MATTHEW LOVE AKERS The late Matthew Love Akers, capitalist and prominent railroad executive, had been a resident of Louisville for upwards of a third of a century. Mr. Akers was born in Floyd county, Indiana, September 10, 1866, and was descended from two families who became identified with the Ohio River valley in frontier days, and his ancestry goes further back, to Revolutionary war and colonial times. The founder of the paternal line was Simon Akers, who emigrated from England to Virginia when this country still belonged to Great Britain and for three years was a soldier in the Virginia Continental Line during the Revolution. For that service he was granted land on Warrant No. 4985, issued to him at Williamsburg, Virginia, February 18, 1801. About 1812 he came west to Kentucky and southern Indiana, and utilized his land grant in this section of the west. He died in Clark county, Indiana, March 19, 1819. His son, George Akers, was born in Virginia, March 30, 1791, and was a well known citizen of southern Indiana, serving as justice of the peace for many years. In 1832 he went to Texas, which was then a part of Mexico, lived there during the Texas revolution and the period of the Texas republic, and died in that state December 16, 1859. The third generation of the family was represented by Hiram Akers, who was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, February 26, 1811. He lived most of his life in Clark county, Indiana, where he died May 22, 1856. Of the fourth generation was Reason Lawson Akers, father of Matthew Love Akers, of Louisville. He was born in Clark county, Indiana, January 9, 1837, was educated in the common schools there and also in normal schools, and from 1862 to 1868 served as surgeon in the United States army. After the war he became a farmer, and was also a pioneer in the manufacture and development of the hydraulic cement industry. His associates in that enterprise were the well known Louisville men, J. B. Speed and Dexter Belknap. Reason L. Akers was a close friend of Michael C. Kerr, the first speaker of the house in the first democratic congress after the Civil war. He was a stanch democrat and a member of the Christian church. Matthew Love Akers was the eldest of four children. His mother was Louisa Abraham Miller, who was born in Clark county, Indiana, July 13, 1847, and was married to R. L. Akers, September 28, 1865. Reason L. Akers died in Clark county, Indiana, November 23, 1878. The maternal ancestry of Matthew L. Akers included some notable personages in the four generations preceding his mother. Her first American ancestor was Abraham Miller, who immigrated from Holland to Northampton county, formerly a part of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1740. He acquired a large amount of land purchased from Richard Peters, and died in that county in 1752. His son, Abraham Miller, was born in Holland, April 1, 1735, served during the French and Indian wars as a non-commissioned officer, was a member of the committee from Northampton county in December, 1774; a recruiting officer at Easton in June, 1775; captain of Miller's Company of Thompson's Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion, June 25, 1775; a captain of Pennsylvania Militia in 1776; member of the constitutional convention of July 15, 1776; and after the close of the Revolution was appointed by Governor Clinton the first judge of Tioga county, New York, on February 17, 1791. Judge Miller died in Tioga county, July 25, 1815. The third generation was represented by his son, John Miller, who was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, in 1760, and died in Tioga county, New York, in April, 1833. In spite of his youth he served as a private in his father's company in 1775, and afterward continued in the same company when it became a part of the First Pennsylvania Continental Line. A number of years later this Revolutionary soldier was a member of the New York assembly from 1804 to 1807. He subsequently moved to Indiana, invested in land in that state, and was a member of the Indiana legislature from Clark county during 1820-21. His son, Abraham Miller, maternal grandfather of Matthew L. Akers, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1787, and died in Clark county, Indiana, April 22, 1867. He was a volunteer in the War of 1812, and was wounded at the battle of Tippecanoe. While a resident of Jeffersonville, in Clark county, he served as a member of the city council during 1841-44. He was more than seventy years of age when the Civil war broke out but nevertheless enlisted and served with the United States naval forces on the Ohio, Mississippi and Red rivers from 1862 until 1865. In Jefferson county, Kentucky, August 24, 1842, Abraham Miller married Louisa Owen, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Love) Owen. The middle name of Mr. Akers was Love. His great-grandmother, Rebecca Love, was a daughter of Matthew and Susannah (Ross) Love, who were married in Jefferson county, Kentucky, August 12, 1794. Matthew Love was one of the early magistrates of that county, and his home on Cane Run road was one of the first brick houses erected in the county. The mother of Susannah Ross was Susan Oldham, a sister of John and William Oldham. The Rosses and Oldhams came from Virginia to Kentucky as early as 1789. Up to the age of twelve Matthew Love Akers attended the common schools of southern Indiana, and after that his education was under the direction of private tutors. At the age of sixteen he began railroading with the Pennsylvania system. He was station agent at different points and in 1889 joined the Chesapeake & Ohio as secretary to the general manager, and filled other positions until 1895, in which year he was appointed general agent for the Chesapeake & Ohio at Louisville. From 1910 to 1917 Mr. Akers was vice president and secretary of the Louisville and Jefferson Bridge Company, resigning that office when the railroad administration took over the railroad properties. During the war he was chairman of publicity for the railroad war board in Kentucky. In 1908 Mr. Akers reorganized the Louisville Soap Company, and was president of that local industry for three years, and he also at one time served as a director of the old Louisville Lighting Company. At the time of his death, which occurred June 4, 1926, Mr. Akers was executive general agent for the Chesapeake & Ohio, the New York Central and the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroads. Mr. Akers had always been a lover of good horses and did much to promote Louisville's prestige as a great thoroughbred center. In 1907-1908 he was president of the Louisville Horse Show. In association with Alfred G. Vanderbilt he reorganized the Madison Square Garden Horse Show, which after the reorganization held the first exhibit in November, 1909, and he was a director of the National Horse Show Association of New York. Mr. Akers was a member of the Pendennis Club of Louisville, the Louisville Country Club, the Westmoreland Club of Richmond, Virginia, and was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and Sons of the American Revolution. He was an Episcopalian and a democrat. On December 16, 1901, Mr. Akers was married to Miss Frank Guthrie, only child of Benjamin F. and Keziah (Pollard) Guthrie, the former a native of Woodford county and the latter of Henry county, this state. Both parents died in 1891. Her paternal grandfather was James Guthrie, of Shelby county, Kentucky, while her grandfather in the maternal line was James Ireland Pollard, of Henry county, and both were descendants of early Virginia families. Matthew L. and Frank (Guthrie) Akers became the parents of a son, Frank Guthrie Akers, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, December 9, 1902. He was graduated from both the Fay School and St. Mark's School at Southboro, Massachusetts, and then entered Harvard from which he was graduated in 1925. He is now connected with Lee, Higginson & Company of Boston, Massachusetts, one of the most prominent banking and brokerage concerns in the world and is a member of the Harvard Club. Mr. and Mrs. Matthew L. Akers maintained an attractive country home, Upland House, at Hot Springs, Virginia, where they spent considerable time. Mrs. Akers, who is well known in the best social circles, resides at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville. History of Kentucky Author: Publishing Company Call Number: 9113 This book provides detailed descriptions of over 900 prominent people in the history of Kentucky. These are very interesting biographies. HISTORY of KENTUCKY The Blue Grass State 322886 VOLUME III ILLUSTRATED THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO - LOUISVILLE 1928