William Wright Southgate
A HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS By E. POLK
JOHNSON 1912 The Lewis Publishing Company
Transcribed by Kim Mohler
WILLIAM W. SOUTHGATE
– Though called from the scene of life’s mortal endeavors in the very prime of
his strong and useful manhood Hon. William Wright Southgate left an indelible
impression upon the history of his native state. He was one of the distinguished
members of the Kentucky bar, represented the state in the national congress and
wielded much and beneficent influence in public affairs in his day and
generation. His was a distinct, true and exalted character, and it is but due
that in this historical work be incorporated a brief tribute to his memory and
recognition of his worthy life and services. He maintained his residence in
Covington, Kenton county, during the entire period of his active and influential
career and was a representative of an old and highly honored Colonial family,
which figured prominently in the pioneer history of Kentucky.
William Wright Southgate was born in Newport, Campbell county, Kentucky, in
November, 1800, and his death occurred on the 26th of December, 1844. His
father, Richard Southgate, was born in the city of Albany, New York, about the
year 1775, and was a child at the time of the family removal to the state of
Virginia. He was reared and educated in the historic old city of Richmond, that
state, and as a young man, immediately after his graduation in William & Mary
College, he came to Kentucky. His early ambition had been to prepare himself for
the legal profession, but his desires were contrary to the wishes of his father,
who was an extensive merchant, planter and ship owner and who desired his son to
follow in his footsteps.
Soon after his arrival in Kentucky Richard
Southgate began the study of law and it was his eventually to attain marked
distinction in the legal profession. He was a son of Wright Southgate, who was
born in South London, England, about 1745 and who emigrated to America early in
the eighteenth century, thus becoming the founder of the family in the new
world. Wright Southgate first located in the city of New York, whence he later
removed to Albany in the same state. After the war of the Revolution he
established his home at Richmond, Virginia, where he became a citizen and
business man of distinctive prominence and influence, while maintaining the
customs and prestige of that interesting period in the history of the Old
Dominion. He was twice married, his first union having been solemnized at
Albany, New York, where he wedded Mary Lush, who bore him one son, Richard,
father of the subject of this memoir. After the death of his first wife Wright
Southgate married Lydia Maris and they became the parents of two sons, George
and James.
Richard Southgate became well known and especially successful as a member of the
bar of Kentucky, and thus realized his early ambition, but eventually his large
business interests commanded much of his time and attention, on which score the
desires of his father in connection with his career were likewise realized. His
accumulation of property was entirely the result of his own efforts. He had
studied law under the preceptor ship of eminent jurists and his success at the
bar was instantaneous and substantial. Land in the new country was cheap and he
acquired large holdings in lieu of fees from his clients during the years of his
active professional work. At one time he owned about ten thousand acres of land
in northwestern Kentucky, and much of this was improved and brought under
effective cultivation by him.
He also engaged in mercantile pursuits upon an
extensive scale and he amassed a large fortune in money and real estate. In fact
he was among the few millionaires in the Ohio valley at the time of his death.
At one time he represented his district in the Kentucky legislature, and his
sterling integrity and fine intellect and professional powers gave him a secure
hold upon the popular confidence and esteem. Concerning him a writer of the
genealogy of the Southgate family has written as follows: “In his aspect and
manner Richard Southgate was an excellent example of the old, long-vanished
class of Virginia gentlemen. He was the last of the folk in his part of the
world to hold to the pigtail-queue arrangement of the hair, which was always
carefully braided and tied with a bit of ribbon, so that the end of it hung
between his shoulders.”
Richard Southgate married Ann Hinde, daughter of Dr. Thomas Hinde, a celebrated
physician and surgeon, who was a native of England and who had served as surgeon
in the English navy. Dr. Hinde attended General Wolfe at the time of his death,
at Quebec, and was the physician of Patrick Henry, of Virginia, this noted
patriot and statesman having been a neighbor and intimate friend of Dr. Hinde.
The Doctor served as surgeon in the war of the Revolution, and for valuable
service rendered during that great struggle for independence he received a large
grant of land in what is now Clark county, Kentucky, which state was at that
time still a part of the colony of Virginia. He established his home upon his
estate in Clark county and there he continued to reside until a short time prior
to his death, which occurred at Newport, Campbell county, when he was
ninety-nine years of age.
Though he thus became a patriarch he retained his mental faculties to the last, and he was ever known for his buoyant, cheerful disposition and his kindliness and tolerance in all relations of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Hubbard, died at the age of ninety years. She was a daughter of Colonel Benjamin Hubbard, a distinguished citizen of Virginia and a valiant officer in the war of the Revolution.
William Wright Southgate, the immediate subject of this memoir, was born at Newport, Campbell county, Kentucky, in November, 1800, as has already been stated. His early education was there secured in private schools and under the direction of private tutors, and he finally was matriculated in Transylvania College, now known as Transylvania University, at Lexington, this state, in which he was graduated with honors. Immediately after his graduation he established his residence in Covington, where he studied law under effective preceptor ship and where he was duly admitted to the bar. In the practice of his profession he here became associated with Mortimer M. Benton and this mutually agreeable and profitable alliance continued until his death, which occurred on the 26th of December, 1844.
Both by predilection and careful technical training he was admirably fortified for the legal profession and he gained a high reputation as a versatile and able advocate and as a counselor of broad and exact knowledge of law and precedent. He was a most zealous and effective advocate of the cause of the Whig party and was a personal friend of Henry Clay. He had the attributes of character that ever make for popular strength, and he commanded in a singular degree the affection and esteem of the people. In the early ‘40s he was elected to represent his district in congress, and in the national legislature he made an admirable record. His success and fame would without doubt have been greatly extended in public life had he not been summoned from the field of mortal endeavors while comparatively a young man. He was a great admirer of Henry Clay and was one of the presidential electors on the Clay ticket in 1844.
The activities of that campaign made serious
inroads upon his strength and practically caused his death. During his earlier
career as a lawyer he served as prosecuting attorney. Mr. Southgate was an
appreciative member of the time-honored Masonic fraternity and was active in its
councils, having served at one time as grand master of the grand lodge of
Kentucky. Of his brothers, three in number, it may be stated that Edward became
a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church and that Richard and Henry were
representative wholesale merchants in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. One familiar
with the career of the brothers has written concerning them as follows: “These
brothers, with their rare charm, their trains of admiring followers and their
swift exit, made a great impression on my childish mind. From the social point
of view they were unlike anything our race breeds in this day. Their manners and
mode of thought were those of the Stuart times, when men felt the life of their
neighbors and dwelt in their hearts.”
William W. Southgate was united in marriage, at Lexington, Kentucky, on the 7th
of November, 1823, to Adaliza Keene, who was born and reared in Lexington and
who was but sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage. The wedding
journey from Lexington to Covington, Kentucky, was made in private carriages
with a retinue of servants and was accompanied with the circumstance, pomp and
imposing style characteristic of the conditions prior to the days of railroads.
Adaliza (Keene) Southgate was a daughter of Sanford and Martha (Upshur) (Sthreshley)
Keene, the former of whom was of Scotch-Irish lineage and the latter of whom was
a native of Fayette county, Kentucky, her parents having been natives of
Virginia. John Horace Upshur, one of three brothers, who were members of the
house of burgesses in Virginia in the Colonial times, was a grandfather of
Martha Upshur Sthreshley. Mrs. Southgate survived her honored husband by many
years and her death occurred in 1892. They became the parents of thirteen
children, all of whom are now deceased except two daughters – Miss Julia, who
still resides in Covington; and Nannie Winston, who is the wife of Major George
Gearhart Lott, a retired officer of the United States army.
Major Lott was born in Pennsylvania, where he received his early academic
education, after which he entered the United States Military Academy at West
Point, where he had been a student somewhat more than one year at the time of
the inception of the Civil war. He forthwith promptly volunteered his services
in defense of the cause of the Union. About a year later he received appointment
on the staff of Major General John E. Wool and was assigned to duty first with
General Samuel B. Sturgis, then commanding the troops in defense of Washington
and later a division in the Ninth Army Corps and he was with him till March,
1864. He was then assigned to duty with Brigadier General Edward H. Hobson, and
continued with him till February, 1865, being then assigned to duty with
Brigadier General Lewis E. Watkins, at Louisville, Kentucky, with whom he
remained till the end of the war. He was then given appointment to the regular
army, in which he continued his active service in various sections of the Union
for the long period of twenty years, at the expiration of which, after reaching
the grade of captain, he was retired on account of impaired health.
In 1904 Congress authorized the president at his discretion to advance the officers on the retired list who had seen service in the Civil war one grade, and Captain Lott was advanced to the rank of major. Major and Mrs. Lott now reside in Covington. They became the parents of two children – Marion Southgate Lott, who died at the age of eighteen months; and George Southgate Lott, who was born at Fort Sully, South Dakota, in 1884. He gained his early education in private schools, was graduated in Rugby Academy, in Covington, and also was for a time a student in the Cincinnati University. Major Lott is a valued member of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and is also affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. Mrs. Lott holds membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution.