Thomas W. Bullitt, one of the leading attorneys of Louisville, was born at Oxmoor, Jefferson County, eight miles from Louiville, May 17, 1838. His father, William Christian Bullitt, was born at the same place in 1793, and died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Chenowith, near Oxmoor, August 28, 1877, at the age of eight-four years. He spent his whole life on the farm, except a short time when he was engaged in the practice of law in Louisville, an occupation for which he was well equipped, but which he abandoned on account of ill health. He was a Whig in early life, but voted for President Franklin Pierce, and from that time until his death he was a pronounced Democrat. He was a member of the Consitutional Convention of 1849-1850, but was never an office seeker, although he was always earnest and active in the interest of his party. He was a man of great strength of character, with decided firmness and excellent judgment. His hospitality was proverbial, and in this kindness he heartily seconded his excellent wife, who loved all young people and loved to have her house well filled. They really kept “open house” at all times, entertaining friend and stranger in such a manner that through them and others like them the State of Kentucky became noted for its hospitality.
Alexander Scott Bullitt (grandfather) was a native of Prince William County, Virginia, who came to Kentucky in 1783, when about 21 years of age, and purchased a tract of one thousand acres of land lying on what is now the Louisville and Shelbyville turnpike, and called it Oxmoor. This valuable property has been in possesion of the Bullitt family over one hundred years, no part of it having been sold.
A. S. Bullitt was president of the convention which framed the consitution of Kentucky in 1799, and was the first lieutenant governor under that constitution. In 1785 he married the daughter of Col. William Christian, whose wife was a sister of Patrick Henry of Virginia. Col. Christian came to Jefferson County in 1785 and was killed by the Indians in 1786. He was buried at Oxmoor, the oldest burying ground in Kentucky, where all the descendants of the families who have since died have been “gathered to their fathers.” Burying ground is on what was Col. Christian’s home, adjoining Oxmoor, and is scrupulously cared for by the family, a permanent fund having been provided for the purpose, and is in the form of a trust in the hands of the Fidelity Trust Co. Governor Bullitt died in 1816.
Cuthbert Bullitt (great-grandfather) was a Virginia lawyer of renown, and was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Virginia at the time of his death.
Bengamin Bullitt (great-great-grandfather) was a Virginia farmer whose father, Joseph Bullitt, a French Huguenot, came from the province of France and settled at Port Tobacco, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, in 1685.
Mildred Ann Fry Bullitt (mother) was a native of Albermarle County, Virginia. She survived her husband about two years and died in 18879 in her eight-second year. She was a faithful Christian and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her father, Joshua Fry (grandfather), removed from Virgina when she was three years old and settled in Danville. His wife was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker of Albemarle County, Virginia, whose farm was, and is now, known as Castle Hill.
Thomas W. Bullitt received his early training at home and in the common schools near Oxmoor and at Centre College, graduationg in 1858. He then went to Philadelphia and read law with his brother, John C. Bullitt, finishing his law course in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1861, where he commenced the practice of law with his brother. He remained only until the spring of 1862, when he returned to Kentucky and joined the Confederate army under Gen. John Morgan; and later accompanied that dashing officer with seventy-five comrades in a raid upon the Ohio Penitentiary. He did not escape with Morgan and the others, but remained in the prison at Columbus about eight months, when he was transfereed to Fort Delaware, and there he remained until about a month prior to the close of the war, when he was paroled for exchange and sent to Richmond.
After the war, Col. Bullitt returned to Louisville and commenced the practice of law, in which he has been vastly more successful that he was as a Confederate soldier. He has distinguished himself by his remarkable industry, his good judgment and his careful study of legal subjects bearing especially upon corporations. In addition to his lucrative law business, he has been and is connected with a number of large corporations, banks, railroads and other enterprised in which he is a director as well as attorney.
He inaugurated the Fidelity Trust Company of Louisville, the first trust company organized west of the Alleghany mountains, and later organized the Kentucky Title Insurance Company, in which he is a director.
He has been a Democrat ever since he became a voter, but has not aspired to office.
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church (South) and a liberal supporter of the church and its work.
Col. Bullitt was married in 1871 to Anna Priscilla, daughter of Hon. Caleb Logan of the Louisville Chancery Cort. Her mother was the daughter of Dr. Louis Marshall, who was a brother of Chief Justice John Marshall. They have six children living: William Marshall, James B., Agatha M., Alexander S., Keith L. and Myra L.43