KYHARRIS-L Archives

From: Bob Francis <>
Subject: [KYHARRIS-L] Joseph Hedges Ewalt
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 19:16:32 -0500

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol.
III, pp. 1357-1360. [Harrison County]

JOSEPH HEDGEs EWALT.-In view of the nomadic spirit that has grown to
animate the American people to so great an extent, it is pleasing to
find in any community representatives of old and honored families whose
names have been long and prominently identified therewith and to find
such scions worthily and successfully carrying forward the industrial
enterprises of the sections in which they were born and reared. This is
significantly true of Mr. Ewalt, who is numbered among the essentially
representative agriculturists and stock-growers of Bourbon county and
who owns and resides upon the fine old homestead plantation which
figured as the place of his nativity.

Joseph Hedges Ewalt, an honored representative of one of the sterling
pioneer families of Bourbon county, was born on his present homestead in
Centerville precinct, that county, on the 15th of July, 1865. He is a
son of Joseph Henry and Henrietta (Hedges) Ewalt, both likewise natives
of Bourbon county, where the former was born November 27, 1828, and the
latter, August 6, 1839. Joseph Henry Ewalt was a son of Samuel and
Cynthia (Pugh) Ewalt, both of whom were natives of Bourbon county, where
the former was ushered into the world August 12, 1792, and the latter on
the 30th of March, 1795. Samuel Ewalt was a son of Henry Ewalt, who was
born in Germany, on the 27th of January, 1754, and who was a lad of
eleven years at the time when his parents, John and Sarah Ewalt, severed
the ties that bound them to their fatherland and emigrated to America.
They established their home in what is now Bedford county, Pennsylvania,
and there they passed the residue of their long and useful lives. Henry
Ewalt was reared to maturity in the old Keystone state, and it was his
to render gallant service as a soldier in the Continental line in the
war of the Revolution. On the 10th of December, 1777, about one month
prior to his twenty-fourth birthday, he was commissioned ensign of the
Sixth Company of the First Battalion of Pennsylvania Militia, and it was
with this command that he played well his part in the great conflict
through which oppression was hurled back and the boon of liberty gained.
He married Mrs.. Elizabeth (Frye) Keller, widow of Jacob Keller and
daughter of Abraham, Sr., and Agnes Ann Frye. Abraham Frye, Sr., was
born in Frederick county, Virginia. He was a member of Captain Charles
McClay's company of the First Battalion of Cumberland county
(Pennsylvania) militia during the Revolutionary war.

In 1788 Henry and Elizabeth Ewalt removed from Pennsylvania to Kentucky
and numbered themselves among the pioneers of Bourbon county. Their
original homestead was that now owned and occupied by their
great-grandson, Joseph H. Ewalt, whose name initiates this article. Here
Henry Ewalt and his wife continued to reside until they were summoned to
that "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns," and
they contributed their quota to the development and upbuilding of this
now opulent section of the Blue Grass state. On the 4th of August, 1788,
John Hagin, of Mercer county, deeded to Henry Ewalt two hundred acres of
land north of Cooper's Run, Bourbon county, for a consideration of one
hundred and ten poundsabout five hundred dollars-and on this homestead
Henry Ewalt died in September, 1829. Elizabeth Ewalt died in 1837. Their
remains are interred in the family burying ground on the old homestead.
The property has never passed out of the hands of the Ewalt family, by
which it has thus been retained for nearly a century and a quarter.

Samuel Ewalt was born and reared in Bourbon county, and he contributed
his quota to the reclamation and development of the home farm, while his
educational advantages were limited to the primitive schools of the
pioneer epoch. He became the owner of a large and valuable landed estate
in Bourbon county and was one of the most successful planters of this
section of the state, where he was influential in public affairs. He
married Cynthia Pugh December 24, 1817. She was the daughter. of Joseph
and Elizabeth (Hunt) Pugh. Joseph Pugh, in Bedford county, Virginia, in
the spring of 1777, was commissioned a lieutenant in the Fourteenth
Virginia Regiment, upon Continental establishment. Cynthia (Pugh) Ewalt
died September 28, 1833. His second marriage. was to Eliza Porter Smith,
of Harrison county, on June 7, 1834. She was born August 27, 1799, and
died February 29, 1852. Samuel Ewalt died August 28, 1878.

Joseph Henry Ewalt, the sixth in order of birth of the children of
Samuel and Cynthia (Pugh) Ewalt, was reared to maturity on the old
homestead plantation and was afforded such advantages as were offered in
the common schools of the locality and period. On the 18th of December,
1856, was solemnized his marriage to Sophia M. Spears (born September 6,
1838), who died August 27, 1857. On the 10th of December, 1863, he
wedded Henrietta Hedges, a daughter of Samuel (see sketch of Joseph
Hedges on other pages of this work) and Rebecca (Moran) Hedges, members
of well known pioneer families of Bourbon county. Rebecca (Moran) Hedges
[born August 26, 1815, died February 9, 1893,] was the daughter of
Edward B. and Letitia (Clay) Moran and granddaughter of Samuel and Nancy
(Winn) Clay. Samuel Clay enlisted in the Revolutionary war in 1777, when
less than sixteen years old, and followed General Greene throughout the
campaign of the Carolinas.

Joseph Henry Ewalt well upheld the prestige of the family name and
continued to be numbered among the representative agriculturists and
stock-growers of his native county, until his death, which occurred on
the 15th Of August, 1877. He was a man of strong character and most
generous impulses,-direct. kind-hearted and sincere,-and no citizen
commanded a fuller measure of popular confidence and esteem. His wife
still survives hill' and has attained to the venerable age of
seventy-one years (1910). She resides on the old homestead with her son
Joseph H., and this place is endeared to her by the gracious memories
and associations of the past. Her husband lived until his death, and
virtually his entire life was passed on the ancestral estate, of a
considerable portion of which Ile became the owner. The homestead, as
now constituted, comprises two hundred and fifteen acres, and is one of
the well improved an" valuable farm properties of the county Joseph
Henry Ewalt was a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and ever
manifested a lively interest in public affairs, though Ile never desired
or held political office. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
His widow has been a devoted adherent of the Christian church for over
fifty years. Con cerning the four children the following record is
entered: Joseph Hedges, the eldest of the number, was born July 15,
1865, as has already been noted in this context; Rebecca Ann, who was
born January 11, 1867, died on the 17th of the following September;
Lily, who was born April 20, 1869, died November 15, 1885; and Lettie
Clay, who was born December 31, 1870, died April 15, 1874. Thus the
subject of this review is the only surviving child.

Joseph Hedges Ewalt found his early experiences compassed by the scenes,
incidents and work of the home farm, and after duly availing himself of
the advantages of the public schools of his native county he continued
his studies for three years in the Kentucky University, now known as
Transylvania University, at Lexington. Later he completed an effective
course in the celebrated Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New
York, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of
1884. He then went to the city of Delaware, Ohio, where for the three
ensuing years he held the position of bookkeeper for the Delaware Wagon
Company, one of the leading industrial concerns of that place. In March,
1887, Mr. Ewalt returned to the fine old homestead, and here be has
since been actively and -successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits
and stock-raising, in which latter department he has gained special
prominence as a breeder of high-grade Short-horn cattle and Southdown
sheep. He is progressive in connection with his business activities and
avails himself of the best modern facilities in carrying forward the
various departments of his farm industry. Everything about the
attractive old homestead bears evidence of thrift and prosperity, and he
has every reason to find satisfaction in the fact that he has not
wavered in his allegiance to the vocation under whose influences he was
reared, as his success has been of unequivocal order, the while his
course hag been such as to retain to him the high regard of the
community in which virtually his entire life has been passed.

As a man of strong intellectuality and well fortified opinions, Mr.
Ewalt has been influential in public affairs of a local character, and
lie is ever ready to lend his co-operation in the promotion of
enterprises and undertakings that tend to advance the general welfare of
the community. Though showing no predilection for official preferment,
he clings to the faith in which he was reared and is a stalwart in the
camp of the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are members of the
Christian church and are earnest and liberal in the support of the
various departments of its work.

This review would stultify its consistency were there failure to make
special note of the prominent position held by Mr. Ewalt in the
time-honored Masonic fraternity, of which he is one of the most
influential members in his native state. He has completed the circle of
both the York and Scottish Rites, in which latter he has attained to the
thirty-second degree, being affiliated with the Grand Consistory, A. A.
S. R., in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. He has not only passed the
various official chairs in each of the four subordinate bodies of York
Rite Masonry, in which his maximum affiliation is with Cynthiana
Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar, at Cynthiana, Kentucky, but he has
also been called to high official station in the state organizations of
these bodies. Thus it may be noted, that he is at the present time Grand
Senior Warden of the Kentucky Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons, and
thus in line of advancement to the supreme office, that of Grand Master.
He is Past Grand High Priest of the Kentucky Grand Chapter of Royal Arch
Masons; Past Grand Master of the state Grand Council of Royal & Select
Masters; and Past Grand Commander of the Kentucky Grand Commandery of
Knights Templar.' In 1912 he will, in course of regular events, succeed
to the exalted office of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the state,
the highest position in the gift of the ancient-craft Masons of this
jurisdiction. Upon his advancement to this position he will be one of
only eight persons who have served as head of each of the Grand Bodies
of York Rite 'Masons in the state of Kentucky. He is also affiliated
with the adjunct bodies, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Ancient
Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in which he is
identified with Oleika Temple, at Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Ewalt has
been a close and appreciative student of Masonic history, traditions and
both the esoteric and exoteric phases of its work, and few are better
fortified in such knowledge. He holds membership also in the Knights of
Pythias and the Kentucky Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Five of his ancestors served in the Revolutionary war.

In the historic home of William Garrard Talbot, at Mount Lebanon,
Bourbon county, on the 19th of November, 1903, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Ewalt to Miss Nancy Clay Thomas, who was born in this
county on the 17th of July, 1875, and who is a woman of culture and most
gracious personality, being thus a charming chatelaine of the beautiful
home over which she presides.

Mrs. Ewalt is the daughter of Keller and Martha (Anderson) Thomas, both
of whom were born in Kentucky, the former on the 12th of October, 1845,
in Bourbon county, and the latter on the 20th of February, 1844, in
Harrison county, both being representatives of old and honored families
of the Blue Grass state. Mrs. Thomas died in Bourbon county on the 29th
of August, 1902, and Mr.Thomas now resides in the home of his son Henry
A., in the city of Pontiac, Michigan. They became the parents of five
children: Henry A., Anna, William, Nancy Clay and George, and of the
number, William and George are deceased. Anna is a resident of Bourbon
county, the wife of William Garrard Talbot, of whom mention is made on
other pages of this work. Mrs. Ewalt is the great-great-granddaughter of
Moses Thomas, one of the 1779 pioneers of Kentucky. Keller Thomas, her
father, enlisted in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen years and
served under General John Hunt Morgan. His daughters, Mrs. Ewalt and
Mrs. Talbot, are enthusiastic members of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy. The latter served two years as president of the state
organization. Mr. and Mrs. Ewalt have two charming little daughters,
Anne Thomas, born October 13, 1904, and Josephine Hedges, born July 4,
1906.

Bob Francis
--
Root and Branch Homepage:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/
Bourbon Co. Page:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/Bourbon_County.html
*Bourbon Co. Wills:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/willabstracts.html
*Bourbon Co. Orders and Deeds:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/orders.html
*Bourbon Co. Cemeteries:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/cemeteries.html
My Harrison Co. Page:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/harrison.html
*Harrison Co. Wills:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/willsharrison.html
*Harrison Co. Court Orders:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/ordersharrison.html
*Harrison Co. Cemeteries:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/harrisoncemeteries.html
Ruddlesfort Page:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/ruddlesfort.html
Kentucky Bible Records:
http://www.shawhan.com/local_root_folder/bible.htm

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