HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, by E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol.
III, pp. 1187-88. [Franklin County]
JOHN WALTER JEFFERS---Although of the younger generation of Frankfort,
John Walter Jeffers is a man who has already made his mark and has been
honored with several high offices, both in a civic and fraternal
relation, and to enumerate he is master commissioner, former chief
deputy sheriff and past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias,
and organization in which he is widely known. The ancestry of Mr.
Jeffers is in many ways of peculiar interest and well repays a passing
survey. His grandfather, Elias Jeffers, was born in Scott county,
Kentucky, February 11, 1820, and died in Frankfort, January 21, 1870.
The parents of the foregoing were John and Polly (Tapp) Jeffers, both of
them native Virginians, the father having been born in Culpeper county,
that state. John Jeffers early identified himself with the Bluegrass
state and settled near Lexington, afterward removing to that city with
his family and making his residence there for many years. Both the
Jeffers and the Tapp family are of English descent. Elias Jeffers
married Matilda Stubbs in 1841. The wife was a daughter of William and
Betsy (Conway) Stubbs, Marylanders, who came to Kentucky by wagon in the
year 1817, when Matilda was a babe eleven months old, her birth having
occurred September 27, 1816. Her death occurred in Frankfort, March 5,
1895. To the grandparents of John Walter Jeffers were born four
daughters and six sons, three of whom died in childhood. The others
were Jams Wesley, (deceased), Benoni B., Mary Ellis (knows as Alice),
California, Albert Guino, Bettie Alline and Cordelia (or Cordeallah).
Six children are thus living at the present day. Elias Jeffers and his
wife were God-fearing people, the father being a member of the Christian
and the mother of the Baptist church. Elias Jeffers made the livelihood
for himself and his family as a trader and farmer, and for the last six
years of his life was assistant keeper of the Kentucky state
penitentiary at Frankfort. He was a man who weighed over three hundred
pounds and on account of his genial and generous personality was very
popular in the community. His political convictions were Democratic.
Albert Guino Jeffers, father of the subject of the sketch, was born in
Woodford county, Kentucky, at Versailles, on December 30, 1853. He
passed his childhood in his native place and then moved to Anderson
county. After leaving school he moved to Franklin county, became
assistant keeper of the state penitentiary under his father, and
subsequently took up the vocation of farming and stock raising, in which
he has proved very successful, having kept in touch with the latest
scientific developments. It was in 1902 that he entered upon his duties
as sheriff of Franklin county, having been elected upon the Democratic
ticket, and he served for a term of four years. He was in office during
the prosecution of James Howard, one of the alleged assassins of
Governor Goebel. His service in this capacity had been preceded by
eight years as deputy sheriff. Albert Guino Jeffers was married in 1878
to Miss Olive Ann CAIN, born in Meade county, Kentucky, a daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Coleman) CAIN, who were likewise natives of Meade
county. John Cain was a miller, and during the war he was in business
at Grahampton. To this union was born two sons, John Walter and Howard
Benoni. John Walter Jeffers, whose name heads this account, was born in
Frankfort, Kentucky, August 2, 1880. He attended the Frankfort schools
and was graduated from their higher department. Subsequent to this he
studied stenography, bookkeeping and commercial law in a private school
at Frankfort. When his father was elected sheriff in 1902 he became
chief deputy, and he afterward successfully engaged in farming. In 1907
he was appointed master commissioner, which office he still holds. Like
his forbears he is a stalwart supporter of the policies and principles
of the Democratic party, and he is taking an influential position in its
ranks. He is an enthusiastic Knight of Pythias and is past chancellor
commander of the order. He was appointed to the receivership for the
General Supply & Construction Company, which failed after securing the
contract for the new state capitol building. These facts can not but be
taken in evidence of the confidence he inspires in his fellow citizens.