History of Clark County Kentucky United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Clark County Kentucky, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

Hubbard Hinde Kavanagh, M.E. bishop, was born in Clark county, Ky., Jan. 14, 1802; son of the Rev. William Kavanagh, one of the pioneer ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was educated in the private schools of Kentucky, and in 1815 was employed in a printing office at Paris, Ky. He was received in the Methodist church in 1817; became an exhorter in 1822; was assigned to the Little Sandy circuit in 1823; was subsequently pastor of several churches in the state; was superintendent of public instruction in 1839, and a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church, south, 1854-84. He died in Columbus, Miss., March 19, 1884.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Joel T. Hart, sculptor, was born in Clark county, Ky., in 1810. He learned the trade of mason and stone cutter, working in Lexington in a marble yard, 1830-50. In 1850 he took up modelling in clay, in which he gained a reputation, and to aid him in his art he took a course in anatomy at the Lexington medical college. He went to Italy in 1849 to have executed in marble the statue of Henry Clay for the Ladies' Clay association of Richmond, Va. The model of the statue, which he made in Lexington, was on board a vessel bound for Italy, which was shipwrecked, and he was obliged to send to America for a duplicate of the model, and the completed work did not leave Italy for Richmond till Aug. 29, 1859. He then executed a colossal bronze statue of Clay, which is in New Orleans, and a marble statue of the same subject for the court house, Lexington, Ky. He invented a device by which he obtained the exact dimensions of the head and bust of living subjects and thus secured a degree of accuracy that gave his portrait busts great favor. His best examples are Woman Triumphant, in the Court House, Louisville, Ky., Il Penseroso; and Charity. He died in Florence, Italy, March 1, 1877.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Isaac Funk, pioneer, was born in Clark county, Ky., in 1797, of German parentage. In 1823 he removed to Illinois and entered a tract of land which became known as Funk's Grove, McLean county, where he accumulated a fortune as a stock dealer. He was a representative in the Illinois general assembly in 1840 and a state senator, 1861-65. He was an earnest Union man during the war and supported the government in the state legislature. He founded the Isaac Funk professorship of chemistry and zo?logy in the Illinois Wesleyan university, agreeing to endow it with $10,000, which promise his children carried out after his death. He died at Funk's Grove, Ill., in 1865.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Winning McMillan, soldier, was born in Clark county, Ky., April 28, 1825; son of Robert and Nancy (Winning) McMillan and grandson of Col. Robert McMillan, an officer on the staff of General Washington during the Revolution. He removed to Illinois; served as a soldier in the war with Mexico, 1846-47. He was married in 1860 to Minerva Foote of Bedford, Ind. Upon the outbreak of the civil war he was commissioned colonel of the 21st Indiana volunteers by President Lincoln, and he engaged with the army under Gen. B. F. Butler, which cooperated with the naval force under Farragut in the opening of the Mississippi, and he captured the Confederate blockade-runner Fox, one of the richest prizes of the war. He was brevetted major-general in March, 1864, and in April, 1864, commanded the 2d brigade, 19th army corps, in the Red River campaign. WhenGeneral Franklin was wounded and General Emory assumed command of the corps, General McMillan assumed command of the 1st division, which at Sabine's Cross Roads held the ground, covered the retreat of Banks's army, and saved it from destruction. General McMillan was appointed a member of the board of review of the U.S. pension office.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Clark County Kentucky

Biographies:

Local History and Genealogy Links: