John Robert Proctor, Sr.[1] 1844 - 1903

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• Suffix	Sr.
  Birth	16 Mar 1844	Mason, Kentucky, USA
  Gender	Male
  Name	John Robert Procter
  Item Of Interest	Procter, John Robert (Mar. 16, 1844 - Dec. 12, 1903), director of the Kentucky geological survey and United States civil-service commissioner, was born in Mason County, Ky. His parents were George Morton and Anna Maria (Young) Procter. His mother having died soon after his birth, he was taken by an aunt and brought up by her and prepared for college in her home. Though only seventeen years old when the Civil War broke out, he developed a strong desire to fight for the Southern Confederacy. His aunt opposed his wishes, and to get him out of the way of war contagions, she sent him to the University of Pennsylvania in 1863 to take a scientific course. Having finished the work of the freshman class he returned to Kentucky the next year and enlisted in the Confederate army. He fought to the end, rising to the rank of lieutenant of artillery. Unreconciled to the hard fate that he saw awaiting the South, he sought service in Mexico, but failing to secure a place he settled down upon a farm in Kentucky. Farming still had some appeal to a gentleman but when he came into contact with Nathaniel S. Shaler [q.v.], who taught geology in Harvard University and at the same time acted as the Kentucky state geologist, he became interested in geology and in 1874 joined the Harvard camp in Kentucky. The next year he took work in geology at Harvard University, and now definitely became a part of the Kentucky survey as an assistant to Shaler. Though Shaler was a native Kentuckian and a great geologist, the state legislature thought that he should not continue as state geologist unless he were willing to live in Frankfort. Preferring Cambridge to Frankfort, Shaler resigned and Governor Blackburn immediately appointed Procter to the directorship of the geological survey and the state unwisely added to his duties those of the commissioner of immigration. Owing to the division of effort, interest, and funds that this combination required, Procter did not make an outstanding contribution in either field. Outside of a few county and regional surveys, he carried on little more work of a scientific nature. His geological reports and separate studies appear in the Geological Survey of Kentucky (1880-92). Though his work as a geologist did not place his name high among the scientists, his administration of his two departments led him into a national reputation in a field that was related neither to geology nor to immigration. He scrupulously held to fitness in making his appointments and refused to be moved by the expediency of political considerations. When Gov. John Young Brown demanded a place in the survey for a son, Procter resolutely held out against the exploitation of his activities by politicians, and thereby lost his position through the abolition of the survey in 1893. This political assault upon an honest civil-service reformer attracted national attention and led President Cleveland, through the recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt, to appoint Procter to the United States Civil Service Commission (December 1893). Soon thereafter he became president of the Commission and remained so until his death ten years later. In Washington he won the universal praise and support of all friends of civil-service reform, for with all of his zeal he had a sense of humor as well as a knack of good-natured ridicule for the political transparencies of the spoils system, and was even able to make some of his worst enemies like him. He embraced the best qualities of those which went into the make-up of the traditional Southern gentleman. During his term of office the positions in the classified service rose from 43,000 to 120,000. Procter wrote during his lifetime many articles for scientific and general magazines. In addition to geology and civilservice reform, he was interested in the international aspects of America's expanding possessions, especially following the Spanish-American War. On Dec. 2, 1903, at a White House luncheon, he was presented by President Roosevelt with a loving cup to commemorate a decade of public service. Ten days later, he died suddenly in Washington, survived by his wife, Julia Leslie Dobyns, and two sons. "John Robert Procter."Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
  1850 7th US Census	Mason, Kentucky, USA   [2]
  	2-DIST Series: M432 Roll: 212 Page: 70 SCHACKLEFORD Seth B. 40 M W Farmer KY Emily 52 F W KY Jno R. Proctor 7 M W KY
  1860 8th US Census	Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA   [2]
  	Appears To Be Double Counted In US 1960 Census Series: M653 Roll: 386 Page: 346 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTOR JOHN 16 M W KY KY MASON MAYSVILLE 1860 Living With Hamilton Gray Family Series: M653 Roll: 386 Page: 9 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTOR JOHN 15 M W KY KY MASON MT GILEAD P O 1860 Living With Seth Shackleford
  1870 9th US Census	Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA   [2]
  	Series: M593 Roll: 486 Page: 408 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTOR JOHN 25 M W Lawyer KY KY MASON 2-WD MAYSVILLE 1870 Julia 24 F W No Occupation KY Seth 2/12 M W KY Living With Mother-In-Law Elizabeth Dobyns
  1880 10th US Census	Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, USA   [2]
  	Series: T9 Roll: 414 Page: 170 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTER JOHN A. 35 W Geologist KY KY KY KY FRANKLIN FRANKFORT 1880 Julia W F 32 Wife Keeping House Seth W M 10 Son At School KY KY KY Morton W M 6 Son At School KY KY KY John W M 4 Son At Home KY KY KY
  1900 12th US Census	Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA   [2]
  	Series: T623 Roll: 160 Page: 138 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTER JOHN R March 1844 56 M W Chairman Civil Service Committee KY DC WASHINGTON WASHINGTON 1900 Julia L. Wife W F Dec 1845 54 KY KY KY Married 31 Years 3 Children 3 Living
  Gleaned Data From The Internet	http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/barren/proctor.txt Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 3rd ed.,1886. Barren County. THE PROCTER FAMILY. At Glasgow Junction, Barren Co. Ky., and Grand Avenue Cave, Edmonson County, reside four of the Procter family, descendants of old Virginia stock. The eldest, Notley L., was born in Orange County, VA., June 20, 1796, and is now in his ninetieth year, and but for a fall he received six years ago he would be as hale and hearty as a man of forty. He is a bachelor of the ancient order, and for the last thirty years he has made his home principally with his brother, Larkin J., and now resides with him at Grand Avenue Cave. They are the children of Abram B. and Polly (Lurty) Procter, who immigrated to Kentucky from Virginia in the year 1798, and settled near Washington, Mason County. Abram was the youngest son of George Procter, who died in Orange County, Va., at the advanced age of ninety-six years, and George was the son of John, who emigrated from Wales to Virginia in 1682, and died at the advanced age of one hundred and four. The young stock seems to have inherited the longevity and robust health of their ancestors. Of the ten children born to Abram and wife five are still living; Notley, aged (as stated) ninety; Mrs. Fanny D. Stevenson, resides at Glasgow Junction, aged eighty-five years; Maj. George M., also at Glasgow Junction, aged seventy-five; William M., of Hendricks County, Ind., aged seventy, and Larkin J., the youngest, aged sixty-four. Their mother, Polly, was the daughter of Capt. John Lurty, who served in the Virginia navy during the war of the Revolution, and who furnished to the State a revenue cutter called the "Two Pollies," and named for his daughter, Mrs. Proctor, and her mother, whose maiden name was Polly Brough. Notley was brought from Virginia to Kentucky in 1798, when two years old, in his mother's lap on horseback, at a time when the mountains of West Virginia were the home of the wild beast and the hunting grounds of the Indians. After reaching manhood Notley was an enterprising, industrious man, and always respected. In 1825 he attached himself to the Christian Church established by Alexander Campbell, and has ever been a faithful and zealous member of the church, and a man of strong and positive convictions, yet at the same time is liberal in his intercourse with other Christian denomination. He retains well his faculities on all subjects, and on no subject more than God's word. When a boy he lived near to and was well acquainted with Simon Kenton, Timothy Downing and Adam Poe, the pioneers of eastern Kentucky; he has lived to see the great changes and the advancement of the human family, and is now standing as a link between the past and the present, and is consoled in the declining years of his life with the thought and faith that he will finally realize the improvement of the "Better Land," as reserved for faithful service in this. Maj. George M. Procter, of Glasgow Junction, Ky., is seventy-five years old. When in his fifteenth year he entered the dry goods house of his kinsman, John M. Morton, Maysville, Ky., and about 1830 became a member of the firm of Morton & Procter, who did an extensive business in Maysville for many years. In 1844 he went East and engaged in the mercantile business, first in Philadelphia; afterward in New York until 1854-55, when he returned to Kentucky. Maj. Procter has been twice married; first to Maria L. Young, daughter of Willoughby T. and Lucy (Shackleford) Young, all of Mason County, Ky., by whom he had two children: a daughter, Lucy, and John R., the present geologist of the State of Kentucky. Mrs. Procter died in June, 1846. She was a member of the Christian Church; was baptized by John T. Johnson (brother of Vice-President R. M. Johnson). Maj. Procter's second marriage was November 30, 1852, to Mrs Maria L Bell, a daughter of Frank Gorin and Maria (Underwood) Gorin of Glasgow, Ky. three children were born to this union: Eugene U., Louisa G. and Mary Lurty. Mrs. Maria L Procter died in June, 1865. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Maj. Proctor has always been an active and influential citizen, honored and respected by all who knew him. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and cast his first presidential vote for Gen. Harrison. For many years he has voted the Democratic ticket and is now a member of that party. Maj. Procter, on returning to Kentucky in 1854-55, took charge of the celebrated "Bell Tavern" and farm, now Glasgow Junction - the property of his second wife, and which he successfully managed until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he cast his lot with the boys in gray, and was one of the last to succumb to the overpowering strength of the North and the fate of battles; and although a zealous and uncompromising friend of the South during the struggle, yet when the contest was ovr he yielded to the inevitable, and now phychologically believes that Providence and fate intended the result to be as it is, and that the result will finally redound to the common glory of our country. Maj. Procter returned to Glasgow Junction and engaged in the hotel business one year. In 1874 he organized the Glasgow Junction Lithographic Stone Company with a capitol of $250,000. This company paid out for labor, etc., $300 per week for some length of time, when it was determined by the stock holders that it was not as good as they supposed it to be at first, when the work was suspended, since which time he has been engaged in various branches - the Scandinavian Immigration Company being the last of any importance. Larkin J. Procter is sixty-four years old, the youngest of a family of ten children, and the brother of N. L. and Maj. G. M. Procter. He is a self-made man, having been educted at a common school in eastern Kentucky, but being early impressed with the idea of making his mark in some way, at the age of fourteen he entered the mercantile house of his brother, Maj. G. M. Procter, in the city of Maysville, as a store boy, and shortly thereafter procured some elementary law books and commenced the study of law in 1839. When in his nineteenth year he procured a license and opened a law office in Maysville in 1840. He early entered politics, and being a Whig took the stump for Harrison in 1840 for President; he removed to the adjoining county of Lewis in 1843; in 1845 he was elected to represent Lewis County in the lower branch of the Legislature; in 1848 he was elected as a delegate to the convention that framed the present constitution of the State, not having at that period attained the age of twenty-six years; he was the youngest man in the convention. He took an active part in the debates where there were such men as James Guthrie, Charles Wickliffe, Archy Dixon, and Ben Hardin ("the Old Kitchen-knife," as John Randolph called him upon one occasion), all of whom have long since passed from the field of action. In 1853 Mr. Procter removed to Philadelphia and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1856 he removed to Kentucky and leased the Mammoth Cave, which he successfully kept until 1861. The civil war coming on, although his sympathies were with the South, he opposed secession, and was prevailed upon to make the race for the Legislature from the counties of Edmonson and Butler; he was elected. After the close of the war, he again leased the Mammoth Cave from 1866 to 1871, since which time he has stubbornly refused to engage in politics, but has devoted his time to the practice of law, farming and dealing in real estate, and now owns the celebrated Grand Avenue Cave, where he makes his home, improving and beautifying the grounds, etc. The cave is situated three miles from Glasgow Junction, in the direction of Mammoth Cave. Mr. Procter was married, in Clarksburg, Lewis County, to Mary E. Roberts. They lived together forty years until her death, which occurred at Glasgow Junction, in February, 1885. They had six children, only one of whom survives - Dr. D. L. Procter, of Mount Sterling, Ky.
  Died	12 Dec 1903	Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA
  	Cause: Angina Pectoris
  		John Robert Proctor Sr. Newspaper Article Courtesy Of The House Of Proctor Genealogy Collection.
  Buried	Maysville Mason County Cemetery, Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA
  		John Robert Proctor Sr. Disinterment Record From Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia Photo Credit: Find A Grave ~ Edward(Ted) Tyler
  		Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia Photo Credit:?? Rock Creek Cemetery
  		John Robert Procter, Sr. Photo Credit: Find A Grave ~ Debbie
  Age	59 years
  Person ID	I4351	Proctor
  Last Modified	13 May 2010

  
  

  Father	^ Major George Morton Proctor,   b. Abt 1815, Glasgow Junction, Barren, Kentucky, USA ,   d. Abt 1884, Park City, Barren, Kentucky, USA    (~ 69 years)
  Mother	^ Ann Maria "Mariah" Lucy Young,   b. 12 Mar 1822,   d. Jun 1846, Mason, Kentucky, USA    (24 years)
  Married	Jan 1839	Mason, Kentucky, USA
  Family ID	F1324	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	^  Julia Leslie Dobyns,   b. Dec 1845, Kentucky, USA ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Married	Abt 1869
  Children	1. Seth Proctor,  b. Abt 1870, Kentucky, USA ,    2. Andre Morton Proctor,  b. Jul 1873, Kentucky, USA ,  d. 23 Mar 1938, New York, New York, New York, USA   (~ 64 years)   3. John Robert Proctor, Jr.,  b. Jul 1875, Kentucky, USA ,
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2008
  Family ID	F5873	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Event Birth - 16 Mar 1844 - Mason, Kentucky, USA 1850 7th US Census - - Mason, Kentucky, USA 1860 8th US Census - - Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA 1870 9th US Census - - Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA 1880 10th US Census - - Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, USA 1900 12th US Census - - Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA Died - Cause: Angina Pectoris - 12 Dec 1903 - Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA Buried - - Maysville Mason County Cemetery, Maysville, Mason, Kentucky, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos		John Robert Proctor Sr. Geologists William B. Page, Phillip N. Moore, Charles J. Norwood, and John Robert Procter, who served under the direction of Nathaniel Southgate Shaler, director and principal geologist of the Kentucky Geological Survey. Proctor became director of the Survey from 1880 to 1892, and Norwood served as director from 1904 to 1912. Norwood Family Photographs, Kentucky Historical Society Collections. Courtesy of The House Of Proctor Genealogy Collection.
  		John Robert Proctor Sr. Photo Credit: The Library of Congress - Chronicling America Courtesy of The House Of Proctor Genealogy Collection.

  
  

  Documents

  John Robert Proctor Sr. Biography Photo Credit: The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans ... By John Howard Brown Published 1904 The Biographical Society Courtesy of The House Of Proctor Genealogy Collection.

  
  

• Sources

  [S11] Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 3rd ed.,. [S54] Heritage Quest Online, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.