Biographies from Goodspeed 4 – Anderson County Tennessee Genealogy & History

Anderson County Tennessee

Biographies from Goodspeed

Continued

William Dail is one of the most prominent citizens of Anderson County, Tn., and one of the leading farmers of the Twelfth Civil District. He was born in the above county October 29, 1822, and is the son of William and Nancy (Overton) Dail. The father was born in North Carolina, January 5 1795, and was the son of William Dail, who was a native of England. The father of our subject came to Tennessee in 1815, and located in Anderson County where he followed farming. He served in the war of 1812, and was a pensioner up to his death; he died August 17, 1877. The mother was a native of Virginia, and was born January 2, 1792, and was the daughter of Joseph Overton, a native of Virginia; she died March 30, 1860. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the father was a class leader for a number of years, and was stricken with paralysis in church, near the pulpit, from which he died a few days later. Our subject was reared on the farm, and attended the old field schools of the neighborhood. He worked on the farm with his parents until his twenty-first birthday, and then began life for himself, earning his first money by working at $6 per month. He was elected and served as constable early in life for a number of years, and in 1856 he was elected to the office of county trustee, which he held for four years. In 1861 he was elected justice of the peace, and holds the office at the present, having served for nineteen years as such continually, January 3, 1887, he was elected chairman of the county court. He was married August 5 1861, to Mary B Farmer, who was born in Anderson County, February 27, 1846, and was the daughter of Nathan A Farmer. To this union six children were born as follows:

Matilda H., born May 29 1862
Henry F., born April 30 1864
Mary E., born February 11, 1866
Martha F., born June 8 1868
Rufus M., born October 27 1870
and Lizzie O., born February 25, 1873.

The mother died September 17. 1873; she was a member of the Methodist Church. Our subject is, has been since his nineteenth year, a member of the Methodist Church.

R. M. Edwards, merchant and druggist, Coal Creek, Tenn., was born in Anderson County, Tenn., December 7, 1854, the son of E. C. and N. S. (Ross) Edwards, native of Tennessee. Our subject was reared on a farm and attended the district schools, and has up to 1883, always followed agricultural pursuits. For a short time he was in the hotel business at Coal Creek, but sold out and began the drug business, and soon added a stock of groceries and general merchandise, in which he has been successful. In 1879, he married Carrie Huffaker, of Claiborne County. Their children are:

Melvin Huffaker
Lillie Bell
and Lizzie Lee.

Henry P. Farmer was born in Anderson County Tenn., July 20, 1844, and is the son of Nathan A and Filena J. (Hoskins) Farmer. The father was born in Anderson County, in Dutch Valley, April 11, 1803, and was the son of Henry Farmer native of Halifax County, VA. He was one of the fist settlers of Anderson County, he clearing a farm in Dutch Valley at a time when there were but few white men in the county, and Indians were numerous. The father was a farmer, and died February 14, 1879. The mother was born in Anderson County, December 28, 1823, and is the daughter of Jessie Hoskins. She now lives on the adjoining farm to her son. The father was a member of the Methodist Episcopal, and the mother of the Baptist. Our subject was reared on the farm, and acquired his education in the neighboring schools and at Clinton. He worked on the farm until May 28, 1863, when he enlisted in Company C, of the Eleventh Federal Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, and in Company I, of the Ninth Regiment, after the consolidations of the Eleventh and Ninth Regiments. He entered as private, but was promoted to first corporal, then first sergeant and then first lieutenant. He was captured at Wyman Mill, Lee County Va., February 22, 1864, and was imprisoned at Belle Island. After a month’s confinement the was paroled March 22, 1864, and sent to City Point, and thence to Annapolis, Md., then to Camp Chase, Ohio, then to Nashville, and in June of the same year rejoined his command at Cumberland Gap. He was mustered out of service at Knoxville September 11, 1865, and returned to the farm, and has since followed farming. In 1879 he was commissioned postmaster of Dutch Valley post office, and holds that position at present. he was married December 25, 1866, to Susan Dossett, who was born in Campbell County, Tenn., October 24, 1842, and is the daughter of Robert Dossett. To this union ten children have been born, as follows:

Joseph H., born November 16, 1867, died October 6, 1870
Grattz W., born February 25, 1869
Franklin J., born September 24, 1870, died February 5, 1871
John H., born February 1, 1872
Mary J. E., born January 28,1874
Robert A., born January 16, 1876
Martha p., born October 30, 1878
Nettie K., born January 2, 1881
Anna B., born May 27, 1883
and an infant born August 16, 1885, and died unnamed.

Our subject and wife are members of SulpherSprings Methodist Church South.

J. A. Fowler, the subject of this sketch, is one of the leading young members of the Anderson County bar, and prominent citizens of Clinton, Tenn. He was born in Knox County, Tenn., February 22, 1863, and is the son of J. W. and Mary (Conner) Fowler, both natives of Knox County. The father was born in 1817, and is a farmer of Knox County. The mother was born in 1822. Both parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject was reared on the farm, and acquired his early education in the neighboring school. He later attended school at Athens, Tenn., and graduated from the East Tennessee Wesleyan University (now the Grant Memorial University) in May, 1884. He taught for a year in the university, and then removed to Clinton and conducted the high school for a year. Having studied law while teaching, he was licensed to practice at Athens in December, 1885, by Judge Trewhitt and Rodgers. He began practicing his profession at Clinton, in 1886, and now is on of the rising young lawyers of that bar. He was married May 28, 1885, to Lucy E. Hornsby, who was born in Athens, Tenn., May 2 1867, and is the daughter of J. H. Hornsby, of that place. To this union one child has been born. Both our subject and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

J. N. Freels is one of the prominent citizens of the Ninth Civil District of Anderson County, Tenn., and is a merchant of Scarboroughtown. He was born June 1, 1849, in Anderson County, and is the son of William S. and Maria (Tunnel) Freels, both natives of Anderson County. The father was born in 1800, and was the son of Isaac Freels. He was a farmer, and died in March, 1886. The mother was born in 1809, and was the daughter of Jesse Tunnel. She died in 1851. Our subject was reared on the farm, and attended the schools of the neighborhood. He worked on the farm until the breaking out of the late war, and February 14, 1862, enlisted in the Federal Army, and was placed in the quartermaster’s department as clerk. July 7, 1863, he was appointed second lieutenant of Company H, of the Thirteenth Regiment of Tennessee, the appointment coming from Gov. Johnson. In June, 1865, he was promoted first lieutenant of Company H, and as such served the rest of war, and was mustered out of the service at Knoxville September 9, 1865. After the war he returned home and farmed until 1877, then began merchandising at Scarboroughtown. He was commissioned postmaster of that town, in 1876, and holds the office at present. He was married July, 1870, to Julia A Hoskins, who was born in 1849, and is the daughter of George P. Hoskins, of Anderson County. To this union seven children have been born. Our subject’s wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

Goodspeed’s pages 1111 – 1112