B. MARKEY was born in the County of Monaghan, Province of Leinster, Ireland, July 1, 1817, and is a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Boyle) Markey, also natives of Ireland. The father died in Ireland about 1837; the mother came to this country about 1843, and died in Brooklyn in 1859. Subject was the second of a family of nine children, of whom four are now living: Francis, in Brooklyn, N. Y.; William in Washington, D. C.; Bridget, wife of John Boyle, and Barney. When the last named was about fifteen years of age he was apprenticed for seven years to learn the tailor's trade, but at the end of five years he ran away. In 1835 he came to the United States, and first settled in Westchester County, N. Y., where he followed his trade; next he worked in New York, and the leading towns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, until he came to Pittsburgh. He subsequently started on a trip down the Ohio, working in different towns, and finally stopped in Caseyville. He then walked through to Smithland, working for different farmers along the road; he next went to Memphis, then a small village; then to Raleigh, Tenn. In the spring of 1840 he returned to Livingston County, and settled on his present farm, having received at first fifty acres from his father-in-law, which he has since increased to about 400 acres, about 200 of which are in cultivation. Mr. Markey was married in this county, November 29, 1839, to Miss Malinda Peyton, a daughter of William and Lucinda Peyton, natives of Maryland. They came to Kentucky in an early day and first settled in Boone County. In 1833 they moved to Livingston County, Ky., where they resided until their deaths. Mrs. Markey was born May 23, 1822, and is the mother of eleven children, of whom nine are living: Thomas A., James B., John S., Elizabeth A. wife of William Akers, Ruth A. wife of S. F. Foster, Margaret, wife of Gillam Bobb, Sarah wife of James Coyle, Mary J. and Catherine. Mr. Markey and family are members of the Catholic Church, and services are held at his residence at stated occasions. He has been identified with both the Masonic fraternity and I. O. O. F.
Source: J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin, & G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky. A History of the State. Louisville, KY, Chicago, IL: Battey, 1885. Pages 826-827.