Biographical Sketches

 

  

 



EDWARD HOLDEN

Biographical sketches of the graduates of Yale College: with annals of the college history.
Yale College
Page 482

Edward Holden, the oldest child of Edward Holden, a merchant of Boston and Dorchester, Massachusetts, and grandson of Samuel and Hannah (Kilbon) Holden, of Dorchester, was born in Dorchester late in 1791. His mother was Anne, daughter of Samuel and Anne (Robinson) Payson, of Dorchester. He entered Yale in 1809. Professor Edward S. Holden, the distinguished astronomer, is a nephew.
He studied law, and settled in 1814 in Kentucky, where he followed his profession.
He married in 1820 Eliza F. Williams, who died in 1821, aged 24 years, leaving no issue.
He next married in 1825 Sarah McClenahan, by who he had one son, born in 1826, in Falmouth, Kentucky.
He died on March 5, 1827, in his 36th year.
AUTHORITIES.
Hist. of Dorchester, 1859, 545. Letter, Dec. 1911.
Professor Edward S. Holden, MS.

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BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Page 580

GARNETT E. NORRIS

The subject of this sketch is one of the substantial and representative citizens of Marion county, having made his home here for over a quarter of a century and devoted much valuable time to the development of the county's interests in many ways. A well defined purpose has caused him to succeed where less courageous souls would have gone down in defeat.
Garnett E. Norris was born in Clermont county, Ohio, January 15, 1863, the son of John Pierce and Maggie Norris, the former having been born in Brown county, Ohio, February 8, 1832. He was a school teacher and professor nearly all his life, having become widely know as an able educator. He spent a few years as a traveling salesman. He received his education at Felicity Academy, in Ohio, also Wesleyan University, in which institution he took a scientific course and where he graduated. He had no permanent residence in younger years for he never taught long in one place. He was principal of the schools at Manchester, Ohio, Higginsport, Georgetown and Moscow, Ohio; also Falmouth and Foster, Kentucky, and many other places before coming to Marion county. He taught one term in Patoka. He was compelled to give up educational work on account of failing health in his later years. He died suddenly in Marion county in 1909. He was a well educated and unusually intelligent man and was prominent wherever he lived. He was known especially as a great mathematician. He married Maggie Norris (no relation) in 1858 in Pendleton county, Kentucky. She was born about 1842 in Pendleton county, Kentucky. His wife, who is now living, was a twin to Francis Norris, deceased. 

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A history of William Reed Smith and his families
Authors: Parrish, Mahala Smith
Parrish, John F.
Date: 1953
Page: 62

AMELIA MARIAH CHERRY SMITH

A sketch of her life by Mabel Smith Randall as read at the William Reed Smith Reunion held in Centerville, Utah, March 9, 1940.

Mariah Cherry Smith was a daughter of Aaron Benjamin Cherry and Margret Yelton. She was born on May 9, 1838 in Falmouth, Pendleton County, Kentucky.
Her early childhood was spent in their Kentucky home, but at the age of four her parents and family moved to Adams County, Illinois. Here they first heard the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his associates. They were soon converted. The family was baptized and confirmed of the Church in April 1846 by Orson Hyde.
Then with the exodus of the Saints from Illinois, they left their home and went to Winter Quarters in Western Iowa, a camp of refuge for the homeless exiles. Here they made preparation for the long journey across the plains to the Rocky Mountain region where they might establish homes in the then unknown west. They left Council Bluffs on June 20, 1847 in the Charles C. Rich Company.
The Cherries were well-to-do, and their outfits were among the best in company. They had three well stored wagons and several yoke of oxen and a band of horses. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley on October 2, 1847, having stopped in the Black Hills of Wyoming where a baby brother was born. 
They camped in the fort at Salt Lake the first winter but moved north about twelve miles in 1848 and settled with William and zosmyn Deuel and others on what was called Cherry Creek and later named Deuel Creek. Here they bought out the claim and a two-room log house of Thomas Grover (the first Centerville settler) and here they made for themselves a permanent home.
On May 6, 1857 Amelia Cherry married William Reed Smith and to this union six children, Hyrum, Anna Maria, Margaret Amelia, Jesse, Aaron B. and Dora, who died in early childhood.
When they were first married they lived in the home of Emeline Leavitt Smith, first wife of William Reed Smith, for several years. She later lived in a little house about where the Post Office now stands, and then her husband built her a two-story rock house which still stands on the highway. Here she lived happily for many years.
Amelia Cherry Smith always noticed children. No child passed without being greeted by her in a most cordial and friendly way. All the children of the community respected and loved her. Here in the old rock home we children visited her often as it was a treat to go and spend an hour or two with Aunt Millie and hear her tell the early pioneer stories much loved by us children as well as the older ones of the family.
As a hobby Aunt Millie did much knitting and handiwork. I remember her making beautiful fine laces and trimming for table covers and scarves. Her husband died on January 15, 1894.
She was a faithful Latter Day Saint and a diligent worker in the (?) Society and helping the poor.
She had very poor health in the latter years of her life, and finally became ill in health. She left her old home and went to live with her daughter, Margaret, at Annis, Idaho where she passed away on September 13, 1923. She was buried in the Centerville Cemetery.
The following children were born to Amelia Mariah Cherry Smith and William Reed Smith:
Hyrum Smith - b. 7 June 1860, Centerville, Utah - m. Abbie Benedict - d. 25 March 1919
Annie Mariah Smith - b. 11 August 1862, Centerville, Utah - d. 27 March 1864
Margaret Ann Smith - b. 18 November 1864, Centerville, Utah - m. Timothy Bartlett Brown
Jesse Cherry Smith - b. 4 February 1869, Centerville, Utah - d. 24 February 1883
Aaron Benjamin Smith - b. 27 December 1873, Centerville Utah - d. 27 October 1875
Dora Smith - b. 11 November 1877, Centerville, Utah - d. 14 February 1880

The following lines to the memory of Aunt Millie by Mahala Smith Parrish were also read at the family reunion.

AUNT MILLIE
By one of the family who loved her:

She was born in old Kentucky
Where the blue grass loves to grow
Where the sweet magnolia blossoms
And the cold winds seldom blow.

Where the whippoorwills are singing
In the trees at break of day,
And the mocking birds salute you
In their own familiar way.

The land where the darkies
Pick cotton white as snow,
And all the time are singing songs
Like Foster's "Old Black Joe".

It's a land of fast horses
And beautiful women, they say,
Aunt Millie was no exception
To the rule in her younger day.

Her hair was dark and wavy,
Her eyes were Irish blue,
She had a sense of humor
That made her dear to you and me.

She was one of nature's lovers
Of flowers, birds and trees.
She raised flowers in her windows
That were wonderful to see.

To watch them grow and blossom
Filled my heart with ecstasy.
There were fuchsias, geraniums, ivies,
Ice plants dripping with dews.

That made a deep impression
In the hearts and minds of many youths.
She taught us how to watch and care for them
So they would bring us good returns.

As we grew to man and womanhood
That desire still within us burned
Until we got a little garden spot
And grew flowers on our own.

We never forgot Aunt Millie
And the seeds by her sown,
In our young minds and aspirations,
But to her they were all unknown.

She had a sweet canary bird
Who sang her sweet refrains.

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JOHN MASON GOLDEN

Biographical sketches of members of the Indiana State government, state and judicial officials, and members of the 51st Legislative Assembly, 1879
Indianapolis Sentinel, Co. 1879, 167 pgs.

Pages 114-15:

JOHN MASON GOLDEN
Representative from Jefferson,

Was born in Pendleton County, Kentucky, March 20, 1846. Mr. Golden's parents are of English stock, and were raised in Kentucky, where he was born. The early part of his life was spent on his father's stock farm. By attending the public schools during the winters he obtained a fair English education. At the age of eighteen he commenced teaching the public schools of his native county and proved to be a efficient teacher. Subsequently, he received an Academic education at Independence Academy, in Kenton County, Kentucky, after which he commenced the study of law. His health failing during the prosecution of this study, he turned his attention to farming, hoping thereby to regain his health. Mr. Golden removed to Jefferson County, Indiana, October 1, 1873, and has since resided in that county, where he has been actively engaged in teaching, employing his spare time in study of medicine. He is now giving his attention to the study and practice of law, which he expects to follow as a profession. Mr. Golden has filled the public positions of School Examiner of Kenton County, Kentucky, and Trustee of Republican township, Jefferson County, Indiana.
Politically, Mr. Golden is a Republican, casting his first vote for Gen. Grant, for President of the United States. His majority over his competitor for Representative was two hundred and ninety-five votes. Personally, he is a little above medium height, of slender build, symmetrical and graceful, olive complexion, with black eyes and beard and a broad full forehead, refined, courteous and well bred.

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JOHN P. THRASHER

History of Fayette County, Indiana: her people, industries and institutions
Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1917, 1295 pgs.

FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA
Pages778-79

JOHN P. THRASHER

The late John P. Thrasher, a on-time lawyer, a veteran of the Civil War and for years a substantial and influential farmer in Fairview township, this county, was born in that township and there spent practically all his life, his death occurring near the old Thrasher homestead on March 9, 1906. He was born on November 23, 1838, a son of Hon. Woodson W. and Barbara (Daubenspeck) Thrasher, natives of Kentucky and representatives of pioneer families in this part of the state, both having been but children when their respective parents came to Indiana and settled in Rush county, near the Fayette county line.
The Hon. Woodson W. Thrasher was for many years one of Fayette county's most prominent citizens, having served as a member of the board of county commissioners, as representative in the Legislature from this district and in other positions of public trust. He was born in Pendleton county, Kentucky, February 4, 1812, so of John and Elizabeth (Rush) Thrasher, natives of Kentucky and of English and Irish extraction. John Thrasher was a son of Josiah Thrasher, a native of Maryland, and the latter was a son of John Thrasher, one of three brothers who emigrated from England to the American colonies during the progress of the Revolutionary War and settled in Maryland. John Thrasher, the immigrant, served as a soldier of the patriot army during the struggle of the colonies to throw off the yoke of British rule and afterward moved to Kentucky, then a county of Virginia, and there spent the remainder of his life. He married Elizabeth Hooker, of Maryland, and was the father of a large family, Josiah being his eldest son. Josiah Thrasher was reared in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and there married Nancy Bonar, who bore him four children, John, Josiah, Sarah and Stephen. About 1830 the elder Josiah Thrasher came to Indiana with his family and settled on the eastern edge of Rush county, where his wife died shortly afterward and where he spent the remainder of his life, surviving her several years. John Thrasher also was reared in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and there married Elizabeth Rush, daughter of Peter and Mary Rush, who bore him ten children, Woodson W., Mary, Nancy, William, Josiah, Maria, Lucinda, Caroline, Joseph and an infant, who died unnamed. In 1824 John Thrasher came to Indiana with his family and settled in Rush county, near the eastern border of the county, where he established his home. His wife died in 1855. He subsequently married Mary Copeland and continued to live on his farm until his death in 1876, for fifty years having been regarded as one of the leading citizens of that part of the county.


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Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis : a compendium of history and biography for ready reference
New York: Southern History Co., Haldeman, Conard & Co., proprietors, 1899, 3001 pgs.
Pages 1167-68 

Kennett, Luther M., for many years a distinguished citizen of St. Louis, was born at Falmouth, Pendleton County, Kentucky, March 15, 1807, and died in Paris France, in 1873. He received careful educational training in his early boyhood and completed his studies at Georgetown, Kentucky, under the preceptorship of Rev. Barton W. Stone, a distinguished minister and educator of that period in Central Kentucky. Becoming deputy clerk of the County Court of Pendleton County at fifteen years of age, he filled that position for eighteen months, and then went to Campbell County, Kentucky, where he became deputy clerk in the office of General James Taylor, of Newport, then clerk of the courts of that county. While in General Taylor's office he devoted his leisure time to the study of the law and in 1825 came to St. Louis. He clerked for a time in a store, and later went to St. Francis County, Missouri, where he was clerk and salesman in a commercial establishment in the town of Farmington. Sometime later his superior business qualification enabled him to form a partnership with Captain James M. White, a prosperous merchant of Salem, Missouri, which continued fifteen years and which was so profitably conducted that Mr. Kennett amassed an ample fortune as the result of the merchandising operations, and the judicious investment, from time to time, of surplus accumulations. He was vice-president of the Pacific Railroad Company at the inception of that enterprise, and upon the completion of the first thirty seven miles of railways, delivered a notable address upon the occasion of the opening of the road to traffic. In 1853 he was elected president of the Iron Mountain Railroad Company and occupied a conspicuous place among the pioneers in the railroad development of the Southwest. His public life began in 1842, when he was elected a member of the board of aldermen from the old Fourth ward of St. Louis. In 1850 he was elected mayor of the city and twice thereafter re-elected, serving, in all, three terms, and achieving the distinction of being one of the ablest of the many able men who have acted as chief executive of the city.
In 1854 he was nominated for Congress and elected over the distinguished Thomas H. Benton, who became a candidate for the House of Representative, after having served thirty years as a member of the United States Senate. As a member if Congress, Mr. Kennett rendered valuable services to St. Louis and the State of Missouri, securing among other things appropriations necessary for the improvement of the Mississippi rapids, and a right of way for the Iron Mountain Railroad through the Arsenal and Jefferson Barracks. After his retirement from active business pursuits, he resided, until 1867 at a fine country residence in St. Louis County, which bore the name of "Fairview." This estate he sold in 1869, and going abroad soon afterward, he lived in Paris until his death. He was twice married. First, in 1832, to a daughter of Colonel John Boyce, of Farmington, Missouri, who died in 1835, leaving one daughter, who became, in later years, the wife of Benjamin Farrar. In 1842, he married Miss Agnes A. Kennett, daughter of Dixon H. Kennett, and seven sons, born of this union, survive their father.

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Seiler, George A.

A Covington industrialist and Postmaster. George A. Seiler was born on March 31, 1868 at Butler (Pendleton County), Kentucky. His father was George Seiler (1829-1897), a native of Baden. He immigrated to the United States in 1849. His mother was Anna Keegan (1826-1899), a native of County Galway, Ireland. The couple had one other child, John J. Seiler. 

George A. Seiler was educated in the public schools at Butler, Kentucky. He also attended a private high school in that same community. Seiler married Anna Katherine Schuler on May 21, 1896 in Dividing Ridge, Kentucky. The couple had one child, Charles Dewey Seiler (born on April 7, 1899).
George A. Seiler served as Deputy Sheriff in Pendleton County (1892-1896), Kentucky and with the Internal Revenue Service (1889-1892 and 1896-1900). He relocated to Covington in 1900. In September 1903, he was appointed finance clerk of the Covington Post Office. He held this position until 1908, when he was appointed Assistant Postmaster of Covington (resigned in 1910). Seiler then served as Covington City Auditor for two years and on the Covington City Commission from 1920-1921. In March 1920, Seiler was elected to a four-year term on the Kentucky State Republican Central Committee. On July 1, 1921, George A. Seiler was appointed Postmaster of the City of Covington. 

Seiler also was the owner of the Seiler Motor Car Company of Covington. He began the business in 1911, which was located at 1324-1336 Madison Avenue. A modern garage and service center was completed on this site in 1920. The company continued to be operated after George’s death by his son Charles.

Seiler was a member of the Bishop Carrell Knights of Columbus in Covington and the Covington Elks Lodge. He was also a very active member of the Republican Party, having served as Chairman of the Executive Committee.

G.A. Seiler died at his home, 616 Wallace Avenue, on July 16, 1929. He was survived by his widow, Catherine Seiler, and son, Charles. At the time of his death, the family was living at 2209 Scott Street in Covington. Funeral services were held at St. Mary Cathedral in Covington with burial at Mother of God Cemetery in that same city. Governor Flem D. Samson and many other dignitaries attended the services.

Kentucky Post, May 12, 1921, p. 1,May 29, 1922, p. 1, July 16, 1929, p. 1, July 17, 1929, p. 1, July 18, 1929, p. 2; Pictorial and Industrial Review of Northern Kentucky, p. 10; William Elsey Connelley and E.M. Coulter, History of Kentucky (Chicago: American Historical Society 1922) pp. 128-129.

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JOSEPH MACAULEY LOWE

Title: Kansas City, Missouri : its history and its people, 1808-1908 

Authors: Whitney, Carrie Westlake.
Van Horn, R. T.


City of Publication: Chicago 

Publisher: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. 

Date: 1908 
Pages 178-80

JOSEPH MACAULEY LOWE

Joseph Macauley Lowe, well descended and well bred, is fortunate in having back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, while his own lines of life have been cast in harmony therewith. A lawyer by profession who has attained success and prominence at the bar, he is now largely devoting his attention to private interests, but is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence.
His natal day was December 13, 1844, and the place of his nativity Pendleton County, Kentucky. His parents were Moses and Nancy Watson (Porter) Lowe, also natives of Kentucky, and the family is of Anglo-German descent. Sir Hudson Lowe, a British general, was in command of St. Helena while Napoleon was an exile there from 1815 until 1821. Robert Lowe, viscount of Sherbrooke, was a noted English politician and filled many important official positions, including that of chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary. He did much toward establishing the political policy of his country during the nineteenth century and died in 1892. Germans of the name have been celebrated for high class musical compositions and as operatic singers. Wilhelm Lowe was called the Lion-Ox, on account of his bravery and patience, and was a noted German liberal politician in pre-imperial times. The Porters were also conspicuous in literature and in war. Anna Marie Porter was the author of several novels, while Thaddeus of Warsaw and other productions, the work of Jane Porter, have been perhaps more widely read than any productions from a woman's pen. Both the Lowe and Porter families were represented in the colonial army during the American Revolution. William Thomas Lowe removed from Virginia to Kentucky in pioneer times and purchased the present site of the city of Lexington. Governor Lowe, of Maryland, was also a member of this family. The eastern branch of the family, which struck the final E from the name, has prominent representative in Seth Low, the president of Columbia University of New York city. Seth Low's father married Nancy Porter.
Moses Lowe, father of J. M. Lowe, of this review, devoted his life to farming in Kentucky, and for several years was justice of the peace. Upon the old homestead farm there his son Joseph M. was reared, and from an early age was familiar with the work of the fields, while in the winter months he attended the country schools to the age of sixteen years. He then enlisted in the Confederate army and served for three months, after which he taught a district school at Greenfield, Indiana, at the same time pursuing the study of law in the office of James L. Mason during his leisure hours. In 1864 he was appointed clerk in the Indiana state senate, serving for two years, and in 1865 he successfully passed an examination which secured him admission to the bar at Greenfield, Indiana.
Mr. Lowe has been a representative of the Missouri bar since 1868, when he located for practice at Plattsburg, this state, where he remained until 1883. There he won cordial advancement by reason of marked devotion to his clients' interests, his thorough preparation of his cases and his able handling of his cause in the courts. From 1872 until 1880 he served as prosecuting attorney of Clinton County, being chosen by popular suffrage at four successive elections. The first time he was nominated by the democrats, the "people" then placed his name on the people's ticket, and afterward the republicans did the same, thus giving him three nominations for the same office.
In 1883 Mr. Lowe arrived in Kansas City, since which time he has devoted much of his attention to personal affairs, although he is also well known as an able member of the bar. In 1889 he was appointed receiver of the National Exchange Bank and so managed its affairs that he paid the depositors in full and the stockholders a good dividend. He has ever kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age, has read broadly and considers deeply the vital questions affecting state and national interests in any of its phases. He is an eloquent speaker, possessing superior oratorical power, and has been called upon to address many gatherings upon important questions. His address before the Kansas City Commercial Club in 1896 on Agriculture and Commerce, Twin Sisters in the Country's development, was a most entertaining one and full of historical facts. For his learned and able address before the South and West Commercial Congress at Charleston in 1896 he received a vote of thanks. He was also called upon to address the Trans-Mississippi Congress at Houston, Texas. He possesses a statesman's grasp of affairs and his political interest has ever been that of a public-spirited citizen who desires general good rather than personal aggrandizement and places the welfare of the country before partisanship. He was, however, a candidate for lieutenant governor in 1900, and his political views may be termed those of a conservative democrat.
In 1876 Mr. Lowe was married to Miss Mary E. McWilliams, a daughter of Dr. John Q. A. McWilliams, of Madison County, Kentucky, and a descendant of the McWilliams and Hockaday families, who were among the pioneers of Virginia and Kentucky. Her grandfather, Captain John Cleveland McWilliams served in the war of 1812, and through the Cleveland branch of the family Mrs. Lowe is related to Grover Cleveland. By her marriage she has become the mother of a son and daughter, John Roger and Florence Marian.
The family attend the Baptist church, of which Mr. Lowe is a member, He stands for all that is best in the individual, in citizenship and in business life. The strong qualities which have made him useful in one locality would have insured his eminence anywhere. Though never a seeker for political honors he has exerted through his wide acquaintance with the leaders of political and business life an influence exceeding that of many whose names are familiar in public affairs. Governor Folk appointed him chairman of the board of election commissioners in 1895, and during the existence of this board, it has been universally conceded that the elections have been fair, honest and orderly.

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Title: The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery
of eminent and self-made men. 

Author: Anonymous


City of Publication: New York 

Publisher: United States Biographical Pub. Co. 

Date: 1878 

Page: 724

JOHN D. SMOOT

MEMPHIS

Missouri, although younger than many sister states, has given birth to a vast number of eminent men, who have done her service, and whose names grace her records. Among them we find the name of John D. Smoot, who was born in Scotland County, October 15, 1848. His parents, Edward and Harriet (Downing) Smoot, were natives of Fauquier County, Virginia, and emigrated with his maternal grandfather, H. H. Downing, to Missouri in 1836, locating in Scotland County, where his father farmed to some extent.
John was reared to agricultural pursuits, and was educated in the Memphis Academy. In 1870 he began to read law, and after attending lectures at the St. Louis Law College, he was admitted to the bar in April, 1871. In the same year he located at Memphis and began the practice of his profession, in which he has since been successfully engaged. In 1872 he was elected prosecuting attorney, and in 1874 was reelected. Politically he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
In 1873 he married Miss Annie D. Ewing, of Pendleton County, Kentucky, a lady possession rare qualities, and a very devoted wife. Mr. Smoot is a gentleman who has many friends, and whose character is unblemished.

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ORIE WARE

Orie Ware was born on May 11, 1882 in a log cabin in Peach Grove, Pendleton County, Kentucky. When he was a young child, the family moved to Covington. He studied law at the Cincinnati College of Law, where he graduated in 1903. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing in Covington. On September 1906, he married Louise Culbertson at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Covington.

Ware was a life-long Democrat, and held several appointed and elected political posts. In 1914, he was appointed Postmaster General of Covington by President Woodrow Wilson. He held this position until 1921. In November 1921, he was elected Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney, a position he held for six years. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1927 to 1929 and was a United States Commissioner in Covington from 1942 to 1947. Ware served as a Kenton County Circuit Court Judge from 1957 to 1958.

Most of Ware’s career, however, was spent as a lawyer in Covington. He was the senior partner of Ware, Bryson & Nolan. The firm was located in the First National Bank Building at 6th and Madison Avenues for decades. 

Ware was a member of Covington’ First Baptist Church, where he served on the board of trustees and board of deacons. He was also a 33rd Degree Mason. He and his wife lived in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky for many years.

Orie S. Ware died on December 16, 1974 at the age of 92. He was the oldest living lawyer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. His wife, Louise Culbertson Ware, preceded him in death in 1972. He was survived by his children: James C. Ware (a state senator) Louise Ware Wile of Lexington. Services were held at the First Baptist Church of Covington with burial at Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. 

Pictorial and Industrial Review of Northern Kentucky, p. 11; Kentucky Post, June 22, 1965, June 28, 1971 and December 17, 1974, p.1 


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THOMAS REYNOLDS

Thomas Reynolds, seventh governor of Missouri, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, March 12, 1796. When about 21, he was admitted to the Kentucky bar. While still in his early 20s, he emigrated to Springfield, Illinois, where he soon won recognition. There he served as clerk of the Illinois house of representatives, attorney general, speaker of the house, and from August 31, 1822 to January 19, 1825, as chief justice of the Illinois state supreme court and judge of a circuit court.

Reynolds came to Missouri in 1828 or 1829, settling first at Fayette, Howard county. In 1832 he was elected to represent Howard count in the general assembly and served as speaker of the house. Governor Lilburn W. Bogg nominated Reynolds for the judgeship of the second judicial circuit of Missouri January 25, 1837. Three years later at the Democratic convention in Jefferson City, Reynolds was nominated for the governorship almost by acclamation. 

As governor, Reynolds advocated an improved system of public education, a sound currency, a limited system of internal improvements so as not to burden the State with a larger public debt, and the right of each state to settle the question of slavery within its own limits. The issue which appealed to him most strongly, however, was the abolition of imprisonment for debt. Largely through his efforts this was accomplished by the act of January 17, 1843, which has been embodied in each revision of the State constitution since. During his administration, Reynolds issued the first proclamation for official State observance of Thanksgiving day in Missouri, setting aside the fourth Thursday in November 1843.

February 9, 1844, some ten months before the expiration of his term of office, Reynolds committed suicide in his office at the executive mansion in Jefferson City by shooting himself. A note left for a friend, Colonel William G. Minor, gave the reason for his act as "the slanders and abuse" of his political enemies. However, Reynolds was one of the most popular men in the State. It was supposed that he was melancholy from ill-health. A granite shaft marking his grave was erected in Jefferson City by the State of Missouri in 1846, and Reynolds county was named for him.
[Mess. and Procl. Mo. Gov., I (1922); Jeff. City Jeff. Inquirer, Feb. 29, 1844; Ency. Hist. Mo., V (1901).]

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