Portrait courtesy of the Kentucky State Historical Society.
After several years of being a state that has been sadly underrepresented here on the site, Kentucky has recently started to yield many oddly named political figures, mainly due to the discovery of the following legislative roster listing the name of every Kentucky state representative that served between 1900 and 1948. Ryland Christmas Musick (profiled back on June 30th) was found here, as well as the name of today's "honoree", Chadwell Fleming Campbell Nolan!
One of the most plentifully named men to serve in the Kentucky legislature, Chadwell F.C. Nolan (also spelled Nolen) was a Civil War veteran who, following his military service, became a leading citizen in Harlan County, where he was active in local mining and lumber concerns. He would serve one term in the Kentucky legislature and, like Ryland C. Musick before him, lost his life in a tragic accident in the early 1920s.
Born in Harlan County, Kentucky on March 5, 1845, Chadwell Fleming Campbell Nolan was one of thirteen children born to Joseph (1790-1872) and Mary Marsee Nolan (1793-1870). During the Civil War Nolan served as a member of the "Home Guards" in Kentucky and is mentioned as having been "actively engaged on several occasions with marauding bands of Confederate soldiers." He married on February 4, 1863, to Louisa Jane Turner (1845-1918), to whom he was wed for five decades. Their lengthy union would see the births of fourteen children, five of whom were still living at the time of Nolan's death in 1923.
Following his war service, Nolan was affiliated with "several large corporations" that were responsible for locating mineral-rich properties in Harlan County. Later business ventures saw him dabble in the "lumber and stave business", and in the succeeding years, the name of Chadwell F.C. Nolan grew to be one of the most prominent in Harlan County, eventually resulting in two area communities (Chad and Nolansburg) being named in his honor. Nolan's obituary in the Harlan Enterprise relates that "no other man in Kentucky had the distinction of having two railroad stations named for him", and that his home in Chad was a source of entertainment and hospitality for many a traveler and friend who passed through town.
Nolan's prominence in Harlan County eventually culminated in his being nominated for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1901. Taking his seat at the start of the 1902-04 session, Nolan would represent not only Harlan County but also those of Bell, Perry, and Leslie and would sit on the committees on Public Warehouses and Granaries and Suffrage and Elections. During his brief time in state government, Nolan is referred to as an "active adherent" to the construction of a new state capitol building and introduced a bill that would change the name of the Harlan County seat from Mt. Pleasant to Harlan. Confusingly, Nolan's obituary in the Harlan Enterprise records him as having served two consecutive terms in the legislature (1900-1904). This happens to be false, as the aforementioned roster of Kentucky representatives lists Nolan as serving from 1902-04, with no mention of his name appearing in the 1900-02 roster.
Following his time in the legislature, Chadwell Nolan continued to be a figure of distinction in Harlan County, maintaining an active role in his community up until his death via a train accident on December 23, 1923. On that date, Nolan had taken a stroll when he stopped near railroad tracks to let a rapidly moving freight train pass by him. Having "stepped back" to let the train pass, Nolan was unaware of a "switch train" that was following close behind the freight train and was struck in the back by it. The injured Nolan was placed in a caboose on the train and was then taken to a hospital in Lynch, Kentucky, where he later died of his injuries. A burial location for him remains unknown at this time but is presumed to be somewhere in the vicinity of Harlan County, where Nolan had resided for all of his life.
