Cynthiana, Kentucky - History (part 2 of 4)

Charles Rieckel. - Among the adopted sons of Cynthiana, none is more highly esteemed than Charles Rieckel. He was born in Frankfort on the Main, in Germany, in the year 1835. He came to Kentucky in his youth, married Mary Hite, of Paris, Kentucky, and came to Cynthiana in 1856. Since that time, he has been successful in all his undertakings, and has won the confidence and respect of the people of this town. His children are Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Martha Foster, Carrie Christine, and Lilly. One daughter died in infancy, and Mrs. Jo Stephens died a few years since. Mr. Rieckel has a brother who is a banker in Switzerland and well known in many countries.

Thomas Cason, the great-gran dfatlier of Mrs. Oteria Day Frisbie, was born in Spottsylvania county, Virginia. He was a man of unusual strength of character, and possessed a fine mind. He married Nancy Day. Their children w^ere Jack, Estus, Lucinda, Eliza, John, and ^N^elson. Thomas Coson died and his widow came to Kentucky in 1836, and brought a large number of slaves, and settled where her grandson, Lewis Day, once judge of the county court of Harrison county, Kentucky, where he lived and died. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Prisbie- Cason married the widow Green. The ancestors of Judge Lewis Day on his father's side came from Spottsylvania county, Virginia, in the beginning of civilization in this part of Kentucky. One of their descendants says that they made a great mistake in not settling in the " Blue Grass " region, near where Lexington now stands. They camped one night, while on their journey to this part of Kentucky, on Elkhorn creek. But they did not like the appearance of the land - it was too level, and the soil looked too black, and as they had never seen such land, thev left it and came to what was afterward Harrison county, and purchased a large tract of land in the locality of John S. Day's farm. Having many slaves, they cultivated their lands on an extensive scale. They also owned a distillery, and made copper-distilled whisky, which old people claim did not make people '' crazy drunk," like the present spiritus frumenti. Andrew Moore married an aunt of Mrs. Frisbie, Candice, by name. The fame of her beauty lives to this day. Andrew Moore was clerk of the circuit court of this county. He was a kinsman of H.

Coleman Moore, who left a fund at his death to be used in the education of destitute orphans. A handsome cenotaph has been placed in "Battle Grove Cemetery" to the memory of H. C Moore, which will lie in ruins long before the benefactor to whom it was reared will be forgotten.

Chapter Ii

The first lawyer of whom we have any account is Adam. He was neither tempted by the devil nor deceived by him, yet he disobeyed the law, ate the forbidden fruit, blamed it on Eve, and expected to get out of it. He hid himself from his judge, but was found and brought into court, and uttered this memorable sentence in his own defense : " The woman gave to me and I did eat." Brave man ! But he could not gain his suit in the face of angel witnesses, and was hurled out of court, neck and crop, as he deserved to be. His being hurled out would not have been so much matter, but he dragged poor Eve along with him, and she was his scape-goat ever afterward. If he sinned, she bore the blame ; and the last thing she heard when she was dying was Adam saying : '' The woman gave to me and I did eat." This is the first speech on record that was ever made by man. Gentlemen, do you feel proud of it ! " The looman gave to me and I did eaty Adam did not tell the truth when he said it. Think of that ! Men are more gallant nowadays and much more to be admired than their old sea-serpent of a forefather. If Eve could have gone to Indiana she would have procured a divorce !

The most distinguished lawyer of ancient times was Moses, who was pure enough to stand face to face with the living Grod. He led the murmuring Hebrews (66) through the wilderness of Sinai for forty years, and, although he was a little " scaly " ahout drawing water from the rock that time, he could not help it - he was a lawyer.

Gamaliel was a law^yer. (See Acts, chapter v, verse 38.) '' Then stood there up in council a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in repute among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space, and said : 'And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone ; for if this counsel or work be of men, it will come to nought, but if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it, lest haply ye be found to fight against God.' " At the feet of Gamaliel sat great Paul the apostle, once a a lawyer himself.

Let it be remembered always that Joseph of Aramathea "was a counselor, and he was a good man and a just. This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And he took it down and wrapped it in fine linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein man was never before laid."

Lawyers, as a class, are charitable men, never envious one of another, and much to be admired ! They have the powers of the mind that belong to other men, in a normal state, and in addition to these they have a creative faculty which clearly distinguishes them from all other professional men, in that it enables them to recall events that never happened ! For all that, they are the wisest, the most agreeable, and certainly the most brilliant men on earth, and have the best memories ! God bless them.

The first court of Harrison county was held in 1794, in the home of one Morgan Van Meter, in the good old days when court was adjourned to see the elephant that came here with the circus swim the Licking E^iver, or for any other interesting entertainment. Robert Hinkston was the first sherifi:*; Benjamin Harrison, Hugh Miller, Henry Coleman, Samuel Mcllvain, Nathan Hawlings, and Charles Zachery, justices of the peace, all of whom were sworn in February 4, 1794, and formed the first county court. They elected William Moore, clerk. Richard Henderson was the first county attorney ; Daniel Lindsay, the first coroner; Archibald Hutchinson, Thomas Rankin, and William Hall qualified as constables. Henry Coleman was the first surveyor, with Benjamin Harrison as deputy ; also John Little and Edward Coleman as deputies.

At the next session of the court, held April 1, 1794, called the Court of Quarter Sessions, the tavern rates were fixed as follows : whisky, half a pint, 6d.; corn and oats, 2d. per quart ; breakfast. Is.; dinner, Is. Sd.; supper. Is.; bed, Qd.; stable and hay for one horse, twenty-four hours. Is. The seat of justice was at this court fixed at Cynthiana, on ground laid out for this purpose. The court also agreed with Thomas Rankin to erect a '' pair of stocks on the public grounds in Cynthiana." It is not mentioned in the history of Harrison that a whipping-post was erected in 1794, and at that early day men were put in bounds. The jail was built on the public square, and if a man were put in jail for debt, his accuser was compelled to pay his board as long as he was incarcerated. But when he was put in bounds, it cost his accuser nothing, and allowed the accused the liberty of walking from his ow^n house to his place of business, until his debts were paid. If the man who was put in bounds overstepped them and passed up or down other streets not mentioned in his sentence, he was put in jail, and kept there until some one took pity on him and paid the debt. White and black men were lashed at the whipping-post for offenses too trifling to be tried by the courts of law. It is not recorded that any one was ever put in the stocks erected in Cynthiana. Copied from the History of Harrison County : " In 1790, Dr. James McPheters, not a resident until 1795, built the weather-boarded log-house standing west of the school-house, on the corner of the alley and square. It has been successively residence, courthouse, law oflice, printing office, and perhaps church.. We are assured that in this house Guthrie's once popular old arithmetic was printed by Adam Keenan and Schrawyer, the only text-book on this subject generally used for years in this part of the state. In this old house, also, Henry Clay defended a fellow named House, accused of murder, in 1806. At the close of Clay's brilliant speech. House's wife, any thing but a beauty, jumped up and kissed the blushing orator (he w^as then only twenty-nine) in the presence of the densely packed throng of spectators."

Major William K. Wall was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of May, 1786. He received a good English education and was a fine Latin scholar. He read law with Colonel Richard M. Johnson, and was licensed to practice law in 1809 by Judges John Allen and William McClung. He began his legal career in Cynthiana. His first wife was Miss

Priscilla Taylor; his second wife was Mrs. Machir (maiden name, January). She was a niece of Hon. Humphrey Marshall, one of the historians of the state. Captain W. G. Marshall, in his history of Plarrison county, in concluding his sketch of Major Wall, says he was among the most effective advocates of his time, which was prolific of great men. There were giants in those days. We can not better conclude this sketch than by copying one of the resolutions adopted by the Harrison county bar at the time of his death, in the following words :

''Resolved^ That William K. Wall was a lawyer of massive intellect, of comprehensive judgment, of keen discrimination, of great logical power, and of address, skill and eloquence as an advocate, surpassed by few of his contemporaries. Reared in youth among the hardy yeomanry of Harrison county at a period when the opportunities for acquiring an education were exceedingly limited, he rose by the force of a superior intellect to a high rank in his profession. He was one of nature's noblemen, its patent of nobility stamped upon his massive brow a man who bore in his demeanor the impress of greatness. Guileless and childlike in his nature, benevolent and affable in his disposition and graced with the modest characteristic of the truly great, he won and enjoj^ed the esteem and affection of all his associates. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was brought by his father to Kentucky in early boyhood. He studied law under Colonel Eichard M. Johnson, and volunteered under that gallant officer in the last war with England, as a private soldier, doing gallant service in that second struggle for the independence of his country. He was commonwealth's attorney for this judicial district for a period of twenty years, in which station his abilities as a criminal lawyer shone pre-eminent. At various periods of his professional life, he represented his county and senatorial district in the state legislature. He died at the age of sixty-seven years in the full maturity and vigor of his power. The memory of his many personal and social virtues, will long survive in the hearts of his family, and in mournful recollections of the community in which he lived and died."

Hon. A. H. Ward was born on the waters of Indian Creek, in Harrison county, the 3d December, 1815. At the time of his birth his father was in the army. He wrote to his wife just before his son, A. H. Ward, was born, that whether the coming infant were girl or boy, it must be named Andrew Harrison. The infant came with the sex suitable to the name, and the father was rejoiced, and as the mother looked in the face of her little son she hoped and believed that should he live he would never disgrace the distinguished name he bore.

At a very early age Mr. Ward was left an orphan with the care of his widowed mother and her little children on his shoulders. He assumed the responsibility without a murmer and went to work for a farmer at the slender wages of twenty-five cents per day. When he had earned $12.00 the farmer paid him and it seemed a great sum to him. On his way home he walked a mile out of the direct course to buy his mother a country cheese for which he had heard her express a desire. On entering the house where his mother was sitting with her little children about her, he handed the cheese to her and then poured the remainder of his $12.00 in her lap. On relating this incident, not long since, to an old friend, Mr. Ward remarked, in a low voice, "I have had a few triumphs since then, and have occupied places of honor and profit in the gift of the people, but there is no recollection my mind dwells upon with so much pleasure as earning my first wages and presenting them to my beloved mother."

Among all the treasures Mr. Ward has laid up in heaven, none is more precious in the sight of God than that simple act of self-sacrifice on the altar of filial duty. He studied law and graduated with honor. He paid his way at the law school without assistance from relatives or friends.

When he began to practice law at the Cynthiana bar, Henry Clay, Breckenridge and the Marshalls were often members of it for weeks at a time. Judge Curr}^ said : " ^o man ever stood at the Cynthiana bar who had more native intellect than A. H. Ward." With all his "intellect," the older lawyers - sometimes - thought that he seemed careless of the interests of his clients. But when his cases came to trial Ms opponents learned that prepared or unprepared he was more than a match for them. With an inexhaustible fund of wit and humor, when argument failed, he won the jury by anecdotes relevant to the cases in hand. Many a wretch would have dangled at the rope's end but for the management and wonderful tact of Mr. Ward. When it is known that he is to speak in an important trial the court-house is always filled with an attentive audience.

Colonel William Brown. - "During the first third of the present century, the most eminent member of the Cynthiana bar after William K.' Wall was, no doubt, William Brown." He married Miss Harriet Warfield, aunt of Henry Warfield of this town. He owned the farm once the property of Dr. Joel T. Frazer, situated half a mile from town, and built the house, now the residence of W. T. Handy. He became very wealthy, owning 1,000 acres of land and many slaves.

The family name was originally Scott in the eleventh century. One, Scott, saved the life of a king of Scotland from a furious bull, and he gave him a title with the name of Turnbull. The Scotch to-day pronounce the name as if it were spelt that way in place of Turnbull.

The father of Hon. W. W. Trimble was John Trimble, judge of the United States District Court. His brother, Hobert Trimble, was of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and was judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. Governor Trimble, of Ohio, was a cousin of Hon. John Trimble, of this place. Trimble county, Kentucky, was named for Hon. Robert Trimble.

It was owing to the training of this gentlewoman that Hon. John Trimble and his brothers received superior educational advantages in the early times of this republic.

Hon. W. W. Trimble's first wife was a Miss Waller, whose male ancestors were soldiers in all the wars of this country. The Wallers came to Kentucky at a very early day.

His second wife was Miss Mary Barlow, of Bourbon county, Kentucky. Her grandfather's brother was a soldier under Marquis de Lafayette in time of the American Revolution. Many of the Barlows have attained distinction as inventors. William Barlow, once a citizen of this place, invented the planetarium, and aided the science of astronomy as much as any man in America.

Court of Kentucky. Many names on this list will be illuminated before they are carved on a tombstone or somebody has made a mistake. In the language of the immortal Jack Bansby :

I was born at Flournoy's Station, on Little North Elkhorn, hi Fayette county, on the 8th day of December, 1789, and my father was killed at Harmar's defeat at Fort Wayne on the 30th of September, 1790.

My mother married again, and when I was five years old, my step-father removed and settled in the forest near Cynthiana, and I was taught to labor from the time I was able to drag brush to the fire. We had then but few schools or school-books in the country. I had an old uncle who was a weaver, who took great interest in instructing me, and who devoted all the time he could spare to my education.

My step-father had but little education, but was a kind man, and would ride a great distance to borrow a book for me to read. In this way I was considerably in advance of the other children in the neighborhood. When about sixteen years old, I had a long and severe attack of fever, from which my recovery was slow, and it was thono-ht that I would not for a long time, if ever, be able to labor. The neighbors took a great interest in my feeble health and made up a school, and I taught about nine months. It was^ however, unpleasant to teach children with whom I had been reared, a majority of whom were older than myself. At the request of my step-father's relations, I gave up my school and took another one near the place where I was born.

The Rev. Samuel McClure, a Methodist preacher, lay sick about a month at the house where I boarded, and at night I waited on him to the best of my ability. There I became acquainted with Colonel Morrison, U. S. contractor, who employed me to find rations for the troops stationed at Fort Pickering. On my way down, the flat-boat on which I was embarked sunk, and I escaped only with the clothes I had on. I got on another boat, and worked my passage to Fort Pickering, and when I arrived there learned that the troops had been ordered to the post on the Arkansas river. I thought that if I followed them I would grow up among savages, and that I would become one also. I wrote to Colonel Morrison that I would not go to Arkansas, got on another boat, and worked my passage to I^atchez. There I was every day offered money, by Kentuckians, to return home, which I refused. I was for two or three weeks looking about for something to do - feeling at home among the flat-boats. I was told that on the next Sabbath Lorenzo Dow would preach at the Methodist Chapel. I could not suppress my curiosity, and before church time went and took a seat in a remote corner of the chapel. Soon the congregation began to collect, and after a while Lorenzo Dow came m, and, to my utter surprise, the Pev. Samuel McClure was with him. They went into the pulpit. At the end of the sermon, when they began to sing, I slipped out and started under the hill. When about fifty yards from the church, I felt a hand placed on my shoulder, and turning saw the Rev. Samuel McClure. I told him how I came to be there in such a plight. He held me fast, and said that he would assume the authority of a father over me, and that I should return with him. When we reached the church, the congregation was coming out. He called to Brother Gibson, and said: I know they want a school here, and here is just the teacher for the place, and he gave a short account of our acquaintance. The old man looked at me and at my soiled clothes, and remarked that I did not look much like a teacher, and inquired where I was born and where I was reared, and, when told in Kentucky, he remarked that he had employed a Kentuckian once who had remained with him about a month, then borrowed a horse and disappeared, and that he had never heard of horse or Kentuckian since. Brother McClure would take no denial, and Mr. Gibson put his hand in his pocket and drew out $15, and handed me, saying: "I give you that for a month's wages. You need clothes; to-morrow morning buy what you need, and come to my house, ten miles up the river, on the other side ; my girls will make your clothes. I never quarrel, and if we can't agree, we will just part - at the end of the month."

About two days before the end of the month, he asked me how I was pleased. I answered, that my attachment to the people was very strong, and that so long as I lived I would feel grateful and reflect with ]3leasure on the kindness with which I, as a stranger, had been treated by the whole neighborhood, but that duty to myself would compel me to seek better wages.

Mr. Gibson replied, that he had been talking to his son Simon and his son-in-law Harrison, and we have concluded that if you will remain and teach what children we choose to send to you, that we will give you, for ten months, $100 per month and your board - you may have two months vacation.

This proposition was better than I expected or would have asked, and I at once agreed to it. My intention was to return to Kentucky in vacation, bid my friends farewell, and to make the south my permanent home. But about two weeks before vacation I was taken sick, was removed to Natchez, and was three months in the care of a doctor before I was able to get about, and was $500 in debt, without means. I then went to the Pine Hidge, and taught school, with the three days' fever and ague upon me, until I was able to pay my debts, buy a horse, and come home about $100 better off than when I left, and with a constitution much enfeebled by disease.

Before I started for Kentucky an event occurred of which I often think. When I became too ill to teach, my employers paid me, and I went to Nat. Harrison's, and was there about three months, getting weaker every day. Mr. Harrison said to me, "If you remain here you must die. You are young, and life is worth a struggle, although the chances are against you. Yet, if you will make the effort, I will buy you a gentle horse, and you can try to return to Kentucky." I agreed to this kind proposition gladly. They fixed me up, and when they helped me on my horse at my departure Mrs. Harrison shed tears. I was three days getting to the Indian line, by which time I was able to mount my horse without assist- ance. I improved every day, and at "Pigeon Koost" was overtaken by horsemen, and had company through the land of the "Indian Nation." As soon as I got into the white settlements, I stopped and rested about a month. Let me refer again to my iUness. In less than a month after I was taken sick at Mr. Gibson's, about one-half the people of the neighborhood were taken sick ; and Mr. Gibson, his son Simon, and his son-in-law Harrison, with their famihes, removed across the river to Pine Ridge, leaving me at Ambrose Foster's to be taken care of until they could send for me. Foster sold out to a man by the name of Withers under an arrangement that he (Withers) was to have me taken care of until I was sent for. Withers had me, ill as I was, put in a skiff and taken across the river, and put out under the hill, and left me to my fate. In the evening, WilHani Shipp, a m.erchant from Scott county, Kentucky, came. He was an acquaintance of mine, and when he recognized me he had me taken to a boarding house, and employed Dr. Cochran to wait upon me ; and he visited me himself almost every day. Dr. Cochran was told that I was very poor, and that if I died he might never be repaid for his services. He replied : " If he dies, the reflection that I have been kind to a stranger will amply repay me for all I have done."

While in the southern country I became warmly attached to Nathaniel Harrison; he was one of the best men I ever knew, but was a deist. Although I had been reared among Methodists and was partial to them as a people, yet I had no religious opinions, or, if I had any, they were skeptical. We often conversed on religious subjects, and on one occasion he charged me never to let his wife know that he or I had any doubts of the truth of the Christian religion; and assigned as a reason that he would never have married aay woman who was not a pious Christian. I asked him why. Said he : " If she is really pious, it makes her a better wife ; a better mother ; a better mistress ; a better neighbor, and a better member of society. If her circumstances are affluent, it lessens her desire for show ; if she is overtaken by adversity, it enables her to bear the evils and disappointments of life with cheerfulness. When she comes to die, if she is in error, she is better oif than we ; and if we, and not she, are in error, she is a thousand times better ofl' than we are."

On my return to Kentucky, I took a school in my old neighborhood, on Little North Elkhorn. When I had taught a year, I made an arrangement with Captain Coleman, the surveyor of Harrison county, to live with him for a year. That year Captain Coleman was trading to Virginia, and I was the agent of Colonel Morrison, who owned large tracts of land in Pendleton and Harrison counties, and in attending to his business my acquaintance with him was renewed.

The next year war was declared, and I, with most of the Kentuckians of my acquaintance, volunteered to defend our country against the English. In a letter from Colonel Morrison, then at Lexington, Kentucky, who was the quartermaster-general of the

North-western Army, he said that the company to which I was attached would not be called into service for some time, and advised me to go with him, which I did.

After we arrived at Franklinton, then General Harrison's head-quarters, I was employed as temporary forage master and in similar duties until Colonel Campbell's detachment was ordered to Massinawa. I was then furnished with money and ordered to purchase and furnish the detachment with forage as far as Fort Granville, and during its absence to purchase and have provision stored at that place. On our way, the detachment halted at Lebanon, Ohio, a few days. Some of the militia colonels seemed to think that they had authority over our officers, especially staff officers. Officers of inferior grades were intimidated. One bought and supplied his own regiment with forage, and without making any regular returns, and then ordered me to pay him the money he said that he had expended. On my refusing to do so, we had a difficulty, and he threatened to ride me on a rail or drum me out of camp, which I did not fear. It ended in his preferring strong charges against me to General Harrison, and asking to have his claim for forage paid. General Harrison had probably received information from some of the other officers in relation to the affair. The result was, that before the detachment returned I received a letter from Colonel Morrison or General Harrison approving of my conduct, and saying that, if I could give the necessary security, that I should have the appointment of A. D. Q. M. Gen., with the rank and pay of a captain of cavalry. I wrote to Captain Coleman, rather lamenting that my poverty kept me back from my good fortune. In a short time, I was rejoiced and surprised at receiving a letter inclosing the necessary bond, with Captain Coleman's and Colonel Miller's names signed to it as security. I was immediately put iu charge of the transportation on the left line of the army, in which I was laboriously engaged, with but few incidents worth relating, until after the battle of the Thames. There were, however, many occurrences of exciting interest at the time which are hardly worth relating now. I will mention one as a sample. I had at St. Mary's twenty-six wagon loads of ammunition and a quantity of bacon to forward. General Harrison ordered Colonel Johnson to remain at St. Mary's and furnish me with escorts as they might be needed. I called on him for an escort for the ammunition and bacon. He inquired how many men I needed. I submitted to him as my superior officer to &x the nuQiber, and was amused at his grave reply: "I do not think any thing less than my whole regiment will be sufficient." I saw that he was determined to go forward and leave me to get an escort wherever I could. I was unable to hire Indians at Wapuchnata. I went to Urbana to see General Shelby, who was on his way with the Kentucky militia, and asked him to furnish me an escort for twenty-six wagon loads of provisions, then at Piqua. He utterly refused, saying t^at " his men came to fight, and not to escort provisions."

I was at my wit's end, and consulted Schonataff, an Indian of good sense, in the hope of inducing him to prevail on the friendly Indians to escort me. He said that they had all gone forward with General Har- rison, and laughing, he told me to send the wagons without an escort, because the enemy knew as well as we that Shelby was coming with the Kentuckians. He also said that there was not a hostile Indian this side of Detroit. I sent the wagons without an escort, and they went safely to Fort Meigs. This is a sample of the very many difficulties that had to be encountered. After the battle of the Thames, Colonel Morrison resigned and took the contract to supply the United States troops in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. He said that he did this to benefit an old friend. Major Martin. He wrote to me to resign and attend to the contract in Indiana and Illinois, which he feared would be a losing business otherwise. I resigned and went with a power of attorney to superintend the contract myself and to let it out to subcontractors. After riding over the country, I became satisfied that the contract for those two states was worthless. I let the contract to subcontractors, by which move Colonel Morrison made about $3,000.00, but the subcontractor was impoverished. The next year, 1815, I was employed the whole year surveying the lands of new residents on the waters of the Cumberland, Kentucky, Licking, and Sandy rivers. The next year, 1816, 1 had nothing else to do, and I got married. Afterward I formed a partnership with my brother-in-law, Mr. Downing, to carry on a brick-yard in Cynthiana, and at Moscow, Ohio, intending to collect my means, not exceeding $3,000.00, and buy a tract of land and cultivate the soil for a living, but was laughed at by Colonel Morrison and Mr. Downing. They said that if I would become a merchant that I would be able in five years to buy a plantation and indulge my partiality for farming, if I chose to do so. I yielded to their solicitations, formed a partnership with Colonel Morrison, bought a large stock of goods from Philadelphia, and opened a retail store at Cynthiana. The times were unpropitious, the price of goods was failing, and money matters were stringent in Kentucky; besides, I probably never would have made a good merchant, for, although I was a fair salesman, I was, and always have been, a poor collector. To complete my misfortunes, in my absence on the night of the 2d of April, .1822, my house, my books, every thing I owned, were burned. My wife escaped with our only child in her arms. Our second daughter was born four days later. I was then $1,400.00 in debt to the bank, but the officers encouraged me and assured me that I should not be sued. I borrowed a horse, rented land, and went to plowing, and labored hard four years. Besides, I was county surveyor, and every thing seemed to prosper with me. I got a wagon and team ; had young colts, sheep and hogs, when a friend for whom I was security failed, and I was compelled to sell all I possessed and pay his debts. This second misfortune afflicted me much more than the first. I became low-spirited, and determined to take my wife and three children and go west, and settle on land belonging to congress, and try to make enough to buy me a home. But a friend, who was a lawyer (W. K.Wall), urged me not to go, represented the danger of diseases in a new country, and persuaded me to read law, saying that if I would do so, and did not make enough money by practicing law to support my family, that he would support them. I yielded to his persuasions, obtained license to practice law, and practiced a num- ber of years, and would have accumulated a considerable property if I had been a good collector. As it was, I made a support for myself and family. In 1861 I fell and dislocated my hip, since which time I have only been able to walk with the aid of crutches. Mr. Lincoln's proclamation emancipated my five slaves, since which time my little means have been growing less. The evening of my life seems overshadowed by dark clouds."

Judge Curry's grandfather was the brother of Dr» Curry, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who was the patron and biographer of Robert Burns. John Curry, the uncle of whom Judge Curry speaks in his sketch, had many poems of Robert Burns in his, the poet's, own handwriting. They were destroyed at his death with other paper. Persons who did it were ignorant of their value. Judge Curry's mother was Miss Manlove, of Edinburgh.

The dark clouds of which the judge speaks at the close of his sketch were lifted and obscured his life's sky no more, and the sunset was bright and beautiful. His granddaughter. Miss Mattie Dee Dodd, supported him and his aged wife for many years before their death, and by her noble exertions freed these old servants of God from financial care. Judge Curry died at the age of ninety-four, and his wife, who was younger than he, lived some years after his death and reached the advanced age of ninety-two. Side by side they sleep in peace, ^o hand stretched out to them for alms was ever withdrawn empty. They laid up their treasures in Heaven by their unbounded charity.

The incident about to be recounted has been published in school and story books for nearly a hundred years; but as it properly belongs to Judge Curry's life, it shall find a place here.

Some time after Judge Curry's father's death, his mother returned to Delaware to look after some property she had there. She left Judge Curry with his grandparents and a faithful negro female servant named Hannah, who had a little son a year older than Judge Curry. To keep her boy, Dover by name, quiet while she milked the cows at evening, she w^as in the habit of giving him a bowl of bread and milk and seating him on the floor of the cabin. The boards that floored the cabin were rough, puncheons, and placed wide apart. One evening when Hannah came in from milking, Dover, whose vocabulary was not very extensive, said : " Oh, mamie, seed sich a pitty sing." He seemed much excited. The next evening she gave Dover the bread and milk and secreted herself to watch Dover, unseen by him. When he began to eat and rattle the spoon against the sides of the bowl, a large copper-head snake crawled up through a crack of the cabin floor and began to eat with him. If the snake put his head too far to Dover's side of the bowl, he slapped him with the spoon, and the snake, thus reproved, kept to his own side. Hannah was paralyzed. She hardly dared draw her breath. When the milk was gone, the snake disappeared. The next evening the snake came in search of Dover and his supper, but Hannah dispatched him, much to Dover's sorrow, who had formed quite an attachment for his vicious friend. Not long after this. Judge Curry's grandparents went to Lexington on some pressing business, and left the judge in Hannah's care without the least uneasiness. Late in the afternoon, Hannah heard the war cry of a band of Indians near the house. She knew that if she hesitated to leave the cabin, that she and the children would be naurdered. She tied Judge Curry and Dover together, placed them in a sack with their heads out, and tied the sack securely to her back and watched her opportunity when the war cry was most distant, and slipped out of the cabin and made her way to Flournoy's station or fort. Some time after Mrs. Curry returned from Delaware, this faithful negro was on her deathbed. Mrs. Curry promised to rear Dover as her own child, and she kept her word. In the division of the property after Mrs. Curry's death, Dover became Judge Curry's slave. Judge Curry, mindful of the great service Hannah had rendered him, had him taught the trade of brick-maker, which in those days was a very lucrative business. V\^hen Dover would make money, and he made it rapidly, he would place it in Judge Curry's hands for investment.

When he, Dover, was twenty-one years of age, Judge Curry said : " You are a free man. I will arrange your emancipation papers." Dover replied " that he was not ready for freedom yet." When he had accumulated $1,000, he said that he was ready to be free. Judge Curry made him a free man and bought his wife for him, and he lived and died in Cynthiana. Judge Curry had a stone placed at his grave after his death, on which is inscribed :

Chapter Iii

Since the days of Aristotle and ^sculapius physicians have not given quite so many snails and frogs to be taken as medicines, but have given great bottles full of mixtures as unpalatable and equally as startling to the sense of smell. Since the days of Aristotle, likewise, ph^^sicians have not advanced one inch in diagnosis, but they have traveled leagues in surgery.

^o man is so great and godlike as a learned physician. Why should he not be? He deals continually with machinery constructed by infinite wisdom, namely the body of man; which is a mysterious electric power clothed in flesh and blood. Somewhere in the brain dwells the solitary and invisible operator - the soul - which sends messages to the objective and receives them into the subjective world through the charged wires of the nervous system.

If physicians were not so afraid of striking out on an unbeaten path, as many discoveries might be made in the spiritual kingdom as have been made in the material. But when some soul, more daring than another, reaches out its best energies and performs some wonderful feat in the darkness that surrounds it, and almost acts independently of its tabernacle of clay, that poor soul has to beat a hasty retreat, or perhaps ends its earthly career in the mad-house. Be careful therefore - yes, children of men - not to show yourselves something strange to the multitude. Be careful not to investigate spiritualism, and do not suggest that it may be the dawn of a new science and not due to some supernatural agency!

The soul does well when it does its best ; physicians and metaphysicians know that. They have watched the dissolution of soul and body ; they have seen the body almost lifeless, and the soul unable to send a message, save through the sense of sight, but through that medium would come the assurance that it was strong in all its functions, and a moment afterward it would be gone.

been a brave rebel soldier, lay dying. He requested that the sister of one of his companions in arms should visit him. She went and was much impressed by the way he looked at death. He was not a professed Christian, but he was calm and fearless about entering eternity, and he believed that his soul was immortal. After talking a long time of the mysteries of life and death he promised the sister of his friend that, if possible, he would manifest himself to her soon after death. He lived two weeks after he had made this promise, and the night before he died the lady to whom he had made it heard that he was much improved and that he might linger some time. The next day about noon she stood in the doorway, when, all at once, there shivered through her whole being the consciousness of his death. The impression came from the air in front of her, but she saw and

The above is a digression. Physicians all have one peculiarity - they never lose a case. Some old woman or nurse kills the patient that might have been cured except for their intermeddling! The advent of microbes has been a great protection to old women and nurses, in as much as they are now made to share the blame along with them. As a class physicians are to be pitied. Their rest is broken; their best efforts ficorned and misunderstood by the class called " clodhopper." But the charlatan! He is never misunderstood by that class. " He slays his thousands and his tens of thousands " with his own jaw-bone, and is a lineal descendant of that friend of Balaam's, who surprised him so much when he " opened his mouth and spake in a man's voice."

We place here, by way of eminence, a brief sketch of the first physician who ever practiced medicine in CJynthiana - Dr. James McPheeters. This we are enabled to do in the words of his brother, the Rev. William McPheeters, wholeftin manuscript dated 1842, Raleigh, North Carolina, a very interesting history of the family. We make room only for the notice of one member, though the story is full of the stirring events peculiar to the early settlement of our country.

The family was large ; one hundred and seventynine are named in their proper places in their respective branches, and Joseph Moore, maternal uncle of Dr. McPheeters, had sixteen children (!!), while the Rev. William, the doctor's brother, who is author of the history from which we make this extract, had the goodly number of fourteen children (!!!); the latter was married three times, and gives a carefully written account of his three wives. Many clergymen appear in the family, and all, or nearly all, seem to have been Presbyterians. William McPheeters, father of the doctor, was born in Pennsylvania in 1729 ; removed ta Rockbridge county, Virginia ; married Rachel Moore, of that county, and died in 1807. He had ten children, of whom James was the fourth, and William, the writer from whom we copy, was the ninth. We preserve both the form and the paragraphs of the original, as follows :

4. James, born May 5, 1765. He acquired a Rberal education, commenced the study of medicine in Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, and afterward attended the medical lectures, Philadelphia, Dr. Rush being at that time one of the lecturers.

He married his cousin, Elizabeth Coalter, a daughter of Michael Coalter, May 25, 1791. For ten year& he practiced medicine in the town and neighborhood of Fincastle, Botetourt county. Afterward, he removed, in the year 1795, to Kentucky, and settled in the town of Cynthiana, Harrison county.

In the years 1796 and 1797, he was a great sufferer. He lost his eyesight, in a great measure, and was otherwise afflicted, being confined to his room and bed for ten weeks, and unable to sit up. He, however, gradually recovered his health, and, to some extent, his eyesight, so as to enable him to resume the practice of medicine ; and for more than two years he enjoyed comfortable health. But lie was again visited Avith sickness; and departed this life November 9, 1799, aged thirty-four years and six months. He died, at the home of Mr. Barr, a few miles from Lexington (Kentucky), to which town he had probably gone with the view of obtaining medical aid. He w^as buried in a graveyard near Mr. Barr's, on a road leading from Lexington to Cynlhiana.

"Very nearly, if not quite, contemporary with Dr. McPheeters was Dr. Septimus Taylor ; also. Dr. Reynolds. Li 1807, Dr. David Holt; in 1808, Dr. Timberlake, who died in 1828; in 1812,. Dr. Joseph Holt, and Dr. Andrew McMilhn ; in 1817, Dr. Joel C. Frazer, of great distinction; in 1820, Dr. Hendershot; in 1816, Dr. Duncan. In 1825, Dr. George H. Perrin began practice here; in 1822, Dr. Samuel McMillin; in 1828, Dr. Abram Addams began here, and practiced a full half century; in 1830, Dr. Harmon; in 1832, Dr. Jack Desha; in 1837, Dr. Lewis Perrin began practice here, and in 1876 returned to his native place, Abbeville, South Carolina, where he died, in 1880. In 1832, Dr. Thomas Magee began practice, and continued till 1849, w^hen he died of cholera; Dr. John Kimbrough began about the same time, and also died of cholera in 1849 ; in 1850, Dr. John A. Kirkpatrick, who died a few years ago ; in 1850, also, Dr. William H. Adair; in 1858, Dr. H. McDowell, still in extensive practice among us; in 1859, Dr. A. J. Beal; in 1860, Dr. McCloud; in 1865, Dr. Ruther-

Physicians of the present day : Dr. W. T. Mcl^ees, Dr. Thackeray Hedges ; Dr. John Righter, Dr. J. H. Smiser, Dr. James P. Madison, Dr. J. Martin, Dr. Hervey McDowell, Dr. Scott, Sr., Dr. 0. Scott, Dr. Lamme Givens, Dr. Joseph Boyd, and Dr. Hervey McDowell. T. M. Green says, in his " History of Kentucky Families : "

Major Hervey McDowell. - Another son of Captain John Lyle McDowell is Dr. Harvey McDowell, of Cynthiana. With a large, well-formed head, a high, square forehead, and prominent brow, a very clear, pale-blue eye that looks squarely at you, and sometimes glitters like steel, a full jaw and chin, indicating the utmost resolution and force, an athletic person, with features peculiar to his race. Major McDowell combines in a remarkable degree the family traits. About his manner there is a quiet reserve ; his appearance and bearing impress all who meet him as those of a man absolutely impenetrable to fear, and absolutely incapable of falsehood or any kind of meanness. The soldiers who fought by his side in the Confederate army describe his courage as heroic, his coolness and composure under the heaviest fire as phenomenal. These characteristics were most amply tested. Graduating at the military school near Frankfort, in 1856, he abandoned a large medical practice at Cynthiana, in 1861, to recruit a company for Roger W. Hanson's Confederate Second Kentucky Infantry, in which he was made a captain. With this regiment he remained until the close of the war. Captured and badly wounded in the head at Fort Donelson, he was a prisoner for six months at Camp Chase and Johnson's Island. Exchanged at Vicksburg, in September, 1862, he returned at once to his command and to the front. At Hartsville, in November, 1862, he was in the thickest of the fray. At Murfreesboro, he was m the desperate charge of Breckinridge's division, in which Hanson fell - was shot through both arms, and wounded in three other places. At Jackson, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw, Peach Tree creek, in the intrenchments at Utau creek, in all the fights around Atlanta, at Joiiesboro (where he was again captured), in several battles in South Carolina, one of them on the old battle ground of Camden ; wounded for the seventh time at Resaca, and six times again in other battles; in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina ; in prison, in camp, on the march, in the hottest fights of the bloody war ; in victory and in defeat ; always uncomplaining, calm, energetic, and daring, he exhibited the best qualities of a soldier. Promoted to the majorship for gallantry on the field at Chickamauga, and to the Heutenant-colonelcy for meritorious conduct at Jonesboro, covering the Confederate retreat before Sherman's march to the sea - the regiment having been mounted for the purpose - no man in that service has a more honorable record." I^o man is more honored and loved in Cynthiana than he.

Boyd, do not he envious of Dr. McDowell's war record. You have done your best - being 3'oung - and it is shrewdly suspected by one old woman of Cynthiana that each of you has killed his man.

Dr. Joel C. Frazer (written by L. G. Marshall). - One of the best-remembered names in Cynthiana and Harrison county is that of Dr. Joel C. Frazer, although he died in 1863. He was born in 1788, at the William Redmon place, about a mile from town on the Lair's Mill pike. His father, John Frazer, was the original owner of the farm, and when he moved to Falmouth, Kentucky, about 1826, he purchased a farm one mile south of that place ; and his house became the hospitable home of the Methodist clergy of the surrounding region. He died in 1835, loved and respected by his friends and neighbors. His farm is now owned by the heirs of Henry Dills, children of his granddaughter.

Young Joel read medicine at an early age with the well known Dr. Timberlake,who was a leading physician of the place, from 1810 to 1828. In 1822, Dr. Frazer married Miss Ruth Warfield, who died two years afterward. The doctor was still reading and practicing, and having attended medical lectures at Transylvania University, graduated in medicine in 1824. He at once, after graduation, proceeded to St. Charles, Missouri, intending to establish himself there. But the place turned out to be distressingly healthy, so much so, in fact, that the doctor and several other young professional men there found it impossible to pay their hotel expenses ; and, as a last resort, they concluded to get into a skiff, without saying "good-bye" to any body, and float down the river to some more favor- able locality. At the last moment, however, the innate manliness of Dr. Frazer revolted at the measure, and he refused to proceed, while his companions actually carried out their intentions, and thus disappeared from St. Charles. With Dr. Frazer, the whole scheme was, no doubt, only a piece of pleasantry, for he was, all his life, the embodiment of wit and merriment. But he soon thought best to return to Cynthiana, where he married, in 1826, his second wife, Mrs. Sanders, whose maiden name w^as Nancy Williams. For a few years his practice seems to have been great, though he carefully remitted all his dues left unsettled with his St. Charles creditor. To improve his business, he removed to Paris, Kentucky, in 1833, but returned in about a year to his native place again.

All this time his character as a physician was constantlv risins^, for he was devoted to the science of medicine and fond of the practice. He began now to take rank as a physician of the first order, and entered on a most successful career of nearly thirty years' duration. As to business, he had more than he sometimes wished. He soon found himself able to purchase the fine farm and residence once owned by Colonel William Brown, half a mile from town.

He died at the age of sixty-five - not very old, but he had been eminently successful, both financially and professionally. In addition, he was beloved as a citizen and greatly respected by the profession.

Dr. Frazer had one son, Hubbard Williams, born in 1827, who also became a physician, graduating at Transylvania in 1850, but died before his father, in

1859. He was a young man of splendid mental endowments, but of delicate constitution. He had his father's popular turn of manners, was even more witty and brilliant, scholarly and intelligent. His short career, however, did not admit of great professional achievements.

Dr. Joel Frazer was the only physician, of Cynthiana, who ever treated people who were afflicted from imaginary diseases with signal success. When called to see a malingerer he gave him or her his deepest sympathy, and dosed him on bread pills carefully coated, which always brought about a cure.

Dr. Harvey McDowell, of our time, uses different tactics. He was called to see a man who had been complaining for weeks ; he visited him two or three times, and found that there was nothing the matter with him but hypochondria. He finally jerked him out of bed and pummeled him soundly, to the great amazement of the patient and his wife, and then left him to get along the best way he could.

Dr. Ahram Addams (written by L. G. Marshall), was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of April, 1800. He was the son of William and Esther Addams, and when two years old moved with his father to Culpepper county, Virginia. Here becoming acquainted with Dr. John Eaton Cook, he studied medicine with that distinguished physician, and in due time graduated in the medical school of Winchester, Virginia. When Dr. Cook was called to fill a professional chair in the medical department of Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, Dr. Addams came with him as a member of his family, and remained some years, attending medical lectures in Transylvania, acting sometimes as amanuensis for Dr. Cook ; and finally graduated (1828) from the first great medical school of the West.

During his residence with Dr. Esten Cook, he wrote, in his capacity of amanuensis, the whole of that author's noted work on " Congestive Theory of Fevers," as also several other works well known to the profession.

From Lexington, Dr. Addams removed to Athens, Alabama, in 1828-29, where he began the practice of his profession, and became acquainted with his future wife. Miss Mary A. Coleman, an accomplished young lady from Harrison county, Kentucky, then on a visit to Athens, Alabama. In 1830, Dr. Addams returned to Kentucky and to Cynthiana, in whose vicinity resided Miss Coleman, who was the daughter of Captain James Coleman, well known as the commander of the large Harrison county company of mounted infantry in the War of 1812. The same year, 1830, Dr. Addams married Miss Coleman, by which marriage he had three children, two of whom died of cholera in 1833, and in 1835 his wife and infant child died. In 1836, Dr. Addams married Miss Mary T. Wall, daughter of Major William K. Wall. By this marriage he had ten children, eight of whom still survive. Dr. Addams died in Cynthiana on the 15th of April, 1875. In 1873, Dr. Addams visited Colorado, and returned in 1874. His scientific attainments and habits of close observation qualified him to understand and appreciate the wonders of that western country, and few travelers could tell so well what they had seen.

was extensive. He was a surgeon of eminence, and successfully performed numerous major and capital operations in that department of his profession. He was a competent writer on subjects pertaining to his art, and the medical journals were enriched by many a contribution from his pen. Above all, to his honor be it said, he was a man of strict truthfulness. There was not a spark of deceit in his nature. Whenever Dr. Addams said any thing as a matter of fact, the subject was ended by common consent. Of a kind and genial disposition, he was the favorite and companion of all ; happy with the merry, and as readily sympathizing with the sorrowful. He would not intentionally say a word that would impinge on the feelings of any one ; but of so pure a gentleman w^e may be allowed to repeat what has been said by more than one good judge in our hearing, namely, that Dr. Addams was the best physician, take him all in all, that ever resided in Cynthiana. His grandfather had the second ''d" inserted in his name to distinguish it from others of the same name.

'No physician ever resident in Cynthiana had so obedient a negro servant as Dr. Frazer. In proof of this assertion, note the following : Dr. Frazer's good old horse, that had borne him to see his patients for years, lay dying one evening, and the doctor said to Wyatt, the negro before mentioned : "Drag this horse off in the morning ; he will be dead by that time." The doctor was* called away in the night, and Wyatt arose in the morning and tied his master's horse to a sled and began to drag him away. Some one saw the horse kicking and struggling to free himself from the rope that was choking him, and said : " Wyatt, what do you mean by dragging that horse away before he is dead ?" Wyatt replied : " Dr. Frazer said he was dead. Guess he knows. He is de bes' doctor in dese parts."

Dr. George H. Perrin. - Dr. George H. Perrin practicecj. medicine in and around Cynthiana for many years. His own words, copied below, will give persons who read them a perfect understanding of his mind and character :

" In Kentuck}^ we have devoted much time to our animals by breeding, and have reached a degree of excellence in this respect which has given a world-wide reputation to our studs, herds, and flocks.

" Is it not time we were devoting ourselves to the culture of the human animal, lest our stock should become superior to their proprietors, groomsmen, herdsmen, and shepherds?"

Chapter Iv

The first school-house erected in this town was put up on the corner of the old cemetery. The ground was not used as a cemetery then, but many a boy and girl sported above the bed "where they should shortly lie." Mr. Endicott was the first teacher, and, if the traditions that come down to us are true, he did not give his pupils much time for melancholy reflection. He was a thorough scholar, but he followed Solomon's direction, and spared not the rod. Dr. George H. Perrin and General Lucius Desha were taught by him. It is impossible to give little more than a list of the teachers who have taught here since Cynthiana has been a town. " Samuel Endicott, Jesse Olds, James Kelley, William Garmany, Pev. Cowgill, Pev. Charles Crowe, Barnes, Shepherd, J. M. Elliot, George Clark, J. W. Peck, John Henry Smith, William H. Crutchfield, Rev. Carter Page, Misses Alice and Mary Duncanson, Rev. Jeffries, Rev. Isaac M. Reese, R. W. McCrery, L. G. Marshall." This list of teachers shall not be completed until a tribute of respect be paid to Professor Marshall. He was educated in the best schools and colleges of this country. He fought in the civil war, on the Confederate side, from its beginning to its close, and when he laid aside his arms his sectional prejudices slept with them. He came here in 1869, and served the people as a teacher until his death, in 1885. Any one who knew Professor Marshall would say that his teaching was a labor of love, and that his whole heart was in it. To make the Graded City School a success, he spared neither money, health, nor energy, and his perseverance in that direction deserves a monument. It was talked of soon after his death ; but gratitude is seldom born, and when it is its life is fleeting. A soldier, a scholar, a benefactor to this town, and an humble Christian, but his grave is still unmarked, save by a small stone bearing the date of his birth and death. A cenotaph should adorn the city school-grounds to prove that the people of Cynthiana would keep his memory green.

Professor Leonard. - Professor C. T. Leonard succeeded Professor Marshall, after a short interval, and has taught until the present time. He is the descendant of ministers of the Gospel and scholars, who have also been teachers. He is a man whom neither prejudice nor censure can turn from the path he thinks it right to pursue. A more vigilant, industrious, and conscientious teacher no people ever had. He is a young man. In forty years from now some one will praise him, when he has finished his work.

Mrs. Louise A. Delling. - Mrs. Louise Delling, formerly Mrs. Louise Ormsby, began teaching here in February, 1851, and continued in that employment until June, 1861. She was a teacher of high standing and of more than usual accomplishments. She had, too, financial abilities, and saved money. In 1861 Mrs. Ormsby married C. T. Delling. Since the death of Mr. Delling, Mrs. Delling has resumed her old call-

Teachers And Schools, Etc. ' 103

Professor J. A. Brown. - In 1878, Professor Brown established the Harrison Female College, since which time it has grown in popularity, and is now in a flourishing condition.

Ministers ! Physicians of souls ! Somebody put on velvet gloves and handle that subject. Ministers are the most popular men on earth. It is a soldier only w4io can contest with the minister on the field of popularity. A young military student, dressed in uniform, walking the streets of a strange town, will cause an old woman of eighty to hobble to the door to get a good sight of him, and the young girls - the bloodiest wars that ever have been fought. Let it be said unto you, fellow-men, that religion did not cause these wars, but the w^ant of it brought them about. Drop the subject, drop it! The ministers of the present day are Eev. Mr. Young, of the Methodist Church ; Rev. Mr. Yancy, of the Christian ; Rev. Mr. Cox, of the Baptist ; Rev. Mr. Dyer, of the Episcopalian; Rev. Father McGrady, of the Catholic. These ministers difi*er about the modes of worship, but they are all followers of Christ. Drop the subject, drop it !

Old Ministers

Below is a list of tile old ministers of the Gospel of this town who made their way to Heaven over wounding shards; but around whose heads shone unceasingly the light of the Son of Righteousness. They have, long since, entered into rest; and if they did quarrel, and sometimes fight, over the word BojiTtafia^ they all laid down their carnal weapons at the foot of the cross, at last, when they came in sight of the beautiful city of the New Jerusalem ; and they all entered into everlasting rest.

Bee. J. C. Walden. - " The parents of this noble and gifted man were from Virginia. His father, William Wakien, w^as born and grew up to manhood in King AYilliam county, on the Mataponi river, and was married to Mildred Rhodes, of Albemarle county, September 25, 1780. Of their eleven children, John Coal Walden was the youngest, and was born in Barren county, Kentucky, February 25, 1822. Soon after this, the family removed to Trigg county, Kentucky, where J. C. Walden passed his childhood and youth.

Teachers And Schools, Etc

In that region was a very scholarly and devout preacher of the Reformation, George P. Street. It is most probable that under the influence of this excellent and distinguished man, Walden, having obeyed the Gospel in his young manhood, had his mind and heart turned toward the ministry. He began to preach, and about this time became acquainted with Louisa B. Winston, daughter of Major William Winston, of Union county. She was a beautiful, brilliant, and fascinating woman, and a devoted member of the Christian Church. To her he was married, September 14, 1843. By this marriage, J. C. Walden had six children born to him : " Dr. Algernon, a successful physician of Owingsville, Kentucky, Winston, Bullitt, Mrs. Martha Lizzie Speed, Mrs. Louisa B. Johnson, and Mrs. Mary A. Williamson. Winston is in South America. Bullitt is in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has become distinguished in Utah as a business man and successful financier.

"J. C. Walden removed to IN'ew Liberty in 1862, where, in the following year, his beloved wife, who had been a precious support to him in his ministerial work, was called home. April 20, 1864, he married Margaret E. Smith, of Carroll county, another bright and excellent Christian woman, who lived in cordial sympathy with his work until his death at his home, in Cynthiana, May 16, 1892. J. C. Walden leaves a widow and seven children, six by his first marriage and one by the last." The people of Cynthiana readily indorse every word He v. Mr. Grubbs has written in praise of J. C. Walden. ISTo man ever led a more active Christian life than he. He had climbed so high on " Zion's Hill " that his horizon inclosed the sinful and suffering of all the world ; and lie would have gladly ministered to their wants had it been possible. 1^0 way was too dark for him to travel, no dive of sin too deep for him to enter, if by so doing he could redeem a soul. In prosperity his heart was chastened by the sorrows of others ; in adversity it was upborne by the hope of another and a better life than this. At last his horizon, already so broad, touched the borders of the Promised Land, and the faithful, loving, old pilgrim crossed over and entered into his immortal inheritance.

Chapter Clerks Of The Courts

Perry Wherritt. - The Wherritts were Welsh, but had lived in England many years before they came to America, which was in the year 1634. Thomas Wherritt, father of Perry Wherritt, was born in the latter part of the seventeenth century, near Hagerstown, Maryland, where the Wherritts settled when they came to this country. The Kings came with the Wherritts, and were Scotch-Irish Episcopalians, and settled at Leonardstown, Maryland. Thomas Wherritt married Margaret King, of Leonardstown, sister to Major Henry King, who fought under Washington in the Revolution. Tradition is still busy concerning the appearance of Major King, who is said to have been a grand specimen of soldierly manhood.

Thomas Wherritt left Maryland, 1794, and came with his family to Scott county, where they lived several years, and then removed to Jessamine, where Thomas Wherritt died in 1811, and his wife, Margaret King Wherritt, died in 1820. Perry Wherritt was born November 8, 1807, came to Cynthiana in his youth, and married Zarelda Morrison, granddaughter of Dr. Gavin Morrison. In 1851, Mr. Wherritt was elected clerk of the county court, and held the office, except during the short interval of his imprisonment in Camp Chase in time of the civil war, until 1885, when he died. From the time he was elected until the day of his death, he sat in his office, like " Matthew at the receipt of customs," and gave advice to all poor people of this county, and charged them nothing. He was not slow to put his hand in his pocket and prove his sympathy for the impecunious. The President of the United States could not have defeated him for the office of countv clerk.

His family in Wales had a coat-of-arms, but so great a democrat was he that he would have placed a spreading adder on his letter head more readily than his crest. He is mourned for to this day, and missed sadly by the poor of this county. The children of Zarelda and Perry Wherritt are Sarah, who married William Worden ; Ann, who married Judge W. W. Cleary, of Covington ; Margaret, who married Mr. Alexander, of "Alexander Farm," New Jersey; Thomas, of Arkansas ; Hannah, who married C. T. Wilson, of this place ; and Ellen, who married Rev. Mr. Rains, of Tennessee. David Wherritt died in the South, after having been married to Mary Rutherford for a few years. -

R. M. Collier. - Thomas Wherritt took his father's place as clerk of the county for a few months. Then R. M. Collier was elected to fill Mr. Perry Wherritt's place. R. M. Collier is descended on his mother's side, who was a Miss Moore, from Revolutionary grandsires ; on his father's side, he is a lineal descendant of that Bacon who was the author of " ^N'ovum Organum Scientiarum."

When asked about his war record, Mr. Collier replied: "Oh, I was in a few skirmishes, but nothing serious. On inquiry, it was learned that Mr. Collier volunteered in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen, and that the little '' skrimmages^' he speaks of were such as Colonel E. Clay and General Humphrey Marshall led him into. A modest man is a jewel.

W. W. Longmoor was descended from a Scotch family. He was horn June 21, 1840, in Kenton county, Kentucky. When the civil war began, his sympathies being with the South, he joined the Confederate army. He enlisted in Company H, Second Kentucky C. S. Infantry. After serving three months he was severely injured by a fall. '' On his recovery he assisted in organizing two companies under command of Captain Corbin, of Boone county, Kentucky, and accompanied them as far as Mt. Sterling, when they were routed, and several of their number killed, by the Federals, who were concealed in the court-house and in the dwellings of the town." Mr. Longmoor was captured and imprisoned on Johnson's Island for some months, and was exchanged at Vicksburg in the fall of 1862. " He reported to Colonel Hanson, of the old Second Infantry, and then joined Basil Duke's command. He was captured during Morgan's Ohio raid, and imprisoned in Camp Chase, and afterward in Camp Douglas. During his imprisonment in Camp Douglas he suffered much from the severe cold of that climate, and determined to make his escape. The wall around the camp was high and strong, and the parapet was always well guarded, and the wall below it was never free from the soldiers who watched it day and night. Longmoor, one starlight night, pressed a Federal overcoat and scaled the wall. The guard on the parapet saw him and leveled his gun at him. Longmoor held up a bottle as if to drink and the guard seeing his overcoat thought that he was a fel- low-soldier and let him pass. He had been captured in summer attire, and his overcoat could not prevent the piercing wind from taking aim at his unprotected lower extremities, and he suffered intensely. When he came into the broad light of a bakery window he saw a squad of Federal soldiers, and fearing detection, he entered the baker shop. He sat down to a table and asked for something to eat. The woman who brought it eyed him, and he explained that he had been at a masquerade ball, and had dressed like a Southron. She did not seem satisfied, and Longmoor took his leave, and made his way as secretly as possible to the house of Mrs. Judge Morris, and received from her all the assistance necessary for his escape. " He made his way to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, reported to Colonel Hanson, and afterward joined Morgan's men, in Company B, Second Cavalry, Colonel Basil Duke commanding, and remained with him until the Battle of Cynthiana, Kentucky, June 11, 1864. At that battle his career as a soldier came to an end, unless long and severe suffering may be reckoned as part of a soldier's professional life. He was wounded in the thigh in such a manner that amputation at the hipjoint became necessary." He slowly recovered. February 5, 1867, he was married to Louisa Addams, daughter of Dr. Abram Addams, of this place. In 1874, he was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Harrison county, which office he held until 1889, when he was elected clerk of the Court of Appeals, and removed to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he died. The people, the whole people of Cynthiana, loved Mr. Longmoor. Handsome, brave, sincere and lovable, no

David Snyder. - The first ancestor of David Snyder came from Germany to Pennsylvania. George Snyder, the father of David Snyder, came to Paris, Kentucky, from Burks county, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah McLaughlin, of Clark county, Kentucky. The McLaughlins were Scotch, and came to Virginia at an early day. The father and mother of Sarah McLaughlin were in the theater at Richmond, Virginia, when it took fire. Being near the door, they made their escape, while so many perished.

David Snyder lost both father and mother in his infancy. He had three brothers older than himself. He came to Cynthiana in 1861, and has proved himself to be an expert in pharmacy. When the civil war broke out and Morgan made his first raid on C^mthiana, Mr. Snyder enlisted under his banner, and fought until the close of the war. He was at Gallatin with Morgan when the phantom horses were seen. The facts about that strans^e occurrence are as follows: Company E, Hutchinson captain, was ordered to go around Gallatin and on to Saundersville, and burn a bridge near by. The advanced guard consisted of twenty-five men, Joe Jones commanding. They had gone some distance on their way; night had fallen, but the stars shone and made sufficient light to guide them, except in the wooded fields. They came to a stream, and James Cooley stopped to let his horse drink, and cut the column in two. Ash Welch rode around Cooley just in time to see the fore part of the column make a sharp turn to the right and disappear. He turned back, but not in time to see Cooley and the hind part of the column disappear along the bank of the stream to the left. Welch yelled and shouted, but received no reply. He then spurred his horse forward and overtook Captain Hutchinson and his men, and told him that half of his company had taken the wrong way and had been lost. Captain Hutchinson ordered Whip Rogers to go with Welch and look for the missing soldiers. They went back to the stream at which the cohnnn had been severed, and up and down the banks to the right and left, but saw nothing of the missing men. They gave up the search as hopeless, and rode forward to overtake Hutchinson. They had not gone far in that direction, when Whip Rogers halted and said, " What are they in that clump of trees?" Ash Welch whispered, " Horses." Rogers dismounted and approached them cautiously, examined them carefully, and said : '' Here they are. I recognize Cale West's horse, and Wickliffe's, and Frank's; the men must be somewhere about." Then he called at the top of his voice, but his only answer was echo. Welch and Rogers both noticed that the horses made no noise, and stood as motionless as if carved in marble. All cavalrymen know that a horse used to military service will neigh and prance for his rider when he hears a shout, but these horses never moved a muscle ; and so they left them silent and motionless in the dim starlight. They had gone out of the direct course to be taken in order to rejoin Hutchinson, and came in sight of a railroad bridge. Said Whip: "Ash, we must cross that bridge; of course it is guarded by Federal troops; if I fall, you pass right on as fast as you can ; if you fall, I shall do the same." They both took out their revolvers, cocked them, and made for the bridge, their horses in a dead run, crossed the bridge in safety - it had no guard. When they came up with Hutchinson and his men, the men for whom they had been sent had arrived. When West Wicklifle and others were asked about hitching their horses at the place described above, they declared that they never had been out of their saddles, and had not paused an instant since Cooley had cut the column in two. Then the soldiers had something to talk about by their camp-fires, and the phantom horses will one day be woven into a legend.

William Torrence Handy is descended on his mother's side from Scotch-Irish ancestors ; on his father's side, from English and French. The Handys came to this country in the early part of the seventeenth century, and settled in Maryland. W. T. Handy owns old family Bibles with the birth records complete from the beginning of the year 1600. One Handy is marked in those records as the happy father of twenty children, l^one can deny that his " quiver was full " w^hen the twentieth child was born, and he must have been "blessed" according to Holy Writ. Another ancestor of the Handy name was a very wealthy merchant of Philadelphia in time of the Revolution, and gave thousands of dollars to the patriots to build ships for the service of their country. The immediate male ancestors of W. T. Handy of the Handy name were lawyers. Robert Dashiel Handy, father of W. T. Handy, was a member of the Covington bar and author of the " Law

Reports " that bear his name. He was distinguished for his extended knowledge of the laws of this country. R. D. Handy married Eliza Jane Torrence, daughter of General Torrence, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and grandniece of General Findlay, of Cincinnati. General Findlay married Jane Irwin, sister to Margaret Irwin, wife of General Harrison. When General Harrison was elected President of the United States, his wife was ill, and Jane Findlay, her sister, went to Washington and presided in her stead at the inaugural receptions. The Torrence ancestors of W. T. Handy furnished more than one Protestant soldier to languish behind the walls of Londonderry in time of the siege.

W. T. Handy married Mamie Welch, daughter of Priscilla Addams Welch and Ashbel Welch, of Frankfort, Kentucky. W. T. Handy is the youngest commissioned officer in the Yankee army, having received his commission in the seventh year of his age, in 1862. When it came to hand he was ill of measels, and receiving his title of colonel in good faith, wept bitterly that he could not mount and ride with the soldiers. Below is an exact copy of the commission that does honor to W. T. Handy, and records the name of Governor Tod among the names of the most genial of distinguished men :

David Tod

It appearing to me, that on the 19th day of February, 1862, you were duly appointed Aide-de-Camp to Governor, Regiment Ohio Vohmteer Militia, organized and mustered into the service of the United States under Proclamation of the President, dated May 3, 1861.

Now YOU KNOW, that by the powers vested in me by the Constitution and laws of said State, and reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, fidelity, and ability, I do by these presents Commission you as Aide-de-Camp as aforesaid, for the term of Three Years, unless sooner discharged. And I do hereby authorize and require you to discharge, all and singular, the duties and services appertaining to your said office, agreeably to law and general regulations, and to obey such orders and instructions as you shall, from time to time, receive from your superior officers and your Grandmother.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the Great Seal of the State of Ohio to be affixed, at Columbus, the 19th of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred

Governor Tod could not foresee that Colonel Handy would in future time, become desperately enamored of the daughter of a red-hot rebel soldier, and that he would marry the sweet girl and live happily ever afterward; that he would make Kentucky his home, and come to believe that rebels were not such bad folks after all. Ha ! ha !

Chapter Vi Abdallah Park

W. H. Wilson established Abdallah Park, at Cynthiana, Kentucky, in 1875. . In 1876 he went to England and Egypt in its interest. From Egypt he imported Cobman, and an Arabian horse whose name was Ibn Mosk. Cobman died on the voyage to America, and "Ashstead was purchased to fill his place.'' Mr. Wilson soon ceased to handle thoroughbreds, and turned his attention to trotters. The celebrated horses born and reared at Abdallah Park are I^qw York Central, Semi-colon, Coralloid, White Foot, Indigo, Orinoco, Membrino Kate, Lady Thompson, Ophir, Senator Updergrapfit', Black Storm, Raymon, Moonstone, Amurath, Gossiper, Jubilee de Jarnette, and Holstien. He purchased Sultan from L. J. Rose, of Los Angeles, California. This horse alone earned W. H. Wilson the large sum of $75,000. He dropped dead a month after the death of Mr. Wilson. A short time before Mr. Wilson's death, he had been ofl:ered $40,000 for him. Thirty or more hands were employed about the park year after year, and, although it cost from forty to fifty thousand dollars per year to run it, brought in return to its owner an average of $150,000 every j^ear, and earned for the county $50,000 - that remained in it clear of all expense. Simmons is yet owned by the estate. His gait is 2:28. He is the only sire in America, now alive, that has sired four trotters with records below 2:14. Mr. Wilson was a man of great energy, and perseverance that never slept. He was a fine conversationalist. On his return from Egypt, he gave a description of the " D6seh," never equaled by any tourist - so said knowing ones. His father was an Irish gentleman, and his mother an accomplished Italian.

W. H. Wilson was born in Whiteside county, Illinois, in the year 1837. In a tribute to his memory, written by his daughter, Mrs. James, this paragraph occurs: "We think of him as the husband and father, who, in his rare moments of leisure, found his pleasure with us, and who made great sacrifices to give us the education thought best for each. He was a man of generous heart, and I have known by accident of many cases of his aid to needy ones, especially fatherless children."

Chapter Vii

Up from the foul waters of the Ganges, in 1833, rose the invincible emissary of death - Asiatic cholera ; and followed the line of travel until it reached Cincinnati. There it paused for a time to slay its victims.

He made his way on foot, selling his wares as he came, to Cynthiana, and felt secure as he entered the clean, quiet little village. The citizens had no fear of him ; they did not believe cholera contagious. A short time after his arrival Major W. K. Walls's first wife was taken violently ill, and died in a few hours. The physicians pronounced her disease Asiatic cholera. It spread rapidly, and whole families were swept away in a night. Men left home in the morning apparently in good health and before evening were brought home dead.

When the cholera began to " rage " in Cynthiana, the tin-peddler fled, and tried to return to Cincinnati, but took the cholera, a few miles out of town, and lay dying on the road-side in sight of two country hotels. People began to think that cholera was in-

All the idle " bad boys " in town had turned " Good Samaritans," so they went five or six strong to administer to the tin-peddler. The heat of the sun was scorching. The first thing they did was to build a shelter of planks over the dying man ; Mr. ^N^icholas Coleman gave him a suit of good clothes and bed-clothes to make him more comfortable, but nothing done for him caused the disease to abate. One of the Good Samaritans broke open a hempbarn, and he and his fellow-laborers bore the tinpeddler to its friendly shelter where he died. Mr. ]N". Coleman furnished his burial clothes and the Good Samaritans buried him.

There was a Miss , at Lair's Station, who apparently died of cholera. She was prepared for the grave and placed in a cofiin. A relative went to take a last look, as she thought, at the remains of her loved one. She placed her hands on the girl's face and moved her head slightly. The dead girl opened her eyes and looked at her horrified relative in an unconscious way, but with an expression that proved that she was alive. The people in the house took the girl from the cofiin at once, removed her grave clothes, and used restoratives, and had the pleasure of seeing her sit up in bed and talk rationally. She did not know that she had been believed to be dead^ nor that but for the undertaker having been delayed in Cynthiana she would have been buried.

Cholera

complaining of pain she died. Every effort was made to resuscitate her,but in vain. Physicians pronounced her really dead, and she was buried.

The greatest excitement prevailed. The death list was about equal between those who used remedies and those who did not while suffering from cholera.

All the time cholera was in Cynthiana, and it was here three months, the atmosphere was damp and intensely warm about noon of the day, but cold and damp nights and mornings. It began here in June. There were frequent rain showers almost every day^ and after they would cease the sun would shine out on the wet ground with a pale light, but with heat so intense that the earth would steam. Fruits, vegetables and vegetation of all kinds were abundant.

Many persons died from fright. Mr. Harvey Martin lived, in 1833, where Mr. A. Ashbrook formerly lived. His wife died of cholera after being ill but. a short time. Mr. Martin went to the room of hisaged mother and told her that his wife was dead. She fainted, and never revived, and was buried.

Cholera was a mystery in 1833. Who knows any thing about it to-day ? Somebody has discovered that microbes of a certain kind cause the disease. But of what avail is this discovery ? To cope with the myriads of microbes, or invisible death germs, that cause cholera, one would be compelled to go armed with a microscope and to magnify every drop of water and every article of food necessary to sustain life. Living always in the fear of death is far worse than death itself.

Chapter Yiii David Sheely And His Ghost

1847, Sept. Venire swn. Verdict and sentence of death passed to be executed 30th Oct. Oct. 28th respited till Nov. 19th, 1847, on which day he was executed.

David Sheely was innocent of the crime of which he was charged, and died a victim of circumstantial evidence. It happened in this wise : David was a kind hearted man, and would have been a good citizen had it not been for his love of whisky. He would often get very much intoxicated, so much so that when he was sober he could never remember what he -did while he was in his cups.

David Sheely And His Ghost. 12B

got on a "big spree," as Kentuckians call it, and Avent fishing. There was one very desperate character among them whom all would have shunned in a. sober state, but, being drunk, they and he were jolly fellows together. It was a moonlight night in the pleasant month of June, thirteenth day of the month in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fortyseven. David Sheely never forgot that date. They fished until two o'clock in the morning. Da\id Sheely then said, " Go with me to my house and my wife, ^ancy, shall get up and prepare and cook these fishes and will have early breakfast." Thej^ all took a big dram apiece and repaired to Sheely's house. They were in a very uproarious state and banged on the door and clamored to be admitted to E'ancy Sheely's room. Nancy was the mildest of women, but she w^as a little refractory that morning and refused to get up and draw the fishes, and 'positively declared that she would not have breakfast until daylight. The door was finally forced open and the maudlin crowd entered Mrs. Sheely's bed chamber. They threatened to kill her if she did not rise, but she seemed perfectly calm and collected, and remained on her couch and looked at the reeling figures about her and said never another word. David Sheely lay down on the bed beside his wife, and soon he and his companions were fast asleep, some on the floor of Mrs. Sheely's bed-room and some on the grass out in the yard.

The next morning David Sheely awoke and saw his wife lying dead beside him, and he fled the house. Suspicion was fastened upon him. He was found, arrested, and brought before justices of the peace.

Statement of evidence produced in support of the -charge again David Sheely for murder, to wit, William Smith deposes as follows: sayeth that he was at the house when murder was commited and seen the corps, and are of opinion that said i^ancy Sheely was choaked to death, as there w^as sines of finguerz on the neck, furthermore this deponent saieth not. Zedikiah Miller made about the same statement.

We command you to summon Byram Marshall if to Le found in your Bailiwick to appear before the Judge of the Harrison Circuit Court at the Court House in -Cynthiana on the 4th day of our present term, to testify and the truth to speak on behalf Defendt. in a certain matter of controversy now pending and undetermined in our said court wherein The Commonwealth is Pltif. and David Sheely is Deft., and this they shall in no wise omit under the penalty of £100, and have then there this writ.

David Sheely And His Ghost

Byron Marshall appeared and testified as follows : '' Witness went to Sheely's house this morning, June 13th. The door was partly open. Witness saw no person stirring. Witness went in the house; saw Mrs. Sheely on the bed. Witness asked Mrs. Sheely if she was asleep this time of day. Mrs. Sheely made no answer. Witness went to the bedside ; discovered Mrs. Sheely was dead; saw marks of violence on her neck and face. Witness left immediately and gave the alarm to the neighbors." And the neighbors were thoroughl}^ alarmed. Every woman in the county knew what she would have done in !N^aucy Sheely's place.

Looking over the transcript of record, one finds about two thousand saids and aforesaids; as many willfullys, feloniouslys, and malices aforethoughts, David Sheelys and !Rancy Sheelys, and comes to the gist of the matter and the death sentence. Then the court becomes polite and asks David Sheely why the sentence of death should not be pronounced upon him. The lawyer talks beautifully for David, but David says for himself simply, '' If I killed !N^ancy Sheely I don't know it." This is said in an audible tone. In an undertone he adds : " I had nuthin' agin 'er."

He was to have been executed 30th October, 1847. October 28th, Governor Owsley respited ' him until November 19, 1847. Just before the time of his exe- cution he made his escape from jaiL It was said that the best citizens of the town aided him to do so. But want of the beverage he had always imbibed, and confinement in a murderer's cell, had wasted his energies, and he was soon overtaken and again lodged in jail.

People began to believe that David Sheely was an innocent man, and that he was doomed to die for the crime another man had committed. Efforts were made to procure a longer respite, but in vain. 'Hovember 19, 1847, dawned, and then the said and aforesaid David Sheely's time was almost come. A gallows was erected on a beautiful hill north of Cynthiana, and the people began to gather and to bring their children to see the awful sight of Sheely's execution. A rude coffin was placed in a cart, and the cart was driven to the jail door, and poor David walked slowly out of prison and climbed in and sat upon his own coffin. He was driven at a slow pace through town in order that he might warn the citizens not to kill their wives. He seemed less moved by his hard fate than many around him. When he stood on the scaffold, with the fatal necklace around his neck, and his hands tied, he looked about him. From his vantage ground on the gallows tree he could see, shimmering in the hazy light of Indian summer, miles and miles of the hills whereon he had wandered since his early childhood. He lovingly turned his gaze to the home from which he had been absent so long. Then the sheriff touched him and said: ''Any thing to say, David?" David gave another longing, lingering look at the hills, then turned his eyes to the sea of faces below him, stretched his wasted arms toward them, as if in benediction, and said, in a clear, steady voice : " If I killed Nancy Sheely I don't know it; 1 had nothm' agin 'er." Stop; hold your breath! David Sheely is in eternity!

Forty years after David Sheely's life had been taken to warn men not to kill their wives, the desperate character, before mentioned, but not by name, lay in