HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III,
pp. 1302-1303.  Boyd County.

HUGH W. POAGE.  In the city which represented his home during practically
his entire life occurred the birth and death of Hugh William Poage, who
was descended from the old pioneer Poages, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who
immigrated to the United States in the early Colonial era of our national
history and representatives of whom were prominent in public affairs in
Virginia, whence a colony came to Kentucky about the year 1781. Concerning
the Poage family further data are given in the sketch dedicated to Hugh
Calvin Poage, father of him whose name introduces this review.
     Hugh William Poage was born at Ashland, Boyd county, Kentucky, on
the 22d of August, 1854, the year the city was founded and platted.  His
death occurred on the 3d of June, 1904.  He was the oldest child of Hugh
Calvin and Sarah (Davenport) Poage, and concerning his brothers and
sisters the following brief record is here incorporated--Nannie Rebecca
died at the age of six months; Minnie is the wife of J. H. Eba and
resides at Ashland; Margaret Anna is on the staff of the Ashland Daily
Independent and maintains her home in this city; Thomas Hoge is a
druggist in the city of Chicago, Illinois; James is an attorney in the
same city; Virginia is the wife of F. R. Henderson, a wholesale grocer at
Ashland; Katharine is the wife of E. H. Townsend, of Clermont county,
Ohio; Louise is a popular and successful teacher in the public schools of
Boyd county, Kentucky; and Robert H. is a resident of Los Angeles,
California.  Mr. Poage, of this notice, received but meager educational
training in his youth and when eighteen years of age he began to work
on the wharf boat at Ashland, continuing to be thus engaged for several
years and eventually serving in the capacity of freight clerk and
collector.  During 1875-76 he was employed at the Buena Vista and
Princess Iron furnaces by the firm of Culbertson, Means & Culbertson,
leading iron manufactures at that time.  From 1883 to 1885 he worked in
the internal revenue office of central Kentucky and while thus engaged
he began the study of law.  On retiring from the revenue service he
returned to his home in Ashland, where he was admitted to the bar of the
state in December, 1886, after examination by Circuit Judge John M. Burns,
Colonel L. T. Moore and Colonel F. H. Bruning.  He initiated the active
practice of his profession at Ashland and in a short time succeeded in
building up a large and lucrative clientage, in whose behalf he exerted
his every energy, proving an able and versatile attorney and skilled
counselor.  In 1890 he was elected to the office of city attorney of
Ashland and in 1893 he was chosen as his own successor for a term of four
years.  Subsequently he was elected to fill the unexpired term of W. S.
Hager as county judge, to which office he was later re-elected, being
incumbent thereof at the time of his death, in 1904.  He had previously
served with the utmost efficiency as a member of the city council, in
which connection he did much to advance the general welfare and to
introduce various need improvements for the good of the city.
     During his residence in Ashland Judge Poage was engaged in the
insurance business for some twenty-six years and at the time of his demise
he had the oldest agency in the city.  He was a man universally admired,
respected and beloved by his fellow men, was genial, jovial, the acme
of honesty and generally a prime favorite in the city which so long
represented his home.  He was a splendid lawyer, a sagacious politician
and above all a friend to the poor and downtrodden.  Politically he was
a staunch Republican and he manifested a deep and sincere interest in
public affairs early in life, doing much for the success of his party and
for the victory of his political friends.  In a fraternal way he was
affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias
and the Knights of the Maccabees, in each of which he was a valued and
appreciative member.
     On the 1st of April, 1881, was celebrated the marriage of Judge Poage
to Miss Lauretta Shaw, a native of Gallipolis, Ohio, and a daughter of
John W. and Ariadne (Jeffers) Shaw.  The paternal grandparents of Mrs.
Poage were early pioneers in the old Buckeye state, where representatives
of the family were identified principally with agricultural pursuits.
Judge and Mrs. Poage became the parents of two children,--Paul, who is
a clerk of the circuit court in Boyd county; and Judith, who is now the
wife of Harry Brooks Vaughan, of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is employed
on the editorial staff of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Judge Poage was
summoned to eternal rest on the 3d of June, 1904, at which time the city
suffered the loss of one of its most loyal and public-spirited citizens,
one whose highest ambition had ever been to foster progress and
development and to be of service to his fellow men.  Mrs. Poage is now
living in Ashland, Kentucky.
     Paul Poage was born at Ashland, January 1, 1882, and in this city
he was reared and educated, his schooling consisting of such advantages
as were afforded in the public and parochial schools.  After being
graduated in the local high school he entered Washington & Lee University
at Lexington, Virginia, where he was registered as a student for two
years, at the expiration of which he was matriculated in Center College,
at Danville, Kentucky, in the law department of which excellent
institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1905, with the
degree of Bachelor of Laws.  Immediately after graduation he resided at
Lexington, Kentucky, for a time and then returned to Ashland, where he
began the practice of his profession.  The day he opened his law office
in this city he earned a fee of twenty-five dollars.  He continued in
active practice until his election as clerk of the circuit court of Boyd
county, in the fall of 1909, since which time he has devoted his entire
attention to the responsibilities of his office.  He is an uncompromising
Republican in his political proclivities and his future holds great
promise for a splendid political career.  He is a member of the Phi Kappa
Psi college fraternity at Washington & Lee University, and is a member of
the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks at Ashland.  The religion of the
Poage family has ever been of the Presbyterian denomination.
     On the 6th of July, 1906, Mr. Poage was united in marriage to Miss
Margaret Helen Bester, a native of Ironton, Ohio.  She is a daughter of
William J. Bester, who was formerly engaged in the iron business in
Ironton.  To Mr. and Mrs. Poage has been born one daughter, Sarah Eliza.

Poage Davenport Moore Bruning Hager Shaw Eba Henderson Bester
Townsend Jeffers Vaughan
=
Fayette-KY Boyle-KY Clermont-OH Cincinnati-Hamilton-OH IL VA CA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/boyd/poage.hw.txt