Sketch of Louis Lunsford Bristow
Louis L. Bristow, of Georgetown, is a native of the state which is still his home. He was born in Kenton county, February 28, 1854, and comes of a family of English origin. The first American member of the family settled in Middlesex county, Virginia, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The founders of the Kentucky branch were James and John Bristow, of Buckingham county, Virginia. This John Bristow is the great-grandfather of the present assistant postmaster-general of the United States. James Bristow settled first in the "Green river country," and then removed to Bourbon county, where he reared four sons, -- John, Gideon, Archibald and James, Jr. John never married; Gideon removed to Indiana; Archibald was a prominent Baptist preacher and father of Congressman Francis Bristow, the father of General Ben. H. Bristow, secretary of the treasury under President Grant. James Bristow, Jr., removed to Boone county, Kentucky, and reared a family, among whom were Reuben L. Bristow, the father of the subject of this sketch. Louis L. Bristow's mother was Statira Stephens, daughter of General Leonard Stephens, of Kenton county, whose family came to this state from Orange county, Virginia, in the year 1807.
Louis L. Bristow pursued a classical course of study in Georgetown College, and was graduated at that institution with the class of 1876, after which he entered the law department of the University of Virginia, where he was graduated in 1879. He entered upon the practice of his chosen profession at Covington, Kentucky, in 1880. He spent some years in travel through the United States, visiting all portions of the country from Florida in the south to Dakota in the north, seeking health, recreation and experience, and gaining that broad knowledge and culture which only travel can bring.
In 1894 he returned to the practice of law and opened an office in Georgetown, Kentucky. He is a writer of merit, and at various times has contributed articles to the press. He is a painstaking, careful lawyer and a concise, vigorous speaker.
In 1887 Mr. Bristow was united in marriage to Miss Alice Rucker, a daughter of Professor J. J. Rucker, of Georgetown College, for whom their only child, J. J. Rucker Bristow, is named. Mr. Bristow is a Democrat in politics, and in the memorable campaign of 1896 gave his support and influence to the "sound-money" branch of his party.
H. Levin, ed., Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky (Chicago: Lewis, 1897), 567. [The same article was repeated a few years later, with one minor change. The final sentence was amended to read: "Mr. Bristow was given the Republican nomination in 1902 for City Judge of Georgetown, which office he is now holding."]
Additonal notes by Neil Allen Bristow
He was named (perhaps indirectly) for a noted Baptist preacher from Virginia, Lewis Lunsford (1753-1793), as were several of his maternal cousins.
When nine years old, Louis almost died from the lingering effects of scarlet fever in the spring of 1863, as recorded by his Aunt Polly in her diary. He rcovered and was robust enough to complete college on schedule. However, poor health did delay his graduation from law school. In late 1879 an item in a local paper noted the he had returned from Virginia, where he sat a special examination at the University of Virginia for the degree of Ll.B., adding that illness had prevented his completion of the regular course last year.1
In the new year he appeared before the Kenton County Court where he was "granted the usual certificate of honesty, probity and good demeanor" required for admission to the Kentucky Bar.2
After a few years in legal practice he temporarily left the bar and joined in land speculation in Florida, where the 1885 Florida State Census found him in Polk County, between Orlando and Tampa, his occupation given as "Land Agent".3
The alumni roster of Georgetown College gives a summary of his varied career.4
In 1894 he wrote an sketch of Col Richard M. Johnson, a local pioneer hero, for the Lexington Morning Transcript.5
After a stint as Georgetown City Judge, he ran for Congress in 1910 as a Republican, at a time when Republicans in the Bluegrass were oddities.6 His efforts to unseat freshman Democrat J. Campbell Cantrill (1870-1923) were not successful. Perhaps as a reward or consolation prize he was appointed by the governor to serve as Judge of the Scott County Court in 1911.7 And in 1912 he was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago.8
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| Looking west along Main Street in Georgetown, 1898 The Court House where Louis presided is the fanciful, Disneyesque structure with towers midway on the right. |
Louis took to family history with enthusiasm. As a young man back from law school, he sat down with his Aunt Polly around 1880 and recorded some of her family recollections. Later on I'm sure that his position as a judge lent authority to his inquiries to court clerks around the Bluegrass and back in Virginia. Although some of his conclusions have not held up under modern research, he did inspire his younger kin to follow his lead. His letters to family members about his researches are breezy and cheerful, filled with droll asides. He must have been a favorite uncle to his many neices and nephews. When his elder brother, Julius Lucien Bristow I, was felled by a stroke in 1893, Louis helped with the education of the orphaned children.
He and Alice had at least three stillborn infants. Their sole surviving child, known to the family as Cousin Rucker, pursued a technical career as a chemical engineer. Like his father, Rucker went to Florida, where he pioneered the development of orange juice concentrate, achieving a practical process in 1937. His success earned him the title of "Mr. Orange Juice" and the gratitude of Florida citrus growers. Rucker's obituaries give more detail.
Louis died 11 Mar 1921 of complications of an infected tooth.9 Alice survived him for another 25 years. They are buried in the Georgetown Cemetery.
Notes:
[Click on the footnote number to return to the text.]
1 [Covington, Kentucky] Daily Commonwealth, 29 Dec 1879, 1.
2 Daily Commonwealth, 8 Jan 1880, 1. The census found him living with his brother Julius' family.
3 Florida State Census, Jun 1885. Polk County, 28. Dwelling 241. Line 28. "L L Bristow 29 S Land Agent KY KY KY." He was among ten boarders at the home of G J and G C Hatcher.
4 BRISTOW, LOUIS LUNSFORD, B.S. [Georgetown College, 1876], LL.B., University Virginia 1879; lawyer, Cincinnati, 1880-1882; civil engineer and R.R. surveyor, Florida, 1883-1886; real estate speculation in Florida and the West, 1887-1893; city attorney, Georgetown; judge Scott County Court, 1894-1910; supervisor of census for 7th Congressional District, Kentucky, 1910-1911; mining superintendent, 1912-; address, Georgetown. Source, 15 Oct 2005.
5 Lexington Morning Transcript. July 29, 1894. p. 7 col. 2-3. "Old Dick Johnson" Abstract: Story of Col. R. M. Johnson, the hero of the battle of the Thames and former congressman from Scott County, and his Indian campaigns by Louis Bristow. (Lexington Public Library online index.)
6 Lexington Leader, October 4, 1908, p. 17 col. 1-7. "Judge Bristow gives his views" Abstract: Hon L. L. Bristow of Georgetown, Republican nominee for Congress in the Seventh district, has addressed a strong letter to former State Senator Henry L. Martin of Midway, responding to an inquiry from him, in which he gives his views on the issues involved in the campaign in the State and Nation in a plain, dignified manner that will undoubtedly have weight with the voters of the district. (Lexington Public Library online index.)
7 Lexington Leader, January 9, 1911, p. 1 col. 6. "Judge Bristow takes charge" Abstract: L. L. Bristow was today sworn in as judge of the Scott County Court, he having succeeded Judge Yates, deceased. He was appointed by Governor Willson and is the first Republican to occupy the bench of the County Court here since the Civil War. (Lexington Public Library online index.)
8 Noted on The Political Graveyard site, a great spot for political junkies.
9 His obituary appeared in The Boone County Recorder, March 17, 1921, Page 1 (Deaths):
"L.L. BRISTOW DEAD. Funeral services for Judge L.L. Bristow, 67 of Georgetown, Ky., who died last Friday at a Lexington hospital after a two weeks illness, was held at his home Sunday afternoon. Judge Bristow was suffering from an abscess at the root of a tooth. Following the extraction of the tooth blood poison developed.
He was county judge of Scott county for more than 20 years, and was very prominent in Republican state politics. He married Miss Alice Rucker, daughter of the late J.J. Rucker, president of the Baptist College, Georgetown. His widow and one son, J.Rucker Bristow, a representative of the Proctor & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, at Kansas City, Mo., survive him. Besides his widow and son, Judge Bristow is survived by three brothers -- B.F. Bristow, Independence; N.S. Bristow of Union, Boone County, and J.E. Bristow of Walton. One sister, Mrs. Joseph B. Coombs, lives at Ft. Mitchell, and Miss Pearl Respess, 221 Wallace-av, Covington, is a niece." [Transcription by Phil Naff.]
