BUCK CREEK BAPTIST CHURCHES

BUCK CREEK BAPTIST CHURCHES

By Harry D. Tinsley

NOTE: Although this story starts in Ohio County, these churches are now located in the northeastern section of McLean County. McLean County was formed by act of the Kentucky legislature on February 6, 1854 from portions of surrounding Daviess, Ohio, and Muhlenberg Counties.

The New Providence Church occupied the Tanner's Meeting House since the Buck Creek Church was moving into a new log meeting house one mile west Nuckols. Built in 1840-1841, this church was located on a hill since known as Buck Creek Hill. (The Tanner's Meeting House, also built of logs, was located three miles west of Livia on the Glennville Road).

In 1856-1857 a neat frame house was erected on the same site. In 1892 the members decided to build a new meeting place. There was a great difference of opinion on where the new house should be built. Finally, in February 1894, the church ordered the new house built on the Owensboro - Livermore Road, about midway between Livia and Nuckols. The building was completed and occupied in July 1894 but dissatisfaction remained among some members over whether or not the plans had been carried out in a legitimate manner. The church became completely divided, resulting in a number of the members continuing to meet in the building completed in 1857.

The dissatisfied members continued to transact business as the Buck Creek Church and both churches sent statistical letters and messengers to the meeting of the Daviess County Association, which convened at the Oak Grove (Utica) Church in August 1894.

After it was discovered that two opposing groups of messengers, both claiming to represent the Buck Creek Church, were in attendance, a committee was chosen to look into the situation. This committee was composed of seven visiting brethren who were chosen from among those who ire unprejudiced by local conditions or past or present relationships, one being Elder J. T. Casebier, of Rockport, Ky.

After a careful examination of all records, the committee reported, unanimously, that the decision to move to a new location as a legal and binding act of the church. Therefore, the group meeting on the Owensboro-Livermore Road was rightfully the Buck Creek Baptist Church. The members who had not approved the move were given letters so they could constitute a new church if they wished.

Sixty-nine members withdrew from the Buck Creek Church and in September 1894 the Old Buck Creek Church was organized and constituted. (These names also given in Rone’s book). Two other persons submitted their names to the clerk, making a total of 71.  In August 1895 this church became a member of the Daviess-McLean County Association.

Over the years, Buck Creek Church has been a prolific mother of churches.  Out of her membership she has given members to constitute Green Brier, in 1820; Mt. Liberty, in 1840; Oak Grove (Utica), in 1854; Glenville, in 1865; Woodward’s Valley, in 1879; and Old Buck Creek, in 1894.  She is also the grandmother of younger churches that have come from the churches mentioned above.

Today both the Buck Creek Baptist Church and Old Buck Creek Baptist Church continue to carry on their work.  Their foundations are strong, being based on almost 163 years of faith.

Buck Creek Cemetery

After settling the claim as to the legality of the move to the Owensboro and Livermore Road site, the Association volunteered to make the following suggestions relative to the Buck Creek Cemetery.

“In the event they preferred to constitute a new church at the old location they be permitted to use the old building until they could provide thernse1ve with one that suited them better, January 1, 1895, being the date fixed by agreement and that the old house should be sold and the proceeds divided equally among them, and that the old church lot should be added to the adjacent cemetery grounds, and that the mother church should then deed to the new organization a one-half interest in the cemetery lot, to be held and controlled permanently by the two jointly, for the use of both."

Two lots were donated, to the Church by Dr. A. W. Crow for the purpose of erecting a new house of worship. These lots were located about 500 yards to the north of the old site of the church and the cemetery. The new building was completed and the dedicatory sermon was preached by Dr. J. S. Coleman on Thanksgiving Day, 1894. Both churches continue to use the buildings erected in 1894.

Ref. "A History of the Daviess-McLean Baptist Association in Kentucky” , 1943 by Wendell H. Rone.

Published in The Ohio County News, April 10, 1975.

Thanks to Janice Brown

Old Buck Creek Church:

 Buck Creek Church:

Lindsey D. Bennett and wife, Matilda J. Owen

Benton – Bennett Family

Lindsey Dow Bennett (2^nd cousin of Geo. P. and Lydia Benton Bennett), born October 14, 1829, at No Creek, married Matilda J. Owen, born July 1, 1826, Ohio County, daughter of Edward and Ann Boswell Owen.  They owned and resided on a 100 acre farm North of Beda, just off Miller’s Mill Road (the back portion of the Ray Hoover farm).  In 1886 they purchased a house and lot in Buckhorn (Beda) in the forks of the Beda-Sullenger’s Mill and Hartford-Owensboro Roads where they resided until their deaths.

Mr. Bennett served from October 25, 1861 until March 3, 1863 in Company F, 17^th Kentucky Infantry, Union Army.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Bennett united with Beulah Cumberland Presbyterian Church on September 15, 1889. Mr. Bennett served as an Elder from October 18, 1893 until his death.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Owen, besides Mrs. Bennett, were Eleanor (wife of Hezekiah Ward), Elizabeth (wife of Richard Stevens), Sarah Ann (wife of William J. Bennett), Polly (wife of Jesse G. Benton), Charlotte (wife of Thomas York), Lottie (wife of Archibald Stewart), Admiral (who married ____), and Henry (who married 1^st ___ and 2^nd Ellen Stewart); From Deed dated 1859, Book R, page 635, Ohio County Clerk Office. The tract conveyed was located on Hall’s Creek.

Mr. Bennett dies December 24, 1908 and his wife predeceased August 21, 1899. They rest in the Beulah Churchyard.

Children: Five.

Henry Burge, born July 17, 1852; Robert Plummer, born January 28, 1854; Lydia Ann, born March 20, 1856; William Clayton, born May 12, 1861; and Mattie, born circa 1865.

Source:  Lineage Lines, by Harry D. Tinsley; The Ohio County News, April 24, 1975.

Note:  It appears they married 27 Feb. 1876 in Grant County, IN. She listed her name as Martha J. Owen. Spouse listed as John Bennett.

Deeds prior to 1798

Source:

Abstract of Deeds – Nelson County, KY – 1785 to 1808

Compiled by Nelson County Historical Society

Note:  Nelson County was formed in 1784; Hardin County formed in 1792 from part of Nelson County; and Ohio County formed from part of Hardin County in 1798. So deeds recorded prior to 1798 can be found in Nelson County and Hardin County.

A few deeds of interest that are recorded in Nelson County:

P. 76 (Book Two) - 23 Oct. 1788 - Joseph Barnett, wife Abigail to Thomas Meason, 15 pounds, 300 acres on Rough Creek waters of Green River adjacent Peter Tardiveas and Bartholomew Tardiveas .

P. 81 (Book Two)  - 9 Dec. 1788 - George Scot, County of Culpepper, to Andrew Hynes, 50 pounds, 500 acres waters of Beaver Dam fork of Big Clifty, waters of Green River.

P. 82 (Book Two) - 9 Dec. 1788 - John Ninian Webb to Andrew Hynes. 100 pounds, 1,000 acres on Beaver Dam fork of Big Clifty.

P. 113 (Book 4) - 23 Mar. 1791 - Joseph Barnett to John Howell. 1,868 pounds, 7,472 acres near the mouth of Noe Creek, branch of Rough, Creek, adjacent Josepb Lewis and George May.

P. 222 (Book 4) - 27 July 1791 - Gabriel Maddison to John Atherton, Jr., Hartford town lot #63, as actual settler, also 3 acres outlot #54, adjacent John Slover, Aaron Atherton and Dudley Mills.

P. 223 (Book 4) - 27 July 1791 - Gabriel Maddison to John Atherton, Sr., 3 pounds, two half acre lots, #56 & 57 in Hartford as actual settler and two 3 acre outlots #47 & 48, adjacent Joseph Baird and John Powars.

P. 225 (Book 4) - 20 July 1791 - Gabriel Maddison to Peter Springston, lot #107 in Hartford, conveyed to Springston by Andrew Rowan, an actual settler, also outlot #22, bounded by Michael Riley, assignee of William Rown and James Tinsley, assignee of Samuel McGrady.

I have not done a through examination of Nelson County Deeds or Hardin County Deeds. The above is just a sample and the above might not (all) be located within the current borders of Ohio County.

ONE ROOM SCHOOL HOUSE

A Brief Story

of

James William Cox of Ohio County, Kentucky

Father of Jasper Newton Cox and

Grandfather of Gilbert Owen Cox

Pupils received much more attention from the teacher than is given today, even with all the modern methods and equipment. 

Although times were hard, there was a closeness, as a rule, between teacher and pupils that we do not have today.   They felt like a family and they learned to work together and they helped each other learn.   Sometimes parents sent under age children to school with older brothers and sisters because they had to work in the field that day.  Otherwise, the older children would have had to stay home to take care of the little ones.  The older kids helped teach the younger kids if they needed help when the teacher was busy on the other side of the room.   In this day and time, all of the teaching is left to the teacher.  Not to be forgotten is the fact that some of the scholars might often be older and larger than the teacher in charge.

When James William Cox taught school they had a tradition at the end of school whereby the teacher took all the boys to the Green River not far from Cromwell to swim in a favorite swimming hole and have a picnic.  The area had a high bank overlooking the river and a few of the older kids who were brave enough enjoyed jumping or diving off the high embankment into the water. 

One summer when school had ended James Cox took a group of his boy students, who ranged in age from eight to fourteen or so, to the river near Cromwell.  The boys had made it up in advance to gang up and throw or push their teacher in the river.  So when they got near enough, they all crowded around him and began pushing him closer toward the edge of the bank.  Realizing they would be strong enough to push him over - just as they got to the brink’s edge - he spread his arms wide and hugged them all close into him.  When he went over the bank into the water, he took all the boys with him.  The news spread far and wide because these boys told this story for years, even to their grandchildren.  They considered it a big joke because their teacher turned the tables on them and they all got wet together.  For a number of years afterwards, this became a “teacher/student” tradition of the school every year when school was out.

One of the duties and responsibilities for Jim Cox was to fill out the absentee report and make out academic reports on each student for the school trustees to go over.  Teachers were the key to the success of the schools.

                                                                                                           

Dec. 2, 2002                                                                ~~ by Janice Cox Brown,

                                                                                               Oldest Great-Granddaughter

Joseph Blackston Leach

Joseph Blackston Leach (1856-1925)

by Shelby Leach (1894-1981)

I would like to begin the story of my father's life with the Pre-Civil War days.

Joseph Blackston (Note: sometimes spelled Blackstone) Leach was born February 2, 1856, the son of John and Susan Leach, who were married in Beaver Dam, Kentucky. Soon after their marriage they came to Missouri and settled near Harrisonville, about twenty miles south of Kansas City; their four sons were born there. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Grandfather enlisted in the Confederate Army from Missouri.

As their farm was located on the main-traveled road between Fort Scott, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, and also near the invisible line between the North and South, troubled and dangerous times came to the mother and her small sons. Grandmother's father became so concerned about them that he went after them and brought them back to Kentucky with him. After the war ended, Grandfather joined them in Kentucky and never returned to Missouri.

Father came to Texas in the early part of 1878 with an uncle, from his home near Beaver Dam, Kentucky. Nine years later he came to Hale County. He and his brother, Dee, owned a farm in Denton County, and also had a herd of cattle, which they brought with them. Father heard of a large pumpkin that was raised in Swisher County, and so started to move to Swisher County. Their younger brother, John, had come to Texas from Kentucky and made the move with them; a cousin also went with them, Byron Taylor, who was about fourteen. He was an orphan, and Father was his guardian.

One day while they were traveling, some Indians came by their camp and asked for some meat; Uncle John said, "Give them salty meat and they won't bother us anymore." He said he learned that while working on a railroad grade.

My Father told me that they came up on the Cap Rock on the fourth or fifth of July, and camped a few miles east of what is now South Plains. From there they went northwest to a large, deep lake, near the corner of Swisher County, where they made a permanent camp. As other lakes dried up, other cattle men came and camped at this lake. This lake was known as the "55" lake for a number of years, as that was the brand that the Leach brothers used. The cattle they brought from Denton County is the foundation stock of the Hereford cattle now owned by me and my sons, Joe and Paul, and we still use the "55" brand.

Father filed on a 160 acre homestead about six miles north of Plainview In the fall of 1887, he had a well drilled on the homestead, they struck water forty-seven feet and drilled the well to sixty. The Star windmill they put up at the well was the third windmill in Hale County.

There was a saying among the early settlers that the wind pumped the water and the cows cut the wood. When the well was finished, they moved their tent and stock to the homestead and began to build their sod house. They dug about two feet in the ground, and made a wall of sod about five feet high. The house was fourteen by twenty-eight feet, and had a sod chimney in the north end; a makeshift door was made by putting salt sacks on a frame made of poles.

They moved into the sod house in January 1888. Uncle Dee went to see about the cattle that afternoon. He came back and said, "We are going to have the worst storm of the season, I need some help to get the cattle in." They put the cattle in a trap, that had been made by building a fence on the south and west sides of the pasture. At that time the herd consisted of about sixty head.

My father said that was the worst storm that he had ever seen on the Plains; there was thunder, lightning, rain, sleet, snow, and a hard wind. Almost all of the cattle in this part of the country drifted with the storm and went south, below the Texas Pacific Railroad. The Leach Brothers only had one cow to drift away in the storm. The next spring, ranchers rounded up the cattle that had drifted away, someone saw a cow with the Leach brand and put her in the herd, and brought her back.

The Leach Brothers made occasional trips to the Tule Canyon where they would cut some cedars for posts and firewood. When Father got to the creek on his first trip to the canyon, he saw what looked like bear tracks, and in a short time he looked down the canyon and saw a black bear; but the bear disappeared in the cedars and that was the only bear that he ever saw in the canyon.

On one of Father's trips to the canyon to get wood, he bad cut short and loaded the wood and started home when a blizzard hit. In a short time, he met some men from Plainview with three or four wagons, who were coming after wood; they stopped and discussed what they should do. Father told them that he had wood and was going back to the canyon and stay until the storm was over, and invited them to go with him. They all went and found a place on the north side of the canyon where a rock extended a few feet from the wall of the canyon and high enough for them to go under the rock. They built a fire in front of the rock and stayed until the storm was over. One of the men had a Negro with him. The Negro's feet were so large that he couldn't get shoes for him, so his feet were wrapped in sacks, but they still got cold.

Father helped build the Amarillo Hotel in Amarillo, and also worked on the Hale County Court House in 1890; he worked on other buildings in Amarillo and built some homes in this area. Uncle John worked on ranches, including the Circle and X. I. T. Uncle Dee stayed at home and looked after things.

On March 30, 1892, Father married Pyrena Parks, she came with her parents to Hale County from Crawford, Texas, in July 1888. They settled on the Running Water Draw, about five miles west of Plainview. They were married in her parents home, and Father took his bride to the sod house, but by that time they had windows, a real door, a floor, and a partition. We are living at the same place now, but in quite a different house.

There was a salt lick near where Grandfather Parks lived. Antelopes would come there for salt, and Grandfather could go there early most any morning and kill an antelope for fresh meat.

When Father or his brothers went to Amarillo for supplies, they would also bring freight for merchants in Plainview. They would take two wagons trailed together and pulled by six horses or mules. The team next to the wagon was known as the wheel team, next was the swing team, and the team in front was called the leaders.

On November 16, 1893, Father and Byron Taylor started to Amarillo. A little north of Happy Hollow, a stage station about two miles northeast of Happy, at about sunset, Father had an accident which almost cost him his life. He stepped on the tongue of the moving wagon to mount the wheel mule. The mule began to pitch, and he fell and was pushed forward by the wheel axle. After the wagons passed over him, he could only move his left arm and hand, but by morning he could not do that. Two other men helped Byron put him in the wagon, and Byron brought him back to Tulia where they spent the rest of the night at Mr. Conner's. The next morning Byron brought the wagons and teams home and went back with a spring wagon and mattress to bring Father home.

Father sent word to Mother to ask Dr. Dye to come and see him at nine o'clock that night. Neighbor men came (two each night) to sit up with Father all winter, and were still coming when I was born, in the sod house, on March 29. My first remembrance of my Father was seeing him walk on crutches; he always dragged his right foot, and as his right hand was paralyzed, he learned to write with his left hand.

In 1898, Father was elected to the office of tax assessor of Hale County, and served two terms. By that time, he was able to travel in a buggy with a gentle horse. Father never kept an office in the courthouse, but went to Plainview and sat in his buggy, on what is now Broadway, and people would come to him there, so his buggy was really his office. It was necessary to make some trips over the County to complete his assessments. He would hire a boy to go with him to open the gates.

The tax rolls were completed here at home with some hired help and Mother's help. At that time, all the work was done without typewriters and adding machines.

Father would drive out quite often in his buggy to look after the cattle. He was a good judge of cattle and knew many of them individually. We also raised horses and mules, some were used for farm work and others were sold. At one time, before we used tractors, we had twenty-two head of work stock. Father knew the mules and their mothers, and the week that he died, he wanted me to work a certain young mule for the first time. We hitched the mule to a wagon, where he could see it from his bedroom window. He passed away on September 20, 1925, almost thirty-two years after his accident, which indirectly may have caused his death.

Source: Hale County History, Plainview, TX; Aug 1976, Vol 6, Issue 3.

ODD BITS OF HISTORY

ODD BITS OF HISTORY

By Lyman G. Barrett

It has often been remarked that more Ohio countians have been named for Rev. Ignatius Pigman pioneer Methodist minister than for any other person This is evidently not due altogether to his prominence as a preacher and real estate agent but also to the fact that he performed more of the marriage ceremonies than any other minister in the early days of the county. These couples frequently named their first born for him and the name was handed down through subsequent generations.

It seems that he came to this section from Maryland in about 1788 and being enthralled with the prospects in the new country he returned to his native state and persuaded scores of his fellow citizens to return with him. To most of these immigrants from the East he sold farms as is indicated by the large number of deeds on record in the office of County Clerk Clifton Black. His name is even more frequently mentioned in the record of marriages which are now being cross indexed by WPA clerks and typists. As an example, one of his certificates is as follows:

"I certify that I solemnized the right of marriage between Joseph Barnett and Jean Barnett on the 21st of July, 1799.

"Also Philip Turpin and Mary Shayne on the - day of February, 1800.

"Also John Shayne and Mary Turpin, the 9th day of December, 1800.

“Also Michael Raymer and Precious Brown, the 10th day of December, 1800.

"Also Charles Hogan and Sarah Hocker, the 25th day of December, 1800.

"Also Joseph Gentry and Rhoda Thomas, the 8th day of January, 1801.     

first performed after Ohio became Pigman, the 13th day of January, 1801.

"Also Charles Tarlton and Margery Taylor, the 18th day January, 1801.

"Also John Ferguson and Nancy Rocker in February, 1801.

"Also Levi Pigrnan and Jane Taylor, the 6th day of August, 1801.

"Also Simon Tay1or and Elizabeth North on the 9^th of December, 1801.

“Also Robert Render, Jr. and Charlotte Barnes on the 21st of December, 1801.

“Also Elijah Myers and Hannah Barnett, the 24th of June, 1802.

“Also  Ephraim Garner and Nancy Fowler, July 1, 1802.

“Also Jesse Cravens and Rebecca Tarlton, Sep. 7, 1802.

“Also Thomas Sprigg and Rachel Barnett, Jan 20, 1803.

                                    “Ignatius Pigman”

This, of course, is only a partial list of the ceremonies he performed but it includes the progenitors of many of the county’s a leading families. For instance, Joseph and Jean Barnett, whose marriage was the first to be formed after Ohio became a county in 1799, have many decendents among the leading citizens of Ohio county and in other parts of the nation. They were the children of the two pioneer Barnetts who established Barnett’s Fort near this city.

“Ohio County Kentucky In the Olden Days,” by Harrison D. Taylor, devotes considerable space to a biography of Rev. Ignatius Pigman, whose death occurred in New Orleans shortly after Andrew Jackson's successful defense of that city, in the preparation of which Pigman had a part.

Source:  Ohio County News 16 Feb 1940

The Floating Studio

This photo is a postcard that advertises the photography "Floating Studio" owned and operated by H. O. Schroeter, which operated on the Green River and Rough River from 1890 till 1920.

In “Green River of Kentucky” Helen Bartter Crocker wrote, “one of the most colorful characters on the river was a successful photographer named H. O. Schroeter.  He was called the Artist of the Emerald Wave.  He and his family lived on his floating studio which had a parlor, sitting room, dining room, bedrooms, kitchen and artist’s studio.”  Schroeter claimed the reason his prints did not fade was that he washed them in the mineral-rich Green River.  He placed them in a fish box alongside the studio.  He and his sons, Emory and Clifford, did most of the photography on the boat but occasionally went ashore to a customer’s home.

Below is another photo of the Schroeter floating studio. It appears that a second story had been added to the boat.  Henry O'Neil Schroeter was born to Swiss immigrants in Evansville, IN and settled in Hartford.

Class Photo - 1930

Source:  The Ohio County News, April 24, 1975

Thanks to Janice Brown

GEORGE W. BARNARD

GEORGE W. BARNARD was born in Ohio County, Ky., August 10, 1832, and is a son of Loyd and Nancy (Hawker) (sic Hocker) Barnard, both of whom are natives of Kentucky, and of English descent. Loyd Barnard was employed on his father's farm until he attained his majority. Soon after his marriage he bought wild land, near Hogg's Falls, and subsequently improved a farm, upon which he resided until his death, which occurred, in 1843, in his forty-fifth year. He continued to add to his possessions from time to time, owning at his death about 100 acres. He and wife were from early life members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in which he officiated for many years as a class leader. George W. Barnard received a fair common school education at the early schools of Ohio County. He has always resided on the old homestead, near Hogg's Falls, where he was born and which he now owns. The farm consists of 100 acres and is well improved. Mr. Barnard is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits, making the culture of tobacco a specialty. He was married in September, 1854, to Mary J. Bennett, also a native of Ohio County, and a daughter of James and Julia A. (Igleheart) Bennett. Six children — three sons and three daughters — have been left to them, viz.: James S., Semiramis, Emma, Jacob H., Annie and Herman W. The two eldest daughters are married. Mr. Barnard and wife have been from early life church members, he of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and she of the United Baptist Church. In politics he is a Democrat.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

AUGUSTUS BAKER

AUGUSTUS BAKER, Ohio County, is a native of Tennessee, born in Wilson County, January 1, 1839; his father was also a native of Tennessee, born in 1812. The latter, when a young man, went to North Carolina, where he married Cynthia Robinson in 1838, and removed to Wilson County, Tenn., where he resided until 1852, then removed to Muhlenburgh County, Ky., where his wife, Cynthia, died, leaving six children. He subsequently married Elizabeth, daughter of James Hall, and in 1872 removed to Henderson County, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 3, 1879. Augustus Baker remained with his parents until the age of seventeen, at which time he began to make his own way in the world; worked by the month for about three years; then mined coal, farmed and ran a flat-boat on Green River for several years. In 1882 he bought 140 acres of land, where he now lives, and gives all his attention to farming. March 27, 1859, he was united in marriage with Paulina M., daughter of John E. Steele. Twelve children are the result of this union: Caledonia (deceased), Sophia, Edward, George, Robert, William, Nancy (deceased), Lina, Martha, John (deceased), Richard and an infant son unnamed. In September, 1861, Mr. Baker joined the Federal army; was a member of Company F, Eleventh Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and served in the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden until September 18, 1862, when he received an honorable discharge. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Baker takes no active part in politics, but in principle is a Republican. His religious views are founded on the principle of charity to all and the fulfillment of personal obligations.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

JASPER WARREN BAKER

JASPER WARREN BAKER, Ohio County. Among the most prominent and respected of the first settlers of Ohio County were the ancestors of this gentleman, whose father is the Hon. I. H. Baker, a sketch of whose life is given elsewhere. Mr. Baker is the only son, and was born April 21, 1846, in Beaver Dam Precinct. He has given his attention to farming, and now owns a good farm with substantial buildings near Mercer's Mine. He also owns a coal mine, which is worked by the Mercers, and has proven very remunerative. Mr. Baker was married June 19, 1867, to Ann Eliza, the seventh child of Thomas O. and Amelia Austin. They have seven children; John H., Amelia Belle (deceased), Thomas O., Robert Luther, William Cloud, Charlotte and Floris Owen. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and an earnest Christian lady.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895

ISAAC HARVEY BAKER

HON. ISAAC H. BAKER, retired merchant, Ohio County, was born in the town of New Liberty, Owen Co., Ky., July 12, 1823. His father, Isaac Baker, a man of indomitable will and energy, quiet and unostentatious in manner, was a native of the same county, and there died in 1872, after an active life as farmer, saddler and grocer. His mother was born in Virginia, but removed to Kentucky when quite young. She died in 1874. Our subject was the eldest of eight children, of whom but one other is still living — Mrs. Pamelia Atherton, now of Ballard County, Ky. Judge Baker has been twice married, first to Charlotte Ann Render, daughter of Robert Render, now deceased. In 1859 Mrs. Baker died, leaving four children: J. W. Baker, a farmer of Beaver Dam Precinct; Laura A., the wife of P. O. Austin, a merchant in Beaver Dam; Naomi, wife of R. P. Hocker, the present sheriff of Ohio County, and Parmelia, wife of Leonard Bean, of Hartford, Ohio County. Judge Baker's second wife, Amelia Maddox, daughter of Samuel Maddox, died May 8, 1881, leaving no children. The Judge was engaged in farming until 1882, when he became a merchant at Beaver Dam. In the early winter of 1884, he sold out his business to Hocker & Co., and retired from active life. He had only such educational advantages as the schools of Kentucky afforded in his early youth. He, however, supplemented these by reading and close application to business, so that whatever was omitted in his training at school, has been acquired, to a considerable extent, by experience. Judge Baker is a firm believer in the doctrines of Alexander Campbell. He was a life-long Democrat until 1876, when he became an active Greenbacker, and in the presidential election of 1884 he voted for Gen. B. F. Butler.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895