, Dr. R. W
Peers, Rev. B. O ......66, 140
Pendennis Club ’
Penick, Rt. Rev. C. C
Peniston, F ”
Penn, Shadrach . 59’
Penn, William
Pension Agents.... .....'.
Penton, G. R
P. E. Orphan Asylum. . ..........'.’.'142,
Perche, Rev. Napoleon
Perkins, Rev. Edmund T 146
Perkins, Rev. E. T ’
Perkins, James H
Perkins, Thomas...: 7
Perrin, William H
Perry, America
Peter, Arthur 49, 52 198
Peter, Mrs. Arthur
Peter, Arthur, Jr
Peter, M. Cary 50
Peter, Dr. Robert [
Peters, George
Peters, Harry 90 95,
Peters, Mrs. Harry 86. 87.
Peters, H. J
Peters, William C
Pettet, Charles H
Pettet, William F 49, 50
Pfingst, Edward C 55
Pfingst, Ferdinand J
Pfingst, H. A
Pharmacy
Philharmonic Society...
Phillips, H. G
Phillips, Mrs. H. G
Phillips, Philip
Phillips, William B
Philpott, E. P
Pickard, Rev. W. L
Pickett, James
Pickett, John T
Pierce, Bishop
Pierce, Rev. George F 212, 214
Pierce, Rev. L
Pilcher, Henry '
Pilmoor, J '
Pinckney, Charles C.........'.
Pingree, Rev. E. M
Pinkham, D. C
Piper, Charles L
Pirtle, C
Pirtle, Henry 5' 6,' 9 ,"l2,
Pirtle, James S 292
Pirtle, Dr. John R
Pitkin, Rev. Thomas C !.!
Plaggenborg, Rev. Herman 126,
Plank, Rev. D. A
Plato, William 90
Platt, Rev. W. M !
Pohlmann, Rev. F. W
Pollard, Miss A. V
Pollard, H. T
Polytechnic Society
Poor, N. P
Pope, Alexander 153,
Pope, Alfred T 12,
Pope, Benjamin
Pope, Curran 161,
Pope, Dr. Curran
Pope, E. P
156
75
70
80
142
80
218
188
157
175
192
267
183
182
292
182
19S
292
185
200
330
308
182
93
290
293
328
184
250
42
143
324
148
58
301
257
332
277
186
120
147
295
66
8
303
177
348
199
50
56
38
261
96
96
89
95
50
52
56
55
55
49
89
199
199
3
305
186
197
291
70
220
218
217
95
207
134
254
61
176
217
23
293
277
144
129
173
96
147
263
327
174
326
69
154
292
8
166
41
241
Pope, F. H 182
Pope, Godfrey OS
Pope, Hamilton 174
Pope, Henry C 66
Pope, John 9
Pope, Martha 162
Pope, Mrs. Patrick 187
Pope, William 3
Pope, Worden 299, 301
Porch, Rev. F. M 261
Portland Ave. Baptist Church 196, 198
Portland Ave. Christian Church 244
Portland Ave. Pres. Church 166, 177
Porter, Edward E 185
Porter, J. A 184
Porter, J. J 283
Porter, W. A 165, 184
Postmasters 333
Potter, Joseph 94, 95
Powell, Rev. E. L 243
Powell, Emily S 164
Powell, Lemuel 164
Powell, Dr. Dlewllyn 35, 38, 156
Power, Rev. Michael 125
Poythress, Rev. Francis 209
Praetorius, Rev. 0 263
Prather, James W 182
Prather, Louisa W 182
Prather, Matilda N 182
Prather, Thomas 44, 153, 154, 162
Prather, William ....162, 174, 182, 183
Pratt, Rev. John W 175
Pratt, William F 306
Pratt, Rev. W. M 195, 197
Preissler, Henry 90
Preissler, Hugo 52
Prentice, Clarence J 65
Prentice, George D..62, 67, 77, 236, 299,
301 331 337
Prentice, Mrs. George D 65, 87, 96
Prentice, William C 65
Presbyterian Church, 153; New School
Controversy, 158; Plan of Union,
159; Division in Kentucky, 160; De-
nominational Characteristics of,
167; Division of 1866, 169; Deliver-
ance of 1865, 170; Property Ques-
tions, 171; Southern Churches, 173;
Meetings of General Assembly 188
Presbyterian Church Litigation 26
Presbyterian Herald 70, 73, 187
Presbyterian Orphanage 186
Presbyterian Theological Seminary.. 187
Presentation Academy 119
Press of Louisville 57
Preston, Gen. William 10, 302
Preuss, Edward A 53
Prewitt, Mrs. John 47
Price, C. F 323
Price, Rev. Jacob F 158
Price, J. H 14
Price, Martha 156
Price, Parsons 90, 96
Price, R. C 183
Price, V. D 185
Priesiey, Rev. D 163
Priest, Peter 241
Printing House for Blind 291
Pritchard, Rev. T. H 197
Proctor, Dr. D. E 39
Prose and Verse Writers 77
Provoost, Benjamin S 134
Public Advertiser 58
Public Ledger 69
Public Parks 33S
Puree, Rev. C. L 201
Puryear, Hezekiah 240, 241
Pusey, Dr. W. B 41
Pvne, Mary A 127
Pyne, W. T 303
Q
Quarrier, Mrs. Cushman 90
Quest, Mrs. B 259, 260
Quest, J. W 260
Quigley, Belle 182
Quigley, Ellen 182
Quigley, Mrs. E. N 182
Quigley, Fannie 182
Quigley, Hallie 182
Quigley, Hattie 47
Quigley, Isaac M 25
Quigley, L. G 1S3
Quigley, Thomas 279
Quinn, Rev. William 224
Quintet Club 90
R
Raffo, Rev. Charles P 131
Raizor, 0 186
Ralston, Rev. T. N 211, 217, 218
Rambaut. Rev. Thomas 196
Ramsdell, I. B 116
Randolph Macon College 214
Randolph, Nellie 179
Randolph, Rev. William 222
Rankin, Benjamin 165, 184
Rankin, Thomas 207
Ranney, Willis 166
Ravenscroft, Bishop 140
Rawson, Alonzo 253
Ray, Dr. J. M 37
Ray, Rev. Stephen p 199
Raymond, B. W 72
Raymond, Margaret 182
Read, Thomas J 217, 305
Reager, H. P 178
Redelsheimer, Jean S 2S9
Redford, Rev. A. H 219
Redman, Mary S 178
Redman, Thomas S 178
Red Men 314
Reed, William D 179
Reformed Episcopal Church 150
Reinhardt, Adam 92
Reinhard, Jacob 156
Reinhart, Paul 168
Remmington, Rev. S. M 196
Rennie, Rev. Joseph 179
Renwick, John 186
Reutlinger, A 41
Revenue Assessors 333
Revenue Collectors 333
Reynolds, Dr. Dudley S 39, 40
Reynolds, Otho D 73
Rhodes, Rev. Walter 200
Rhorer, J. H 89
Rice, James 301
Rice, Rev. John H 73, 164
Rice, L. M 193
Rice, Rev. Nathan L 73, 187
Richardson, Rev. Joseph 200
Richardson, Lawrence 166, 182, 284
Richardson, Dr. S. B 161, 183
Richardson, S. K 217
Richardson, William. .162, 165, 166, 168,
182, 186, 291, 292
Richie, Charles G 14
Richmond, Rev. J. M 185
Richardson, W. A 165, 348
Riddle, William 217
Ridgeley, D. H 74
Riding Club 326
Rieger, Rev. N. P 266
Riley, Rev. J 200
Riley, Rev. J. M 223
Riley, Rev. J. R 185
Ripley, Charles 10
Ritter, Dr. H. B 41
Rivers Memorial Church 222
Rivers, Rev. R. H 220, 221, 222
Roach, John J 312, 313
Roach, Mrs. John G 83
Roberts, Rev. H. C 198
Roberts, Hiram 167
Roberts, Mrs. M. A 182
Roberts, Richard 186
Roberts, Rev. R. R 210, 211
Roberts, Thomas Q 1S2
Roberts, Dr. W. 0 37
Robertson, Rev. G. H 180
Robertson, Harrison 69, 75, S4
Robertson, Thomas C 303
Robinson, Eleanor 186
Robinson, George A 31S
Robinson, James C 302
Robinson, Rev. John 251
Robinson, Norman 199
Robinson, Richard A 50, 52, 146, 277, 2S6
Robinson, Mrs. R. A 45, 294
Robinson, Rev. Stuart.. 73, 157, 162, 166,
167, 168, 171, 175, 177, 178, 179, 183, 187,
188 281
Robinson, William A 279, 292, 293’, 294
Robinson, William E 302
Robinson, W. H 165, 182
Rock, Rev. P. M. J 129
Rodman, Dr. William L 39
Roemele, J. M 91
Rogers, Dr. Lewis 37
Rogers, Rev. W. C 242
Rogers, Willey 56
Roggerburger, Isaac 274
Rohan, William de 114
Rolph, W. T 348
Rominger, Louis 56
Rommell, Daniel 262
Ronald, Dr. George W 3S
Rooker, Rev. W. Y 146, 302
Rosen, Ernest 95
Rosenham, C. J 65
Rosenthal, Henry M 274
Rosevear, Henry E 2S4
076
INDEX.
Ross, Anna 177
Ross, Charles 177
Ross, David 349
Ross, Frederick A 155
Ross, Robert 349, 350
Rousseau, Gen. Lovel H • • 10
Rowan, John 9, 62, 299, 301, 339
Royal Arcanum 315
Rubel, William J 178
Rudd, James 345, 348
Rudolf, Victor 93
Ruffner, Julia 16a
Ruffner, Lewis 165, 166, 291
Russell, Rev. David 119
Russell, Rev. D. A 254
Russell, Rev. Joseph T 158, 163
Russell, Isaac 2 <9
Russell, James 298
Rust, J. W ••■••••• 19?
Ruter, Martin 213, 216, 219, 22o
Ruthrauff, Rev. J. M 259
Ryan, Rev. J. P ■■■• 128
Ryan, WTlliam 308, 310
Ryans, John 18a
Sacred Heart Home 127
Sacred Heart Retreat 130
Sadd, Rev. J. M 185, 187
Saengerbund 87
Saengerfest S8
Sale, William 217
Salmagundi Club 327, 339
Samuel, E. L 175
Samuel, Dr. F. W 41
Sanders, Alex. R 350
Sanders, Anna 252
Sartori, Albert 89
Sarmiento, F 313
Satterwhite, Dr. T. P 36
Saudeck, William 55
Savage, Edward 261
Savage, Dr. G. S 220
Sawtell, Rev. Eli N..155, 156, 157, 167,
168, 188
Saxe, John G 278
Schachner, Dr. August 41
Schaeffer, Otto 69
Scheerer, E 91
Scheffer, Emil 53, 56
Scheinfeld, Rabbi Solomon 276
Schellsmith, Dr. Arthur 40
Schlaefer, William 262
Schloss, Abraham 274
Schmidt, A. G 50
Schmidt, Conrad 278
Schmidt, Karl ...88, 89, 93
Schmidt, William G 50, 55
Schofield, Rev. J. D 196
Schorch, Frederick 50, 52
Schorch. Thomas F 50
Schory, Rev. A 266
Schroder, Henry 47
Schueler, Otto 90, 91, 92
Schulte, W. F 323
Schumacher, Rev. J 263
Schwabacher, Moses 274
Schwartz, Theodore 301
Schwlng, Samuel 217
Science Hill Female Academy 214
Scobee, Rev. J S 221, 222
Scott, Alexander 7, 8
Scott, Gov. Charles 5
Scott, Charles 313
Scott, Rev. G. E 200
Scott, Mary W 182
Scott, Dr. Preston B 307
Scott, W. D 241
Scovel, Rev. Sylvester 161, 167
Scribner, Abner 153
Scribner, Joel 153
Sea, Andrew M 174
Sea, Sophie F 83
Seabury, Samuel 134
Seaman’s Bethel 222
Sears, Rev. A. D 194
Sears, Charles E 69, 72, 74
Sebastian, Benjamin 7, 9
Second German Lutheran Church 263
Second Lutheran Church 260
Second Presbyterian Church.. 156, 161,
174, 337
Sehon, Rev. E. W 210, 219, 220, 221, 345
Seibert, George is-l
Seiler, F. P 255
Seiler, Mrs. F. P 255
Seitz, John A 298
Selby, George 90
Selby, George B 94
Selliger, Henry 274
.165,
’.165,
.164, 166,
Semonin, Celeste
Semple, A. B
Semple, Jack
Semple, John
Semple, Patty B
Semple, Thomas
Semple, William
Senour, Rev. F. Leroy...
Settle, Rev. H. C
Severinghaus, Dr. E. A
Sevmour, C. B
Shackleton, C. H 86, 91, 92, 96, 97,
Shackleton, Mrs. C. H
Shaffaree, Alice M
Shaffner, Rev. T. P 217,
Shallcross, May
Shanklin, Rev. James
Shanks, Harvey
Shanks, Sanders
Shannon, William
Shaw, Rev. Henry M
Shaw, Joseph 174,
Shawnee Park
Shelby Street Methodist Church
Sheltman, Wade
Shepherd, Samuel
Sheridan, Rev. John
Sherley, Thomas H 307, 321,
Sherley, Z. M 292,
Sherrill, B. M
Sherrill, Dr. J. Garland
Shinn, Rev. Asa 209,
Shield, Rev. C. H
Shipman, Paul R
Shober, Sue
Shotwell, Penelope E
Shreve, Leven L
Shreve, Thomas H 65,
Shreve, Thomas T 252,
Shreve, Mrs. T. T
Shroeder, H. R
Shuck, Dr. J. H
Sieboldt, E. C. H
Sievers, Dr. Robert E
Sigler, Rev. J. D 221,
Silliman, Benjamin
Silliman, Mary A 154,
Simons, George H
Simons, Joseph
Simpson, Rev. A. B 180,
Simrall, John G 12, 24, 158,
Simrall, Rev. John G 158,
Simrall, J. K
Simrall, J. W. G
Sindle, T. W
Sisson, Mrs. S
Sisters of Mercy
Sizemore, Rev. A. B
Skidmore, Paul 44,
Skillern, W. J
Slaughter, Cadwalader
Slaughter, George
Slaughter, J. B
Slave Laws
Slavens, Rev. Duke
Slevin, Thomas
Sly, Benjamin
Smallpox Epidemic
Smiley, Rev. G. W
Smith, A. S
Smith, Ballard
Smith, Rt. Rev. B. B. .136, 140, 141, 142,
Smith, Charles F
Smith, Rev. Curtis J
Smith, C. 0 220,
Smith, Rev. Daniel 155, 168,
Smith, Dudley
Smith, Dr. D. T
Smith, D. W
Smith, Ferguson
Smith, Rev. G. C
Smith, Rev. George G
Smith, George W 74,
Smith, Henry
Smith, Rev. James
Smith, Elder John
Smith, John J
Smith, Joseph B
Smith, Rev. J. K
Smith, Dr. J. Lawrence 54,
Smith, Mrs. J. Lawrence 198,
Smith, J. Lithgow
Smith, K. W
Smith, Mrs. K. W
Smith, Rev. Thomas, Jr 194,
Smith, Thomas P., Jr
Smith, William R
Smith, Z. F
Smucher, Rev. Peter
Smyth, Samuel
Snead, Nancy S
Snead, Rev. S. K 156,
Snodgrass, S
288
166
89
166
83
177
96
168
220
42
280
319
255
179
301
97
200
278
302
70
139
177
341
221
174
298
126
340
34S
280
40
225
148
65
186
182
345
79
309
252
302
40
177
41
222
278
155
284
255
1S5
166
166
1S7
166
183
252
127
198
154
282
3
3
241
27
223
129
240
130
221
157
69
145
255
242
279
259
179
37
193
182
197
148
182
184
163
233
52
290
183
199
203
320
183
183
195
174
350
82
223
3
165
160
184
Snodgrass, William A 177
Snow, John 307
Snyder, Albert 87, 90
Snyder, Peter 260
Snyder, Robert J 50, 56
Social Maennerchor 91
Society of the New Jerusalem, 267;
Distinctive Feature of 272
Solomon, George 179
Solomon, G. W 1S6
Sonne, J. P 179
Soule, Rev. Joshua 215, 217, 218
Southgate, E. D 183
Southgate St. Baptist Church 197, 19S
Southern Baptist Theological Sem-
inary 196, 201
Southern Exposition 92
Southern Parkway 341
"Southern Unitarian” 254
Spalding, Rev. A. T 195, 198
Spalding, Rev. Benjamin 118, 119
Spalding, Very Rev. Benjamin J 125
Spalding, Catherine 119
Spalding, Rt. Rev. Martin J..117, 119,
121, 123, 124
Sparks, Rev. Jared 251, 252
Speed, Austin 183
Speed, Eliza 179, 252
Speed, James 10, 252, 254
Speed, James S 291, 339
Speed, Jennie E 179
Speed, Jessie A 95
Speed, John 59, 252
Speed, Dr. John J 39, 40
Speed, Joshua F 178
Speed, Mary 252
Speed, Thomas 31, 82, 183, 327, 340
Speer, Rev. S. W 217
Spencer, Charles C 277, 302
Sperry, D. B 184
Spicer, Rev. E. V 243
Spindle, Leonidas 183
Spring, Rev. Gardner 161, 169
Springer, William 53
Sproles, Rev. J. L 198
Spurrier, Rev. D 222
Spurrier, Dennis 217
Squibb, Dr. Edward R 54
Squire, Samuel 4
Stafford, Rev. D. F 244
Stamper, Rev. J 211
Stancliffe, Carrie 17S
Standard Club 276, 325
Stapleford, Clement 91
Stapp, W. W 70
Starbird, A. B 168
Starbird, A. P 165, 166
Starkey, George 302
Steck, Rev. Charles F 261
Steedman, Dr. James B 41, 44
Steel, Arabella 164
Steele, J 173
Steele, Mrs. Richard 291
Steele, Robert 154, 161, 164, 165
Stein, George C 53
Stepacher, Wolf 274
Stern,-. Emanuel 274
Stevenson, Rev. D 223
Stevenson, Rev. E 211, 218] 219
Stevenson, Edward .' ' 209
Stevenson, Sarah 20S
Stevenson, Thomas 208
Steward, W. H 282
Stewart, Isaac 15G
Stewart, John ’ 215
Stewart, Willis 301’ 302
Stienagee, Charles 301
Stites, Henry J 12, 24, 292
Stites, John 47, 375
Stites, Samuel X86
Stoll, Albert A ’’’ 292
Stone, Rev. Barton W 232, 233, 234', 235
Stone Chapel 250
Stone, Isaac F 164, 165, 168, 183
Stone, Laura E 164
St. Agnes’ Church 329
St. Aloysius Church 132
St. Andrew’s Church 14S, 152, 337
St. Andrew’s Parish 146
St. Benedict’s Academy 128
St. Cecilia’s Church 129
St. Charles’ Church 131
St. Charles’ College 214
St. George’s Mission 14s
St. John's Parish 146, 147
St. John’s German Evangelical
Church 265
St. Joseph's College 116
St. Joseph’s Infirmary 47, 121, 337
St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum 131
St. Louis Catholic Cemetery 345
St. Luke's German Evangelical
Church 265
INDEX.
677
St. Luke’s Mission US
St. Mark’s African Church 148
St. Mary Magdalen’s Church 131
St. Mary’s College 116
St. Mary’s Mission 14S
Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital. 48,
128, 337
St. Matthew’s German Evangelical
Church 266
St. Paul’s Chapel 146
St. Paul’s Church 132, 147
St. Paul’s German Evangelical
Church 205
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church 261
St. Paul’s P. E. Church 142, 337
St. Peter’s Church 146
St. Peter’s Evangelical Church 337
St. Peter’s German Evangelical
Church 265
St. Peter’s P. E. Church 148
St. Stephen’s Cemetery 345
St. Stephen’s Chapel 148
St. Vincent de Paul’s Church 129
St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum 120
Straeffer, George 1J8
Straeffer, George, Jr 1G
Strater, Henry 182
Strassel, William 5o
Stratton, Mrs. John A 4i
Straw, W. T ISO
Strawbridge, Robert 206, 207
Strubel, John 176
Strueber, Rev. Leander 124
Stuart, George H 278
Stuart, Rev. J. P 267
Stuart Robinson Memorial Church.. 179
Stucky, Dr. Thomas Hunt 40, 17
Sturges, M 165
Sullivan, Daniel 4
Suman, Julia C IS-
Surmann, John 93, 97
Surveyors of Customs 332
Sutcliffe, W 312
Swayne, Noah H ^>2
Swearingen, Embry L 175
Swedenborg, Emanuel 268, 270
Sweeny, Holmes C 163
Sweets, Rev. David M 177
Sweet, Rev. J 144
Swigert, Jacob ;
Swindler, Rev. Jesse 240, 241
Swope, Benjamin L 82
Symphony Club 91
Tabb, Lilie 179
Tabb, Robert A 179
Tabernacle Academy 214
Tafel, Charles 53
Tafel, William 53
Taft, William H 32
Taggart, John D 165, 168, 183
Talbot, Rev. J. J 147
Talbot, John M 217
Talbot, Rev. Joseph C 146, 147
Talbott, C. T 335
Tandler, Abraham 274
Tanner, Col. William 70
Tannehill, Wilkins 305
Tanner, William 291
Tate, W. B 178
Taylor, Rev. A. A. E 166, 167
Taylor, Bayard 278
Taylor, Edmund 3
Taylor, Hancock 138
Taylor, James 300
Taylor, James A 162
Taylor, Dr. P. Richard 40
Taylor, Richard 3
Taylor, Rev. Z. M 212
Temple Theatre 331
Terrill, Richard 3
Terrell, Dr. William 176
Terry, William 241
Tevis, Rev. John 210
Tevis, Julia A 210, 214
Tewitt, Susan 288
Thacker, Rev. J. E 179
Theatres 328
Third Avenue Baptist Church 196, 19S
Third Christian Church 244
Thomas, W. K 302
Thomas, Warren L 308
Thompson, Rev. C. M 198
Thompson, Cuthbert 37
Thompson, Dr. D. D 179, 283
Thompson, Mrs. E. A 179
Thompson, John R 182
Thompson, Rev. Philip H 177
Thompson, R. H 14, 307
Thompson, Vincent Ferrer 115
Thompson, William L 138
Thomson, Rev. Edward 214
Thornton, Rev. Francis 163
Threlkeld, Calvin 1S5
Thruston, Buckner 9
Thruston, Dr. Charles M 186
Thruston, Charles M 9
Thruston, John 3
Thruston, Ollie 186
Thumm, Caroline 267
Tilley, Daniel 178
Timberlake, W. G 182
Tinker, Benjamin 185
Tobern, E. T 186
Tod, Rev. David S 163
Todd, Col. Charles S 71
Todd, George D 308
Todd, James 15
Todd, John 7, 8
Todd, Dr. John R 164
Todd, Thomas 32, 298, 302
Toelle, C 91
Tomlinson, Rev. J. S 212, 213, 219
Tompkins, William 301, 306
Tomppert, Philip 301
Toney, Sterling B 13, 15, 25
Torbitt, J. P 236, 238, 239
Tormey, Helena 119
Trabue, James 241, 242, 345
Tracey, Alice 182
Tracey, Amelia C 1S2
Tracey, Anna 158
Tracey, Hannah 182
Tracey, L 158
Tracey, Margaret 158
Tracey, Thomas 182
Tracy, Mary B 179
Tracy, Maud 179
Tracy, Theo. F 179
Tracy, Rev. Thomas 168
Trainer, John 302
Transylvania University 36, 141, 214
Trappist Fathers 115
Tremble, Rev. E. C 192
Trimble, Robert 31, 32, 299
Trinity P. E. Church 148
Trinity Methodist Church 223
Trinity Lutheran Church 262
Trinity Hall 149
Tripp, Louis 95
Trott, John 306
Troutman, Dr. G. D 42
Troxell, W. H 167, 177
True Catholic 70
True Presbyterian 187
Truman, H. P 254
Truth 74
Tschiffely, Rev. L. P 148
Tuell, J. W 261
Tuley, E. S 335
Tuley, Mrs. E. S 45, 294
Tuley, Dr. Henry E 39, 44
Tunstall, H. E 166
Tunstall, H. R 15S
Tunstall, Lucy R 158
Tupper, Rev. A. H 197
Turner, Rev. George S 185
Turner, J. H 71
Twelfth Street Methodist Church... 221
Twenty-second St. Baptist Church..
196, 197
Twenty-second St. Pres. Church 184
Twenty-sixth St. Baptist Church. 197, 198
Twyman, William 312
Tyler, B. B 232, 243
Tyler, Henry S 307, 320
Tyler, Isaac H 61, 306
Tyler, Mrs. James E 291
Tyler, Levi 44, 301, 302
Third Lutheran Church
274
72
Third Presbyterian Church...
Thom, Rev. A. E
Thomas, Rev. A
....157, 163
Underwood, John C
Unitarian Church, 250; In New Eng-
Thomas, Henry E
Thomas, John
Unitarian Ladies Aid Society
255
Thomas, Sylvester
Thomas, Theodore
United American Mechanics
United Hebrew Association
315
276
University of Louisville 36
Upton, J. D 261
Ursuline Convent 124
U. S. District Attorneys 33
U. S. Marshals 33
Utley, D. J 261
V
Vail, Samuel 58
Vance, Rev. James 153, 154, 168
Vance, Rev. James A 178
Vanculin, S. W 302
Vanderbilt University 219
Vanderhagan, Rev. William 125
Vanderhorst, Rev. R. H 224
Vandiver, J. A 174
Van Dyke, Rev. H. N 211
Vanmeter, Rev. T. F 211
Vansickle, Jesse 313
Varick, Rev. James 224
Vernon, America 156
Vernon, D. S 165
Vernon, E. H 182
Vernon, G. T 165
Veech, R. S 1S7
Vernon. William S.44, 153, 156, 157, 165, 180
Vilderbee, Adaline 163
Vissman, H. F 302
Vogt, Charles C 303
Volksblatt 69
Von Borries, Helen 47
Vreeland, J. W 73
W
Waggoner, R. H 27S
Walbeck, Henry C ”38
Waldmann, Rev. H 9gg
Walesby , A. E 174
Walker, Ignatius 197
Walker, S. C 174
Walker, Samuel P ...........54 1S2
Walker, William ' 473
Walla, Mollie 186
Wallace, Mrs. A. H 165
Wallace, Caroline xo's
Wallace, Martha R 66
Wallace, Robert .... 17S
Wallace, William R 6S
Waller, Rev. George 199.' 239, 240
Waller, John 990
Waller, Dr. John L. ... iqo
Walling, Dr. G. H xg-
Walnut St. Baptist Church X95
Walnut St. Christian Church 241
Walnut Street Methodist Church 220
Walnut St. Presbyterian Church. .175, 183
Walsh, Rev. Patrick ioc
Walters, Rev. A 994
Waltz, Rev. S. S 260 262
Ward, Charles
Ward, Rev. James 211
Ward, Rev. John 139 140
Warder, Rev. J. W 195
Warfield, Catherine A 79
Warner, Benjamin 164
Warner, Chapman .164, 16s
Warner, Dr. George M 41 44
Warner, William 162
Warren Church 1553
Warren, Rev. E. L 184, 1S5, 186
Warren, H. C X81, 182
Warren, Joseph 29S
Warren, L. L..157, 162, 164, 165, 166, 16S',
„r 169, 181. 1S3, 1S5, 277
vvarren Memorial Church 93 isi
Washington, George ’298
Waterman, Rev. J. H 220
Waters, Richard J "3
Waters, T. G “>54
Wathen, Dr. W. H .....38 ~39
Watkins, T. G go
Watson, F. L " ' 177
Watson, J igg
Watson, John ’’ xg|
Watson, Joseph xg,->
Watson, Sarah 1S2
Watterson Club 32g
Watterson, Henry 6s, 292
Watts, John R 279
Watts, R. A 163, 174
Watts, W. 0 176
Weaver, Charles 74
Weaver, Rev. J. M 196
Weaver, Jacob N 157
Webb, Benjamin 95
(578
INDEX.
..69,
,.94,
.185,
Webb, Benjamin J
Webb, Douglas
Webb, Thomas
Webb, Thomas S
Webber, Frederick
Weber, George H
Webster, Daniel
Wedekemper, F
Weeden, George W
Weidensall, Robert
Weidner, Dr. Carl
Weil, Abraham
Weishart, Leon H
Weissiger, Daniel
Weissinger, George W
Welburn, Rev. Drummond
Welby, Amelia
Welby, George
Welby, Thomas I
Weller, Ben S
Weller, D. F. C
Weller, Jacob F 175. 302, 308,
Weller, W. L
Weller, Mrs. W. L
Wells, L. G
Wesley Chapel 212,
Wesley, Charles 204,
Wesley, John 204, 205, 206, 207, 215,
Wesley, Samuel
Wesley, Susannah
Wesleyan University
West Broadway Methodist Church..
Westermann, Rev. Henry
Western American
Western Courier
Western Messenger
Western Pioneer
Western Presbyterian
Western Recorder 65,
Westminster Church 39,
Weygold, Rev. Frederick
Wheat, John L 279,
Wheeler, Austin A 168,
Wheeler, Mrs. A. A
Whipple, George
Whipple, H. G. S 277,
Whitaker, Rev. John
White, John
White, Levi
White, R. K 161, 173,
White, Rev. Thomas W
White, William
Whitefield, George 204,
Whiting, George
Whitney, Julia B
Whitney, Rowland
Whitsitt, Rev. William H
Whittier, John G
Whittle, Rev. Francis M
Whorton, Rev. M. B
Wickliffe, Gov. Charles A 171,
Wickliffe, Charles A t
Wicks, George W
Wicks, Janet
Wilcox, Samuel
Wilder, Edward 53,
Wilder, Emma
Wilder, Graham
Wilder, J. B 53
Wilder, Martha
95 Wildey, Thomas 312
97 Wiley, Rev. E. E 214
207 Wiley, James 156
305 Willard, Rev. F. A 194
308 Willetts, Rev. A. A 181
186 Williams, Elizabeth 253
252 Williams, George 277
278 Williams, Dr. John M 41
282 Williams, Dr. John T 39, 40
280 Williams, Laura B 179
39 Williams, Lewis 97
274 Williams, Rev. Mason D 164
274 Williams, Nathaniel 29S
298 Williams, S. R 161, 167
64 Williams, V. V. M 97
212 Williams, Rev. William 201, 202
78 Williamson, Rev. J. D 254
7S Willis, Albert S 292, 293
301 Willis, Mrs. Albert S 2SS
279 Willis, N. P 64
303 Wills, Rev. S. H 267
310 Wilson, A. E 294
199 Wilson, Dr. Daniel 49, 50, 138
199 Wilson, David H 182
182 Wilson, Mrs. Fletcher 215
223 Wilson, Dr. Frank C 39, 40, 175
205 Wilson, George 3
251 Wilson, Henrietta 156
204 Wilson, Dr. James 199
204 Wilson, Rev. John S 194
214 Wilson, Rev. Joshua L 156, 161, 168
222 Wilson Memorial Church 222
129 Wilson, Oliver 306
58 Wilson, R. H 243
58 Wilson, Rev. Samuel R
65 155, 161, 169, 171, 173, 183, 184, 185
69 Wilson, Dr. Thomas E 49, 52, 345, 348
187 Wilson, Thomas Q 5
199 Wilson, W. Boyd 179
178 Wilson, W. J 175
265 Wilson, W. S 71
283 Wimp, Dr. J. E 39
178 Winchester, Boyd 41, 81
177 Windell, Dr. J. T 37
96 Windship, Mrs. M. R 253
278 Winkler, Rev. E. T 201
194 Winston, Kate 182
348 Wintersmith, Charles G 299
313 Wise, David 274
174 Wise, Rev. I. M 198
130 Wisner, Sarah J 158
134 Witherspoon, Rev. T. D
205 174, 178, 187, 1SS
93 Wolf, Thomas E 52
91 Wolfe, Nathaniel 10
175 -Wolford, Charles 312
203 Wolford, Henry 312, 313
64 Wolford, William S 312
279 w. C. A. Boarding Plouse 287
195 Women's Christian Temperance
299 Union 316
171 Women's Club 327
303 Wood, Alvin 277
163 Wood, H. T 254
52 Woods, Rev. Leroy 192
301 Woodland Presbyterian Church 178
96 Woodruff, Charles R 307
55 Woodruff, William E 303
55 Woody, Dr. Samuel E 38, 43
253 Woolfolk, Nancy 164
Woolf oik, R. H 166
Woolf ord. Rev. J. E 198
Woolley, William P 69
Wools, Rev. J. S 222
Woolsey, Rev. M. L 148
World’s Fair Ill
World’s Fair Chorus 92
Worsley, W. W 61
Worman, Rev. X. D 261
Worrall, Rev. J. M 182
Worrell, Rev. A. S 199
Wright, Fanny 330
Wright, G. G 312
Wright, Jean 83
Wright, Maj. J. M 74, 385
Wursburger, Jacob 274
Wurts, Daniel 156, 157, 167
Wurts, Rev. Edward 167
Xaverian Brothers
131
Yaeger, Amos 262
Yaeger, W. H 199
Yandell, Dr. D. W 37, 44, 128, 301
Yandell, Dr. L. P
36, 162, 165, 173, 175, 176
Yandell, Mrs. L. P 288
Yandell, Louise E 47
Yoe, Dr. Richard T 40
York, Rev. Tnomas 132
Young, Col. Bennet H..20, 179, 187, 281, 327
Young, D. R 163
Young, Dr. Frank P 4l
Young, Rev. H. H 158, 165, 167, 168
Young, Rev. James 163, 222
Young, Rev. J. H 73, 222
Young, J. P., 165
Young, Rev. John C..156, 157, 162, 182, 184
Young, Mrs. John C 182
Young, Margaret 289
Young, Rev. W. C 184, 188
Young Men’s Benevolent Associa-
tion 276
Young Men’s Christian Association. 277
Zabler, Rev. Francis 123
Zahl, Mathias 274
Zausinger, Gustave A 53
Zeigler, Rev. J. A. M 262
Zimmerman, Rev. Carl J 265
Zimmerman, J. A 185
Zion P. E. Church 146, 148
Zoeller, Ernst i 90, 96
Zceller, George 90
Zoeller, Max 90, 93, 96
Zorn, Mrs. Sebastian 47
Zubrod, George 53, 255
Zubrod, William G 56
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