Johnson County
Kentucky

HOME

BIOGRAPHIES

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Hon. Andrew E. Auxier. The common, every-day man, engrossed in the business avocation which brings him his daily bread, is representative of the nation's citizenship. This is the normal type and his life begins and ends, perhaps, with nothing more distinctive than is the ripple on the stream when the pebble is thrown into the water. It is the unusual type that commands attention, and it is his influence exerted on his community and the record of his life that are valuable and interesting as matters of biography. In the professions, and especially that of the law, the opportunities for usefulness and personal advancement depend almost entirely upon this gifted individual, and here natural endowment is as essential as is thorough preparation. The bar of Pike County, a representative body of the State of Kentucky, has its full quota of brilliant men, and one of its foremost members is Hon. Andrew E. Auxier, who is also a member of the Kentucky Senate.

Senator Auxier was born in Pike County, Kentucky, October 31, 1878, a son of Hon. Andrew J. and Elizabeth (Scott) Auxier, and comes of French Huguenot stock. The family is traced back in Pennsylvania to the year 1765, and Samuel Auxier, the great-great-grandfather of Andrew E. Auxier, was a soldier in the patriot army during the War of the Revolution. He came to Kentucky in 1791 and settled on land in Block House Bottom, Johnson County, opposite Eastpoint, a property which is still owned by members of the Auxier family. The great-grandfather of Andrew E. Auxier was Samuel Auxier, and his grandfather, Nathaniel J. Auxier, who married Hester Ann Mayo.

Andrew J. Auxier, father of Andrew E., was born in 1845, in Johnson County, Kentucky, where he attended the public schools, and read law in the office of James E. Stewart, of Louisa. Admitted to the bar in 1867, he selected Pikeville as his field of professional endeavor and in the same year took up his residence at this place, where he not only rose to a high and honored position in his calling, but held many offices of responsibility and trust. He served as county attorney and commonwealth attorney, and at a time when the district was a very large one, including all of the Big Sandy country in Kentucky, was United States district marshal, during the administration of President Arthur. At one time he was a candidate for United States Congress, but met with defeat. Appointed by Governor Bradley to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Patton, as judge of the Circuit Court, he was subsequently elected to that office, in which he served six years. He also took an active part in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church, in which he was an elder, and in Pikeville College, which he assisted in many ways. His death, August 15, 1905, when he was sixty years of age, removed from the community one of its best and most public-spirited citizens. Judge Auxier was married in Pike County to Elizabeth Scott, who was born on John's Creek, Kentucky, in 1848, a daughter of John and Martha Scott, and she survives him as a resident of Pikeville: They became the parents of four sons and one daughter: William M., a resident of Pikeville; Rudolph R., a merchant of Pikeville, who died when he was thirty years of age; Hester, the wife of James Sowards, of Pikeville; Nathaniel J., who was his brother Andrew's law partner until his death at the age of forty years, and a graduate of Pikeville College; and Andrew E.

Andrew E. Auxier received his education in the public schools of Pikeville and at Pikeville College, after which he began to read law in the office of his father. He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one years, at which time he commenced the practice of his calling in partnership with his brother Nathaniel J., and following the latter's death organized the present firm of Auxier, Harman & Francis, one of the strongest legal combinations in the county. A capable attorney, Mr. Auxier exercised his gifts in a manner beneficial to the community, and in 1919 was elected a member of the State Senate, where he is now chairman of the Industrial Injuries Committee and a member of the Committee on Revenue and Taxation and the Judiciary Committee. His work in the Senate has been at all times constructive and his support has been given measures that are generally accounted to have been of benefit to his state and his constituents. Mr. Auxier is an elder of the Presbyterian Church, and holds membership in the Sons of the American Revolution and various other bodies, professional, civic and social.

Senator Auxier married in 1902, Emma Bell, daughter of William and Cordelia Bell, of Cochranton, Pennsylvania, and they have two sons: Robert W. and Frank B.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Frank Chandler. The people of the world who accomplish things that are of lasting benefit, are generally those who are led by active intelligence along the line of greatest efficiency without parade or ostentation. To efficiently perform the duties pertaining to the office of county clerk, such a type of man is needed and Johnson County, Kentucky has found him in Frank Chandler, for many years a highly esteemed resident of Paintsville.

Frank Chandler was born at Chandlerville, Johnson County, Kentucky, and is a son of Lafayette and Amanda (Green) Chandler, both of whom were born in Kentucky, the Chandlers being one of the early families in Johnson County, extensive farmers and good citizens. The father of Mr. Chandler followed farming all his active life. Although not a college man, he was interested in educational matters, served as a school trustee for twenty-five years, and the schools of Johnson County profited greatly because of his intelligent interest.

After attending the public schools at Chandlerville and later at Paintsville, Frank Chandler took a Normal school course at Richmond, in Madison County, after which he entered the educational field and for thirteen years was engaged in teaching. He thus became well and favorably known over Johnson County. A republican in politics, his party put him forward in 1915 as a candidate for clerk of the Circuit Court, but he went down with the defeat of his party in that year. After a year of rest he returned to the teaching field, in which he had always been so entirely successful, but in 1917 his party again brought him forward as its candidate and he was elected to the office of county clerk of Johnson County, an office he yet fills through re-election in 1921 by 640 majority in the primaries and without opposition at the election. Mr. Chandler is well qualified for this important office in every way, able, conscientious, patient and courteous; his fellow citizens are unanimous in their approbation, irrespective of party affiliations.

Mr. Chandler was married in 1909, at Redbush, Johnson County, Kentucky, to Miss Mary J. Hamilton, who is a daughter of Rev. H. F. and Nannie (Green) Hamilton. Rev. Hamilton is a farmer in Johnson County and also is a missionary preacher of the Baptist faith. He is known all over Johnson and adjoining counties and is greatly admired and beloved for his good deeds, ever being ready to respond to the call of spiritual need no matter what personal sacrifice it may entail and never accepting any personal remuneration. Mr. and Mrs. Chandler have four children, their ages ranging from eleven to almost three years: Escom, Jessie, Mearle and Emily. The family belongs to the Baptist Church at Paintsville, in which Mr. Chandler takes a very active interest, being one who is largely actuated by the higher and better things of life, and his fellow men respect and value him accordingly.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Henry C H. Conley. The Conley family is one of the prominent ones of Kentucky, and its members are to be found in almost all of the trades, professions and industries, and everywhere they display the sound and dependable characteristics which are natural to them. One of the best representatives of the family and of the native Kentuckian is Henry C. H. Conley, one of the successful builders and business men of Paintsville.

Henry C. H. Conley was born on Wolfpen Fork of the Middle Fork of Jennies Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, October 18, 1856, a son of Constantine and Rebecca (McCarthy) Conley. Constantine Conley was born on Jennies Creek, in what is now Johnson County, but was then Floyd County, December 5, 1831, and he died at the age of seventy-two years. He was a son of Henry Conley, a native of North Carolina, who married Rebecca Blair in what is now Johnson County, Kentucky. By trade Constantine Conley was a shoemaker, and he worked at the bench for many years, but subsequently had a store at East Point, Johnson County, and was conducting it at the time of his death. During the War Between the States he served as a sergeant of Company D, Forty-fifth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army. He was highly regarded in his home neighborhood, and was oftentimes called upon to discharge public duties, among others that of foreman of the first grand jury in Magoffin County. He erected the first hotel at Salyersville and while operating it became known to a wide circle. First a Henry Clay democrat, he was later a whig and finally a republican.

Rebecca McCarthy was a daughter of John McCarthy, who came to the United States from Ireland. A Catholic, he married a girl who was a Methodist, and, what was somewhat unusual, embraced his wife's faith, joined her church, and he continued in it the remainder of his life. Only eighteen years old when he landed at Philadelphia, he was old enough to make his own way in the new world, and both in Virginia, where he first went, and later in the Big Sandy Valley he held the respect of those who knew him.

Henry C. H. Conley and his brother W. E. Conley attended a little school on Jennies Creek and later one at Paintsville which was held in a building now occupied as a restaurant. His school-days ended when he was nineteen, although he has never ceased to add to his store of knowledge by extensive reading. He learned shoemaking in his father's shop, and for a year after he had completed his trade he had a shop of his own at Salyersville and another one at Hagers Hill in Johnson County for nine years, but at the end of that period he entirely changed his mode of work and went into the building business. He built the first thimble-skein wagon in the Big Sandy Valley, which was used by Van Hoosi(?) brothers. In 1882 Mr. Conley built his first house and since then has put up the greater number of the houses erected at Paintsville, and his building activities now extend from the Ohio up the Big Sandy to Prestonsburg. Among other ventures he has built twenty-five houses of his own at Paintsville, and later sold them; the John C. C. Mayo College building, the Van Will Hotel, the Paintsville Grocery Company's building and the H. M. Stafford residence. Mr. Conley also built four steamboats: The Condo, taken from the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, for whom it was really built when this road was extending its road up Sandy; the J. H. McConnell Number 2; Donco, which is now in commission on the Kentucky River; and the Thealka. All of these boats were built for the Sandy trade. Seventy-one houses at Van Lear is the record of Mr. Conley's building operations in that neighborhood for the Consolidation Coal Company, which community was the first of the towns established by this corporation. Since then Mr. Conley has somewhat specialized in the building of towns for big corporations, but he is equally proficient in all kinds of building and his services are in great demand, for he is one who lives up to the spirit as well as the letter of his contracts.

On January 17, 1877, Mr. Conley married Catherine (Rice) May, a daughter of Martin R. Rice and widow of the late John W. May of Magoffin County. By her first marriage she had five children, namely: U. G., who is a contractor of Huntington, West Virginia, and married Loue Roberts, of Paintsville; Maud, who is the wife of Harlan Rice, of Riceville, Johnson County; Emma, who is the wife of R. C. Patrick, of Riceville; Sola, who is the wife of Charles Rice, of Sitts, Johnson County, where she is serving as postmistress ; and Franklin P., who died when thirteen years old. Mr. and Mrs. Conley have the following family: John B., who is a civil engineer of Lexington, and married Gertrude Spencer, of Jackson, Kentucky; Stella, who is the wife of Benj. Spradlin, a traveling salesman of Paintsville; Virginia, who is the widow of John D. Steele, of Ashland Kentucky; Heber C. who married Julia Hazlett of Paintsville, and is living at Paintsville, was overseas during the late war with the Twenty-second Engineers, was on many battle fronts, gassed twice, and otherwise injured; and May, who is the wife of Fred Shannon mine foreman for the Northeast Coal Company. Mr. Conley has educated all of his own children and those belonging to his wife, and to those who have married he has presented a home. He has served as police judge of Paintsville the greater part of the time since 1913, and his record is a distinguished one. He always has a docket of civil cases, and his judgments are so just and sound that they have stood the test of being carried to the higher courts. Thirty-five years ago Mr. Conley joined the Baptist Church, and during the intervening years he has continued faithful to it and generous in his support of its work. When the new church was erected he was chairman of the building committee and one of the heaviest contributors to the building fund. Fraternally he belongs to the local lodge and the canton of the Encampment of the Odd Fellows. In politics he is a republican. From the above record it can easily be seen that he is a very remarkable man. His achievements are way beyond the ordinary and his public-spirit is of a high order. His care and devotion to his step-children, as well as to his own, has won for him the approval of his fellow citizens, and it is pleasant to note that he has been rewarded by having a very fine family, all of them being a credit to him and their mother. He is one of the best informed men in the county upon many subjects, and his advice is sought upon numerous matters by those who realize the wide scope of his knowledge and his sound common sense.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Winston Mayo Connolly. The useful labor of the late Winston Mayo Connolly is clearly inscribed upon an early page of Pike County history, and although a quarter of a century has passed since his death, in 1897, there are many who remember his earnest aims and beneficial existence, his support of education and religion and the honorable manner in which he followed his profession. His life has been an inspiration to those of the name who have followed him, and the family is now honorably represented at Pikeville by his two grandsons, Winston M. and Frank A. Connolly.

Winston Mayo Connolly was born in Johnson County, Kentucky, in 1848, where he was reared to manhood on a farm and attended country schools, and later took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar. From that time forward he followed his profession at Pikeville and rose to an honored position therein. He was one of the prime movers in the founding of Pikeville College of which he was a constant and generous supporter throughout his life, and of which he was one of the first trustees, filling that office until the time of his death. He was a consistent Presbyterian in his religious faith, being one of the charter members and elders of the Pikeville church, and died firm in the belief of that church, in 1897. Mr. Connolly married Mary J. Ratliff, who was born at Pikeville and died in 1920 at the age of seventy years. She was also a charter member of the Presbyterian Church at Pikeville. They became the parents of two children: William H.; and Nona, the latter the wife of Colbert Cecil Bowles, a leading attorney and merchant of Pikeville.

William H. Connolly was born at Pikeville in 1872, and after attending the public schools pursued a course at Pikeville College. Having to decide upon a vocation to follow, he chose that of his father, the law, and accordingly prepared himself for that calling at the University of Louisville, from which he was duly graduated. When he began practice at Pikeville, it was in partnership with his father and later W. O. B. Ratliff became associated with them, with whom he remained until his death. Mr. Connolly did not survive his father long, passing away in 1898, when he was still in the flush of young manhood and upon the threshold of what promised to be a most successful career. He had had only a small opportunity to display his abilities, but in the comparatively short period of his career had given evidence of the possession of a fine legal mind and of characteristics that doubtless would have obtained for him high awards.

Mr. Connolly married Miss Hester A. Rolf, who was born at Louisa, Lawrence County, Kentucky, and they became the parents of two sons: Winston M. and Frank A. After the death of Mr. Connolly, Mrs. Connolly was united in marriage with T. N. Huffman of Pikeville. Her death occurred at this place in 1914.

 Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

V. Daniel, M. D., who is established in the successful practice of his profession at Paintsville, judicial center of Johnson County, is entitled to recognition in this volume both by reason of his high standing as a physician and surgeon and on account of his being a leading representative of his profession in his native county.

Doctor Daniel was born at Flatgap, Johnson County, on the 3d of January, 1866, and is a son of Isom and Eleanor (Jayne) Daniel, both likewise natives of Johnson County, the former having been born at Whitehouse, in 1842, and the latter at Flatgap, in 1843. The father's death occurred in 1898 and that of the mother in the following year, both having passed their entire lives in Johnson County. Isom Daniel, Sr., grandfather of Doctor Daniel, was of Scotch-Irish lineage, but the original representatives of the family in America came from Yorkshire, England, and settled in Virginia, in which historic old commonwealth Isom Daniel, Sr., was born and reared. This sturdy pioneer became one of the early settlers in the Big Sandy Valley of Kentucky, and he developed one of the productive farms of the Whitehouse District of Johnson County. He met his death when comparatively a young man, he having been killed as the result of an accident that occurred while he was engaged at work in the cutting of timber on his farm. Isom Daniel, Jr., became one of the substantial and successful exponents of farm industry in his native county, served in the state militia, or home guards, in the period of the Civil war, and both he and his wife were highly honored citizens of their native county at the time of their death. Both were zealous members of the United Baptist Church at Sugar Grove, and he served thirty-five years as its official clerk. Of the fine family of fourteen children nine are living at the time of this writing, in 1921, the youngest of the number being fifty-three years of age: Polly is the widow of Frederick Murray: Daniel J. is a prosperous farmer in the vicinity of River. Johnson County, not far distant from the birthplace of his father; Sarah is the wife of Rev. Miller Fairchild, who is a clergyman of the United Baptist Church and who is also a farmer near Flatgap, this county; Nancy E. is the wife of F. J. Lemaster. of Staffordsville, this county; David J. and Isom P. are twins, the former being a resident of Paintsville and the latter of Sip, this county; James M. resides on the old homestead farm of his father; Dr. Green V. of this review, was the next in order of birth: Cordelia Alice is the wife of J. C. Fitch, a farmer near Sip. Of the deceased children it may he recorded that Henry was a resident of Ashland, this state, at the time of his death, when seventy-seven years of age, he having been a gallant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war: Plvmon was sixty-six years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in Johnson County; Elizabeth married T. F. Rice and they resided at Ashland, Kentucky, both now being deceased. Emaline married Henry J. Caudill and she died at forty-one years of age. William died in childhood.

Even as a boy Doctor Daniel manifested studious proclivities and exceptional appreciation of school work. He acquired the major part of his education in the schools of Blaine and Flatgap, and that he profited fully by his advantages is shown by the marked success that attended his work during eleven years of service as a teacher in the schools of this section of the state and by his splendid administration in the office of county superintendent of schools for Johnson County, a position of which he was the incumbent from 1894 to 1898. In preparation for the work of the execution of his profession in which he has gained success and prestige of unequivocal order, he entered the Tennessee Medical College, at Knoxville, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901. After thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he engaged in practice at Sip, in which village he maintained his professional headquarters five years. He then removed to Paintsville, the county seat, and here he has since continued to give his close attention to his large and representative general practice, though he gives special attention to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the stomach. The doctor is an active member of the Johnson County Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Both he and his wife take lively interest in civic and welfare work in their home community, Mrs. Daniel being a woman of gracious personality and distinctive culture and she having been a popular teacher in the Paintsville schools prior to her marriage.

The father of Doctor Daniel gave to each of his sons a horse as an aid to initiating an independent career, but the doctor, determined to advance his education, was given $20 in cash instead of a horse, and utilized the sum in defraying his school expenses, his higher academic as well as his professional education having been gained by his depending entirely upon his own resources in a financial way. His work as a teacher aided him largely in this connection, and he gained high standing as one of the successful teachers in the rural schools of Lawrence and Johnson counties. Doctor Daniel is a stanch advocate and supporter of the principles of the republican party and both he and his wife are leading members of the Missionary Baptist Church in their home village, he being a deacon of the same.

In 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Daniel to Miss Josie Rice, who likewise was born and reared in Johnson County and who is a daughter of the late D. J. Rice. Doctor and Mrs. Daniel have one son, J. Virgil, who is a civil engineer by profession and who, as such, is in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, with headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. J. Virgil Daniel was graduated in the Paintsville High School, thereafter was for one year a student in the University of Kentucky, at Lexington, where he was in the medical department, as was he later in that of the University of Louisville. He finally decided to prepare himself for the profession of civil engineer instead of that of physician, and in his chosen vocation he has proved successful. His is the distinction of having given patriotic service as a gallant young soldier in the great World war. He enlisted in December, 1917, and was assigned to the First Gas Regiment, with which command he went to France and took part in many major engagements marking the progress of the terrific conflict. He continued in active service until the signing of the historic armistice and after receiving his honorable discharge turned his attention once more to the winning of the victories of peace, his technical ability and professional enthusiasm assuring him of continued advancement in his chosen sphere of endeavor.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Frederick Howes, junior member of he law firm of Howes & Howes, is one of the astute and resourceful attorneys practicing at the bar of Paintsville, and a man who has risen high in his profession. He was born at Paintsville, September 30, 1875, and is a son of Elexious F. and Cynthia (Preston) Howes. Elexious F. Howes was also born at Paintsville, December 8, 1849, a son of John and Jane (Young) Howes.

The birth of John Howes occurred on Big Paint Creek, three miles west of Paintsville, in Johnson County, Kentucky, November 3, 1811, and he died at Paintsville January 9, 1870. He was a son of Elexious and Sallie (Hudson) Howes, who were pioneers of this region, coming here from Maryland or Virginia and homesteading on Paint Creek. Elexious Howes was a noted local Methodist minister, and he was also engaged in farming. His death occurred about the close of the War Between the States, at which time he was an aged man. During that conflict he was a Union sympathizer.

A self-educated man, John Howes so well trained himself that he was able to become a school-teacher, and he taught for some years. He, too, was a local Methodist preacher, organizing the society at Paintsville, as well as many others in Eastern Kentucky. He was a man who inspired confidence, and was the first county clerk of Johnson County, being first elected in 1843, and holding the office until well into the '6os. His records for that long period are models of neatness. This remarkable man studied law and practiced it during the last years of his life. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jane Young, was born in Floyd County, where her people had located upon coming to this country from Ireland. Her birth occurred January 18, 1814, and her death, in August, 1869. They were the parents of fourteen children, three of whom survive, namely: Elexious F., mentioned at length below; Julia, widow of the late John P. Wells, an attorney of note; and Josie, widow of Dr. N. K. Williams, and resides now at Ashland, Kentucky. Another son, Rev. Charles Howes, was a regularly ordained Methodist minister, served Johnson County as clerk, and was also Circuit Court clerk. Rev. George Winfield Howes resigned office as county attorney of Johnson County to enter the Methodist Conference. Millard Howes was an educator and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Paintsville.

Elexious F. Howes was educated in the local schools of Paintsville. For many years he has been before the public in one or another office, and has given much of his time and efforts in behalf of the city and county. In 1878 he was first elected county clerk, and re-elected to the same office in 1882. He served as master commissioner and receiver of the Circuit Court under Judge Patton for six years, and then went into the abstracting and real estate business at Paintsville.

On June 6, 1870, Elexious F. Howes married Cynthia A. Preston, a daughter of Eliphas Preston. She was born near Paintsville, May 31, 1853, and died August 7, 1897. She and her husband had the following children: John, who is an attorney and abstractor of Paintsville; William, who is a coal operator at Betsy Layne, Kentucky; Frederick, whose name heads this review; Charles, who is in the insurance business at Frankfort, Kentucky; Gypsy, who is the wife of Elmer Rainey, of Portsmouth, Ohio; Edgar, who is a veteran of the World war, served in France and Germany, and now lives at Paintsville; Albert, who died at the age of thirty-three years, was with the Consolidation Coal Company at Van Lear; and Fanny, who was the wife of Earl Holcomb, of Grayson, died in young womanhood. Elexious F. Howes married for his second wife, January 20, 1898, Sarah E. Dollarhide, a daughter of William Dollarhide, of Johnson County. Mr. and Mrs. Howes have two children, namely: Richard, who served in the United States Navy during the World war, making numerous trips across the ocean on convoy service, is now in local politics; and Jim, who is attending the local schools. Since 1896 Mr. Howes has been a democrat.

Frederick Howes graduated from the Paintsville High School, and then became a student of the Kentucky Wesleyan College of Winchester, the Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, and taught school for eight years in the Paintsville schools, a portion of that time being principal. During that period he prepared himself for the profession of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1898. Almost immediately thereafter he became engaged in doing the title work for J. C. C. Mayo, and when he had completed it he formed a partnership with Judge W. H. Vaughn, which continued for seven years, and was then dissolved, Mr. Howes taking as his partner H. S. Howes, the firm of Howes & Howes coming into being in 1918. Mr. Howes has rendered a public service as a member of the Paintsville school board for two years.

On December 24, 1897, Mr. Howes was united in marriage with Amanda Allen, a daughter of Capt. Jack Allen, and a member of an old family of the Beaver Creek region. Captain Allen served in the Union Army during the War Between the States. Mrs. Howes was born at Paintsville, where her life has been spent. Mr. and Mrs. Howes have two children, namely: Lillian Allen and Alice Jane. Very active as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, both Mr. and Mrs. Howes are valued in the congregation. For the past fifteen years he has taught the Bible Class in the Sunday School, and he is one of the stewards of the church. While on national questions he is a democrat, in local elections he votes for the man he deems best fitted for the office.

Mr. Howes' standing in his profession is unquestioned, and his firm is one of the strongest in this part of the state, both partners being able men in their calling and handling a considerable proportion of the important cases tried in the local state and federal courts. As a citizen Mr. Howes' interest is naturally strong, as he and his father before him were born in the city which has continued to be their home community, and their family is one of the old-established ones of this part of the state. They have been connected with much of the constructive work of their times, and have never been found lacking in civic pride or patriotism. They have through their business and professional connections raised a high standard of citizenship and effective handling of large affairs, and are rightly numbered among the most efficient men and desirable citizens of this part of Kentucky.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Lloyd G. Meade, D. D. S., brings to bear in his profession the best of technical training and the most approved facilities, and is engaged in successful practice at Paintsville, the judicial center of his native county. He was born at Boones Camp, Johnson County, on the 9th of November, 1883, and is a son of Henry P. and Zinah (Davis) Meade. Henry P. Meade, whose death occurred on the 23d of January, 1919, when he was seventy-two years of age, was born in Russell County, Virginia, and was a young man when he came to the Big Sandy Valley of Kentucky in 1867. Prior to this he had given three years of loyal and gallant service as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. He was a member of a Virginia regiment, and was with his command in many engagements, including the battle of King's Salt Works. Mr. Meade was a man of excellent intellectual ken and was a successful teacher in the schools at River and Boones Camp, Johnson County, his educational discipline having been acquired in the schools of his native state. He established his home in the Boones Camp district of Johnson County and was the first of the Meade family to become a resident of the county. He was a man of high principles and deep religious faith, and he served as a trustee and steward of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Boones Camp. He bore the full patronymic of his father, Henry P. Meade, Sr., who was a representative of a Colonial family of Virginia and who passed his entire life in that historic old commonwealth. Mrs. Zinah (Davis) Meade was born at Boones Camp in 1852, a daughter of Joseph Davis, and she still maintains her home in Johnson County. Of their twelve children, nine are living: Paris P., a graduate of the Louisville college and in practice at Flat Gap, Johnson County, Kentucky; Dr. Joe D., a graduate D. D. S. of the medical department of the University of Louisville, is engaged in the practice of his profession at Elkhorn City, Pike County; Dora is the wife of Benjamin F. Conley, of Flat Gap, Johnson County; Walter is engaged in the mercantile business at Indianapolis, Indiana, and is also a buyer and shipper of live stock; Dr. Lloyd G., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Lizzie is the wife of George W. Butcher, of Offutt, Johnson County, and he is serving as county superintendent of schools at the time of this writing, in 1921; George C. is associated with a coal-mining company at Offutt; Vina is the wife of C. A. Riley, who is connected with the Majestic Coal Company at Majestic, Pike County; Mae is the wife of H. C. Best, of Wayland, who is associated with the Elkhorn Coal Company.

Dr. Lloyd G. Meade was given the advantages of the public schools at Boones Camp, and was for one year a successful teacher in the rural schools of his native county. Thereafter he passed a year as salesman in a general store at Pikeville, Pike County, after which, in consonance with his ambition and well matured plans, he entered the dental department of the Central University of Louisville, in which he continued his technical studies and work from 1904 until his graduation as a member of the class of 1907. After receiving his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery he established himself in practice at Paintsville, where he has since continued his professional endeavors with unequivocal success, with the result that he has vantage place as one of the leading dental practitioners of his native county. He has kept in close touch with the advances made in the science of dentistry, and in 1913 he especially fortified himself by an effective post-graduate course in the School of Dentistry of the great Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, the dental department of this institution being in the City of Chicago.

Doctor Meade takes deep interest in all matters touching the welfare and advancement of his home village and county, and he gave six years of effective service as chairman of the Johnson County Board of Education. He is secretary and general manager of the Johnson County Gas Company, which supplies Paintsville with natural gas. The Doctor has been actively concerned with oil and gas development work and production in this section of Kentucky. He is a republican in political adherency, is a Royal Arch Mason, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

The year 1906 recorded the marriage of Doctor Meade to Miss Beulah Howes, who likewise was born and reared in Johnson County and who is a daughter of H. S. Howes. Doctor and Mrs. Meade have two children, Wendell H. and Sipp.

James N. Meek. It is in the mining industry that James N. Meek, one of the successful coal operators, has found opportunity for development and the acquisition of a considerable amount of this world's goods. A man of high sense of honor and equal justice, he has made it his inflexible rule to pay his men the highest wages and to see that they received proper treatment and, as a result, in the management of his mining properties he has not had the labor troubles which have fallen to the lot of so many of his competitors.

James N. Meek was born at the mouth of Toms Creek in Johnson County, March 17, 1870, a son of Jesse and Martha (Nibert) Meek. Jesse Meek was also born near the mouth of Toms Creek, in 1842, and his wife was born in the same neighborhood in 1849. He is a son of Isaac Meek and one in the family of children born to his parents, as follows: Judith, William, Zephaniah, Pauline, Zinia, Shadrach, Sallie, Jesse, Green, Vinnier and Exer. Zephaniah Meek, of the above family, attained distinction as editor of the Central Methodist at Catlettsburg, and was a leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Central Methodist, with which he was connected for so many years, is now published at Louisville. Green Meek operated a line of steamboats on the Big Sandy, and he was the father of Mrs. J. C. C. Mayo. Exer, the youngest of the family, is the wife of M. L. K. Wells, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.

Isaac Meek lived near the mouth of Toms Creek all of his life, and there died when his son Jesse was still a child. His ancestors came to this country from Ulster, Ireland, with the parents of Andrew Jackson, afterward president of the United States for two terms, and settled in the district in South Carolina called after them, and from there Adam Meek enlisted in the Colonial Army under Captain Baker and Col. Francis Marion, for service during the American Revolution, and was a brave and gallant soldier. In 1783 the Meek family "westward followed the trend of empire" to Tennessee, and from there a son of Adam, James Meek, migrated to the Big Sandy Valley in Johnson County, Kentucky.

Both Jesse Meek and his wife survive and make their home at Whitehouse, Johnson County. In addition to carrying on extensive farming operations he was for years associated with his brother Green in steamboating on the Big Sandy. He is a most excellent citizen and man. All his life he has been a strong supporter of the principles of the democratic party. His wife is a daughter of James Nibert. They became the parents of four children, namely: James N., who is the eldest; Hattie, who is the wife of Jasper Maynard, of Whitehouse ; Green, who died at the age of twelve years; and Mary, who is the wife of J. H. Matney, of Paintsville.

James N. Meek attended the local schools, the Wesleyan College at Winchester, Kentucky, and the Barboursville College of Barboursville, West Virginia. During the intervals in his collegiate training he was engaged in school-teaching, putting in five years in all in the rural schools of Johnson County, and then for one year after leaving Barboursville College taught six classes in mathematics and history in that college. During the time he was attending school he earned his tuition and board by helping with the lower classes. In fact, he earned his own way through college, and believes that he appreciates what he learned all the more because he had to work for it.

In 1895 Mr. Meek went into the business field, conducting a general store at Whitehouse, and was so occupied until 1902, when he opened a coal mine on the extension of the railroad from Whitehouse, and is one of the pioneers in the coal industry in Sandy Valley. He operated his mine under his own name until 1910, and then sold it. In that year he opened his general store at Thealka, which he is still operating. In 1919 Mr. Meek acquired ownership, through purchase, of a mine at Drift, on Left Beaver Creek in Floyd County, which he still operates, and in 1920 bought the Cumberland Mine, which is also on Left Beaver Creek.

Mr. Meek has received official recognition of his reliability and standing as a citizen, for he was appointed postmaster of Meek in 1907 and served until 1910, and in 1914 was appointed postmaster of Thealka, which position he still holds. In 1920 he bought the J. E. Buckingham residence at Paintsville and, moving into it, is now enjoying its many comforts.

In 1905 Mr. Meek was united in marriage with Victoria Salyer, a daughter of William Salyer, and they have three children, namely: Ernest, Walter and J. N., Jr. Mrs. Meek belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In politics Mr. Meek is a democrat. A man of unusual capabilities and strong personality, he has long been a commanding figure in business circles, and his connection with a project gives it solidity and popularity, for it is a recognized fact that he will not go into anything unless he is convinced that it is a good thing and one that is strictly legitimate. He has been connected with a number of public movements, and can be depended upon to do the part of a good citizen to forward in every way in his power the welfare of his home city, county and state.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

Edward Jackson Picklesimer. Among the substantial and honorable practitioners at the bar of Pike County, Edward Jackson Picklesimer has a wide reputation in this part of the state, and is a product of the public schools and his own ambition. He was born on the Pickle branch of Barnett Creek, in Johnson County, Kentucky, March 30, 1874, a son of Rev. John M. and Cynthia (Long) Picklesimer, and grandson of Dr. Nathaniel Picklesimer. Pickle fork was named in honor of the family, which has long been a prominent one in Kentucky. Dr. Nathaniel Picklesimer was one of the honored physicians of Johnson County for nearly half a century. His father, John Beckelheimer was probably a German by birth, and after he came to this country, changed his name to Picklesimer. Rev. John M. Picklesimer entered the ministry of the Missionary Baptist denomination, and has now charge of the church of that faith at Ironton, Ohio, but has held charges at St. Louis, Missouri and Cobden, Illinois, among others. Early in life he became well known as an educator. His wife died when Edward J. Picklesimer was a child and the lad was reared by his maternal grandfather, Joel Long, a farmer then of Oil Springs, Kentucky, but a native of Ash County, North Carolina.

Edward Jackson Picklesimer attended the public schools of Johnson County and the Paintsville High School, and then taught school in Johnson and Pike counties. While he was poor in pocket, he was rich in enthusiasm and ambition, and while teaching others the fundamentals of an education, studied law in borrowed books to such good purpose that he was able to pass the state examinations in 1903 and was admitted to the bar. At that time he was living at Yeager on Shelby Creek, and he continued to make it his home until 1911 when he was elected county attorney when the duties of that office brought him to Pikeville, and here he found a congenial environment which has led him to continue to reside at the county seat. His first term was a short one, and he was reelected to the same office, serving in all for six years, being both times the candidate of the Republican Party. He is accepted as one of the most capable and strong attorneys in this part of Kentucky, and made an excellent record as county attorney. Subsequently he was associated in practice with Judge Vanovor, but this association was dissolved when the latter was elected circuit judge. In 1920 Mr. Picklesimer formed a partnership with W. K. Steele and the two have since continued together.

On October 9, 1896, Mr. Picklesimer was united in marriage with Miss Anna Marrs, a daughter of David Marrs. Mrs. Picklesimer was born in Pike County. She and Mr. Picklesimer are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Seven sons and one daughter have been born to them: Charles M., a civil engineer at Hazard, Kentucky; Irving N., a jeweler at Logan, West Virginia; Mable, in High School; and Clancy E., Marlin D., Samuel M. , Edward J. and Billie. Fraternally Mr. Picklesimer is an Odd Fellow. In private life as in public office Mr. Picklesimer is always the same reliable honorable man, affable yet firm in maintaining what he regards as right. His pledge is never secured except upon the most carefully examined grounds but once obtained is immovable. His charity is broad and warm, and it is the universal verdict that he never weighed an act of his life in the scale of sinister policy.

Transcribed from  ”History of Kentucky Charles Kerr, William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912

George W. Preston, vice president of the Paintsville National Bank, at the judicial center of Johnson County, is a scion of a family that was founded in Kentucky about the year 1800 and that sent its first representatives to America in the early Colonial period of our national history. In England the Preston family, which dates back to the year of 1165, was prominent in official service in various generations. The Town 01 Priest, England, had its name changed to Preston in honor of this family, which had become one of much distinction. The original American progenitors of this family were Frank and Charles Preston, who came from England and became Colonial settlers in Maryland. In a later generation representatives of the family settled in Virginia, and it was from the historic Old Dominion commonwealth that Moses Preston came to Kentucky, either from Bedford or Tazewell counties, Virginia, and settled as a pioneer in Lawrence County about the opening year of the nineteenth century. His son, Moses, more familiarly known as Coby, was born in Virginia in the year 1797, and thus was a child at the time of the family migration to Lawrence County, Kentucky. This second of the name of Moses Preston was reared to manhood in Lawrence County. He was one of a large and influential family. He eventually removed to what is now Johnson County, and settled on land part of which is now included in the eastern part of Paintsville. He was one of the early merchants of this locality, vigorous and progressive, and. especially influential in connection with civic and material development and progress in the present Johnson County. He was signally prospered in his undertakings, which included the conducting of general stores and also rather extensive operations in getting out timber and manufacturing the same into lumber. He rafted lumber down Big Sandy River, dealt in lumber, hoop-poles, tanbark, furs, ginseng, etc., besides owning and dealing in slaves to a considerable extent. He was in every way a leader in community affairs, was a staunch democrat, was loyal to the cause of the Confederacy when the Civil war was precipitated on the nation, and on this account he was for a short time held a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio. A man of sterling character and strong mentality, his religion was the observance of the Golden Rule, and by virtue of his personality and his worthy achievement he commanded unqualified popular respect. The land which he purchased in Johnson County continued in the possession of the Preston family for many years. This honored pioneer of the county was seventy-one years of age at the time of his death, which resulted from injuries which he received when kicked by a horse while on a business trip back to the old home in Lawrence County. For his first wife Moses, or Coby, Preston wedded Miss Elizabeth Haney, and after her death he married Mrs. Nancy (Peire) Bartlett, a widow. Of the children of the first marriage, James died in 1861, at the age of forty-one years; Redford, who was born in 1820 was a resident of Kansas at the time of his death at the age of eighty-six years; Greenville was born in 1821 and was eighty-four years of age at the time of his death, in the State of Texas; William, who was born in 1823, died in Johnson County, Kentucky, at the age of seventy-three years; Martin, born in 1828 was a resident of Paintsville, this county, at the time of his death m 1891. Moses was born in 1830, and died m 1869, age thirty-nine years; Montraville, born May 2, 1835, died on the 20th of April, 1906; Frank born in 1837, was a merchant and a resident of Paintsville at the time of his death in 1890; Henry was born in 1839 and died at Paintsville in 1881; Thomas J. was born 1841 and died in 1847; John D., born in 1844, is now living retired at Paintsville; Winfield S., who was born m 1848, died in 1858. Of the children of the second marriage the firstborn was George Ballard, who was born in 1851, and whose death occurred in 1880 on his farm at the mouth of Paint Creek, Johnson County; J??? born in 18?4, became the wife of Frank Brown of Paintsville, where her death occurred in 1902; Josie born m 1857, became the wife of T. B. Strong, and her death occurred in the State of Colorado in 1909; Louisa born in 1859, is the wife of Arthur Preston? of Lawrence County.

George W. Preston, immediate subject of this review was born in Johnson County on the 1st of April 18?? and is a son of Montraville and Lorinda (Price) Preston, the latter of whom died on the 16th of October 1904, aged sixty-eight years. She was a daughter of Washington Price, a Baptist minister, and a representative of the Price family that settled on Big Sandy River in Johnson County in the pioneer days. Montraville Preston, a son of the second Moses Preston was a member of the Kentucky militia at the close of the Civil war. He so profited by the educational advantages that were afforded him in his youth that he became a successful teacher in the schools of Johnson County, his service in this line having continued three years.  Then, like his father, he became a merchant and likewise engaged in the timber trade on Big Sandy River. His farm and mercantile establishments were below the mouth of Paint Creek, and on the same side of Big Sandy River as the old home farm of his father. In 1856 Montraville Preston went to Kansas where he gained a full share of pioneer experience on the frontier and where he was living at the time of the John Brown demonstration, prior to the Civil war. After remaining eighteen months in the West he returned to Kentucky and it was after the close of the Civil war that he initiated his mercantile business in the Paint Creek district of Johnson County. He and his family became earnest members of the Concord United Baptist Church, the church of this denomination having been situated near his farm. He was liberal in his support of church and educational work and was one of the honored and influential citizens of Johnson County at the time of his death, at the age of seventy-one years. His wife was born in Lawrence County They became the parents of seven children: Paris K, who was born in 1857, is now a resident of Warren County, Ohio, and is a veteran of the Spanish-American war; George W., immediate subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth; Samantha who was born in 1861, became the wife of Greenfield Adams, -and her death occurred in 1887; Anderson B., a farmer and merchant, resides at Wheelersburg, Scioto County, Ohio: Elizabeth is the wife of C. C. Stafford a successful merchant and farmer near Paintsville Kentucky ; Warren L. is a clergyman of the Baptist Church and is also a lumber merchant at Paintsville; and John Gaylord, a farmer, resides in Scioto County, Ohio.

 George W. Preston acquired his early education in the rural school of the Concord District, and thereafter continued his studies in the public schools of Paintsville. He has long been interested in the mercantile business and also in lumbering operations on the Big Sandy River, as were his father and grandfather. He was wharfmaster at Paintsville for a number of years, and also operated a steamboat on the Big Sandy River from this point, besides being interested financially in a line of steamboats plying this river. He was formerly connected with the Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, and as a citizen and man of affairs he has been liberal and progressive. He erected a number of houses in Paintsville, and thus made valuable contributions to the civic and material advancement of the village. He is one of the leading stockholders of the Paintsville National Bank, of which he is vice president. This is known as the strongest financial institution in the Big Sandy Valley. Mr. Preston was one of the organizers and a director of the Paintsville Bank & Trust Company. He is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Democratic Party, and he and his wife are active members of the Concord Baptist Church. His first wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

The year 1889 recorded the marriage of Mr. Preston and Miss Kate Lavender, daughter of Edward Lavender, of Paintsville. Mrs. Preston passed to the life eternal in the year 1900. Of the four children of this union George H. and Ernest R. are now residents of Custer County, Oklahoma, Arthur died in his fourth year, and Mariam died in early childhood. Ernest R. was assigned to class 5 in the selective draft incidental to American participation in the World war, and though impaired vision led to his being thus classified, he volunteered for immediate service with the United States Shipping Board, in connection with which he made a number of voyages between the United States and foreign ports, his duty having thus called him to England, France and Siberia and having involved also his passing through the Kiel Canal into Germany.

In 1902 was solemnized the marriage of George W. Preston to Talitha (Howard) Childers, daughter of Henry Howard, of Magoffin County, and widow of Dr. John Childers. No children have been born of this union.

In all of the relations of life Mr. Preston is well upholding the prestige of a family name that has long been one of prominence and honor in connection with this section of the Blue Grass State, and he commands inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem in his native county.

John H. Preston, senior member of the firm of John H. Preston & Son, general merchants of Paintsville, is one of the men who dignifies his calling by his upright methods, unflinching integrity and sterling characteristics. During the twenty years he has been in business at Paintsville he has occupied a leading position among the worth-while men of Johnson County, and has admirably sustained the confidence he always inspires. Men of his caliber are an inspiration to others to do their best in whatever line they are directing their energies, and his influence has always been of a constructive character because of this fact.

The birth of John H. Preston took place on a farm in Big Sandy Valley, four miles north of Paintsville, December 9, 1853. He is a son of Burgess and Elizabeth (Porter) Preston. Burgess Preston was born on Sandy, opposite the mouth of Paint Creek, and he was a son of Jeffrey Preston, who was a small boy when his parents brought him to this region from Virginia. Following his arrival in the Valley he spent his life here. Burgess Preston was in sympathy with the Union cause during the war between the two sections of the country, and served as a colonel of militia. His death occurred in 1875, when he was fifty-eight years old, his widow surviving him until 1885, when she passed away at the age of sixty-five years. At the time of their marriage they moved to the farm upon which John H. Preston was later born. A good citizen, Burgess Preston lived up to the best conceptions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was long a faithful member. In political faith he was a republican. The Preston family is an old one of the Valley, as the above shows, and its members have played a very important part in its development, among some of them being the children of Burgess Preston and his wife, who were as follows: Samuel, a Union soldier who was killed in battle with Morgan's men at Cynthiana, Kentucky; Helen, who was the wife of James A. Webb and died at Paintsville; Winfield, who lives on the old home farm; John H., whose name heads this review; Alice, who is the wife of Millard Rule, of Paintsville; Clayton, who lives on a part of the homestead; and Josephine, who is the wife of B. L. Spradlin, of East Point.

John H. Preston attended the common schools of his neighborhood and those of Paintsville. After leaving school he was engaged in teaching for three years, and then went into the timber business, rafting logs down the Sandy for ten years. For the next ten years he was in the dry-goods business at McDowell, Floyd County, and then, in 1901, located permanently at Paintsville, where for twenty years he has been one of the leading merchants of the city. Later on he associated with him in his business his only son, McKinley Preston, who is now manager of the store. Mr. Preston was one of the organizers of the Paintsville National Bank, and for ten years he was actively connected with the bank management and served as one of its directors.

In 1891 Mr. Preston married Vinnie Gibson, a daughter of D. B. Gibson. Mrs. Preston was born in Floyd County, and there she and her husband were married, Mr. Preston at that time being a merchant of the county. Their son is their only surviving child, the daughter, Lola, having died in childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Preston are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he has always been a liberal contributor, and when the new church edifice was erected he assisted in raising the necessary funds. A man of great public spirit, Mr. Preston has not been contented with paying his taxes and giving the people a first-class service, but has always felt that his obligations were of a broader character and so has exerted himself to take an intelligent interest in school and civic affairs. While he has always been a zealous republican he has never been willing to permit the use of his name on the party ticket, believing he could render Paintsville a better service in his private capacity. For many years a Mason, he served Paintsville Lodge as treasurer for seven years.

The biographer reviewing a man's life has learned some salient facts. When he finds that a man stands high in his home community; that he is discharging his obligations as a business man, citizen, church member, and lodge brother uprightly and capably; when he is beloved in his home circle, well-liked by his social intimates, and quoted by his acquaintances, it is safe to say that he measures up to the highest ideals of American manhood, and, judged by these standards, that is the verdict pronounced upon John H. Preston by all who know him. It is a just verdict. A man may be able to fool outsiders, but his home folks know him and are stern critics, and when they are convinced there is no use to appeal to a higher court, the decision stands.

William K. Steele. It would be difficult to find a man more widely known or more universally respected, not only on account of his professional ability, but also because of his high character, than the justly popular United States commissioner of the Eastern District of Kentucky, William K. Steele, an attorney of state-wide reputation and attainments, and a citizen claimed by Pikeville as one of its most distinguished residents. He was born at Coal Run, Pike County, September 27, 1867, a son of Paris and Sarah (Reynolds) Steele. Paris Steele was born in Tazewell County, Virginia, May 11, 1845, and died in Pike County, Kentucky, July 6, 1911. His wife was born in Boyd County, Kentucky, July 6, 1846, and she survives him and makes her home at Pikeville. In 1857 Paris Steele and his father, John Steele, located permanently in Pike County, Kentucky, and here the former became one of the most successful farmers of this region. He delighted in his work, and took a pride in having his farm in excellent order. A stanch democrat, he always worked hard for the success of his party, and was chairman of the precinct board, at the same time that his son was chairman of the republican board, a most unusual occurrence. The two had many a tilt in a political way, although devoted to each other personally. In religious faith the members of the family were Baptist. There were four children born to Paris Steele and his wife, of whom three survive, namely: Cinda, who is the wife of Clarence Brown, of Mossy Bottom, Kentucky; Laura, who is the wife of Butler Hobson, a lumber dealer of Keyser, Pike County; and William K. The other daughter, Nora, who died recently at the age of forty-four years, was the wife of R. L. Burgess, a merchant of Pikeville.

William K. Steele completed his schooldays at Flat Gap Academy, Johnson County, Kentucky, and was always at the head of his class, for he was a close student, and when only fifteen years old began teaching school. At intervals in his own schooling, he taught school, and then read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1894, at Pikeville, where he was engaged in a general practice. An excellent business man, he saw an opening and organized the Steele Coal Company, on a small scale, but during the ten years that he conducted it he developed it into one of the important mining properties of Pike County, and finally sold it to the Wrights of Dayton, Ohio. In 1908 Mr. Steele resumed the practice of his profession, in partnership with J. S. Cline, under the firm name of Cline & Steele. Later this association was dissolved, and Mr. Steele practiced alone until 1919 when he formed his present firm of Picklesimer & Steele, with E. J. Picklesimer. Since 1913 Mr. Steele has been United States commissioner, and has been otherwise very prominent. As before stated he was chairman of his township board of the central committee of his party; attended numerous county, district and state conventions, and was a member of the Kentucky state convention of his party that was presided over by Governor William Bradley. As a lawyer he is accurate and astute, handling his cases with a resourcefulness which generally brings victory to his client. His knowledge of the law is profound and he and his partner are connected with some of the most important litigations of their district. During the late war Mr. Steele took the stand to be expected of a man of his strong convictions and patriotic sentiments, and rendered a zealous service to his country in its time of stress.

On December 9, 1889, Mr. Steele was united in marriage with Miss Nannie Cooksey, a daughter of Albert Cooksey, a veteran of the War Between the States, who was born in Johnson County, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have two children, namely: Ostace, who is now the superintendent of the Keel Coal Company; and Ambie, who is the wife of J. P. Kline of Pikeville.

Hon. James W. Turner. One of the outstanding figures in the development of the Big Sandy, cashier and one of the organizers of the Paintsville National Bank and an ex-member of the Kentucky Legislature, Hon. James W. Turner has occupied a prominent position in business, financial and civic affairs of Johnson County for a number of years, and has been a developing factor in the movements which have contributed to the advancement of education, religion, morality and good citizenship.

Mr. Turner was born at Paintsville November 19, [874, a son of Dr. Isaac R. and Louisa (Hager) Turner. His paternal grandfather, James W. Turner, vas born in 1799, in Prince Henry County, Virginia, and about 1820 came to Kentucky with his father, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, settling on John's Creek. They were well-to-do agriculturists who tilled their fields with slave labor. Later James W. Turner moved to a property three miles west of Paintsville, on Paint Creek, a home that has been in the Turner family's possession for three-quarters of a century, and there he became an extensive and very successful trader, owning a store, the patronage of which covered a wide territory, and being the possessor of thousands of acres of land. He was a member of the Christian Church and was liberal in his contributions to religious and charitable movements. He died at Paintsville, greatly respected and esteemed, in 1875.

Dr. Isaac R. Turner was born January 1, 1838, near Prestonsburg, Floyd County, this state, and prior to the outbreak of the struggle between the North and South attended a medical school. His educational training was interrupted by his enlistment in the Forty-fifth Regiment, Kentucky Mounted Infantry, in the Union Army, in which he held the rank of first lieutenant, and took part in numerous engagements with Gen. John A. Morgan. On one occasion he was held a prisoner for two days, and his war experiences were thrilling, but at the close of hostilities he returned safely to his home and resumed his medical studies at the Ohio Medical College, now the University of Ohio, at Cincinnati. After his graduation he practiced his profession at Paintsville until 1910, at which time he retired and thenceforward lived quietly until his death, which occurred at Paintsville August 27, 1920. Doctor Turner was a man who was held in the greatest esteem and confidence in his community. He was a republican in politics, a Royal Arch Mason and for many years a member of the Board of Stewards of the Methodist Church. He married Louisa Hager, who was born at Hager Hill, Johnson County, April 7, 1844, a daughter of Gen. Daniel Hager. She survives him and makes her home with her son James W., who is their only surviving child.

James W. Turner attended the public schools of Paintsville, the Kentucky Wesleyan College, Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, Harvard University and the University of Boston, where he prosecuted his law studies and graduated with his degree as a member of the class of 1899. After two years of practice at Bristol, Tennessee, he became clerk and master of chancery at that place, but resigned at the end of two years and returned to Paintsville to assist in the organization of the Paintsville National Bank, with which he has been connected ever since. Mr. Turner is one of the largest stockholders in this institution and for fifteen years has given its affairs his best abilities. He is thoroughly familiar with the principles and practice of banking, and is interested in other financial and business enterprises in Eastern Kentucky. Being in close touch with commercial, industrial, financial and economic conditions in Johnson County, he has worked with commendable zeal and marked ability to develop the natural resources of the county and to elevate standards generally. He is possessed of a firm faith and confidence in the people of the county, and in return they have given him their confidence. Their problems and difficulties are known to him and their worthy undertakings enlist his warm sympathy and generous assistance.

In his political allegiance Mr. Turner is a republican, and it was on the ticket of that party that he was elected to the State Legislature in 1910. He was the minority nominee for speaker of the House and later became the minority leader. In 1910 he was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky State University by Governor Willson, and has retained that position to the present, under reappointments by Governors McCreary, Stanley and Morrow. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for some years he has served as a member of the Board of Stewards and of the Board of Trustees of the church at Paintsville.

Jimison K. Wells is engaged in the practice of law at Paintsville, judicial center of his native county, and in addition to being one of the representative younger members of the Bar of Johnson County he is financially interested in important coal, oil and gas operations and development in this section of Kentucky. He is a representative of a family that has not only been long and worthily identified with the civic and industrial life of Johnson County, but also one that was founded in America in the Colonial era of our national history.  His father, William G. Wells, was born in the Daniels Creek district of this county in 1813, and died on his Greasy Creek homestead in 1889. The latter's father, Richard Wells, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 11th of February, 1760, and was a youth at the time when the War of the Revolution was initiated. He went to Georgia and became an orderly sergeant in the company commanded by Captain Paines, with Colonel Jackson in command of the regiment. He took part in the battle of Stono and other engagements, and six months after the battle mentioned he received his honorable discharge. In the following September his youthful patriotism again manifested itself in decisive action, for he enlisted in the company of Captain Laura, in the regiment commanded by Colonel Harris. With this regiment he took part in the siege of Savannah, and after further effective service he again received honorable discharge. In 1780 he went to Washington, District of Columbia, and then to Virginia, where he again entered the nation's service, on this occasion as an Indian spy. It was while in the discharge of his duties as a spy upon the Indians of the frontier that he came to Kentucky, and he was discharged from service in 1781. He passed the remainder of his life in Kentucky, as one of the sterling pioneers of this commonwealth, and here his death occurred in the year 1838. He first settled with his family on Daniels Creek, and later this entire creek was traded to Morgan Clarke for all of Greasy Creek, the Clarke family continuing in possession of the Daniels Creek property to the present day, while representatives of the Wells family retain ownership of the old homestead property on Greasy Creek. The Wells family was prospered in its vigorous association with farm industry in Johnson County as the work of development and progress proceeded, but John P. Wells, father of the subject of this sketch, proved himself capable of further service than farm enterprise, as he became a successful teacher in the schools of the state, and in 1883 represented his district, comprising Floyd and Johnson counties, as a member of the Kentucky Legislature. In 1884 he was chosen the official representative of Johnson County to the Southern Exposition at New Orleans. He was influential in community affairs, progressive and public spirited as a citizen, and gained much prestige as a resourceful real estate attorney. His admission to the Kentucky bar occurred on the 1st of November, 1877, after he had prosecuted the study of law in the office of James E. Stewart, with whom he continued to be associated in practice after his admission to the bar. Mr. Wells was an able and eloquent public speaker and strong trial lawyer, he served as special judge in various counties in Central Eastern Kentucky, under appointment, and he knew well the people of this section of the state, recognized their needs and ambitions, and did all in his power to aid them. In his law practice he was for some time associated also with B. H. Conley and C. B. Wheeler. Mr. Wells acquired much property in this part of the state, was associated with J. C. C. Mayo in the latter's efforts to develop the Big Sandy coal fields, was a democrat in political allegiance, and his unqualified popularity in his home county was significantly shown when he became democratic candidate for the office of county attorney and was defeated by only twenty-three votes, the county giving a normal republican vote of 1,500. He was a member of the Board of Trustees and also of the Building Committee of the Mayo Memorial Church at Paintsville, and was also a trustee of Sandy Valley Seminary, an institution now known as Mayo College. He was one of the organizers of the Paintsville Bank & Trust Company and in a fraternal way maintained affiliation with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Since his death his widow has continued to maintain her home at Paintsville, where her circle of friends is limited only by that of her acquaintances. Mrs. Wells is a daughter of John Howes, who was the first clerk of Johnson County and whose service in this office continued twenty years, his death having occurred in 1864. John Howes was born in the year 1811, a son of Alexius Howes, who came from Virginia and became a pioneer settler in what is now Johnson County, Kentucky, where he gave many years of earnest service as a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first marriage of Miss Julia Alice Howes was with Andrew J. Buckingham, who was born in Virginia and whose death occurred in Johnson County, Kentucky, in 1882. Two sons survive him, John E. and Claude. Mrs. Wells was born in the year 1858, and has resided continuously in Johnson County during the long intervening years. Of the children of the second marriage Jimison K., of this review, is the eldest; Virginia is the wife of G. S. Taylor, of Portsmouth, Ohio; Walter, who became a prominent coal operator, died in 1918; Hubert resides at Paintsville and has active charge of the property interests of his widowed mother; Geneva is the wife of V. D. Splane, who was born in Pennsylvania and who is now manager of the Paintsville Oil & Gas Company; and Byron remains with his widowed mother.

Jimison K. Wells is indebted to the public schools of Paintsville for his early education, which was supplemented by his attending the University of Kentucky and finally by his entering the law department of the University of Louisville, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907. After thus receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws he became associated with his father in the practice of law at Paintsville, and this alliance continued until the death of the honored father, since which time he continued in independent practice, with a substantial and representative law business that marks him as one of the able and successful members of the bar of his native county. Mr. Wells is associated with his brother Walter in various coal-mining enterprises on Big Sandy Creek and Beaver Creek, and he is identified also with many other important concerns engaged in oil and gas production in this section of his native state. In his law business Mr. Wells is now associated with Z. Wells, under the firm name of Wells & Wells, the junior member of the firm having been in the nation's military service in the World war. Mr. Wells is unswerving in his allegiance to the Democratic Party, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Mayo Memorial Church, Methodist Episcopal, South, of which he is a steward, besides having served as a member of the building committee which had charge of the erection of the present fine church edifice.  The year 1914 recorded the marriage of Mr. Wells with Miss Ruth Long, daughter of the late John R. Long, who was a leader in educational work in the Big Sandy Valley. Mrs. Wells is a granddaughter of Judge A. P. Cooper, of Magoffin County. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have three children: John K., Margaret E. and Miriam.

Marcus L. K. Wells attended school near the old home as a boy, and he was but fourteen years and eight months of age when he enlisted as a soldier in Company C, Forty-fifth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and went forth in defense of the Union in the Civil war, Frank Mott having been captain of the company. The youthful soldier was made a corporal, and was probably the youngest corporal in all of the Union forces engaged in the great conflict between the North and the South. Mr. Wells participated in the engagements at Cynthiana and King's Salt Works, and while at Mount Sterling was injured in a plunge which he found it necessary to make, besides which he was slightly wounded in the arm, by a passing minie ball. His loyalty to the Union was the more remarkable evidence of his youthful patriotism, in view of the fact that his father and most other members of the family, as well as family friends, were in sympathy with the Confederacy. As a boy Mr. Wells thought and reasoned for himself, and this he has continued to do in all relations of life during an active and productive career. He was eighteen years of age at the time of his marriage, and thereafter he advanced his education by studying at home and by judicious reading. He has continued an appreciative student and reader in the passing years and is a man of broad information and mature judgment. After his marriage Mr. Wells established his home on a farm near Boone's Camp, and he taught two terms of school after thus assuming marital responsibilities. He was soon elected a magistrate, and served one term in this office. He finally engaged in the general mercantile business at Ward City, a village now known as Offutt, and he also served as postmaster there, as did he later at Boone's Camp, his entire period of service as postmaster having covered fourteen years. After conducting the general store at Ward City four years Mr. Wells sold out and returned to the old home farm. He conducted a general store at Boone's Camp for a period of eight years, with his son William G. as a partner. He has served efficiently as notary public and as deputy county clerk, and he was formerly associated with J. C. C. Mayo in the purchasing and opening of coal mines in this section of the state. He and his wife are earnest members of the Wells Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, named in honor of the Wells family, and he is a member of its board of trustees. He has been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, as a Master Mason, since his early manhood, and he was one of the loyal and honored members of David Auxier Post, Grand Army of the Republic, until death so depleted its ranks that its organization lapsed. He removed with his family to Paintsville in 1916, and has since lived virtually retired.

Mrs. Wells, whose maiden name was Exer Meek, was born near the present Village of Offutt, Johnson County, September 6, 1849, and is a daughter of the late Isaac and Sallie (Ward) Meek. To Mr. and Mrs. Wells have been born nine children, and it is most pleasing to record that death has never yet entered the immediate family circle. Sallie, eldest of the children, is the wife of Hon. John P. Delong, a farmer in Martin County and a Representative of that county in the State Legislature at the time of the assassination of Governor Goebel; William G. is a prosperous merchant at Boone's Camp and is also actively identified with farm enterprise in that vicinity; Paulina is the widow of M. L. Robinson and resides at Paintsville ; Shadrach is a prosperous farmer near Boone's Camp; Dr. John P. was graduated from the medical department of the University of Louisville, later took a post-graduate course in a New York medical college, and is now engaged in practice at Paintsville; Marcus L., Jr., now assistant mine inspector of Eastern Kentucky, lives in Paintsville, Edward is a farmer and mine foreman near Boone's Camp; Zephaniah, a representative young member of the Johnson County bar is associated with his cousin, J. K. Wells, in the practice of law at Paintsville, and his is the honor of having served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France in the late World war, in which he was a sergeant in the coast artillery, his preliminary training having been received at Fortress Monroe, Virginia; and Goldie is the wife of W. S. Duncan, who is connected with a coal company at West Van Lear, Johnson County.

Dr. William G. Wells was born in the year 1818 and died in 1887. He was a man of much professional ability as a physician and surgeon and for many years pursued his humane mission as one of the leading physicians of Johnson County, besides giving equally earnest service as a local minister of the Methodist Church. His brother Andrew and sister Betsy (Mrs. Hillman) died in Virginia; other brothers were George, Moses and Peter; Rosie became the wife of Spencer Spears; John was the next in order of birth; Agnes F. became the wife of Samuel Auxier; and Mary became the wife of William Butcher. The wife of Doctor Wells was a daughter of Jacob Butcher and was born in Scott County, Virginia, in 1820. She accompanied her parents to what is now Johnson County, Kentucky, and settlement was first made on Daniels Creek, whence removal was later made to a farm on Greasy Creek. Mrs Wells was venerable in years at the time of her death, about the year 1800, and both she and her husband are held in reverent memory by all who came within the compass of their gracious influence. The home of Doctor Wells was the regular stopping place of the itinerant Methodist clergymen of the early days. In 1857 the Doctor traded his land on Daniels Creek for a farm in the valley of Greasy Creek, in which section of Johnson County still reside numerous representatives of the Wells family, whose name has been one of prominence and influence in connection with civic and material progress in this section of the Blue Grass State. Doctor Wells was a stanch democrat and was in sympathy with the cause of the Confederacy at the time of the Civil war. Of his thirteen children only two are now living, Marcus L. K., of this review, and Sarah, widow of Eli Hinkle and a resident of Martin County, this state. Richard M. was a merchant and farmer at Whitehouse, Johnson County, and was sixty-eight years of age at the time of his death; Moses and Aaron were twins, the former having died near the old homestead, on Johns Creek, when seventy-two years of age, and Aaron having died at Boone's Camp, on Greasy Creek, when seventy years of age, he having been a farmer and a local preacher of the Methodist Church; William A. died near Boone's Camp, at the age of sixty-eight years; Susannah, wife of Samuel Clark, died at the old Wells homestead, when sixty-seven years of age; Nancy Jane, who died at the age of sixty years, was the wife of James H. Mollett, of Paintsville; John P. was a leading lawyer at Paintsville, represented Johnson County in the State Legislature, and was sixty-four years of age at the time of his death; C. J. was a merchant at Offutt, this county, at the time of his death, when forty-five years of age; Jacob, a farmer and merchant of Johnson County, died at the age of fifty years; Julie died when a girl of twelve years, and Mary died in infancy.

 

BACK to Johnson County

Copyright © Genealogy Trails