Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Quintus Quincy Quigley (July 17, 1828 – December 19, 1910) was an American lawyer from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

who was the founder of the city of Paducah. He kept a journal for nearly fifty years which has since been published as ''The Life and Times of Quintus Quincy Quigley''. His house "Angles" was subsequently owned by US Vice President Alben W. Barkley and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976.

Early life and education

He was born to James and Martha Quigley in

Paris, Tennessee Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316. A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris. History The present site of Par ...

, on July 17, 1828, and grew up in Milburn, Kentucky. He was educated at Cumberland College and studied law under Judge Crockett in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

, starting in 1848 and being admitted to the bar in 1850.

Legal career

He practiced as an attorney in Ballard and McCracken counties. He was instrumental in establishing Paducah as a city, serving on its board of trustees and framing the charter which incorporated it in 1856. He became the first city attorney for Paducah. He formed a law firm, Quigley and Quigley, with his son Isaac who was also a lawyer and who became Chief Justice of the

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illino ...

. They represented the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

for some time. Another case was that of Dessling who was sought for fraud. Quigley tried to extradite him to the Kingdom of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

but this was hotly contested and he was eventually released on a writ of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

''. Quigley finally stopped practicing law when his son Isaac died and retired to the country.

Angles

In 1868, he built the house "Angles", named after the sharp angles of its three tracts of land. The land cost $1,000 which had been allocated to buy a ring for his wife Mary. They could not find a ring she liked in Chicago, but they fell in love with the farmland and so bought it with the money instead. Construction of the house then cost $8,000 more which caused some financial difficulty. The house was subsequently owned by Vice President Alben W. Barkley, who lived there from 1937 through 1956. Its address is now 540 Alben Barkley Drive, Paducah KY 42001 (). A historical marker sign was placed at the entrance in 1964. This describes the house as a "good example of

Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

". It was added to the

in 1976. The nomination described it as a "distinctive amalgam of Federal, Grecian, Gothic, and even Italianate architectural elements" and that it has been designated as a "Gothic cottage".

Journal

He kept a detailed journal from 1859 to 1908. This was handwritten but was transcribed and published in a limited edition in 2000 as ''The Life and Times of Quintus Quincy Quigley''. An example is his entry after arriving at Paducah,

Personal life

He and his wife had six children. One child died in infancy and the others were Bruce, Isaac, Quintus, John and Mary Quintina who was known as "Ina". In his final years, he wintered with his daughter in Paducah, where he died from a congestive chill on December 19, 1910. He was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and a member of the Grace Episcopal church in which he served as a

vestryman A vestryman is a member of his local church's vestry, or leading body.Anstice, Henry (1914). ''What Every Warden and Vestryman Should Know.'' Church literature press He is not a member of the clergy.Potter, Henry Codman (1890). ''The Offices of W ...

and superintendent of its

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

References