Attilla Cox (1843-1909)

From the Breckinridge News, July 14, 1909.

                            

   We conclude our stay in Kentucky with a look at the life of Attilla Cox, very likely the only American political figure named after that well-known ancient Germanic despot Attila the Hun (died 453), who pillaged, looted, and conquered numerous cities throughout Central and Western Europe. Despite sharing this name with such a fearsome military leader, Attilla Cox was one of the most well-liked and respected men in his section of Kentucky, being remarked as a "man possessed of wonderful ability", as well as a "gentleman of rare intelligence, business sagacity, and tact".

  One of the preeminent business leaders in the cities of Owenton and Louisville, Cox was a past President of the Louisville, Henderson, and St. Louis Railroad. He earns a place here on the site due to his service in the Kentucky State Senate in the mid-1880s, as well as for his being a delegate to the 1884 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

   A lifelong Kentucky native, Attilla Cox was born in the town of Ghent on August 16, 1843, the son of James P. and Felicia Obussier Cox. He attended school in Carroll County and later studied at Ghent College until the age of thirteen. Left fatherless at the age of thirteen, Cox relocated to Louisville to take work as a clerk in a general store, remaining in that employ until age 18. In 1862 he and his older brother Florian established themselves in Warsaw, Kentucky, where they built up a dry goods business under the firm name F & A. Cox. 

  After several years in Warsaw, the Cox brothers moved their business to Owenton and were joined by two other brothers, James and Luke. In June 1869 Attilla Cox married to Kate Ware Martin (1850-1919). The couple were wed for nearly forty years and would have three children, Leonard M., Attilla J. (1875-1935) and Katharyne (1881-1907). Of these children Attilla Cox Jr. would follow his father into public service, being a Louisville-based attorney and decorated officer during the First World War.

                                                    Attilla Cox as he appeared in the late 1880s.

   Attilla Cox's residency in Owenton saw him find success in merchandising but also banking and railroading. For a time Cox held the position of cashier of the Owenton First National Bank and is also recorded as being the "promoter and owner of stage lines and telephone connecting Owenton and Warsaw with the Short Line railroad." He would enter politics in 1879 when he won a seat in the state Senate and during the 1880-83 session sat on the following committees: Banks and Insurance, Internal Improvements, Railroads, and the Sinking Fund.

  Cox would win another term in the Senate in the early 1880s and during that term served as part of the Kentucky delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that nominated Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. In 1885 Cox removed to Louisville to accept the appointment of Collector of Internal Revenue for Kentucky's 5th district, being named to that post by President Cleveland.

   Cox's tenure as Internal Revenue collector ended in 1893 when he retired due to the election of Republican Benjamin Harrison to the Presidency. Shortly after leaving office Cox became the primary organizer of the Mechanics Savings Bank and Trust Company, which later merged with the Columbia Finance and Trust Company. He would serve as president of the latter company until his death and was also affiliated with several other business concerns, including the directorships of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, the Ohio Falls Car Manufacturing Company, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Kentucky, and the Louisville Gas Company.

   In August of 1892, Attilla Cox began a four-year stint as receiver of the Louisville, St. Louis, and Texas Railroad. Upon that company's reorganization in 1896 as the Louisville, Henderson, and St. Louis Railway Company Cox was named as its president, continuing in that role until his death thirteen years later.

   Attilla Cox maintained an active role in his community until a few weeks before his death at age 66 on July 7, 1909. His death occurred after an illness of several weeks and was reported by the Cloverport Breckinridge News as having caused "widespread sorrow" throughout Louisville and the neighboring areas. He was survived by his wife Kate, who, following her death in 1917, was interred alongside her husband at the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

From the Kentucky Irish American, June 2, 1900.

Landaff Watson Andrews (1803-1888)

Portrait from "The Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky", published in 1897.

    A two-term U.S. Representative from Kentucky, Landaff Watson Andrews's unusual first name is truly unique amongst the hallowed halls of Congress, and in addition to his terms in that body, he served as a member of the Kentucky State House of Representatives and Senate, and would later serve a six-year term as a circuit court judge. Described by the "Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky" as an "erudite lawyer, a cultured scholar," and "a kind, considerate, Christian man", Andrews cultivated a lasting stature as one of Kentucky's noted 19th-century public men.

   A lifelong resident of Flemingsburg, Kentucky, Landaff Watson Andrews was born in that town on February 12, 1803, one of ten children born to Robert and Martha Andrews. A former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1800-01, Robert Andrews was a "farmer, miller and tanner" who had resided in his birth state of Pennsylvania prior to his removal to Kentucky in 1792. Bestowing the name "Landaff Watson" upon his son, Robert Andrews' exact reasons for giving his son this unusual name may have its origins in one Robert Watson, Bishop of Llandaff (1737-1816), a distinguished clergyman and Bishop of the Anglican Church who served as Bishop of Landaff (Llandaff) in Wales from 1782 until his death.

  Young Landaff spent his childhood on the "home farm", where he engaged in chores like brush burning and attended local schools during the winter months. Despite a limited education, Andrews would go on to enroll at the Transylvania University of Lexington and would graduate from that school in the class of 1824. He would study law under local judge William P. Roper following his graduation and was admitted to the Fleming County bar in 1826. Andrews married on October 24th of that year to Elizabeth Dorsey (died 1862), and the couple would later become parents to two daughters, Margaret (died 1863) and Juliet (1827-1895).

   Following his nuptials Andrews devoted his time to practicing law in Flemingsburg and made his first move into public life in 1829, when he was appointed as District Attorney for Fleming County, Kentucky, subsequently serving a decade in this post. Five years following his appointment Andrews won election to the Kentucky State Assembly, representing Flemingsburg in the lower house of the legislature from 1834-1838. In 1839 he was elected as a Whig to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and during this term (1839-41) served on the committee on Revolutionary Pensions. He won re-election to the house in 1841, defeating Democratic candidate John L. Mason by a vote of 3,621 to 2,786. During this term, Andrews was again a member of the committee on Revolutionary Pensions.

   In November 1842 Landaff Andrews ran for a third term in Congress but was dealt a narrow loss by Democratic candidate Richard French (1792-1854), 5,481 votes to 5,073. After the conclusion of his second term in January 1843 Watson returned to Flemingsburg and recommenced with his law practice. He returned to politics in 1857 when he was elected to a term in the Kentucky State Senate as an independent candidate, and after a four-year term here won a seat in the state House of Representatives. He resigned his House seat in 1862 to accept the position of circuit court judge for Kentucky. Andrews served on the bench until 1868, and his service was highlighted by the "Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky", stating:

"As a judge his decision was ever based upon law and practice, without prejudice or preference. Always kind an courteous to litigants and lawyers, he was a favorite with both the bar and the people."

Andrews in old age, from "Kentucky: A History of the State", 1888.

   After leaving the bench Andrews continued in the practice of law in Flemingsburg and took ill several weeks before his death, which occurred on December 23, 1888. He was later interred at the Fleming County Cemetery. During preparations for this article, I stumbled upon an interesting tidbit regarding Andrews' death. Nearly every available resource mentioning him (including biographies on Wikipedia, Find-A-Grave, Who Was Who In America, and the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress) records his death date as being December 23, 1887, when in actuality it is December 23, 1888, that date being given in his December 26, 1888 obituary in the Maysville, Kentucky Evening Bulletin (also shown below.) The 1888 death date is also highlighted in the 1897 "Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky", where the above picture of him was located. Truly amazing what one can stumble across while digging through old newspapers!

From the December 26, 1888 Maysville, Kentucky Evening Bulletin.