THE ERA OF SETTLEMENT 31
1782. He came to Union County in 1803, fought in the War of
1812, and died in Morganfield in 1867. His wife, Mahaly Kenney
Blue, was also a Virginian by birth. Family tradition relates that
James Blue, the grandfather of Solomon, was with General
Washington when Braddock was defeated. .
Among noteworthy early settlers was Francis Ames who
came to America from Staffordshire, England, in 1808. In 1811
he came to Union County, and purchased the old Phil Richard
place, near Morganfield. Young Ames and his wife brought a few V
heirlooms, some household goods and several race horses along
from Virginia. Francis Ames was a lawyer by profession, but he
also engaged in farming and as a sideline bred and sold race
horses, becoming successful in his professional and business
ventures. His son, James Dolin Ames, was born on December
21, 1818. In 1832, when Francis was riding one of his thorough-
bred horses in a race, his horse threw him off, killing him
instantly.
The responsibility of managing the farm and educating her
( son devolved on Mrs. Ames. The boy attended school in Union
County, then St. Joseph’s College, Bardstown, and the Medical
School of the University of Louisville. Upon completing his work
in the medical school Dr. James Dolin Ames spent two years in `
hospital work and then returned to Union County to practice. .
He soon achieved an enviable reputation in his profession. In
1844, he married Marian Mitchell, and the couple became the
parents of thirteen children, of whom three are living (1941).
In 1898, when Dr. Ames died, there were 159 persons living in
Union County who were related to him——134 of them were direct
descendants.
The name Austin (sometimes Austen) iirst appeared in the
records of Union County in 1820, when James Austin and his
wife, Ann Howard Austin, settled on a farm west of Waverly,
and there reared a family of six children-—James, Mary, Victoria,
Thomas, Margaret, and Joseph. James Austin, Jr., was for many
years a magistrate in Waverly. Frank Austin served in the Con- T
federate Army, and Joseph Austin was one of the organizers
of the Bank of Waverly, in 1902, and its first president.
There is a tradition in the Austin family that James Austin,
Sr., brought the first red clover seed to Kentucky. Another story
tells of Union County’s first kitchen range being owned by
. Thomas Austin, who married Ann Raley.
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