meacham's
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY KENTUCKY
 

by
charles m. meacham
1930

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

B
 

VEGO E. BARNES was born near Fruit Hill, Ky., April 4, 1889. His father, George W. Barnes, was a prosperous merchant and trader, and gave him the advantage of a good education in Christian County and Hopkinsville schools and he took the B.S. degree at Southern Normal School. He came to Hopkinsville well equipped for business, and his first employment was in the office of the county clerk, in 1910, for eight years. When the war came on he enlisted in June, 1918, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant September 15th, and served until June, 1919. After the war he bought and operated the Crystal Creamery Company, at Paducah, until 1922. He then returned to his old job as deputy county clerk, serving five years. In 1927 he was elected county treasurer, and in 1929 was again elected for a term of four years, which position he now fills. Mr. Barnes early evinced a rare capacity for political organization, and this characteristic has made him a local leader in the Democratic party. In severel recent campaigns his services have been utilized by the party in state campaigns, and in 1928 he was elected a permanent organization director of the state committee for four years. On July 19, 1917, he was married to Miss Emma Gooch, a daughter of Paul McKenzie Gooch. Her father was a Confederate soldier who enlisted from North Carolina when sixteen years of age, and served four years in General Lee’s command. Her mother was Mrs. Sarah (Prather) Gooch, of Evansville, md. Mr. Barnes helped to organize Troop C, 54th Machine Gun Squadron, in February, 1922, and was appointed Second Lieutenant. In October, 1922, he organized the 125th Wagon Company and was commissioned Captain, and is still in command. He was one of the company commanders who helped to secure the State-CountyCity Armory. He was Exalted Ruler of the Elks Lodge in 1916, and Grand Lodge representative in 1917. He is also a Mason and a member of the Universalist Church.

0. N. BOYD was named in honor of the family doctor when he was born September 11, 1871. The baby was called Oscar Newland, and that has been his name ever since. Mr. Boyd’s parents were Frank and Margaret (Story) Boyd. His grandparents were James and Mary (Long) Boyd. James was a North Carolina pioneer who came early, while venison was the main meat supply. Subject’s mother was a daughter of William and Sarah Story, who came from Tennessee to this near Hopkinsville, and early in life married Miss Lena Hensley. She died after several years of happy married life, and some years ago, Mr. Boyd contracted a second marriage with his present wife, who was Miss Emma Batts. Mr. Boyd has been a farmer all of his life, and during the last twelve years has had charge of the County Farm as superintendent. He is a good farmer, a capable business man and a worthy citizen. He is a nephew of Capt. John. V. Boyd, a Union officer. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and a leader in the affairs of his community.

BARRETTE ELLIS BROWN, sheriff of Christian County, was born in Christian County, September 26, 1893. His parents were John H. and Elizabeth (Hamby) Brown. His father’s parents were James R. and Mary Brown, and his mother was a daughter of Esquire Orlando Hamby and Amelia Hamby. Both families have been prominent in north Christian for a hundred years. Barrette Brown was educated in the Crofton schools, qualified himself for clerical business, and became cashier of the Bank of Crofton, which position he held for ten years, and until he was elected sheriff in 1929, as a Republican. His popularity is attested by the fact that he was the only candidate of his party to be elected. Mr. Brown was a soldier in the World War and served overseas. He was married to Miss Lois Adams, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Adams, now of Hopkinsville. They have two daughters, Emmy Lou and Sarah Elizabeth Brown. Mr. Brown has never been an office seeker, but was called upon to make the race for sheriff, and won his nomination in a primary election that was hotly contested. He is a young man of fine character and much promise. He is a member of the Methodist Church.

DR. OSCAR L. BARNES is a son of George W. Barnes, whose biography is in this book, from which it will be seen that he is descended from Revolutionary ancestry, and his people have been prominent in the county since the eighteenth century. The Doctor was born in Christian County, September 14, 1882, and received a liberal education in South Kentucky College and later in Bowling Green. In 1909 he graduated from the Louisville Medical University, and began the practice of medicine in the neighborhood where he was born, and has built up a practice perhaps the most extensive in Christian County. He is the only physician serving five hundred families in north Christian, representing a population of two thousand. He is one of the very few country doctors left in the county. He has refused flattering offers from larger towns than the village of Carl, in which he lives, but prefers to serve his own people. Dr. Barnes is a very prominent citizen, and is a deacon in the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, and its most active and substantial member. In 1911 he married Miss Floyd P. Rogers, and they have a family of boys and girls, of whom they are very proud: Howard T., Oscar Hayden, Rowena, George W., Janie T., James Ralph and Carolyn Belle.

EDWARD PORTER BARNES, one of Hopkinsville’s leading merchants and business men, was born January 27, 1866, near Beaver Dam, Ohio County, Kentucky. His parents were George H. and Kittie (Metcalfe) Barnes. His father was a son of John and Sallie (Hocker) Barnes, and his mother was a daughter of John and Charlotte (Smith) Metcalfe. They were all representatives of prominent families, who came from Virginia and Maryland in the early settlement of Western Kentucky. Mr. Barnes married Miss Adeline Davis Sublett, a prominent teacher of Western Kentucky, and former school superintendent of Ballard County. He began his business career in a store, in 1885, and is today one of the most successful merchants in this part of Kentucky. He came to Hopkinsville in 1915, and has two stores here, in addition to extensive interests elsewhere. He is president of the Barnes Automobile Company, general manager of E. P. Barnes & Brother, senior partner of Barnes & Coffman, “The Barnes Store,” proprietor of the Barnes Mercantile Co., and director of the Deposit Bank, at Beaver Dam, Ky. He is prominent in the affairs of the Methodist Church, and is a Democrat. Mr. Barnes’ brother, Byron C. Barnes, who was associated with him in one of the stores in Hopkinsvile, died in October, 1929.

HENRY L. BASS is a son of Oscar L. and Cornelia (Covington) Bass, and was born in South Carolina, July 25, 1894. The family moved to Hopkinsville when Henry was a small boy, and he was reared in the city, educated in the city schools, and entered upon a business career that was interrupted by the declaration of war in 1917. He at once volunteered, went to a training camp, and was, in a few months, given a First Lieutenant’s commission, one of the first seven officers commissioned from Christian County. He served throughout the war, and while on a leave, from Augusta, Ga., was married July 5, 1918, to Miss Viola Radford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Radford, of Hopkinsville. She returned with him to the training camp, where Lieut. Bass was on duty. He was discharged when hostilities ended, and is now connected with the Murray Body Corporation, in Memphis, as assistant manager. To Henry and Viola Radford Bass have been born, Cornie, Nell and Viola. Mrs. Bass died Feb., 1930.

WALLACE F. BOYD was born in Christian County, Kentucky, December 1, 1861, a son of Richard and Susan (Mitchell) Boyd. He was reared on his father’s farm and received a liberal education in the county schools and the Hopkinsville High School of Maj. J. 0. Ferrell. He was married to Miss Kate Bond. Their only child was Frank R. Boyd, who was a soldier in the World War. Most of Mr. Boyd’s life work has been as a farmer, but he now lives in the city of Hopkinsville, and is engaged in other business. He has been since boyhood a member of the Christian Church, and is and always has been a useful and upright citizen, enjoying the respect of his neighbors, a type of the sturdy manhood that has made Christian County unexcelled by any county in Kentucky for the character of its citizens. JOHN ALMOND BROWNING was born in Christian County, Kentucky, September 1, 1881, near Church Hill, seven miles from Hopkinsville. He was the youngest of three children born to John A. and Sallie (Radford) Browning, viz.: Mary Lou,who died young; Mattie Sue (Mrs. Thomas C. Jones) and the son, who was given his father’s name. After completing his education, he became connected with the City Bank & Trust Co., in 1904, and remained with it until 1919, when he resigned his place as assistant cashier on account of the close confinement. For five years Mr. Browning was connected with the Dark Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, as assistant secretary of the Growers Warehouse Corporations. He resigned this place in 1927, and entered the Cayce-Yost Co., as secretary-treasurer, where he is at the present time. Mr. Browning was married March 27, 1912, to Marie Baird Cobbs, the youngest daughter of Louis T. and Emma (Baird) Cobbs, of Springfield, Tenn. They have had two children: John Almond, III, called Jack, born June 8, 1913, died August 12, 1915, and Charles Louis, born July 5, 1914.

Mrs. Browning’s father, Louis T. Cobbs, was a prominent lawyer in Springfield, Tenn., and represented his district in both the legislature and Senate of Tennessee. He was descended, through his mother, Nancy
Johnson Dunn, from Robert Carter of Virginia Colonial fame. Mrs. Browning’s mother, Emma Baird, was the daughter of Charles Baird, who was descended, through his father, Thomas Baird, and grandmother,
Elizabeth Jennings wife of Alexander Baird, from the Jennings family of England.

Mr. Browning traces his lineage back ten generations, or twelve, including himself and son, to Capt. John Browning, who came over to this country in 1622, in the ship Abigail. His line is as follows: (1) Capt. John Browning, b. 1588 in England; (2) William, b. 1615, in England; (3) John, Sr., b. 1646, in America; (4) John, Jr., b. 1676; (5) Francis, b. 1700, married Elizabeth Lloyd; (6) Francis, Jr., b. 1724, married Frances Norman; (7) Reuben, b. 1750, married Sally Duncan; (8) David, b. 1783, married Susannah Hopper; (9) Almond, b. 1813, married Mary Kirkman; (10) John Alexander, b. 1840, married Sallie Radford; (11) John Almond, Jr., b. 1881, married Marie Baird Cobbs; (12) Charles Louis Browning, b. 1914. The subject of this sketch is a prominent business man, active in business, social and religious circles. The family are members of the Methodist Church.

THOMAS JEFFERSON BAUGH was born May 22, 1880, in Navajo County, Texas, a son of L. H. and Mollie (Burkett) Baugh, and a grandson of James and Eliza Baugh. His father was a gallant Confederate soldier, who is still living at Franklin, Tenn. T. J. Baugh came to Hopkinsville in 1899, having had some experience in the telephone business at Franklin, where the family located in 1888. He came here with the Cumberland Telephone Company, was with that company eight years, and then became wire chief with the new Home Company. When it was consolidated with the Cumberland, a few years later, he established the Baugh Electric Company, his present successful business. Mr. Baugh was married in 1901 to Miss Willie Dotha Davis, a daughter of Capt. McJ. Davis, one of the last surviving veterans of the Union army in Christian County. They have one son, Robert, and one daughter, Margaret, who have the distinction of having two grandfathers, both living, who fought on opposite sides in the War between the States. Capt. Davis lives with his son-in-law, and the old veterans frequently meet and “bury the hatchet.” Mr. Baugh is a Democrat, and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

THE BODDIE FAMILY, represented in Christian County and allied with a number of the most prominent pioneer families, is of Virginia ancestry, tracing back to Essex County, England, in 1612. The founder of the family, in America, was William Boddie, who settled in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia, in 1661. He was born about 1635, and died in Virginia in 1717. From Virginia the family spread southward into both Carolinas. From this founder the present family of Boddies, in Christian County, are of the eighth generation, by the following direct lineage:

(1) William Boddie, 1634-1717; (2) John Boddie, 1695-1720; (3) Lieut. William Boddie, 1710-1772; (4) Nathaniel Boddie, 1732-1797; (5) George Boddie, 1769-1842; (6) Willie Perry Boddie, 1822-1870; (7) Children of William Perry Boddie and Martha Rivers McNeil; Elizabeth McNeil m. Lucien Dade Winston; Lucy W., m. John P. Anderson; George Boddie, m. Louise L. Clark; Malcolm MeN. Boddie, 1858-1898; Willie P. Boddie, 1861-1866; John Thomas Boddie, 1864, m. Judith Reynolds Lott; Willie P. Boddie, 1866-1893; Nicholas Van Boddie, 1869-1898, m. Frances B. Williams; (8) Children of George Boddie, 185 6-1929, and Louise Clark
Boddie: Elizabeth L. and Wiley P. died in infancy; George, Jr., died 1918; Martha Rivers, Malcolm McNeil and Sidney Lanier.

William Boddie, in 1665, received a grant of thirty-three hundred and fifty acres of land for the transportation of fifty-six persons to the colony of Virginia, and thirty-three hundred and fifty acres in 1684 for bringing over sixty-seven more. He was married three times. His first wife, named Anna, died in 1683, his second was named Elizabeth. William Boddie bought other lands, until he owned eight thousand acres. He was a Quaker, and very religious. He had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, and a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, John, by the second. John Boddie, 1685-1720, m. Elizabeth Thomas, who survived him and married Col. John Dawson. His children were William, who married Mary Bennett, and John, who married Elizabeth Hulliard.

William Boddie, 1710-1772, moved to North Carolina, and married Mary Bennett. His brother, John, also moved about the same time. William Boddie was an officer in the Colonial militia for twenty years, a
Lieutenant in the Indian wars of 1754 and 1755. His step-father, John Dawson, was his Colonel, and his father-in-law, William Bennett, was his Captain. His children were: Nathan, m. Chloe Crudup; Temperance, m.
Solomon Williams; Elijah, Willis, m. Catherine Barnes; William, m. Martha Jones. Nathaniel Boddie, born February 22, 1732, died December 7, 1797, first son of Lieutenant William Boddie and Mary Bennett, was born the same day George Washington was. He was six feet tall, thin and straight. He represented Edgecombe County in the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, that declared for independence in 1776; was also a member of the House of Commons in 1777. He married Chloe Crudup, born 1745, died September 16, 1781, daughter of Mourning and John Crudup. He died at his home place, “Rosehill,” near Nashville, N. C., where he is buried. The home is still in possession of his descendants. The children of Nathaniel and Chloe Boddie were: Bennett, m. Sarah Smith; Elijah, m. Elizabeth Taylor; Temperance, m. Col. Jeremiah Perry; George, m. Susanna P. Hill, and second Lucy Williams; Mary, m. Joshua Perry; Basheba; Elizabeth, m. Capt. John Perry; Mourning, m. James Hilliard.

George Boddie George Boddie, fourth child and youngest son of Nathan Boddie, was born November 19, 1769, in Nash County, North Carolina (a new county created out of Edgecombe). He was elected to the House of Commons in 1800, 1801, 1812, and to the Senate in 1813, 1814, 1815. He is said to have known every man in the county, and was the personal friend and adviser of most of them. George Boddie had four children by his first wife, Susan Parham, and thirteen by his second wife, Lucy Williams. He and his second wife also took care of the five children of his deceased brothers and reared them as their own. His children, by his first wife, were: Rebecca, m. James Peters; Chloe, m. John Drake; Nathan, m. Mary Thomas Smith; Thomas Hill, m. Clarissa Lanier. By second wife:
Mary, m. Josiah Crudup; Elizabeth, died in infancy; Catherine, m. (1) Marmaduke Bell, (2) Malcolm McNeil; George m. Mrs. Louise Forbes; Louisa, m. Bartholomew F. Moore; John Williams, Elijah, William Bennett, m. Elizabeth Alston; Lucy Williams, m. Bartholomew F. Moore; Van Renssalaer, m. Caroline M. Perry; Temperance Ann, m. John G. Yancey; Willie Perry, m. Martha Rivers McNeil; Nicholas Williams, m. Lousiana Crudup Boddie. His nephew, Elijah Boddie, paid George Boddie this tribute in 1814: “Of all the men I ever knew, I think he is the best, and will taste the purest joys of Heaven.”

Willie Perry Boddie, sixteenth of the family of seventeen, was born in Nash County, North Carolina, July 22, 1822, and died at “Hemphill” farm in Christian County, Kentucky, February 9, 1870. He married Martha Rivers, daughter of Malcolm and Martha (Rivers) McNeil, December 11, 1848. She was born at the “White House” seven miles from Hopkinsville, February 27, 1827, and died at “Hemphill” July 29, 1887. Willie Perry Boddie was educated at Wake Forest College, and the University of North Carolina. He made several trips to Europe during his early manhood, and studied for some time in England. His children are enumerated in another paragraph, and the portraits of himself and wife appear on another page, also portrait of Mrs. Boddie’s mother, Martha Rivers, wife of Malcolm McNeil.

The first of the McNeil family, in America, was Henry McNeil, born in Argyleshire, Scotland, March 29, 1755; came to Virginia in 1771; moved to North Carolina, and in 1814 came to Christian County, and died near Hopkinsville November 3, 1820. He married, in Petersburg, Va., Dorothy Pryor, born in Virginia, March 23, 1775; died in Christian County, March 17, 1824, daughter of John Pryor.

Henry MCNeil was a son of Capt. Angus and Catherine (Cameron) McNeil, who was a brother of Donald McNeil, tenth Laird of the McNeils, of Colonsay, Scotland. He became a rich man, but, true to his
Scotch blood, he preserved the following letter, written him by his uncles in Colonsay, apparently on the eve of his departure:

Dear Henry— Colonsay, 29, Feb. 1771.
We hand you our letters and also one from Mr. McLean advising us that you have been sent to Mr. Dobson and Krulon to qualify you for a merchant cleark. We have this date approved of this by our letter to Mr. McLean and have understood that he has two berths of this kind in view for you. We recommend you to diligence in your business, and frugality in your expenses, and particularly that you save your clothes which are better than you have owned so far, and if you wear them out you will find it difficult and changable to get such again, and above all that you keep good fellows company and that you fear God and lay it down as a certainty that virtue is the only solid foundation of your present and future happiness, consider that your own behaviour is all you have to depend on and that according to that you’ll be regarded and trusted. Write us frequently and fully. We are, dear Henry,
Your Aff. uncles,
DONALD MCNEILL.
ALEX MCNEILL.”
(Spelling changed in this country.)
 

He resided in Person County, N. C., until 1817, when he drove in a buggy (said to be the first one owned by any one in North Carolina, to Christian County. His ten children were all born in Person County, North Carolina. They were: Alexander, Angus, Margaret, m. Burke; Henrietta, m. Joshua Grant; John Pryor, Catherine, Hector, Pryor, Eliza and Malcolm. Two of the daughters married, and the youngest son, Malcolm, was born February 18, 1795, and died in Christian County, February 21, 1875. He married, October 12, 1820, Martha Rivers, born February 19, 1800, and died August 5, 1827, daughter of Elizabeth (Edmunds) and Thomas Rivers. She is buried near Kennedy, Ky. They had three children:

Martha Rivers McNeil

Thomas Henry, m. (1) Rebecca Tuck, (2) Ann Aliza Arthur; Elizabeth Rivers, m. John P. Carruthers; Martha Rivers, born January 12, 1827, and married Willie Perry Boddie.

Malcom McNeil Malcolm McNeil came to Christian County with his father in 1817, and began accumulating property at an early age. He invested largely in lands in Kentucky and Mississippi, and in 1842 bought property in Chicago. He was a Whig before the war, sympathized with the South, and later became a Democrat. His portrait is in this volume.

ELBRIDGE BRADSHAW was born December 3, 1861, in Christian County, Kentucky. His parents were Benjamin D. and Fannie (Holland) Bradshaw, daughter of Shandy A. Holland and Alm e d a (Broomfield) Holland. H i s brothers and sisters are: Annie (Culver) ; Benjamin H., Allie B. (Gary) ; Dr. Edgar B., who died in Cadiz, Ky., a few years ago; Claude S., Maggie (Belote). All are Baptists. Elbridge attended Major J. 0. Ferrell’s High School, when M. H. Crump and Frank T. Glasgow were assistants; also at V. A. Garnett’s Oakland Institute. He also went to W. R. Fall, whose son, Albert B. Fall, was a student at the same time. Elbridge was married to Mattie Holloway Clarke, in New Orleans, December 25, 1890. She died December 23, 1925.

Benjamin D. Bradshaw, father of Elbridge, was a farmer, living on the Brad. shaw Pike, who died January 26, 1902. He was a very active man in promoting  everything that was progressive and in the interest of his community. He was the moving spirit in securing rural mail service in this county. Major John W. Breathitt was Postmaster of Hopkinsville at that time, and was instrumental in securing this service through Congressman Henry Allen in January, 1901. S. B. Rathbone came here, and in company with Elbridge Bradshaw, went over the proposed route, which he recommended, and also recommended the appointment of Elbridge Bradshaw as carrier. The route started February 15, 1901, and was served continuously by him until he retired, December 3, 1926, with a most honorable record.

The Bradshaws, who came to this county in 1802 and 1803, from Jessamine County, Kentucky, were natives of Virginia. They were Edward, William and Benjamin, and settled in the territory afterwards known as Bradshaw road. This Benjamin Bradshaw, the grandfather of Elbridge, was married twice, and raised a large family. Some of the descendants of these Bradshaws settled in Paducah, Ky., and have done their part in all the affairs of that county and Ballard County. The Bradshaws are of Irish descent. John Bradshaw and his wife, Mary Wood, settled in New Jersey in 1740, and raised a large family. That the Bradshaws did their part in the Revolutionary War is shown by the fact that seventeen, from Massachusetts alone, are recorded as soldiers.

The arms of the Bradshaws are blazoned: Argent, two bendlets, sable. The crest is described: On a mount, a stag ducally gorged, standing under a vine, all proper. The motto is “Non Noblis Solum Nati Firim,us.”

GEORGE BARNES, progenitor of the Barnes family of Christian County, was born in Armagh, in Armagh Province, Ireland, about 1748 or 1756, dates differing. His pension record shows 1756. He enlisted in the Revolutionary army at Hilisborough, Va., in April, 1780; was a private and wagon-master in the company of Capt. Morris, Col. Joseph or Jonathan Clark’s regiment. He was at the siege of “Ninety-six,” and in the battle of Eutaw Springs and was honorably discharged. He was allowed a pension under an application executed August 16, 1831, claim No. S 163 Ky., giving age of seventy-five years, but he was evidently eighty-three. He came to America about 1772; married Agnes Bunch, who was born in 1754, and bore him five children: George and Robert, who were carried away by Indians when children and never heard from; William, born October 29, 1778; Annie, born 1782, and Betsy, date not known. George Barnes died in Christian County, Kentucky, November 13, 1838, and his wife died June 22, 1817. He first came to Kentucky in 1782, to Mercer County, and on the journey he stated in his pension application the Indians “carried away two of his sons.” This occurred at what was known as the “Battle of Defeated Camp,” on or near the Cumberland Mountains. In 1797, he came to Christian County. William Barnes married Elizabeth Myers, December 10, 1807. To them were born fifteen children. Those who reached maturity were Melville, Maxwell S., David L., Nison W., Elizabeth ‘A., Ildegirt A. and Mary Z. William Barnes and John Lewis helped to clear the timber from the ground upon which the courthouse stands. Melville Barnes married Mary E. Johnson and they had three sons: William H., John J., and Elbert M. Barnes. John J. Barnes was sheriff of Christian County. George W. Barnes, born in 1861, was a son of Nison W. Barnes. He married Belle Woodburn, a daughter of Alex Woodburn. Their family consisted of four sons: Dr. Oscar L., Orville D., who lives in Buffalo, N. Y., Vego E., and Omar D. Barnes. The latter married Annie Harrison, a daughter of W. B. Harrison, and lives in Hopkinsville. Separate sketches of Dr. Barnes and Vego Barnes are in this volume.

OSCAR BASS, president of Bass & Company, lumber dealers in Hopkinsville, Ky., is a son of Oscar L. and Cornelia (Covington’) Bass. His paternal grandparents were Thomas and Mary (Carter) Bass. The Bass family came from North Carolina, where it was prominent from Colonial days. Subject’s maternal grandparents were Terrell and Eranda (Chappell) Covington. Oscar Bass was born at Adel, Ga., February 3, 1891, and came with his parents to Hopkinsville when he was a child. His father was a prominent merchant, who operated the Bass Shoe Company. His son began his business career in 1912, working for a lumber company and several years ago organized the firm of Bass & Company, and pur chased a long established business which is now one of the leading enterprises of this section of the State. Mr. Bass is president of Bass & Co., president of the Hopkinsville Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Golf and Country Club, the Elks and Baptist Church. He was married April 12, 1916, to Miss Brenda Neblett, daughter of J. M. and Nell (Simmons) Neblett, formerly of Clarksville, Tenn., but at that time residents of Hopkinsville. Mr. Neblett, who was in tha milling business, is now deceased. This union has been blessed with two children:

Covington Bass, born February 12, 1917, and Brenda Nell, born August 6, 1929. Mr. Bass is one of Hopkinsville’s foremost business men, a leader in every progressive movement. He lives with his family in a handsome home on Alumni Avenue.

COL. ERSKINE BIRCH BASSETT was born in Stephensport, Ky., June 23, 1867, a son of James Hervey and Georgia (Houston) Bassett. His paternal grandparents were Jeremiah and Tryfenia (Birch) Bassett. His mother’s parents were Dr. Robert and Mary (Frank) Houston. Col. Bassett bears an unique genealogy, tracing his ancestry back to Thurston Bassett, who was one of the trusted knights of William the Conqueror, at the battle of Hastings, in 1066, and became grand falconer under this king. Two of his ancestors were among the barons who forced King John at the signing of the famous Magna Charta, and this document bears their sign and seal. William Bassett came to America in the ship Fortune, which followed the Mayflower by a few months, and landed also at Plymouth. Richard Bassett was one of the makers and signers of the Constitution of the United States. Colonel Burwell Bassett married a sister of George Washington, and their daughter, Elizabeth, married Benjamin Harrison, and was the mother of William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, and the great-grandmother of Benjamin Harrison, twentythird President of the United States. Colonel Bassett’s ancestors came to Kentucky shortly after the War of the Revolution, and settled at Bassett’s Ridge in Bracken County, and thus, as they were among the first settlers of America, they were also among the first settlers of Kentucky.
Though born in a country town, Col. Bassett early in life removed with his parents to Louisville, and was educated in that city, and was preparing for an army career through West Point when circumstances caused him to enter a mercantile life, and to satisfy his military inclinations, he joined the famous Louisville Legion in 1883 and saw active duty with them and participated in the many prize drills of that famous organization.

In 1887 he removed to Hopkinsville and was soon after made Second Lieutenant of COmpany D, Third Kentucky Infantry, and afterwards promoted to First Lieutenant of that organization.

After his Spanish War services, he was appointed by Governor Beck-ham to the rank of Major in the Third Kentucky Infantry, and from that time was called upon by the Governors of the State, upon every occasion of danger or disorder, and repeatedly received the thanks of the Chief Executive and the judges of the courts for the delicacy and tact, as well as forceful firmness, with which he handled troops upon occasions of public danger.
He was in command of troops during the coal strike in Hopkins and Webster counties, Kentucky, in 1901; again in civil disturbances at Russeilville, Ky., in 1905; Greenville, 1906, and in Mayfield, Ky., in 1906, with only fifty men he successfully defended a prisoner against the repeated attacks of a mob of several thousand fighting hand to hand through the streets of that city, accomplishing the end of maintaining the supremacy of the law without serious injury to any but a few of the leaders of the mob.

During the great “Night Rider” troubles in Kentucky (in which almost the entire State was involved) he was called into active service, remaining in the field for a year. The troubles culminated in a raid on Hopkinsville, by armed men, at one o’clock in the night. Warehouses were burned, and in less than an hour the night riders had marched out on foot, as they had marched in, leaving their horses hitched two miles from town. Though the city was guarded, Col. Bassett responded to a riot call, organized a posse of ten men, and went in pursuit and in a pitched battle, when the night riders were overtaken, several of them were killed and others, including the leader, were wounded. Col. Bassett was then placed in command of all the troops called out to suppress the reign of terror, to break up the conspiracy and restore conditions of safety and peace; for these services, he received the thanks of the governor by public proclamation, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and called to the Adjutant General’s office, as the Adjutant General of Kentucky. Immediately there came into this office such a rattling of dry bones and such live action as it had never known before or since, for in a few months he must accomplish his dream of a life time to put the Kentucky Guard upon such a footing that a call to the firing line would meet with quick and effective response; how it was accomplished in triumphant enthusiasm is one of the wonders of psychological efficiency, a new first regiment was organized, recruited and equipped at Louisville, the Second and Third Regiments were strengthened and increased to twelve companies and put upon efficient basis, and the First Kentucky brigade was completed and put upon a war footing, and to crown it all, a great school for officers and non-commissioned officers was held in the great armory at Louisville, under the direction of Captain (now General) Paul B. Malone, who was noted as being the best and most enthusiastic and efficient instructor in the Regular Army.

He was called into the Federal service, with his regiment (Third Kentucky), in June, 1916, and trained and hardened the regiment for border service in which it participated from September, 1916, until March, 1917.
In January, 1918, he was promoted to rank of Colonel, for efficiency, and assigned to the 150th Infantry.
In August, 1917, while in camp, at Lexington, Ky., disorders incident to a coal strike in Webster County, Kentucky, reached such a state as to get beyond control of the Governor, and he requested Federal intervention, whereupon Colonel Bassett was sent to take charge of the situation. Such prompt and efficient measures were taken that within a week after Colonel Bassett’s arrival upon the scene, the strike was declared off, the lesser offenders had fled, and the leaders were in confinement under the jurisdiction of the Federal court.
Soon after arrival overseas, the 38th Division, of which Colonel Bassett’s regiment was a part, was broken up for replacements, that is, to supply units that had been depleted by war losses, and Colonel Bassett was assigned to the 367th infantry of the 92nd Division. At the signing of the Armistice, it was in the front line after considerable advance, with the first battalion in the firing line, and the two other battalions in support and reserve. He received a Croix de guerre, and was recommended for promotion to a generalship by the French. Colonel Bassett continued in command of this regiment during the difficult days succeeding the armistice.

Upon the closing of the war, Colonel Bassett returned to his mercantile pursuits, and now owns and conducts one of Hopkinsville’s most beautiful stores, proving that

“There’s but the twinkling of a star
Between the man of peace and war.”

Col. Bassett was married to Miss Hallie E. Brown, and to them were born James Stanley, Estelle (Mrs. Morton), Walter Cross, Margaret and Elizabeth (Mrs. Radford). In addition to the military positions he has filled, Colonel Bassett has been a Commissioner of the Western State Hospital, Regent Western State Normal College, and Adjutant General of Kentucky. He has been an influential leader of the Republican party, and is a member of the Methodist Church.

BARNEY D. BLANEY is a recent addition to the business circles of Hopkinsville, but has already taken a prominent place in commercial, civic and religious life of the city. Mr. Blaney, in 1927, became general manager and treasurer of the Wadsworth-Campbell Box Company that had been started the year before. The success the company has made under his management gives testimony to his fine ability as an organizer and executive. The company, with the year 1930, entered a merger of similar factories in several states, and changed its name to the Autokraft Box Corporation, with headquarters at Lima, Ohio. Mr. Blaney is descended from an old Virginia family, but is a native of Illinois. Mrs. Blaney, before her marriage, was Miss Eleanor Schleicher. Their three children, Edith, Robert and Jane, are students in the schools of Hopkinsville. Mr. Blaney and his family are members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. He is a director of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Rotary Club. In April, 1930, he was transferred to Kansas City, Mo.

MRS. LADY JEWEL SUMMERS BRADSHAW is a daughter of William D. and Julia J. (Boales) Summers, who owns and lives upon the Summers place of two hundred and fifty-five acres, five miles west of Hopkinsville, where her grandfather settled in 1828, when he came from Fairfax County, Virginia. His wife was Harriett Anthony, a daughter of William B. and Susan McLean Anthony. He was killed at the battle of New Orleans. William A. Summers, son of John and Elizabeth Dulin Summers, came from Virginia, settled near Hopkinsville and built the stately old two-story frame house that is still doing good service. There they reared a family of nine children, of whom William D. was the youngest. His father died in 1857 and he later became the owner of the homestead. His mother lived with him until she died, aged ninety-one and a half. William D. Summers was educated at the University of Kentucky, and became a farmer upon a scientific basis and along most intelligent lines. He was progressive and far-seeing, used improved machinery and promoted a movement to build a turnpike from his home to Hopkinsville, one of the earliest in the county. In 1871 he married Miss Amanda Broady, of Nashville, Tenn., who died in 1873, leaving a son, Leslie A. Summers. In 1876 he married Julia, a daughter of Augustus D. and Sidney (Roberts) Boales, who died in 1887. The issue of this marriage was one daughter, the subject, who was married to Dr. E. B. Bradshaw, a son of Benjamin Bradshaw, of Christian County, who died February 13, 1920. Mrs. Bradshaw later returned to the old home and has conducted the farm in a most profitable way. One of the colored servants on the place is a daughter of a house servant, who served the family for forty-five years and her husband has served for twenty-five years. Mrs. Bradshaw is not only a good farmer, but she is a registered nurse and a shrewd business woman besides. Her American ancestor, John Summers, came from England to Virginia, settling at Cherry Hill, near Alexandria.

The Summers family, sometimes spelled Somers and Sommers, is an old English family, dating back to Knighthood days, and has been prominent in English and American history for centuries. In England it was represented in Parliament. Coming to America, it became prominent in Virginia history, and several members of the family were in the Revolutionary War. The subject possesses the family coat of arms, crested with a laurel tree, upon which hangs a coat of mail. A Flemish family originally, it was known in England, in Kent, in 1300, where Richard le Somer died in 1347. John Somers was Chancellor of Exchequer to Henry VI. His son, Jeffrey Somers, left two sons, William and Thomas. William was knighted and employed by Queen Elizabeth as public ambassador in foreign states.

The Summers family is descended from John Summers, of Dorset County, England, in 1548. He reared a family of six sons and two daughters. His son, Nicholas, had a son, Nicholas, Jr., 1665. Nicholas had two sons, Francis and William. A son of Francis, name uncertain, was the father of John, the pioneer, who was born in England in 1686, and died in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1790, at the age of a hundred and four years. His son, John, born in 1749, came from Fairfax County, and died in 1821, owning six hundred acres of land. He was the father of William A. Summers, the settler who came to Christian County in 1828. Simon Summers, a brother of William A. Summers, was a captain in Washington’s army. William A. Summers’ son, William D. Summers, was the father of Mrs. Bradshaw. She is a lineal descendant of Bartholomew T. Wood, Hopkinsyule’s first settler, and of the Weathers family, whose coat of arms is in this book. She is a member of the Methodist Church.

RICHARD F. BRASHER, supervisory agent of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in Hopkinsville since 1912, is a native of Christian County. He was born January 24, 1880. His paternal ancestors were Scotch and Irish, and came early from North Carolina, and settled near the present town of Crofton. His father, Henry C. Brasher, was born in 1837, and lived to extreme old age. He was a Union soldier in the Seventeenth Kentucky Infantry, and was wounded three times in action. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and others. He married Victoria Woodruff, of Hopkins County (1847-1917), who bore him three children, of whom Richard was. the youngest. A daughter, Lula, married G. C. Croft, and C. B. Brasher is a Christian County farmer. R. F. Brasher attended the county schools,. and at seventeen entered the L. & N. freight office at Crofton, learned. telegraphy, and has been with the company ever since, a period of thirty-. three years. He served in several offices, and in 1907 was made chief clerk at T-Ienderson, and five years later came to Hopkinsville, and has; made his company a most efficient agent for sixteen years. He has other business interests, including a herd of Jersey cattle and a dairy farm, near the city. In 1900 Mr. Brasher married Miss Alice Board, a. daughter of Walker and Roberta (Head) Board, who was a graduate of the Henderson high school. They have two daughters, Margaret Lee and. Alice Woodruff. Mr. Brasher is a member of the Baptist Church, a Mason and a Republican in politics.

JUDGE JAMES BREATHITT, an eminent attorney of Hopkinsville, was born in Hopkinsville September 4, 1852, of a long line of illustrious ancestors, tracing back to the Colonial history of Virginia, and to pioneers who came from Scotland. His paternal grandfather was James Breathitt, born in Logan County, and who died in Hopkinsville a hundred years ago. He was an early settler, a distinguished lawyer, and was Commonwealth’s attorney. His brother, John Breathitt, was Governor of Kentucky in 1832, and died in office at Frankfort. His son, John W. Breathitt, was born in Hopkinsville in 1825 and died in 1912. Many references to him will be found in this volume, as soldier and public servant. He married  Miss Katherine A. Webber, daughter of Dr. A. Webber, born in 1831 and died in 1910. John W. Breathitt, in early life, was a farmer and later a merchant. When the war came on, he entered the Union Army and rose to the rank of Major. He served throughout the war, a gallant soldier and a kind-hearted and chivalrous gentleman. After the war, his personal popularity made it an easy matter to be elected county court clerk, and he served in that office five terms of four years each. Following this service, he was county judge for eight years, and was postmaster of Hopkinsville under President Harrison, who was his cousin, and again under Presidents McKinley, Arthur and Roosevelt, and died in office. To him and his wife, Katherine Webber, were born the following children: Peyton S., Gus, Harvie W., James, Elizabeth S., Caroline (Mrs. R. S. Green), John W., Jr., and Katherine (Mrs. M. Griffin). His two eldest sons were soldiers in the Union army. He was a member of the Baptist Church.

James Breathitt was reared on a farm, and began life as a deputy clerk in his father’s office. During this time, he took up the study of law, and attended Cumberland University, from which he graduated in 1877. He was soon thereafter elected county attorney, on the Republican ticket, and in 1881 was elected representative in the General Assembly and was again elected in 1885. In 1897 he was elected circuit judge for two years, to fill a vacancy, the only Republican ever elected in the district. In 1905 he was elected county judge, and served four years. In 1916 he was elected attorney general of Kentucky for four years. Since retiring from that position, he has engaged in the practice of law, with his son, the firm of Breathitt & Breathitt being one of the leading law firms in Western Kentucky. Judge Breathitt, in 1889, married Miss Olivia Thompson, a daugh ter of George V. and and Olivia (Ellis) Thompson, and their children were: James, John W., Elizabeth 0. (Stites), Edward T., Louise, Julia A., (Funk), and Robert Ewing. Judge Breathitt and his family are members of the Methodist Church.

JAMES BREATHITT, Jr., the oldest son of James and Olivia Breathitt, was like his father and grandfather, born in Hopkinsville, December 14, 1890. He inherited the brilliancy of his father, and was given the advantage of the best schools in Kentucky and, like his father, adopted the law as his profession. He was hardly settled in the practice of law when the World War began, and he at once volunteered in the naval aviation corps and was trained in the aviation field at Boston, Mass. His brother, John W. Breathitt, entered the same branch, and was commissioned a Lieutenant at Brooks Field, Texas, while his brother, Edward T., served on the U.S.S. Mongolia in the navy. Their father was too old to fight, but he did war work at home, and took part in the bond issues. James Breathitt, Jr., followed his mother’s side in politics, and became a Democrat with his first vote, and rapidly rose to a position of influence and leadership. A brilliant orator, with eloquence rarely equaled, he is in demand as a public speaker, and is everywhere looked upon as one of the ablest Democrats in Kentucky. In 1928 he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor and was elected, although the head of the ticket was defeated by fifty thousand majority. No young man, in Kentucky, ever made a more remarkable race. As presiding officer of the State Senate, he is looked upon as the leader of his party, and all eyes are turned upon him as the logical leader in the race for Governor in 1932, which will be the centennial of the year in which his family first supplied the state with a Governor. Lieutenant-Governor Breathitt was married in Frankfort, Ky., to Miss Natalie Martin, a daughter of Col. A. D. and Leo (Visscher) Martin. They have one son, James Breathitt III, who is a high school student.

THE BUCKNER FAMILY. Frank W. Buckner, born in Virginia in 1809, came when a child to Christian County, with his Revolutionary father, Francis Buckner, who died in this county. In 1835, F. W. Buckner married Miss Sarah Gordon, who was the mother of four sons and one daughter, and lived to extreme old age. She was born in Christian County, December 2, 1819, a daughter of Samuel Gordon, who was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, and died in Christian County in 1852. The children of Frank W. and Sarah Gordon Buckner were: Samuel Gordon Buckner, who married Kate Wooldridge, and reared a family in Hopkinsville, viz.: Thomas W., Frank W., Joseph C., Sherwood and Robert H., and one daughter, Mattie, who married John Owsley. All of the boys are dead. Joseph C. left one son, Gordon. Annie, the second child and only daughter, married Joseph C. Wooldridge, and wa,s the mother of four sons and two daughters: Frank B. (deceased), Robert M., Thomas Major and Samuel Upshur, and Lallie, who married Gentry Hiliman, and Kate, who married Harry Montgomery. William F. Buckner, the second son, died in Clarksville, Tenn., leaving a son and two daughters (see biography) ; Harry C. Buckner is still living in Hopkinsville. He has two daughters, Mrs. A. D. Noe, Jr., and Mrs. T. M. Herndon. Upshaw Buckner, the youngest child, died in Nashville, Tenn., in 1928, leaving a family. Of this large and prominent family, Harry C. Buckner is the only one of the name in Christian County at the present time.

MRS. ETHEL McRAE BOLLINGER is a daughter of one of the hosts of brave young men Christian Cocunty contributed to the Lost Cause. Her father was R. K. McRae and her mother’s maiden name was Pauline Wood McRae. Kenneth MeRae, as he was called, was a son of William A. and Tibitha (Vaughn) McRae. Mrs. Bollinger’s grandparents, on her mother’s side, were William H. and Jane D. (Bradley) Wood. Her pioneer ancestors were Kenneth and Catherine (Towery) McRae, and Benjamin and Mary (Austin) Bradley. The McRaes, Woods, and Bradleys were all very early settlers, who played prominent parts in the County’s history. R. K. McRae came of military stock, and it was the natural thing for him to go to the defense of his beloved South. At the opening of hostilities, he volunteered for service, and was assigned to Company H, First Kentucky Cavalry, and saw service first at Bowling Green, and later in the fierce fighting around Chattanooga. When his comrade, Ben F. Wood, was wounded in battle, he was detailed to take him to the hospital. He served throughout the war, and afterwards was an extensive farmer, near Pembroke, Ky. He died January 9, 1915. Kenneth McRae and Richard Vaughn, his grandfathers., were both in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Bradley, Pauline Wood McRae’s grandfather, came here in 1799 from Virginia, and entered land near Pembroke, signed by Christopher Greenup, as Governor and William Grayson, Secretary of State. Miss Ethel McRae was born near Pembroke, and married Howard M. Bollinger. To this union was born one child, a son, who died in infancy.

FRANK HOUSTON BASSETT was born in Stephensport, Ky., November 1, 1873, and came to Hopkinsville as a boy when his brother, E. B. Bassett, came to open a store. He comes of Welsh stock. His parents were James H. and Georgia (Houston) Bassett. His paternal grandparents were Jeremiah V. Bassett and Tryphenia Wellesley (Birch) Bassett. His maternal grandparents were Dr. Robert R. Houston and Mary (Frank) Houston. Subject began his business career as a merchant and on February 23, 1898, was married to Miss Mamie Elizabeth Thompson, only child of Charles T. Thompson, a prominent hardware merchant. Some years after his marriage he took up the study of medicine and following his graduation at once took a prominent position in his profession. While still a practicing physician, he was elected a city commissioner in 1916, and served until his election as mayor of Hopkinsville in 1918. After four years in that office, he was elected county court clerk of Christian County in 1922, as a Democrat, and re-elected in 1926 and 1930 for terms of four years. One of his ancestors afterwards, Rev. Thomas Erskine Birch, an Episcopal minister, was an ensign on the Bon Homme Richard in the famous sea fight with the Serapis. He is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Dr. and Mrs. Bassett were the parents of three children. The oldest, Charles Thompson, died when a youth. Florence is the wife of John Jarrell, of Atlanta, Ga., and Frank H., Jr., who married Sara Belle McPherson, is in business in Hopkinsville.

THEODORE E. BARTLEY is a native of Louisa County, Virginia, who came to Christian County more than fifty years ago. He was born December 15, 1855, a son of Walker 0. and Matilda J. (McGehee) Bartley. His father’s parents were Oliver and Elizabeth Bartley, and his maternal grandparents were Garrott C. and Elizabeth (Cole) McGehee. Subject’s parents located in Orange County, Virginia, where he grew to manhood, ori~ his father’s farm, and came to Kentucky, in 1876, to work in a store of his cousin, J. W. MeGehee. Afterward he conducted a country store for several years, but in 1886, came to Hopkinsville and was business manager of the Hopkinsville Kentuckian for thirty-three years, or until the paper retired from business, January 1, 1920. Mr. Bartley was married, November 18, 1879, to Miss Mollie H. Meacham, a daughter of Rev. A. W. and Mariam (Lander) Meacham. She died September 25, 1921. To them were born three sons and eight daughters. They were Milliard F. Bartley, Athol R. and Charles (who died in infancy); Patty (Mrs. George N. Duffer, of Hopkinsville, who has a daughter, Marjorie); Otey, Gladys, Gwinneth, Berthyne (Mrs. H. J. Williams); Juanita; Imogene (Mrs. Ray A. Wren, Washington, D. C.), Dorothy (Mrs. Kemble Hagerman, Bowling Green, Ky.); and Elsye (Mrs. V. A. Jackson, Lexington, Ky.) Mr. Bartley was at one time a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Western State Hospital. He is affiliated with the Democratic party.

THOMAS J. BAYNHAM, for thirty years or more a leading planter of Christian County, was born at New Providence, Tenn., March 24, 1864. He was the oldest of several children of G. E. and Mary (Jefferson) Baynham. His paternal grandparents were John and Rebecca T. Baynham. The Baynham and Jefferson families were both early settlers in Trigg County, when it was still a part of Christian. His maternal grandparents were Thomas B. and Martha (Graves) Jefferson. Their ancestors came from Virginia and there were Revolutionary soldiers among them. Thomas J. Baynham married Victoria Elliott Meacham, January 7, 1892. She was a daughter of Rev. A. W. and Mariam (Lander) Meacham, and was born near Gracey, in Christian County. Children of this union were Mary (Mrs. Chappell Gill); Louise (Mrs. S. R. Ewing); Nell, Ada (Mrs. Henry McCoy Blanchard), and Thomas Elliott Baynham. Their only son, a boy too young for service, completed his education at the Branham and Hughes School, in Spring Hill, Tenn. He was in the R.O.T.C. at Southwestern Presbyterian University, Clarksyule, in 1918. Mr. Baynham has always been a farmer, and his son assists him in the operation of his fine farm, near the State line, on the Clarksville Highway. He not only farms on a large scale, but deals extensively in live stock, and has other large business interests. Mr. Baynham is a Methodist, and the other members of his family are Baptists. For many years he has been a most influential leader of the Democratic party in South Christian. His post office is Clarksville, Tenn.

LEVI D. BURKHOLDER, one of Crofton’s leading business men for forty-three years, is at present a dealer in general merchandise, but from 1890 to 1926, a period of thirty-three years, was in the milling business. He started the mill and ran it for fifteen years, when his brother became a partner, and the firm was Burkholder Bros., until they sold the mill. The Burkholders are of Swiss descent. Levi D. Burkholder was born at Springfield, Ohio, August 7, 1865. His parents were John M. and Kate (Lookingbaugh) Burkholder. His grandparents were Felix and Catherine (Moyer) Burkholder. His next ancestor was Ulrich, a son of Christian Burkholder, the original immigrant, who came from Switzerland to Center Hall, Pa., near Harrisburg. It was a prolific family, and is now widely distributed over many states. Subject came to Crofton a young man, and married Jennie Lou Dulin, a daughter of John M. Dulin. To them,were born the following children: Zadie Elizabeth (Howard), her second marriage, of Madisonville, KY.; Mary C. (Mrs. E. M. Brown); Zadie Lee (Mrs. A. B. McKnight); and Frances E. They also have an adopted daughter, Lola W. Mr. Burkholder has at all times been a most progressive citizen. He took a leading part in organizing the Crofton schools and was a trustee for sixteen years. He is a member of the Christian Church, an Odd Fellow and a Mason, belonging to the Oriental Chapter in Hopkinsville.
In addition to the daughters named above, Mr. Burkholder has one son, John M., who served in the World War, for two years overseas, and was in the battles of the Argonne and at St. Mihiel, with the Third Infantry. He is now postmaster of Crofton. He married Edna Wheeler, of Hopkinsville, and they have a daughter, Martha Marie.

WILLIAM VENABLE BRONAUGH. Lieutenant Commander William Venable Bronaugh, U.S.N., was born in Christian County, Kentucky, on August 20, 1855, the son of James Robert Bronaugh and Mary P. (God-din) Bronaugh. His pioneer ancestor was his grandfather, Taliaferro Bronaugh, of Fauquier County, Virginia, whose father, Thomas Bronaugh, was Captain of Fauquier County Militia during the Revolutionary War.
William V. Bronaugh was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy in 1873 by Congressman John Young Brown and graduated with honors in 1877, in time to be sent to the Paris Exposition of 1878 as a naval representative of the United States Government, making the cruise on the historic frigate Constitution.. His military career will be found in the History.

Lieutenant Commander Bronaugh was married, January 8, 1885, to Miss Mary Edmunds, of Hopkinsville, the daughter of John Thomas Edmunds and Mary (Campbell) Edmunds. To them was born one daughter, Miss Mary Bronaugh.

He died on board the U. S. S. Kearsarge, of which he was executive officer, September 30, 1902, and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Hopkinsville. His widow, Mrs. Mary Edmunds Bronaugh, followed him to the grave March 25, 1928.

CHARLES BREATHITT, a young business man of Detroit, is a direct descendant of James Breathitt, son of a Revolutionary soldier from Virginia, who settled in Logan County, Kentucky. James Breathitt was a brother of Governor John Breathitt. His son, Major John W. Breathitt, was born in Hopkinsville, was a gallant Union soldier, county court clerk, county judge and postmaster of Hopkinsville. His oldest son was Peyton Breathitt, who was Charles Breathitt’s grandfather. His father was Webber Breathitt, whose grandmother was a daughter of Dr. Augustine Webber, an eminent physician of early Hopkinsville. Subject’s nearest relative in the county is an aunt, Mrs. Thomas S. Winfree, his father’s sister. Mr. Breathitt is unmarried, and an employee in the office of the Ford Motor Company.

GUS BREATHITT is one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil War in Christian County. He was born October 8, 1849, and at eighty years of age was still vigorous enough to do active duty as a member of the Hopkinsville police force. He enlisted in the Union Army when a mere boy, and was in the service two years. When the Spanish-American War came on, though forty-seven years old, he was allowed to enter as a volunteer, and served in that war. He was deputy sheriff for fifteen years, in the U. S. Revenue Service two years, and for many years a clerk in the post office, under three postmasters, and when finally retired, having reached the age limit, he secured a place as patrolman and held the place for thirteen years. Mr. Breathitt married Miss Annie Fruit, who died several years ago. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and in politics is a Democrat. He is a brother of Judge James Breathitt and an uncle of Lieutenant Governor James Breathitt, Jr.

WILLIAM FRANCIS BUCKNER, who was a Confederate soldier from Christian County, still has descendants in the county. His parents were Francis W. and Sarah (Gordon) Buckner, who owned a large plantation on the Clarksville road, near Oak Grove. Francis W. Buckner was a son of George Buckner, who married Miss Saunders. George Buckner was a son of Francis W. Buckner, who fought in the Virginia army in the Revolutionary army. His wife was Martha Upshaw. W. F. Buckner, it will be noted, was fourth in line from the Virginia patriot, and a grandson of the Kentucky pioneer. The Upshaw ancestor was also a colonel in the Continental army. W. F. Buckner’s maternal grandparents were Samuel and Martha (Moore) Gordon. He was the second of several brothers, and was born June 9, 1843, and entered the Confederate army when eighteen years old, and fought valiantly for four years. He married Harriet Elliott, a daughter of William and Francis (Hill) Elliott. Their children were Elliott (who married Maud Drane), Gordon, Annie (who married B. G. Nelson), Lewis Douglas (who married Martha Leigh), Mildred (who married Robert A. Cook). Mr. Buckner served in the Second Kentucky Cavalry, General Forrest’s command, and later was aide-de-camp to General Joe Wheeler. He began civil life as a farmer in Christian County, but later moved to Clarksville and became a tobacconist. He died there August 9, 1913. His daughters, Mrs. Annie Nelson and Mrs. Mildred Cook, live in Hopkinsville. The former has two sons and two daughters, B. Gordon, Frank Buckner, Isabelle and Mildred Nelson.

JUDGE CHARLES HENSON BUSH was born in Montgomery County, Tennessee, October 28, 1856, and came to Christian County when seven years old. His parents were Howard B. Bush and Panthea Ellis Bush. His mother’s maiden name being Panthea Ellis. Zenas Bush, his grandfather, came from North Carolina. The home of the Ellis family, of which Judge Bush’s mother was a member, was Humphries County, Tennessee. Both of the subject’s parents died before he was six years old. His paternal grandmother was a Brooks, and his maternal grandmother was an Ellis.

Mrs. Panthea Bush, the mother of Charles Henson Bush, the subject of this sketch, died when he was an infant, and upon her death, he lived in the home of Mrs. Catherine Henson for the most of the time until he was seven years old, at Poplar Springs Furnace, in Montgomery County, Tennessee. He then came to live with an uncle, George B. Bush, near La Fayette, Christian County, Kentucky, where he spent the greater part of his boyhood.  He received a liberal education, and in 1877 went to Paducah, where he studied law for two years, and was licensed to practice. He located in Hopkinsville in 1881 and began the practice of his profession and achieved success from the start. He became a most effective jury lawyer, and soon was engaged on one side or the other of nearly every important criminal case; however, mostly for the defense, and also enjoyed a large civil practice.

He kept out of politics so far as seeking office was concerned, and never held office until 1916, when upon the death of J. T. Hanbery, Circuit Judge, he was appointed circuit judge by Governor A. 0. Stanley in August, 1916. At the November election, 1916, Judge Bush was upon the Democratic ticket and was elected by a large majority judge of the Third Judicial District, and was re-elected to the same office in November, 1921, and served in that capacity for practically twelve years, until the 1st of January, 1928. Upon retiring from the bench, he resumed the practice of law in Hopkinsyule, Kentucky.

In May, 1880, Judge Bush was married to Miss Jennie Gary, of Christian County, Kentucky. There were three children born to them, Howard, Lillian (Mrs. J. W. F. Williams), of LaFayette, Kentucky, and Lucille, now the wife of James F. Franklin, Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Jennie Bush died in November, 1886, and on June 5, 1888, Judge Bush married Mrs. Maitie Rives, of Montgomery County, Tenn. By the last marriage there were two daughters, Jennie, now the wife of Mr. R. E. Kemper, of Evansville, Ind., and he is superintendent of the Evansville and Nashville division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad; and F]orence, now Mrs. Baron Lewis, of Owensboro, Ky.

Judge Bush’s second wife died May 19, 1916. He now makes his home at his residence on East Seventh Street, in Hopkinsville, Ky.

Judge Bush has long been a member and officer of the Ninth Street Christian Church, of this city.  He is not now actively engaged in politics, but is and has always been a loyal and faithful Democrat, and has uniformly voted the Democratic ticket for over fifty years, and has been prominent in the counsels of the Democratic party.

DR. AUSTIN BELL is a descendant of one of the oldest Christian County families. His grandfather, Dr. John Francis Bell, was born in Orange County, Virginia, July 15, 1797. He came to Kentucky in 1811, and in 1818 came to Hopkinsville, and took up the study of medicine under Drs. Short and Webber, and when his medical education was completed, entered upon a practice that continued until his death, at Oak Grove, in 1878. He married Kitty Bowcock. Seven children were born to them, the sixth being Cincinnatus D. Bell, born in 1833. He was a Confederate  soldier in Woodward’s Cavalry, emerging with the rank of captain. Captain Bell was married Qctober 29, 1857, to Miss Annie Maria Peay, a daughter of Austin and Maria Pendleton Peay. Dr. Bell is the youngest of their four children. He gets his name from his maternal ancestor. Austin Peay, Sr., had a son, Austin Peay, who was a state senator. Senator Peay’s son, Austin Leavell Peay, was Governor of Tennessee, and died while serving his third term. He left a young son, Austin Peay, IV, who is an attorney in Clarksville. Dr. Austin Bell was born at Longview, Christian County, April 16, 1874, and, like his distinguished grandfather and elder brother, Dr. John P. Bell, was educated to be a doctor, and graduated from a leading institution. He located at Longview, but soon moved to Hopkinsville. He married Miss Cecil May Holloway, and they have three children, Ann Holloway (Mrs. Dr. D. L. Salmon), Dr. Austin Holloway Bell and John Peay Bell. Dr. Bell enjoys the distinction of having served in two wars. He served in the medical department, U. S. V. in the war with Spain and with the Medical Corps, U. S. A., during the World War. He is recognized as one of the leading physicians of Kentucky. Dr. Bell is a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Hopkinsville, and a member of the Board of Control of the Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital.

THE BLAKEY FAMILY. Dr. Thomas W. Blakey was born in Russeilville, Ky., August 4, 1858, and died in San Francisco, Calif., June, 1926. Dr. Blakey was for more than forty years an outstanding citizen of Christian County in professional, business, educational and religious circles. He was a descendant of one of the oldest Kentucky families, whose ancestors lived in Virginia in the eighteenth century. Churchill Blakey, of Scotch-Irish descent, had come to Virginia early. His son, William Blakey, was born in Virginia, and his grandson, George Blakey, was with Washington in his famous crossing of the Delaware River, and was a valiant soldier throughout the war. He subsequently located in Logan County, Kentucky, and became an extensive landowner. His son, Churchill
H. Blakey, married Catherine Becker, a daughter of Judge Theodore Becker, who had been a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was captured by the English and brought to Canada a prisoner of war. After being released, he came to Logan County, and became very prominent. Their son, Thomas W. Blakey, was reared on a farm, and received a liberal education in the local schools and then went to Philadelphia and received the degree of M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College. He began the practice of medicine at Auburn, Ky., and five years later, in 1887, removed to Hopkinsville, seeking a broader field, where he soon built up an extensive practice, and took his place among the leading physicians of Western Kentucky. On December 1, 1910, Dr. Blakey retired from practice to become president of the Planters Bank & Trust Company, which position he filled for several years, and then retired from active business. In 1884, Dr. Blakey married Miss Lucille Blakey, a daughter of George T. and Sarah E. Blakey, of Logan County, and of this union were born two children, Sallie George and Churchill. Dr. Blakey was a member of the Baptist Church, and was at one time moderator of the Bethel Baptist Association. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Bethel Woman’s College and Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital for a number of years. A resident of Hopkinsville for forty years, Dr. Blakey deserves to rank among the most useful citizens of the county.

WILLIAM BREWER BLANE’S ancestors came to Christian County among the early settlers. His grandparents were Ephraim and Keziah (Baynham) Blane. His parents were William Gregory Blane and Mary E. (Smith) Blane. His mother’s father was H. David Smith, and her mother, before her marriage, was a McGee. The Blanes came from Virginia and the Smiths first came to Tennessee and later moved across the line. Wm. B. Blane was born near Roaring Springs, Ky., February 9, 1858, was reared in the vicinity of Pee Dee, and was married to Miss Mary E. Dawson, a daughter of Gus and Elizabeth (Gee) Dawson, of the same section of Trigg and Christian counties, through which the present county line runs. Their only child, a son, died in infancy. Mr. Blane has spent his life as a farmer in the neighborhood where he was born, honored and respected by his neighbors. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a deacon for many years. He is also a member of the Masonic order, and in politics is a Democrat. His present home is near the county line, in Trigg County, but his business interests are in Christian County. The Blanes are related to the Blame family of Maine, and the name is sometimes also spelled Blain.

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