Hickman County, KY - Bios:  Wisdom, B. H.
Posted by Sandi Gorin on Mon, 23 Oct 2000
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B. H. WISDOM 4978, Hickman Co. 

Surname: Wisdom, Wagner, Cave, Mims, Ohlman

NOTE: I have no connection and no further information.

Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904, pp 442-444 [Hickman]

B. H. WISDOM. In the Paducah Daily Register, dated October 29, 1896, appeared the following 
obituary of the subject of this sketch: Mr. B. H. Wisdom died at 5:30 last night at his home 
on Jefferson street after a brief illness. He was on the streets last Saturday. On Sunday he 
complained of not feeling well, and on Monday he took to his bed. Dangerous symptoms did not 
develop, however, until yesterday morning, when he was seized with a severe rigor and became 
unconscious, sinking rapidly until the end. His death was due to a general breaking down of 
the system, incident to old age, he being in his seventy-eighth year. He had been in bad health 
for a year or two, but rallied during the summer, and hence his death came at the present time 
as an unexpected shock to his family and friends. Mr. Wisdom was born January 19, 1819, near 
Bowling Green, in Caroline county, Virginia. His father moved to Kentucky about 1827, settling 
near Trenton, in Todd county. Before he was of age, Mr. Wisdom went to Trenton and became a 
clerk in a store, and showed such business sagacity that in a few years he was admitted to 
partnership with his employer, Stakely Wagner. The firm was eminently successful and soon 
ventured into the buying of tobacco for the English market. In this Mr. Wisdom, though still 
a very young man, displayed remarkable judgement, and thus began the foundation for his large 
fortune. For many years past he has been reputed the wealthiest man in Kentucky, and though 
all his career he was noted for his close attention to business, honesty, strict integrity and 
fair dealing. Mr. Wisdom had a remarkable business career. After continued success in the 
tobacco trade at Trenton, he was called to cashiership of the Bank of Tennessee, at Clarksvile, 
in which position he continued until the breaking out of the Civil war. About that time he 
invested largely in tobacco, which he stored in New Orleans and sold afterward at an enormous 
profit. During the war he took up his residence in NewYork, where he was engaged in the brokerage 
business, being a member of the firm of Norton, Slaughter & Company. This was a profitable 
venture also, and when he left New York in 1866 he was worth over a quarter of a million dollars. 
He came to Paducah in that year and engaged in banking with Mr. William Norton, the firm being 
Norton, Wisdom & Company. For many years this was one of the noted financial institutions of 
the state. In addition to the banking business, Mr. Wisdom engaged extensively in the purchase 
of tobacco, and being a man of shrewd judgement and large resources, managed to make many 
fortunate investments in Kentucky's staple product. He also made large investments in real 
estate, both here and elsewhere. In some of these, subsequent developments showed that he had 
foresight little less than marvelous. Until the city of Duluth, Minnesota, began to grow and 
became a city of vast importance, even his most intimate friends did not know that years before 
he had bought large bodies of land in that vicinity at a very small price. When the city sprang 
up almost as if by magic, Mr. Wisdom's property came into demand, and he sold much of it at 
figures that seem fabulous. A little later on a new town sprang up at the mouth of Brazos river, 
in Texas, where enterprising individuals had made a deep water harbor on the gulf coast without 
asking the aid of the government. Mr. Wisdom had years before bought much land there, which was 
thus thrown on the market and increased his fortune. He made many other real estate investments, 
and much of his wealth is now represented in lands. He maintained sole management of his affairs 
until about a year ago, when his health broke down. Not many years ago he made thirty thousand 
dollars in one year in tobacco, purchasing over a thousand hogsheads and holding for an 
unprecedented advance. Mr. Wisdom leaves three daughters, Mrs. George C. Wallace, Mrs. Rev. 
W. E. Cave and Miss Belle Wisdom, of this city. His wife died about fourteen years ago. His only 
son, Norton Wisdom, died about eight years ago, leaving one child, Henry, now aged twelve, and 
residing at Fourney, Texas. He also leaves two sisters, Mrs. George G. Mimms and Mrs. Agnes 
Ohlman, both of Hampton, Tennessee. Mr. Wisdom was not a church member, nor did he hold relations 
withany of the secret societies. He was a man who was upright in his dealings with his fellow 
man. Though seeking few friendships and of a retiring disposition, he was courteous to all. 
He will be greatly missed in Paducah.