My Genealogy Hound

TIM NEEDHAM, cashier of the bank of Williamstown, was born in Cumberland County, Ill., May 28, 1842, and is the fifth child of a family of eleven born to P. S. and Rebecca (South) Needham. P. S. Needham was born in Pennsylvania, April 24, 1812. He came to Kentucky with his parents when he was twelve years of age, and settled in Hardin County, where he was reared. He was a carpenter and millwright by trade, also a miller and farmer. After marrying he moved to Cumberland County, Ill., lived there a few years, then returned to Hardin County, Ky., and remained until his death, which occurred June 9, 1886. He was a strict member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mrs. Rebecca Needham was born in Virginia, and was a daughter of William and Margaret (Donan) South. At an early age Tim Needham was taken to Hardin County, Ky., by his parents, and was educated at the common schools. At the age of sixteen he commenced teaching, and taught until 1853. He then commenced to read law under Judge Horace G. V. Wintersmith, of Elizabethtown, Ky., and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1864. He attended the Louisville Law School in 1865-66, and was one of the thirty-eight who graduated in the spring of the latter year. He immediately returned to Elizabethtown, pursued his profession diligently and successfully until 1869, when he moved to Louisville, and, in conjunction with his practice, published a paper called the Kentucky Templar, afterward known as the Good Templar’s Advocate. He remained in Louisville for about five years, and while there was a law partner with Maj. W. R. Kinney and J. D. Duncan. In 1874 moved to Owensboro, Ky., and became a law partner of Judge Little, remained two years, then returned to Louisville, and engaged in the newspaper business and temperance work for about three years. Next he went to Williamstown, and was a law partner with E. H. Smith from 1878 to 1882. October 3, 1878, he married Kate Smith, of Grant County, Ky., daughter of E. H. and Sallie C. (O’Hara) Smith. One child has blessed this union, Hubbard S. In 1880 Mr. Needham secured the charter for the Bank of Williamstown, became cashier in 1882, and still holds the position. He owns 130 acres of fine land, and a nice brick residence and business block in Williamstown. Mr. Needham is a natural born lawyer, an original thinker, and an able-speaker, and success similar to his has seldom been achieved. His gifts to charity and for benevolent purposes are more than the common public know of. He is a live, energetic citizen; a gentleman of ability, culture and varied accomplishments. His moral character is high, and his manners modest and unassuming. He is a strict member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, is a member of the I. O. O. F., Temple of Honor, Good Templars and Sons of Temperance. His wife is a member of the Catholic Church. August 1, 1887, he was elected to the Legislature as the nominee of the Democratic party.