Biographies
Charles Eaves
Charles Eaves was born January 20, 1825, at his father's home, nine miles west of Greenville, Ky. His father was John S. Eaves, who was born in Virginia, in 1783; removed to Kentucky in 1805; was a farmer; a man of sterling integrity, thrifty, intelligent, sagacious; serving his county as justice of the peace, as sherriff, and twice as representative in the legislature; dying at the age of eighty-five, honored and respected by all who knew him. His mother, Lurena Eaves, nee Ingram, was remarkable for domesticity and admirable household ways, for hospitality dispensed without ostentation, yet with a heartsome welcome, so that no one ever visited the house who did not wish to repeat or prolong the visit.
Charles, the subject of this sketch, the youngest of five sons (he had three sisters), was educated chiefly at home. In early boyhood he became a voracious reader. He gathered books and spun his own web of knowledge. On his father's farm, his habit was to read half the night, after working on the farm all day. At the age of eighteen he took up the study of law on the farm, reading Blackstone, Kent, Story, Chitty, Steven, Starkie, Greenleaf, and numerous other text books, and, after three years' reading, obtained license to practice law. He was admitted to the Greenville bar in September, 1846. Since then he has devoted his life to the study and practice of the law, and to a pretty thorough study of literature. He is now a ripe, thorough lawyer, ranking high in his profession. His knowledge is encyclopedic. As a pleader, he is skillful, accurate, thorough; as a speaker, never rhetorical, but plain, direct, compact and clear; always fair and honorable in the conduct of a case, and generally successful. If eloquence he has, it is the eloquence of conviction and clearness. He wins his cases by careful preparation, clearness of statement and fairness of argument.
He served his county (Muhlenburgh) one year as county attorney; one year as school commissioner, and one term as representative in the legislature. In 1865, he removed to Henderson, Ky., and after a residence there of twelve years, returned to Greenville, where he now resides in his quiet tree-embowered suburban home. At Henderson he was city attorney three years. The office was unsought, and he held it until he resigned it. From having frequently presided as special judge in the circuit courts, he is generally known as Judge Eaves.
Not old at sixty; six feet high, and, though not obese, weighing 200 pounds, healthy and strong, with a memory like a chronicle, with a love of books unabated - opening a book with a swift glance whether it has a message for him - reading a new law book with as much zest as a novel, drinking its meaning up as a sponge absorbs water - Judge Eaves is likely to survive the present century as an active member of this profession, honored and respected by the bench and the bar, as well as by the people, and after his death, his ghost may possibly be seen by his confreres about the purlieus of the courts, with a law book or a bundle of papers under its arm.
Judge Eaves married, March 24, 1852, at Greenville, Ky., Miss Martha G. Beach, daughter of Rufus and Rhoda Beach, who was born at Rochester, N.Y. Her maternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Olive Ann Stoddard, was a descendant of Anthony Stoddard, who came to Massachusetts Colony from England in 1638, among whose descendants - President Edwards, and his grandson, Aaron Burr, of a generation passed away, and Gen. W.T. Sherman and John Sherman of the present day, may be named. Judge Eaves and his wife are members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. They have four children. Judge Eaves is a member of the I.O.O.F.
Source: Battle, J.H., W.H. Perrin, and G.C. Kniffen. Kentucky: A History of the State. Louisville, KY: F.A. Battey, 1885. Page 903. Image opposite page 903.
Updated July 9, 2018