WILLIAM A. FROST, editor and proprietor of the Shelbyville Gazette, was born September 30, 1855, in Troy, Obion Co., Tenn., being the eldest of five children of William D. and Martha L. (Brown) Frost. The father is a physician and resides at Flat Creek in this county. The mother died September 24, 1874.
The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Moore county, Tenn., and in Mississippi. He remained with his parents to the age of nineteen, when he entered Mulberry Institute, Lincoln County, Tenn., in which he took a two years’ course. He then was appointed deputy clerk of the Circuit Court of Moore County. After one year as deputy he was appointed clerk of the same court and held the office three years. In December, 1878, he bought the Lynchburg Sentinel, and published that paper till December 4, 1884, at which time he was burned out. In 1880, June 30, he was appointed clerk and master of the Chancery Court of Moore County, and served four years. January 1, 1884, he took charge of his present enterprise. He has refitted the office with an entirely new outfit and make his the leading paper of the country, and he is regarded as the most successful county newspaper man in the State. He was elected alderman of the Second Ward of Shelbyville in October, 1885, and is chairman of the finance committee. He is justly regarded as a prominent and enterprising citizen.
He was married, May 4, 1880, to Miss Katie Whitaker, of Lincoln County. This unions has been blessed in the birth of one son, William W. Politically Mr. Frost is a firm Democrat.
Transcribed by Kathryn Hopkins
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Reminescences [Sic], Observations, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988.