46 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT
most influential among those in the county retaining the family
p p' name. Aaron Waller lived on a farm west of Morganfield. He
l married, first, Elizabeth Rives, then Mary Allison Givens. Thir- I
teen children were born of these unions, and all resided in the
Morganfield district. They were Mary Gillum, Joseph Burwell,
· Thomas Small, Elizabeth Ann, John Givens, William, Elijah
Lyle, Nathan J., Matthew Robb, Gibson Taylor, Margaret Re-
becca, Robert Aaron, and James Kenny Waller.
The Wallers were among the incorporators of the first bank in
Morganfield. afterwards named The Bank of Union County, and
several of them held various public oflices. The Waller Building,
owned by the T. S. and M. R. Waller estate, opposite the court-
house in Morganfield, is built on a lot which has belonged to the
family for more than one hundred years. When the Peoples Bank I
and Trust Company was organized, James Kenny Waller became i
president. In the roster of county officials, government em-
ployees, educational, religious, civic, military, and social organ`- ,
izations are found the names of many of the Waller family. j
Benedict and Elizabeth Wathen became residents of Union  
_ County some time prior to 1837, when a son, E. H. Wathen, was  
born. This son was for many years identified with the history of  
the county. He was educated at St. Mary’s College, married  
Marye Payne in 1857. and became the father of five children. i
He served as a captain in the Confederate Army. In 1875, Capt.
E. H. Wathen bought the flour and gristmill known as the
Southern Mills, which he managed in connection with his farm
of about 500 acres. He was noted as a breeder of fine stock.
3 , Another Wathen family moved into Union County in 1853. It  
was that of Joseph and Ann Wathen. Joseph Wathen engaged in
farming until his death in 1856. James E. Wathen, a son of this
couple, was born in Marion County in 1833. When he came to
Union County in 1853, he became a brickmason, in which trade
he was very successful. He served in the Confederate Army
throughout the war, and then returned to his trade at DeKoven.
In 1856. William Watkins and his wife, Cordelia, born in 1833 ,
and 1835, respectively, set sail from Liverpool, England, reaching
Philadelphia after six weeks. The spirit of adventure called them
into the interior, and in a few months more the family, which V
included two small daughters, Virginia and Emma, found their `
way to Uniontown, Kentucky. Here eight more children were  
born to this couple. In Union County, William Watkins became