Kentucky:

Kentucky: A History of the State,
Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 3rd ed., 1886.

Biographies
Allen County, KY

DR. GEORGE W. SAMUEL ws born September 29, 1839, in Robertson County, Tenn., where he grew to manhood. In 1860 he entered the University of Nashville, from which place he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the capacity of assistant surgeon. After the fall of Fort Donelson, he went to Richmond, Va., and was assigned to duty in Richardson Hospital. After a short period of service there, he became tired of the inactivity of hospital life; and joined Morgan's command as a private in Company H, Third Kentucky Cavalry, with which he served until the close of the war. During the above period he was for a time associated as a scout with St. Leger Greenfield, who was formerly colonel of the Ninety-second Gordon Highlanders, and was one of the bravest men in the famous command to which he was attached, and it is not necessary to say also in the entire army. While with him Dr. Samuel's experiences were of the most thrilling character, but space will not permit us to record them. His father, John Samuel, was born in Tazewell County, Va., in 1806; he was a son of James Samuel of Virginia, and was of English descent. John Samuel was twice married; his first wife, whom he married in 1824, was Martha, daughter of Robert Hamilton, of South Carolina, who bore him the following named children: Robert J., Mary J. (Stone), William H., Elizabeth (McDaniel), Isaac C., Dr. George W. and John M.; he next married, in 1863, Mrs. Mary Woodward of Robertson County, Tenn. They have no children. Dr. Samuel has also been twice married; first, in September, 1869, to Lucy W., daughter of James and Margaret (Walker) Pope, of Arkansas; to them were born James T., Willie (deceased), John H. and Lucy (deceased). In September, 1875, he married his second wife, Anna, also a daughter of James Pope. They have no children. After the war Dr. Samuel returned to the University of Nashville, where he remained one year. He then located in Butlersville, Allen Co. Ky., where he pursued the practice of his profession with unusual success until 1884, when he retired from active practice and has since devoted his attention mainly to his milling business. He has made his own way in the world. Starting without any assistance, he has by his own ability succeeded in becoming the owner of a good saw and grist-mill and a comfortable home, besides which he is now the owner of a fine grove of orange trees in Florida. He is a fine physician, and one of the most influential men in his district. On the 2d of July, 1855, the Democratic party of his county, in convention assembled at Scottsville, gave him a unanimous vote for nominee of the party for county representative, and after an exciting contest of four weeks, he was elected by one of the largest majorities ever given in his county, being endorsed by a large element of the opposite party.

SAMUEL SEARS was born June 4, 1814, in King and Queen County, Va., and in 1815 removed with his parents to the northern part of Allen County, Ky, where he grew to manhood and has since resided. His father, Thomas Sears, a native of Virginia, served during the entire period of the Revolutionary war, was an extensive farmer, owned many slaves and died about 1825, at the age of eighty-four years. He was married five times and reared children by three of his wives. His offspring are Henry, Thomas, William, Walker, Betsey (Sears), Mariah (Pulliam), Frances (Cushenberry), John, Richard, Robert, Nancy (Cushenberry), Samuel, Albert, Mary A. (Lynn), Amanda (Patten) and Joseph M. Samuel Sears' mother was Frances Sears (no blood relation), who died in 1833, at the age of fifty years. In youth Samuel attended the old field schools of the vicinity in which he was reared. He has been twice married; first, on the 29th day of March, 1835, to Maria T., daughter of Thomas and Matilda (Berry) Stark, of Allen County, born July 29, 1820; died in 1858, and to them were born Matilda J. (deceased), Thomas J. (deceased), Margaret J. (Henderson), William E. (deceased), Elizabeth (Atwood), Charles L., Rolley (deceased), James M., John W., Sidney (deceased), Wallace (Atwood) and Samuel. On the 5th of January, 1865, Mr. Sears married Mrs. Harriet Stone, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth (Dobey) Stark, of Warren County, born June 1, 1822, and this union was favored by the birth of one daughter, Hattie. Mr. Sears is a farmer by profession, having 150 acres of well improved and productive land. Before the war he was one of the largest planters in the community, and by the war was a great sufferer in property. He lost forty-seven slaves by the late war and has sold out among his children about 800 acres of land. He has been a member for forty-eight years and a deacon for thirty years in the Baptist Church. In politics he was an old line Whig, but now affiliates with the Democratic party. By his own exertions, mainly, and attention to business principles, Mr. Sears has amassed a handsome estate which was wrecked by the war. In the late conflict he was a conservative Union man.

ALFRED SETTLE was born in Barren County, Ky., on the 23rd of October, 1837. His father, Isaac Settle, a native of the same county, was born September 14, 1813. He married, on the 11th of February, 1836, Anna, daughter of Thomas and Seneth (Dodds) Powell. They were natives of Virginia, and came to Kentucky and located in Barrren County in the year 1818. Anna (Powell) Settle is yet living, and on March 7, 1885, completed her sixty-ninth year. Simeon Settle, the father of Isaac Settle, was a Virginian and by profession a physician; was also largely connected with the milling and wool-manufacturing business; his wife was Sallie Dodds, who died in 1863, aged seventy-two years. The death of Thomas Powell occurred in 1830; his vocation in life was that of a farmer. Alfred Settle's early life was passed on a farm, and at the age of eighteen years he had acquired a fair English education, and had become proficient in the principles of music, which he afterward followed as a profession for several years. He was for three years a dry goods clerk and afterward was engaged in the confectionary trade at Rock Hill for one year. He was a member of the Kentucky State Guard and a member of Elderton's brass band, and with them joined the command of Col. Joseph Lewis, of the Confederate States Army, on the 15th of October, 1861, and was discharged one year later. He returned to Barren County, and for six years was employed in school and as a dry goods clerk. In 1868 he engaged in the same business in Scottsville, Allen Co., Ky., where he has continued to the present time (1885). He carries a fine line of goods and has built up a flourishing trade in jewelry and musical instruments. Politically, Mr. Settle is a Democrat and is much interested in the local affairs of the county. He is unmarried and a member of the Baptist faith, and for nearly two decades has been a worker in the church. He knows no Christian by the church he attends, but believes in charity and equal right of opinion and belief.

THOMAS J. SETTLE is a native of Allen County, Ky., born in Scottsville, April 6, 1852. His is the fourth in a family of six children. His father, Thomas Jettison Settle, was born in Barren County in 1816. He married Sarah J., daughter of William and Sophia Turner. During his life-time he was engaged in the wool manuacturing trade; first in Barren County and afterward in the town of Scottsville, Allen County, where he died on the 4th of December, 1884. Mrs. Settle died November 4, 1865. They were the parents of three sons and seven daughters. Thomas Settle, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Virginia; he was during a great portion of his life a farmer, and was engaged somewhat in the milling business in Barren County, where he died in the year 18--. William Turner was born in Virginia; he was one of the pioneer settlers of Barren County. He was a cabinet-worker, which trade he followed until the year of his death. Thomas J. Settle, our subject, remained with his father during the first twenty years of his life, and in that time he acquired the art of a wool-manufacturer, in which business he succeeded his father. He has been very successful and carries a good trade. He is the proprietor of a well appointed and paying factory, which he has lately erected and put in operation in the town of Scottsville, at a cost of several thousand dollars. The factory is supplied with all the necessary appliances and machinery for the manufacture of woolen goods, and is superintended by Mr. Settle. In 1874, October 24, he married Fannie L. Hoffman, whose parents were natives of Todd County. Mr. Settle is a member of the Baptist Church; his wife is a member of the Methodist Church South. Mr. Settle's early education was limited to what could be obtained at the common schools of the county where he lived. He has subsequently obtained a good business education through his contact with the affairs of life. He is a stanch Democrat. He has no political aspiration, his time and attention being given to his business and to the care of his children: Luke W., Katie L. R. and Corinne. Mr. Settle is known, as was his father before him, as a man of strict business principles, and steadfast integrity in business transaction.

JAMES M. SHIVE, a son of Joseph Shive, a native Kentuckian, was born in Cumberland County, and married in 1837 to Sallie Hunt, of Barren County. She died December 29, 1883, aged sixty-three years. She left ten children - seven sons and three daughters. Joseph Shive is now a resident of Warren County, Ky., he has during his life been engaged in farming with excellent success. He is now sixty-seven years of age, and was born in 1818. He is a son of George and Nancy Shive, who removed from Virginia to Kentucky at an early day, and located in Cumberland County, where he was one of the first settlers. James M. Shive was a farmer boy; during his early life received but little schooling, though with the privilege of a few weeks spent in study in the winter months, in the rude log schoolhouses of the period, he made fair progress in the English branches. He was born April 3, 1839, and at the age of twenty- two he purchased the home farm of 400 acres, and continued farming, which with him proved a success. His farms are well improved, with good fences, two-story frame dwelling, barns and orchards; his land is in a fine state of cultivation, and as productive as any in the county. In connection with his farming interests he has given some attention to trading, and to operating different kinds of machinery. Politically, he is a Democrat, and as sheriff of Allen County he has given satisfaction, and is very popular with his constituents. He and wife are life long members of the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Shive has for twenty held the office of clerk. He is a member of Loving Lodge, No. 323, of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Master Mason. August 5, 1867, he married Mary Hollis, a daughter of Dr. W. L. Hollis, of Allen County, Ky. Their union is blessed by the birth of one daughter, Myrtie M. M., born March 22, 1872.

THOMAS G. SLEDGE was born March 17, 1859, near Allen Springs, in Warren County, Ky., where he was reared to manhood and lived until 1880; he then located at Halifax, Allen County, where he has since resided. His father, William N. Sledge, was born on Bay's Fork, on the line between Allen and Warren Counties; served as magistrate and member of the court of claims in Warren County, and is now living, aged fifty-six years. He is the son of Miles Sledge, a native of Virginia, who died in Warren County, in 1870, at the age of eighty-four years. William M. Sledge married Sophia, daughter of Elaventer and Permelia (Cooney) Edmunds, of Warren County, living, aged fifty-five years, and their offspring are Martha J. (Willoughby), John J., Lusetta J., Thomas G., George W., Mary J., Robert R. and Sarah E. Thomas G. procured a good English education at the common schools of the vicinity in which he was reared, and is a reading man. He married, May 1, 1881, Mary Belle, daughter of Israel and Bettie (Railey) Straight, of Allen County (born November 14, 1865), and to them have been born Rosa Lee and Lillie D. In 1880 Thomas G. commenced merchandising at Halifax, since which time he has met with encouraging success. He is also acting as deputy postmaster, attending to the business of the office; also engages in farming, raising corn, oats and hay. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Democrat.

LANGSTON W. SPANN was born in the western part of Allen County, November 3, 1845, where he has since resided. His father, Nathan L. Spann, was born November 12, 1804, in Warren (now Allen) County. He was a son of Thomas Spann (a soldier in the Revolutionary war), of North Carolina, of English descent. Nathan L. Spann was married to Sarah Hancock, about 1831; he had children as follows: Thomas C., Frances B. (Reed), William M., Nancy E. (Kelsie), Levi J., Willis M. (deceased), Langston W., Lucinda E. (Martin) and Frederic C. Langston W. was married, December 23, 1868, to Julia A., daughter of Wyatt and Mary (Crowder) Williams, who was born February 9, 1847. To them have been born Lieu A. and Sarah M. Mr. Spann has been a constable, and is the present deputy clerk of Allen County. He was in debt at the time of his marriage for furniture, but by industry, economy and perseverance he has become the owner of a comfortable home, and a farm of twenty-five acres, besides providing comfortably for his family. He is a member of and minister in the Baptist Church, and in politics is a Democrat.

WILLIAM T. SPENCER was born May 14, 1828, on the place where he now lives, in the northeastern part of Allen County, Ky., where he grew to manhood and has always resided. His father, William Spencer, was born September 6, 1803, in Allen County, is living, and has long been an active Baptist. He is the son of John Spencer, a native of Charlotte County, Va., born in 1775; removed to Barren (now Allen) County, Ky., in 1797, and died in 1845. He was a soldier in the war of 1812; his father was Moses Spencer, of Maine, born in 1750, who served seven years with Washington in the Revolutionary war, and died in Tennessee in 1814; his father died in 1805, at the age of one hundred and six years. William has been twice married, and is the father of twenty-two children. His first wife was Sallie, daughter of William and Delilah (Tinsley) Ritchey, and their offspring are Rev. John H., William T., Francis J., Moses, Chloe A. (Moody) and Josephine (Wood). After the death of his first wife, he married Susan, daughter of Daniel Marr, of Allen County, and their children are Albert G., Frazier, Lou, Elizabeth, Lee, Alice, Clay, Nancy and Mordicah. January 1, 1859, William T. Spencer married Eliza E., daughter of Daniel and Nancy (Smith) Marr, of Allen County (born March 12, 1837), and to them have been born Galla (Moore) and Nancy E. (deceased). Mr. Spencer is a farmer, having 358 acres of productive land, in a good state of cultivation. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M.; also a member of the Baptist Church, and in politics is a Democrat.

JOHN W. STAMPS was born in the western part of Allen County, November 21, 1841, in which vicinity he grew to manhood. In 1863 he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-second Kentucky Mounted Infantry, and served until near the close of the war. His father, Timothy Stamps, was born December 3, 1821, in Allen County, near the waters of "Big Trammell" Creek. He was a son of Charles Stamps, who was born about 1801, in Mississippi. Timothy Stamps was married about 1839, to Parnesia A., daughter of John Wade. From their union sprang John W. and Matilda F. (Taylor). Mrs. Parnesia A. Stamps departed this life June 1, 1881, John W. married, October 17, 1861, Fannie, daughter of Mark and Peggy (Douglas) Taylor, who was born April 18, 1843. To them have been born Levi, Mitchel, Nola, Charley, Lillie, Adolphus, Fletcher and babe unnamed. Mr. Stamps has, mainly by his own labor, procured a farm of 166 acres in good condition and a high state of cultivation. He is a moral man, a Baptist in belief, though not a member of any church organization, and in politics is a Democrat. His grandfather fought under Jackson at New Orleans.

THE STARK FAMILY may justly be numbered among the pioneers and influential families which have been identified with many of the best interests of Allen County. Jeremiah Stark, the progenitor, emigrated from Virginia to Warren County (now Allen), Ky., about the beginning of the present century. He purchased a large body of land, upon which he settled with his children. He was an extensive planter and an active member of the Baptist Church, building for that denomination the church at Gainesville, where it now worships and where his remains are interred. His children were James, Daniel, William, John, Bashaba (Morehead), Elizabeth (Godley), Jesse, Raleigh and Thomas. James Stark, a native of Culpeper County, Va., born in 1776, was an active politician; owned sixty-five slaves at the time of his death; lived sixty-three years with his wife, Elizabeth Duncan Stark, who survived him three years, and died in 1860. His children were Theophilus, Charles C., Dillard G., Frances (Kelley), Emily (Pulliam), and Maria D. (Richey). Charles C. Stark was born May 21, 1804, in Culpeper County, Va; removed in 1808 with his parents to Allen County, Ky., where he now resides. His wife, Lucy S., daughter of George and Mary (Taylor) Green, of Hart County, was born in 1807 and died in 1867. Their offspring are as follows: James T., Elizabeth F. (Grubbs), Maria E. (Spillman) and John W. James T. Stark was born May 17, 1833, in Edmonson County, Ky., and in 1844 removed with his parents to the northern part of Allen County, where he has since resided. He secured a good education at Camden Seminary, and engaged in teaching ten years. His first wife, whom he married April 11, 1861, was Fannie, daughter of Bradford and Fannie (Pulliam) Dodd, of Barren County (born 1845; died March 20, 1863); and to them was born one child, Charles B. February 23, 1864, Mr. Stark married Mary J., daughter of Hon. Thomas J. and Nancy P. (Lewis) Morehead, of Allen County (born July 14, 1843), and their union has been favored by the birth of Thomas J., John C., Nancy E., George R., James G., Leon, Karl and Fay G. Mr. Stark's possessions are the result of his own efforts. He has served as school commissioner of Allen County two years, and was twice elected sheriff, filling the position four years. He is a farmer by occupation, having 345 acres of productive and well improved land in a good state of cultivation. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity; in religious belief he is a Baptist and in politics is identified with the Democratic party. John W. Stark was born October, 18, 1841, near Rocky Hill Station, Edmonson Co., Ky., and in infancy removed with his parents to Allen County, locating at Gainesville, where he has since resided. In 1861 he enlisted in Capt. Ridley's company of "Buckner's Guards," remaining in that service until the disbandment of the company at Corinth, in 1862, after the death of Gen. Alert S. Johnston. He was by the side of Gen. Zollicoffer when the latter was slain at the battle of Mill Spring. Mr. Stark obtained a good business education, and is a man well versed in standard works and the current literature of the day. October 16, 1867, he married Eliseph C., daughter of James M. and Frances (Jewell) Stark, of Barren County (born December 10, 1848), and to them were born Charles C., John W., James D., Claire, Elizabeth, Nettie and Katie R. In the commencement of his business career, aside from his own exertions, Mr. Stark frequently had the assistance of his father's emdorsements, by which means he was enabled to establish a successful business. He commenced merchandising February 10, 1874, in Gainesville and his venture has prospered. He also owns about 800 acres of good farming land, which he is having cultivated to advantage. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and in politics affiliates with the Democratic party. He has been postmaster since the establishment of the office at Gainesville.