Grayson County
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ASHLOCK, James H.
BRATCHER, Andrew J.
CARTER, James L.
EMBRY, George E.
ESKRIDGE, Jesse R.
HARL, Tandy L.
HAYNES, William L.
HIGGINS, John M.
LAYMAN, Reason T.
McCLURE, Daniel E.
MILLER, Emmett H.
PAYNE, James S.
JAMES HENRY ASHLOCK, M. D. From Civil war times to the present there has been
a member of the Ashlock family identified with the medical profession in Hardin
County. Dr. James H. Ashlock alone has carried the burdens of professional work
here for more than forty years. His life has been one of essential service to
humanity, and his kindly character and his devotion to his work have won him
hosts of friends throughout that section of the state. Doctor Ashlock, who lives
at Glendale, was born near White Mills in Hardin County, January 29, 1855, a son
of Doctor Robert L. and Matilda Catherine (Nappier) Ashlock. His parents were
both born near Bardstown in Nelson County, Kentucky. Dr. Robert L. Ashlock early
took up the study and for many years practiced medicine in Hardin County. He
also had a farm, and James Henry, his son, grew up on the farm. He made use of
his opportunities to acquire a very thorough general education preparatory to
his professional career. He attended country schools, high school, Cecilian
College and Hartford College. He began the study of medicine under his father,
and in 1875, at the age of twenty, graduated from the University of Louisville.
After less than a year of practice in Grayson County he returned to Hardin
County, and for nearly twenty years practiced in his old home community at White
Mills, and since then at Glendale. His work has covered a large territory and
out of necessity has been a thorough practice. Doctor Ashlock has farming
interests in his community. He is a member of the Hardin County and Kentucky
State Medical associations, is a member of the Christian Church and in politics
is a republican. In 1878 he married Miss Una West. Her father, J. W. West, was
for many years a teacher in the schools of Louisville. Doctor and Mrs. Ashlock
have five living children: Grace, Oleta, Pauline, Hettie and William R. The only
son was enlisted and was in training at Camp Knox during the World war.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton
Coulter; volume 3, page 301.
ANDREW JACKSON BRATCHER. A rising young member of the Butler County bar,
Andrew Jackson Bratcher, while making rapid strides in his profession has also
rendered valuable public, service and at present occupies the position of
Circuit Court clerk. He is a native of Butler County, where his entire life has
been passed, having been born at Dexterville, September 26, 1890, a son of
Commodore B. C. and Laura Bratcher. The family was founded in Kentucky by his
great-grandfather, who was a pioneer from Virginia in the early days, settling
in Grayson County, where he was engaged in agricultural operations during the
remainder of his life. His son, Bennett Bratcher, the grandfather of Andrew J.,
was born in Grayson County, subsequently moving to Butler County, in both of
which communities he followed farming and stock-raising as a vocation. During
the Civil war he enlisted in the Union Army, and about the time of the battle of
Shiloh died from an attack of pneumonia. He married Rebecca Kessinger, who was
born in Butler County, Kentucky, and who belonged to a family that had been
founded in Colonial Virginia, whence it came to Kentucky at an early day.
Commodore B. C. Bratcher was born in 1857, in Butler County, where he was
reared, educated and married and where his entire active life was passed in the
pursuits of the soil. His farm was situated 22 miles north of Dexterville and on
this property he made numerous improvements and continued his intelligent,
practical and successful activities until his death in 1909. He was a republican
in politics and his religious faith was that of the Missionary Baptist Church,
to which belongs his worthy widow, who survives him and still lives on the old
home place. She was born in 1860, in Butler County, and bore her husband four
children: Frances Ann, who resides at Owensboro, Kentucky; Andrew Jackson;
Minnie, who married Herbert Evans, a farmer near Banock, Butler County; and
Eliza Jane, who is unmarried and resides with her mother. Andrew J. Bratcher was
educated primarily in the public schools of the rural districts of Butler
County, following which he attended Hartford College, Hartford, Kentucky, which
he left in 1912. In the meantime, in 1909, he had commenced teaching school, a
vocation which he followed for some years in Butler County, and while thus
engaged read law under Capt. N. T. Howard, of Morgantown. He was admitted to the
bar in September, 1913, and in the winter of 1917 came to Morgantown and for one
year was clerk of the exemption board of Butler County. While thus employed he
took the opportunity to assist in all the drives for bond sales, etc., and in
various ways assisted the organizations which were working in behalf of the
movements made necessary by war's demands. Mr. Bratcher began the active
practice of law in 1918 and soon attracted to himself a very gratifying
clientele. He devoted himself closely to his profession until January 9, 1920,
when he accepted the appointment to the office of clerk of the Circuit Court to
fill out the unexpired term of R. E. Keown, this period of office terminating in
January, 1922. He maintains offices in the court house. In politics Mr. Bratcher
is a republican. He holds membership in Acacia Lodge No. 272, A. F. & A. M.,
Morgantown; and Winnipee Tribe, I. O. R. M., of Welcome, Kentucky, in both of
which he is popular and has many friends, as he has also in professional and
political circles. He is the owner of a pleasant and comfortable home at
Morgantown. In 1915, in Butler County, Mr. Bratcher was married to Miss Fannie
D. Pharris, a daughter of James W. and Laura (Taylor) Pharris, residents of
Rosine, Ohio County, Kentucky, and to this union there were born three children:
Waldemar Dwight, born April 6, 1916; Clifton Rhodes, born December 23, 1918; and
John Vance, born September 24, 1920.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles
Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, pages 492-493.
JAMES LEE CARTER, M. D. In professional circles of Daviess County a
recognized position and high standing are maintained by Dr. James Lee Carter, of
Whitesville. Engaged in practice at this place since 1907, he has been esteemed
not only for his commendable professional conduct but for the public-spirited
and constructive stand he has taken in matters which have interested citizens of
progressive tendencies. Doctor Carter was born on a farm near Whitesville in
Daviess County September 4, 1870, and is a son of John S. and Delia (Chapman)
Carter. John S. Carter was born in Hancock County, Kentucky, a son of Alfred
Carter, a native of Culpeper County, Virginia, and a soldier of the
Revolutionary war, who came to Kentucky about 1800 and settled in Hancock
County. He married a Miss Phillips. The maternal grandfather of Dr. James L.
Carter was Rev. Jesse Chapman, a Baptist preacher, whose wife was a Miss Ellis,
and he spent a large part of his life in Ohio County, Kentucky, where his
daughter Delia was born. Soon after their marriage John S. Carter and his wife
settled on a farm in Daviess County, subsequently removing to Grayson County
when James L. Carter was four months old. James L. Carter was reared on the home
farm in Grayson County and attended the public schools, following which he took
a short course at Lynnville Academy, White Mills. He then entered the Memphis
(Tennessee) Hospital Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1898, and
began the practice of his profession at Maxwell, where he remained until 1907.
In that year he changed the scene of his activities to Whitesville, where during
a period of fourteen years he has risen to a recognized position of prestige in
his calling and has won the confidence of a large and representative practice
and the esteem and respect of his fellow-practitioners in the county, who
elected him president of the Daviess County Medical Society for the year
1918-19. He continues to hold membership in that body, as he does also in the
Kentucky State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In
connection with his large and constantly-growing practice he owns and conducts a
modern pharmacy at Whitesville, a well-patronized establishment where the doctor
compiles his own prescriptions. Doctor Carter is a Master Mason and a member of
the Modern Woodmen of America. In church faith he is a Baptist. His political
allegiance is given to the democratic party, and he has taken an active part in
political campaigns. A progressive and patriotic citizen, during the World war
he tendered his services to the United States Army Medical Corps, but was
rejected because of slightly defective eyesight, being, however, placed on the
reserve list. In 1899 Doctor Carter was united in marriage with Emma Field, a
daughter of Clinton M. Field, an agriculturist of Daviess County, and to this
union there have been born four children: Stuart, Ellis, Clinton and James Lee,
Jr., all living with their parents in the comfortable family home at
Whitesville.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E.
Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 46.
GEORGE ESTLE EMBRY, M. D. The ideal physician is one who brings into the
sickroom a cheerful presence, uplifting the patient from the slough of despond
and creating an atmosphere of hope and confidence, and in this manner often
accomplishing as much good as that which results from the administration of
remedies. The modern physician recognizes and appreciates the value of a strong
and helpful personality as having its place among the desirable possessions of
the successful practitioner. The leading instructors teach that if the physician
is not in harmony with his patient he cannot hope for the best results. One of
the physicians of Morgantown, into whose equipment for the practice of his
profession has entered a strong, virile and forceful individuality and
personality is Dr. George Estle Embry, who has fairly earned a place of
distinction in his honored calling. Doctor Embry was born at Caneyville, Grayson
County, Kentucky, July 14, 1886, a son of D. A. and Mary (Embry) Embry. The
paternal grandfather of Doctor Embry, William Embry, was born in Virginia, and
as a young man migrated to Butler County, where he took his place among the
other early agriculturists of this region and through industry and good
management made a success of his undertakings and established himself in life.
He died before his grandson was born, but evidences of his thrift and enterprise
still remain. D. A. Embry, the father of Doctor Embry, was born in 1858, in
Butler County and was there raised to young manhood, at which time he went to
Grayson County. He had adopted agricultural pursuits in his youth, and while
still a resident of Butler County began buying sheep. This latter vocation he
extended while in Grayson County, and thus acquired his nickname of "Sheep Doc,"
by which he was universally known for many years. He still carries on extensive
operations as a farmer and handler of live stock and is a man of worth and
substance at Litchfield, Kentucky, where he makes his home at this time. In
political matters he is a democrat, but has not sought preferment at the hands
of his party or his fellow citizens, although he takes a keen interest in local
matters and is a supporter of worthy community movements. He is a member of and
generous contributor to the Baptist Church. As a fraternalist he holds
membership in Brooklyn Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Brooklyn, Butler County. In
Grayson County, Mr. Embry was united in marriage with Miss Mary Embry, daughter
of Cator Embry, a pioneer farmer of Butler County, whose wife, Eliza Woosley,
was a daughter of "Caney Sam" Woosley, of Grayson County, an extensive farmer
for whom was named Caney Creek. Mrs. Mary Embry, who was born in Grayson County,
passed her whole life there and died in 1884, at the age of thirty-two years.
She and her husband were the parents of five children: Owen, who is engaged in
agricultural pursuits in the vicinity of Brooklyn; George Estle, of this review;
Alta, the wife of Roy Lee, a farmer of the Brooklyn community; Artie Pearl, the
wife of W. O. Moats, now of Louisville, where he is a medical student in the
University of Louisville, and formerly clerk of the County Court of Butler
County; and Emmett Dean, a mechanic of Morgantown. George Estle Embry received
his early education in the rural schools of Butler and Grayson counties,
following which he pursued a course at the Butler County High School at
Morgantown and was graduated therefrom as a member of the class of 1904. For two
years thereafter he was engaged in teaching school in the rural districts of
Butler County, and then adopted the mercantile business and for one year was
proprietor of a store at Brooklyn. Disposing of his holdings he enrolled as a
student in the medical department of the University of Louisville, where he
spent four years and was graduated in 1910 with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, for one year after which he served an internship at the City Hospital
of Louisville. With this preparation he entered upon the practice of his calling
at Brooklyn, in 1911, but in the winter of the same year came to Morgantown,
where he has since carried on a general medical and surgical practice, with
offices in his own building at the corner of Main and Tyler streets, and has
built up a large, representative and lucrative practice. He is also the owner of
his home, adjoining the office building, and a farm of 200 acres located five
miles east of Morgantown. Doctor Embry is county health officer of Butler County
and a member of the Butler County Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. He is a democrat in his political
views, and as a fraternalist is affiliated with Cassia Lodge No. 272, A. F. & A.
M., of which he is past master; Bowling Green Chapter No. 38, R. A. M.;
Morgantown Camp No. 12365, M. W. A., of which he is medical examiner; Morgantown
Camp, W. O. W., of which he is medical examiner; and the Royal Neighbors, of
which he is also medical examiner. During the World war his part was that of a
public-spirited and patriotic citizen in all worthy movements necessitated by
war's demands, and he gave freely of his time and means to all enterprises. In
1904, at Litchfield, Grayson County, Doctor Embry married Miss Burille Embry,
daughter of D. M. and Phoebe (Wilson) Embry, of Brooklyn, Kentucky, where D. M.
Embry is a successful merchant. To this union there have come two children:
Burille Myrl, born December 22, 1910; and Essie Dell, born February 4, 1913.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton
Coulter; volume 3, pages 491-492.
JESSE ROBINSON ESKRIDGE, an able attorney and distinguished citizen of
Breckinridge County, is one of the leading men of his profession at Hardinsburg,
and owns two valuable farms in its vicinity, in connection with which he
introduced dairy farming in this region, which industry, partly through his
encouragement, has increased a thousandfold during the past few years. Mr.
Eskridge was born at Hardinsburg October 16, 1867, a son of Morris and Adaline
(Kincheloe) Eskridge, his family being of Welsh origin, but established in this
country at a period long antedating the American Revolution. Morris Eskridge was
also born at Hardinsburg, a son of Elijah Robinson and Elizabeth (Taylor)
Eskridge, the former of whom was born near the Falls of Rough, Grayson County,
Kentucky, the youngest son of George Eskridge, a native of Virginia and a
Revolutionary soldier, who first served as an ensign and later as a lieutenant.
He was either the son or grandson of George Eskridge, a distinguished citizen
and the guardian of Mary (Ball) Washington, the mother of George Washington.
Morris Eskridge was a lawyer by profession, and practiced law at Hardinsburg for
many years, and for a long period was a partner of his father-in-law, the noted
Judge Jesse W. Kincheloe, who served with exceptional ability as circuit judge.
The death of Morris Eskridge occurred in 1910, when he was sixty-five years old.
His widow survives him. They were the parents of the following children: Jesse
R., whose name heads this review; Thomas G., who is a clerk in the office of the
inspector-general at Washington, District of Columbia; Catherine and Addie, both
of whom are school teachers at Hazard, Kentucky; Clara, who is a high-school
teacher at Hardinsburg; and Elizabeth, who lives with her mother. Many years ago
Morris Eskridge and his wife united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
Mrs. Eskridge still maintains her membership with the Hardinsburg congregation
of that denomination. Mr. Eskridge was a life-long republican, and was held in
the highest esteem by all who had the honor of his acquaintance. Jesse R.
Eskridge was reared at Hardinsburg, where he attended the high school, and he
obtained his legal training in the law department of the University of
Louisville. In 1890 he was admitted to the bar at Hardinsburg, and was engaged
in a general practice of his profession until 1898, when he entered the internal
revenue department of the Federal Government, and remained in it for ten years.
In 1909 he was elected county attorney of Breckinridge County, and held that
important office for four years with exceptional ability. At the expiration of
his term of office he resumed his professional practice, and has built up a
large and remunerative connection at Hardinsburg. Mr. Eskridge was one of the
most ardent and enthusiastic supporters of Col. Theodore Roosevelt, and became
identified prominently and early with the progressive element of the republican
party. He was a delegate to the first national convention of the progressives at
Chicago in 1912, and served in the same capacity in 1916. In 1914 he was the
candidate of his party for the office of lieutenant-governor of Kentucky. At
present he is independent in politics. He is a Blue Lodge Mason. He and his wife
are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1902 he was married
to Miss Virginia Tyler Cook, a daughter of John W. and Susie (Pettit) Cook, of
Princeton, Kentucky, and they have two children: Wilhelmina and Morris G. Mr.
Eskridge is a man of determination, and whatever he undertakes he carries
through, no matter what the cost may be. As a lawyer he is thoroughgoing,
capable and well-trained, and his cases are carefully prepared before he goes
into court. He is a man of great initiative, fearless in action, and can always
be depended upon to back with his time and money any movement which he deems to
be righteous.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E.
Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 350.
TANDY L. HARL, clerk of the Daviess County Circuit Court, has long been known
both in the avenues of business and in politics in this section of the state.
Since early boyhood his home has been at Owensboro, and it is the people of that
community who best know and best appreciate the sterling qualities of his
character and his service. He was born at Falls of Rough, Grayson County,
Kentucky, March 2, 1865, son of Hippocrates and Josie (Landrum) Harl, also
natives of Kentucky. The paternal grandfather, Hippocrates Harl, was a Virginian
by birth, an early settler in Hardin County, Kentucky. The maternal grandfather,
Francis Landrum, was also a Virginian, and for many years was a merchant in
Grayson County, Kentucky. Hippocrates Harl, Jr., was a carpenter by trade. About
1871 he moved his family to Owensboro, and spent the rest of his life following,
in connection with farming, the business of building and contracting. He lived
to the age of eighty-three. He followed the example of the Harl and Landrum
families for generations in politics and was an ardent democrat, and he and his
wife were Methodists. His wife died at the age of fifty-eight, and their two
children were Tandy L. and Mrs. Effie Chapman of Owensboro. Tandy L. Harl from
the age of six was reared in Owensboro, attended public schools and as a youth
had experience as clerk in Owensboro stores for several years. He engaged in
business for himself in 1892 as a dealer in horses and mules and as a liveryman.
Selling out this business at Owensboro, he was for several years a merchant at
Sorgho in Daviess County, after which he resumed his former line of pursuit at
Owensboro. After selling out a second time he engaged in the timber business,
and disposed of some rather extensive interests in that field when he was first
elected in 1909 to his office as clerk of the Daviess County Circuit Court. By
re-election in 1915 he is now closing a period of twelve years of consecutive,
useful and faithful service. He has always supported the men and measures of the
democratic party, and has stood high in party councils. Fraternally he is an Elk
and a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. In 1895 Mr. Harl married Miss
Maggie Steele. They have two daughters. Martine and Mamie Mae. Mr. Harl has
relied on his individual initiative to achieve success both in business and
politics. He was a poor man when he entered the business field and has been
satisfied to achieve something short of riches. being content with a modest
prosperity. Even so, but for misfortunes attending his going security for
friends he would possess today much in excess of his present wealth. It is said
of him "you may always know how Tandy Harl stands." and the readiness to speak
his convictions is combined with the essential quality of fairness and justness
in all his relations with life and his fellow men.
--1922 History of Kentucky
by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page
287.
WILLIAM LUCIAN HAYNES, M. D. To the work and duties of a physician and
surgeon whose time is always at the disposal of his patients, Doctor Haynes has
given his best talents and energies for a period of thirty years. He is one of
the oldest active men in the profession in McLean County, and in more recent
years has yielded to the desire of the community and accepted duties in public
affairs, having recently been chosen a member of the Legislature. Doctor Haynes
was born at Whitesville in Daviess County, Kentucky, November 19, 1863. His
father, Dr. Josiah Ellis Haynes, was a physician, though the greater part of his
life was taken up with educational duties. Josiah E. Haynes was born in Grayson
County, Kentucky, February 5, 1841, and is living, at the age of eighty, in
Calhoun. His parents were Henry and Sarah (Dewees) Haynes, who came from
Virginia. Henry Haynes was a general merchant in Grayson County, and at one time
was sheriff. Josiah E. Haynes received his medical education at the University
of Louisville. He began practice at Dixon, Kentucky, and afterward practiced in
McLean County. His health preventing his continuous performance of the arduous
duties of a doctor, he turned to the profession of teaching, which he had
followed before becoming a physician. He had the real talents and qualifications
of a true teacher, and at different times served as county superintendent of
schools in Grayson, Webster and McLean counties. The mother of Dr. W. L. Haynes
was Laura Belle Robinson, who was born in Grayson County, a daughter of Elijah
Nash and Letitia (Davidson) Robinson. She became the mother of five children:
William Lucian; Mrs. Lelia Franklin; Eugene Ellis Haynes, a physician and
surgeon at Memphis; Mrs. Mollie Gibson; and Mrs. Kate Priest, a talented
musician. W. L. Haynes grew up in Kentucky but finished his professional
education in Memphis, being a graduate of the Memphis Hospital College. He
received his degree in 1888, and the following two years remained as interne and
attending physician at the Memphis Hospital. Since then he has been busy in
practice at Calhoun. He is an honored member of the County Medical Society and
also belongs to the State Medical Association and the American Medical
Association. Doctor Haynes was elected on the democratic ticket to the
Legislature in 1919, having no opposition as a candidate. He was a member of
some of the important legislative committees in the session of 1920. Doctor
Haynes is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the
Methodist Church. In 1890 he married Miss Mattie Muster, who died in 1893. Her
only son, Lucien Haynes, is now tax commissioner of McLean County. In 1900
Doctor Haynes married Clarice Hancock, and their three children are Kathryn, J.
E. Haynes, Jr., and William H.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr,
William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, pages 273-274.
REV. JOHN MARTIN HIGGINS. Although the Rev. John Martin Higgins, pastor of
St. Peter's Catholic Church, at Stanley, has been known to the people of this
city for only a comparatively short period, he has already impressed the
community with his zealous and disinterested work in the cause he serves and has
given evidence of the possession of qualities which must assuredly call forth
general admiration and commendation, even from those who differ most sharply
with him theologically and politically. Father Higgins was born at Grayson
Springs, Grayson County, Kentucky, October 19, 1889, a son of Thomas Henry and
Mary (Tully) Higgins, the former the youngest of seven children of Thomas and
Catherine (Monaghan) Higgins. The grandparents of Father Higgins were born in
Ireland, as were all of their children except Thomas Henry, whose birth took
place at Bowling Green, Kentucky. The mother of Father Higgins was born at
Louisville, Kentucky, the third eldest of eleven children born to Mike and Anna
(Lyons) Tully, who were also natives of Ireland and early emigrants to Kentucky.
Father Higgins was reared on his father's farm in Grayson County, where he
secured his early education in the public schools. His later literary training
was received at St. Charles' College, Ellicott City, near Baltimore, Maryland,
where he completed a six-year course and was graduated June 13, 1913, and his
theological and philosophical studies were prosecuted at St. Mary's Seminary,
Baltimore, where he was given the degree of Master of Arts in 1918. In the
latter year he was ordained a priest of the Catholic Church at Louisville by
Bishop O'Donoghue, and his first charge was at Owensboro, where he was assistant
pastor of St. Stephen's Church from June 19, 1918. to June 15, 1919. On the
latter date he became pastor of St. Peter's Church at Stanley, a very important
parish, the congregation comprising about 1,000 souls. and a splendid parochial
school taught by six Sisters and having an attendance of 225 pupils enrolled in
1920. This school was established in 1911, in which year the congregation ceased
to worship in a church house two miles south of Stanley and began to attend
their present church at Stanley. St. Peter's is one of the oldest Catholic
churches in Daviess county. It was established as a mission and was first served
by Rev. Fr. Fruhwurth. The resident pastors have beer. as follows: Rev. Peter
Thomas Faunt, 1874 to 1880: Rev. F. J. Croghan, 1880 to 1890; Rev. J. J. Abell,
1889 to 1891; Rev. Joseph Neesen, a few months ir 1892; Rev. John H. Riley, 1892
to 1893; Rev. James J. Pike, 1893 to 1899; Rev. John F. McKearney, 1899 to 1909;
Rev. Thomas F. McGuire, for a few months in 1910; Rev. Joseph Odendahl, 1910 to
1913; Rev. Richard Maloney, 1913 to 1919; and Rev. John Martin. Higgins, 1919 to
the present. Rev. Fr. Higgins is a member of the Knights of Columbus and as a
citizen is patriotic and public-spirited. His sincere piety, intense moral
earnestness. great industry, kindliness and spirit of tolerance have made him
beloved by his flock, prosperous in the affairs of his parish and established in
the confidence of the Church, and have likewise gained him the good-will and
assistance of those of other creeds, without which no priest considers that he
has achieved the fullness of success.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles
Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 326.
REASON THOMAS LAYMAN, M. D. A physician and surgeon whose work has brought
him high esteem in Hardin County, Doctor Layman is a member of an old Kentucky
family, and his personal attainments and character contribute to the honorable
associations of the family name. He was born on a farm at Howe Valley, Hardin
County, June 19, 1873, son of William Jefferson and Sarah Elizabeth (Yates)
Layman. His grandfather, Reason Layman, was a native of Grayson County,
Kentucky, where his family has been numerously represented for many years. He
was both a farmer and Baptist minister. Reason Layman married a Miss Williams.
Their son, William Jefferson Layman, was born at Millerstown in Grayson County,
September 23, 1849, and his life has been devoted to the duties of carpentering,
brick laying and farming and to good citizenship. He still lives on a farm near
Rineyville in Hardin County. His wife, Elizabeth Yates, was born in Hardin
County, October 8, 1849, and died in 1884, at the age of thirty-five. Her father
was Thomas Edward Yates, of Hardin County. Doctor Reason Layman is the oldest of
the three children of his mother. His brother, William Henry, lives at Cecilia
and his youngest brother, Pleasant Winfred Layman, is postmaster of Cecilia.
William J. Layman married for his second wife Virginia Williams, and by that
union has two sons and four daughters. William J. Layman for many years voted as
a democrat, but is now independent. He is a Baptist. Doctor Layman grew up on
his father's farm. He made good use of his early advantages of the rural schools
and also completed the scientific course in East Lynn College and the literary
course at Kenyon College at Hodgenville. Before taking up the practice of
medicine he spent sixteen years as a teacher in the public schools, and for part
of the time was an instructor in Kenyon College. In 1910 he graduated M. D. from
the University of Louisville, and since that date has enjoyed a growing practice
at Cecilia. He is a member of the Hardin County and Kentucky State Medical
associations, is a Master Mason and a democrat. In 1900 he married Miss Margaret
Love Kinglesmith. Five children were born to their marriage, one now deceased.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton
Coulter; volume 3, page 321.
DANIEL ELMO MCCLURE, M. D. Accorded recognition for his very capable work as
a physician and surgeon in Hardin County, Doctor McClure was for a number of
years one of the popular teachers of this section of Kentucky, and practically
since early youth his work has been in the nature of a public service. He was
born at Sonora in Hardin County, April 30, 1873, a son of Daniel James and Julia
(Standaford) McClure. The McClures are one of the oldest families of Grayson
County, Kentucky, where his great-grandfather, Daniel McClure, a Scotch
Irishman, established his pioneer home as early as 1792. His son, William
McClure, was born on Bear Creek in the same county. Daniel James McClure was
born in Grayson County and for nearly half a century devoted his time and
energies to the business of farming. He and three of his brothers were Union
soldiers during the Civil War, and he was always a stanch republican. He lived
to the age of seventy-four and his wife to sixty-six. Both were devout
Methodists. His wife, Julia Standaford, was a daughter of Harvey Standaford, who
married a daughter of Captain Wilder, an officer in the Mexican war. Doctor
McClure was one of a family of two sons and two daughters, grew up on the home
farm, and finished his literary education in East Lynn College, from which he
received the degrees Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Philosophy. He was a
teacher for fourteen years, and from that vocation graduated into the profession
of medicine. He is a graduate of the Hospital College of Medicine of Louisville
with the class of 1906, and in the same year began practice in his native
community of Sonora, but since 1917 has had a busy practice at Elizabethtown. He
is the present health officer of Hardin County, and for 1921 served as secretary
of the Hardin County Medical Society. He is also a member of the State and
American Medical associations and the Muldraugh Hill Medical Society. Doctor
McClure votes as a republican, is a Knight Templar Mason, and a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1903, while teaching, he married Miss Ethel Y.
Poteet, of LaRue County, Kentucky. Their four children are Hendon Poteet, Daniel
Elmo, Karl Standaford and Portia Ethel.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles
Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 344.
EMMETT HAYES MILLER, M. D. Graduating in medicine in 1906, Doctor Miller has
put in fifteen busy years in the practice of his profession, the greater part of
the time with home at Vine Grove. For a number of months he served as a medical
officer in army camps, and that experience, while noteworthy as a patriotic
duty, was also a valuable source of training that has been turned to good
account in his private practice since his return. Doctor Miller was born at
Nolin Station in Hardin County, September 10, 1879; a son of Thomas Benton and
Louisa (Hart) Miller. His grandfather, Miles Miller, was of a pioneer Grayson
County family, but at the age of fourteen left that county and settled in Hardin
County. He lived to be past eighty-three, was three times married and had
children by each wife. The last survivor of his first marriage is Thomas Benton
Miller, who was born in Hardin County, January 4, 1853, and has given his active
years to farming and the operation of saw mills. He is a republican in politics
and a member of the Christian Church. Thomas B. Miller now lives with his
youngest daughter in Meade County. He married Louisa Hart, a native of Hardin
County, and daughter of Hiram Hart. She died at the age of forty-seven, the
mother of three sons and two daughters. Emmett Hayes Miller while indebted to
the old home for some advantages has for the most part earned his own way, paid
for his education and made every step of advancement on merit and on the score
of earnest effort. He attended country schools, the Kenyon College at
Hodgenville, and for six years while teaching he studied medicine in his leisure
time, and in 1906 graduated from the Kentucky University Medical School. Doctor
Miller practiced from September, 1906, to March, 1910, in Meade County, and
since then has had an extensive professional business at Vine Grove. He is a
member of the Hardin County and Kentucky State Medical Associations. On
September 22, 1918, Doctor Miller was commissioned a first lieutenant in the
Army Medical Corps, spent three months at Camp Taylor, and after that was on
duty at Camp Knox until he received an honorable discharge November 23, 1920,
after two years of service. Doctor Miller married in 1906 Miss Ollie K. Scott,
daughter of Nicholas Scott, of Hardin County. They are the parents of two sons,
Clyde W. and Harry M. Miller. Doctor Miller is a democrat, a member of the
Methodist Church and a Royal Arch Mason.
--1922 History of Kentucky by
Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 176.
JAMES A. PAYNE is county superintendent of schools of Hardin County. During
thirty years, beginning when he was only sixteen, his interests and zeal have
been directed in educational lines with only few interruptions. He is a man of
thorough scholarship, a splendid leader in educational movements and well
qualified for his present duties. Mr. Payne was born on a farm in the southern
part of Hardin County September 15, 1874, a son of Samuel B. and Amy Elizabeth
(Miller) Payne, also natives of Hardin County. His paternal grandparents, Henry
and Mahala (Hogan) Payne, were married in Nelson County and became identified
with the pioneer settlement of Hardin County about 1830. Henry Payne was a
native of Virginia and was brought to Kentucky when about six years of age. The
maternal grandparents of Superintendent Payne were William and Mary (Washer)
Miller, also native Kentuckians and early settlers of Hardin County. The oldest
of six children, James A. Payne grew up on his father's farm, early showed a
studious nature, and has been a hard and earnest worker in everything he has
undertaken. He was educated in public schools, in the Lynnvalle Academy at White
Mills, in the Southern Normal School and in the Western Kentucky State Normal
School. He taught his first school at the age of sixteen, in LaRue County, but
most of his work as an individual teacher was done in Grayson County. For two
years, 1910 to 1912, Mr. Payne was engaged in school work in Oklahoma. Otherwise
his educational career has been in Kentucky. From 1903 to 1910 he was a rural
mail carrier in Hardin County. Mr. Payne was elected county superintendent of
schools of Hardin County in 1913, and since 1914 has wisely administered the
educational affairs of the county and has done much to improve the standards of
the schools and the efficiency of the work of the rural districts. Mr. Payne is
a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Christian Church. In 1905 he married Miss
Nellie Curry, and they are the parents of three children, Mary, Genevieve and
Pauline.
--1922 History of Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley,
and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3, page 344.
WILLIAM H. PORTER is one of Kentucky's widely known young bankers. He took an
active part in the organization in 1912 and has since been cashier of the
Guaranty Bank & Trust Company. This bank was incorporated in 1912 with $150,000
capital. Samuel M. Wilson was the first president, Gilmer Pryor was the first
vice president, while William H. Porter became cashier. Since January, 1916,
Charles Land has been president, and Mr. Pryor was succeeded in 1913 by T. C.
Bradley, vice president. William H. Porter is now vice president as well as
cashier. This bank is a member of the Federal Reserve system. Mr. Porter was
born in Grayson County, Kentucky. His father George E. Porter was a native of
Virginia and came to Kentucky as a young man. He was a merchant and tobacco man
at Caneyville, Kentucky. He married in Mercer County, Mahulda Kennedy of that
county. George E. Porter died at the age of sixty. William H. Porter after his
education took up bank work and in 1901 he organized the Berea Bank & Trust
Company and was its cashier until he became identified with the Guaranty Trust
Company at Lexington. Mr. Porter is a member of the Union and Rotary clubs, the
Board of Commerce, and both he and Mrs. Porter are prominent in the Calvary
Baptist Church. He is superintendent of the Sunday school, while Mrs. Porter has
had charge of the elementary work of the Baptist Sunday School Convention. At
Fredonia. Kentucky, in 1895, Mr. Porter married Miss Nettie Woolf. They have one
daughter, Frances, now a student in Georgetown College.
--1922 History of
Kentucky by Charles Kerr, William E. Connelley, and E. Merton Coulter; volume 3,
page 175.
Benjamin Sebastian was appointed a member of the court of appeals December 28, 1792, but resigned December 6, 1806. His nativity seems shrouded in mystery. He was educated in this country as a Church of England clergyman and went to England for holy orders. However, as early as 1785, he was a citizen of Jefferson county, engaged in the practice of law, and was a delegate to the conventions held at Danville in August, 1875, in 1787 and in 1788, and also a member of the convention which framed the first constitution of the state in 1792. On the 28th of December, 1792, he was appointed associate justice of the court of appeals, and held that office until December 6, 1806, when he resigned. His life in history is one of the most interesting and unique in the annals of the state. He was a prominent, indeed the central figure, about whom revolved the negotiations with Spain, touching the opening of the Mississippi to the commerce of the western territory. The fact that he was a resident of Louisville may account in a measure for his being the medium for the interchange of views between the Spanish authorities and the leading men of the Mississippi Valley in their negotiations. His name appears in connection with those of Harry Innes, John Brown and George Muter signed to a manifesto calling a convention in 1787; and from that date until his final disappearance from the stage of public life, in 1806, he was an important factor in the affairs of the country. The story of his life is one of the most interesting in the history of Kentucky. Since the publication of the first Kentucky history, written by Humphrey Marshall, he has been denounced as the enemy of his country and as a conspirator with Spanish officials for the dismemberment of the Union. Our space does not permit an extended inquiry or the production of the documentary evidence on both sides of the question on his connection with the so called "Spanish Conspiracy;" the main facts in outline are, that the Mississippi river was the only avenue for the transportation of the products of the western country and that Spain was in possession of the river. The federal government did not afford the protection that the people desired and expected either in the matter of the defense against the Indians or of commercial advantages. They were practically left to shift for themselves and they sought to make terms with Spain for the right to trade on the great river of the west and, by way of its outlet, with the markets of the world. Negotiations were carried on mainly through Judge Sebastian, and by means of the arrangement effected by him Kentucky reaped the reward of a large trade which brought prosperity to the state and built up her infant industries. It was not until 1797, when certain decisions of the court of appeals touching certain land entries rendered him unpopular, that an outcry was raised against him, culminating, in 1806, in an examination by the legislature of his connection with the Spanish commercial alliance. In the face of these investigations Judge Sebastian resigned from the bench. He retired to his home at "Falls of Rough," in Grayson county, where he spent the the remainder of his life. That eminent lawyer, Ben Hardin, speaking on this subject, said: "I am, Mr. President, greatly rejoiced that I have the opportunity to vindicate the names, characters and memories of the illustrious men who figured in the days of other years,--days that tried the souls of men; men who have been slandered by some of the histories of this country, in which they are branded as traitors and Spanish conspirators; men that I feel proud of, and so ought my country to be proud of. Thirty or forty years ago I knew most of them. I see in my mind and can recollect exactly how they looked. They then had the aged and venerable appearance of the senators of Rome seated in the senate chamber when the Gauls took and destroyed the city. * * * Kentucky enjoyed the benefits of the regulations made by Sebastian until Spain transferred the country to France and France to the United States, and after enjoying the benefits of Sebastian's labors for years, when the necessities for those regulations had passed away, Kentucky for a time forgot his services, and the whole legislature attacked him in 1806. Those that sent him, who were alive--for some were dead--gave him no aid or assistance, and he sank under the assault and fell a victim to the rancor of popular fury. I trust in God that the present generation will do his memory justice for the consolation of his posterity."
Contributed by Unknown, extracted from 1897 Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, page 68.
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