Shelby Co. TN
Dr. D. D. Saunders, one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Memphis, Tenn., was born at Rocky Hill, near Courtland, Lawrence Co., Ala., February 26, 1835, and was one of a family of eleven children born to Col. J. E. and Mary F. Saunders. The father was born in Virginia in 1806; he was a lawyer by profession, and engaged in the practice of his profession in Alabama, where his parents had moved, for a number of years. His health becoming delicate, he quit the law, and became a commission merchant in Mobile, Ala, until the war; since then he has devoted himself to his planting interests in Lawrence County, Ala. The mother was a Miss Mary F. Watkins, daughter of R. H. Watkins of Elbert County, Ga. She was born in 1808. Both parents are still living at the old homestead near Courtland, Ala. Dr. D. D. Saunders was educated at La Grange College, Ala., receiving his diploma from that institution in 1852. He then began the study of medicine with Dr. J. C. Nott, of Mobile, Ala., and four years later received diplomas from the medical universities of Pennsylvania and New York. He then spent some time in Europe prosecuting the study of his profession, and in 1859 located in Memphis, and was soon elected to fill the chair of surgery, and afterward that of anatomy in the old Memphis Medical College. During the war of the States Dr. Saunders served four years as surgeon, filling various positions, among the number, assistant medical director of hospitals of the Army of Tennessee, and surgeon in chief of the Reserved surgical corps on the field of battle, and was required to be on the field during most of the battles fought by the Army of Tennessee. In 1861 Dr. Saunders was married to Kate S., daughter of Seth and Mary (Cook) Wheatley. She was born in Nashville in 1840; was raised at Memphis. She died at Marietta, Ga., in 1863, leaving two daughters: Mary Lou and Kate W. Dr. Saunders was elected to fill the chair of surgery in the Memphis Hospital Medical College, and, after delivering one course, resigned the chair in 1886. In February, 1867, he married Mary E. Wheatley, a sister of his first wife, and by this marriage has two children: Dudley D. and Lizzie W. Since 1860 Dr. Saunders has been a Mason, and is now Master Mason of the order, and a member of the K. of H. He is also a member of the American Medical Association, Medical Society of the State of Tennessee, of which he has been president, and the Shelby County Medical Society. In politics he is an ardent Democrat. Dr. Saunders has been a man of marked energy, and has labored earnestly and enthusiastically for all that tends to the advancement of the medical profession. He is known as an eminent physician throughout the State.
Lemuel A. Scarbrough, of the firm of L. A. Scarbrough & Co., cotton and grain merchants, is a native of North Carolina and a son of A. B. and M. L. (Morrison) Scarbrough. This firm is a continuation of what was formerly A. M. Scarbrough & Co., who established their business in 1871, the present firm beginning in 1881. For some years previous to this L. A. Scarbrough had been engaged in the same business in Savannah, Ga. Our subject came to Tennessee in 1846, and in 1859 located in Memphis. In May, 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate service, Company E, Thirteenth Tennessee Regiment, and remained during the entire war. He was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, which rendered him unfit for active duty, though he remained with the army until the surrender, except about six weeks, when he was held prisoner. In 1866 he married Ednie E. Malone, daughter of Robert C. and Elizabeth (Harper) Malone, of Tipton County. Eight children were born to this union—three daughters and five sons—one son died in 1873, and an infant son born and died February 16, 1887. Mr. Scarbrough and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Daniel Schloss, clerk of Shelby County Circuit Court, was born in Yngenheim Rhine, Bavaria, Germany, September 30, 1837, and was reared and educated in his native country, learning in youth the tailor's trade, which, however, he has never followed since. He came to the United States in 1854 and spent four years in Philadelphia, with an uncle in the clothing business. In 1860 he came to Tennessee and engaged in the mercantile pursuit in Huntingdon and Union City and in 1861 came to Memphis and was a member of the local militia here during the war. He spent 1865 in Natchez, Miss. In 1868 he located in La Grange, Tenn., where he followed the mercantile business one year and then returned to Memphis and clerked until 1878, when he returned to his native country on a visit. In the spring of 1879, he engaged in the dry goods business in Memphis, which pursuit he conducted successfully until 1886, when he was elected clerk of the circuit court, and is now faithfully and efficiently discharging the duties of that office. Politically he is a strong Democrat and as such was elected to his present position. Mr. Schloss has a high reputation for integrity, and has lately served as receiver for two large business firms of the city which had failed. In 1868 he was united in marriage with Miss Johanna Besthoff, and by her had two children. In 1873 his first wife died of yellow fever and in 1875 he married her cousin, Rachel Besthoff. This lady died in the autumn of 1881 and in 1883 he married Miss Tilly Lazard. A boy eleven years old, by his first wife, was drowned in 1880. One of the three children of his second wife died in infancy. Two children by his third wife are living. Mr. Schloss belongs to the following orders: I. O. O. F., K. of H., K. & L. of H. and A. O. U. W., and belongs to three Jewish societies and is a member of the Jewish Church. While on his visit to the old country he brought his father, Joseph Schloss, back with him, and the old gentleman is now residing with him, and is in his eighty-fourth year.
Messrs. Schoolfield, Hanauer & Co. established their business in 1865. The firm is composed of W. W. Schoolfield, Louis Hanauer and Henry G. Miller, although at the beginning the firm contained two other members who have since died. They were Jacob Hanauer and Henry Thomas. W. W. Schoolfield is the son of John W. and Frances (Dudley) Schoolfield, and a native of Virginia. He came to Memphis in 1855 and clerked for some time in a grocery. In 1860 he married E. M. Thomas, of Virginia, the daughter of Joseph Thomas and to them was born one son, Dudley T. Mr. Schoolfield is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Louis Hanauer, one of the members of this firm, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1820, and is the, son of Marks and Lena Hanauer, both of whom died in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of eighteen Louis Hanauer came to the United States, locating first in Cincinnati, and when twenty years of age went to Pocahontas, Ark., where he engaged in the mercantile business. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, and was Gen. Hardee's staff officer. He remained but a short time and then returned home. In 1862 he came to Memphis. Previous to this, in 1845; he had married Susan Kelley, daughter of James and Sallie Kelley of Missouri. She died in 1885 in her sixty-fifth year. Henry G. Miller, the junior member of this firm, is a native of Fayette County, Tenn., and the son of Henry and Evaline Miller, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia respectively. They came to Tennessee in 1832. In 1859 Henry G. married Lizzie S. Hart, a native of Fayette County, and the daughter of John M. and Mary M. (Armour) Hart. To Mr. Miller and wife were born three sons, one of whom died at the age of eighteen. In 1863 Mr. Miller moved to this city. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Thomas M. Scruggs, director of the Memphis Law Library and a member of the well known legal firm of Frayser & Scruggs, was born in Alabama in 1855 and came to Memphis in 1878. He became associated in the practice of law with the firm of Scruggs & Ray, continuing thus until 1882, when he entered the firm of Frayser & Scruggs. Mr. Scruggs was educated at the University of the South and at the University of Virginia, graduating from the law department of the latter institution in 1875. On the 3d of March, 1877, he was admitted to the bar at Grenada, Miss., but began the practice in this city. Mr. Scruggs is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the K. of H. He is an only child born to P. T. and Elizabeth Marshall Murphy Scruggs the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of Alabama. They were married in Alabama, and resided in that State until the father's death in 1856. The mother afterward married again, and died in Mississippi in 1878.
Miss M. L. Scudder. Among the settlers at Salem, Mass., in the latter part of the seventeenth century, was the Scudder family, of English and Scotch-Irish descent. From there they spread west and south, furnishing prominent ministers, teachers and doctors for many of the States. Among them was Samuel E. Scudder, a native of Princeton, N. J., and a graduate of the college there. When young he immigrated to Georgia and became one of the noted educators of the State. While there he married Eunice B. Safford, by whom he had seven children—two sons and five daughters. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. He died during the late war, but the mother still lives in Georgia. Miss M. L. Scudder was born in Greensboro, Ga., and educated at the Synodical College of that State, taking a classical course. After teaching some time elsewhere she was elected to the principalship of the Leath school in 1883. Her study of the classics has not only well fitted her for the position she now holds but furnishes a solid foundation on which to build higher.
Rev. Davis Sessums, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, was born July 7, 1858, in Houston, Tex, While growing up he had the best educational advantages, having taken a full course in the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn. He graduated from the literary department of that splendid institution in 1878, from which he also received the degree of A. M. Early in 1882 he was ordained deacon, and in August of the same year was ordained priest. He then became rector of Grace Church at Galveston, Tex., and held that position until 1883, when he was called to his present position. Father Sessums is an earnest worker, and presents a commanding appearance in the pulpit.
Dr. H. J. Shaw, a physician of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Robertson County, Tenn., in 1825, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah Shaw, both natives of North Carolina. The father was born in 1798, and came with his parents to Davidson County, Tenn., in 1802, and some time afterward moved to Robertson County, Tenn. He was suveyor and colonel of the State militia of that county for a number of years. He was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1839. The mother was a Miss Binkley before her marriage, born in 1798 and died in 1881. Dr. Shaw was educated in Robertson County and studied medicine under Drs. James and R. J. Mallory, then attended lectures at the University Of Louisville, Ky., and in 1854 graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, and two years later graduated in the. medical department of the university at Nashville, and located near Thomasville, Tenn., where he practiced medicine until 1863, then spent two years in Philadelphia and New York, studying various branches of his profession, and in 1866 located at Memphis, Tenn., where he has since carried a most lucrative practice and is regarded as one of the best posted physicians in the State. In 1859 he married Miss Nannie W., daughter of Zachariah and Nancy Sherron. Mrs. Shaw is a native of Montgomery County. Dr. Shaw has been an earnest student in his profession and is a physician of wide experience, having always had an extensive practice. He is a Mason of long standing.
Chamberlayne Jones (deceased) was born in Virginia, and in 1827 came to Shelby County, Tenn., where he made his home and became a very extensive land owner. In 1853 he married Mrs. Ann (Smith) Lewelling, a native of Baltimore, M., who when young came with her parents to Louisville, Ky. She here met and married Mr. Lewelling, a native of North Carolina, a farmer and a commission merchant. He died in 1851. Her second husband, Mr. C. Jones, was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died in 1869. In 1881 she married Mr. John Shipp, a native of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Shipp are both members and active workers in the Methodist Church.
Howell Sigler, superintendent of the business of the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph Company at Memphis, was born January 9, 1850, in Orange County, N. Y., and is the son of Peter H. and Julia. A. (Howell) Sigler, both natives of Orange County, N. Y. In early life the father worked at the tailor's trade, and afterward became a commercial traveler; later still he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died in 1877. The mother is still living, and is a member of the Baptist Church. Their family consisted of three children—two sons and one daughter. Our subject was educated and learned telegraphy in his. native county. When only fifteen years of age he took a position as a telegraphic operator, and later still operated for the Central Pacific, Kansas Pacific and Western Union until he came to Memphis in the interests of the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph Company. In 1874 he married Lucy Berlin, a native of Virginia. By this union they had two children—one son and one daughter. Mrs. Sigler is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Hon. David C. Slaughter, chairman of the Shelby County Court, was born in Greenville, N. C., August 25, 1831, and is the son of Abner and Mary (Cannon) Slaughter, both natives. of North Carolina. In March, 1832, the parents moved to Tipton County, where they located and passed the remainder of their lives on a plantation near Covington, both dying in 1871. They were most exemplary citizens. Our subject was reared and educated on his father's plantation, and in 1858 was elected sheriff of Tipton County and served four years. In March, 1866, he was re-elected to the same office, and in 1868 was again re-elected, a merited recognition of his standing and prominence in the county. In August, 1869, he resigned and was elected State senator. He served until 1871 and then followed agricultural pursuits in Tipton County until February, 1877, when he removed to Shelby County and located on a small plantation where he yet resides. In 1878 he was elected magistrate and became cashier for George B. Fleece, county trustee. He served as cashier two years and as magistrate ever since. From 1882 to 1885 he served as adjuster of claims against the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, and in January, 1886, he was elected chairman of the county court, in which position he is yet serving, to the acceptance of the people. In 1850 he married Susan A. Overall, of Tipton County. They have three sons and three daughters living. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the K. of H., K. & L. of H. and the A. O. U. W., and himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
John D. Slaughter was born in Tipton County, Tenn., in 1850, and is a son of Dr. Wyatt and Mary Ann (Fleming) Slaughter. The father was a native of North Carolina and the mother of Tennessee. Dr. Slaughter was a practicing physician in Tipton and Shelby Counties for twenty-five years, then moved to Fort Smith, Ark., where he now carries an extensive practice. John D. Slaughter was educated in Tipton County. He spent some time clerking after finishing his education. He married Miss Mary M. Stewart, a daughter of J. D. Stewart, a well known farmer of Shelby County. Eight children have been born to this union, only five of them living. Mrs. Slaughter is an earnest member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In 1885 Mr. Slaughter established himself as a merchant at Stewartsville, in Shelby County, and has conducted his business in an enterprising, liberal manner, and has a large patronage. He is independent in politics and a man of generous disposition, and broad views.
Charles M. Small, a farmer of Shelby County, was born in Giles County, Tenn., November 7, 1836. His father, George Small, was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., and immigrated to Giles County, Tenn., in early life, where he was an overseer for different planters in that part of the country for a few years, and married Mary J. Jones, a native of King and Queen County, Va., and daughter of James Jones and a sister of G. W. Jones, who represented the Lincoln County ( Tenn.) District in Congress for sixteen consecutive years, besides filling many other prominent positions in public life. The father moved to Shelby County, Tenn., in 1846, and settled at the place where our subject now lives, and engaged in farming until he died in August, 1880. The mother died in 1873. Charles M. Small was raised on a farm and received a common-school education, and has made farming his occupation. He enlisted in the Confederate Army and belonged to Owens' Arkansas battery, serving until the war closed; he was at the bombardment of Fort Pillow, and the evacuation of Corinth, and was surrendered at Meridian, Miss. Mr. Small has never married; he makes his home with his sisters, Mary J. Small and Mrs. L. J. Bilderback. He is a Democrat and a K. of H. and cast his first presidential vote for S. A. Douglass. He owns a half section of land five miles south of Germantown, and is one of the progressive farmers of the county.
Gen. William J. Smith was born in Birmingham, England, September 24, 1823, and came to America when a child, and served four and a half years at the painter's trade, in Goshen, Orange Co., N. Y. In 1846 he removed South and joined James Wheat's mounted rangers for the Mexican war. He participated in all the battles from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, and on that memorable campaign was one of Gen. Scott's bodyguard. In July, 1848, he was mustered out at the city of Memphis. He then worked at his trade of painting in this city for ten years, and in 1858 purchased a plantation at Grand Junction, Hardeman County, which he conducted successfully until the breaking out of the last war. He opposed secession from the start. His opinions becoming known, he was arrested four times by the Confederate authorities for disloyalty to the South, but was released, as the arrests were found unjustifiable. Soon afterward he joined the First West Tennessee Cavalry, afterward known as the Sixth Union Tennessee Cavalry, and after two months was made regimental quartermaster, six months later major, and a little later lieutenant-colonel. In 1864 he was made colonel of the united Sixth and Thirteenth Union Cavalry Regiments. Soon after this he was promoted to brevet brigadier-general. In 1865 he was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention to reinstate Tennessee in the Union, and later was elected to the Legislature from Hardeman County, and two years later was elected to the State Senate from Shelby County, and in November, 1868, was elected to Congress. In 1871 he was appointed surveyor of the port of Memphis by President Grant and served three terms. In 1878 he was very active in relieving the victims of the yellow fever at Grenada and was taken down with the scourge, but recovered, having been sent home. He was married in New York City, by Rev. Dr. William Berryan, to Miss Mary A. R. Slack, a native of New Brunswick. They have had eleven children, three now living—one son and two daughters—Victor R., Irene and Lillian. He is United States commissioner and notary public, and has been engaged in the real estate, lumber and abstract businesses in company with L. B. Eaton, of Memphis, for several years. Two years ago he was elected to the State Senate from Shelby County.
James H. Smith, cashier of the Memphis National Bank, of Memphis, was born in Shelbyville, Ky., July 6, 1835, and is the son of Abraham and Margaret (Campbell) Smith, both parents being natives of Kentucky. Our subject passed his youth and received his education in his native county, and in early manhood served as deputy circuit court clerk six years. In 1858 he came to Memphis and served as deputy sheriff of Shelby County four years. During the first years of the war he served as first assistant provost-marshal of the Confederate Government in West Tennessee. From the close of the war until 1882 he was engaged in the grocery and cotton businesses at Memphis. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 he was secretary of the Howard Association, of Memphis. In 1882 he went to Birmingham, Ala., and was made secretary of the Pratt Coal & Iron Company, the largest institution of the kind in the South, and he still serves as secretary and director of the same. In 1882 he was appointed postmaster of Memphis by President Arthur, and held the position until August 1, 1885. From 1879 to 1882 he represented Shelby County in the State Legislature. He was elected secretary of the Planters' Fire & Marine Insurance Company, of Memphis, in August, 1885, and resigned this position February 1, 1887, to accept his present position as cashier of the Memphis National Bank, of Memphis, one of the most solid institutions of the city, having a capital of $500,000. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He is married and has living three sons and two daughters. He is a deacon in the Linden Street Christian Church, of Memphis.
W. A. Smith, proprietor of the Avery Gin Company—business located at 391 and 393 Front Street, and established in 1879—was born in Alabama in 1845. He spent his youthful days clerking, and afterward engaged in the grocery business. In 1855 he immigrated to Arkansas with his parents, William H. and Minerva (Leverque) Smith, and in 1866 came to the city of Memphis. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate Army and remained in service until the close of the war. In 1866 he was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Sheffield, of Memphis, and by this union became the father of seven children, five of whom are now living. Mr. Smith is a member of the K. of H. and A. O. U. W., and his wife is a member of the First Baptist Church.
Albert H. Smith, proprietor of the Memphis Cotton Beam Manufactory & Scale Repair Works, established his business, which is located at 83 East Court Street, January 1, 1884. Mr. Smith is a native of Buffalo, N. Y., and served his apprenticeship in the Buffalo Scale Works; was also with the Howe Scale Works for some time. In 1874 he was married in the State of New York, and in December, 1883, he came to the city of Memphis. He is a skilled workman and makes a specialty of erecting and repairing scales.
W. M. Sneed, of the law firm of Myers & Sneed, was educated at Chapel Hill College, N. C., and afterward began the study of law and was admitted to practice at the bar of Oxford, N. C., in 1874. Soon after that date he came to Memphis and was associated with the firm of McRae, Myers & Sneed, which firm existed until 1877, when the present firm of Myers & Sneed was formed. In 1885 Mr. Sneed was elected president of the Woodruff Lumber Company, one of the leading lumber firms of this city. He has also been one of the directors of and attorney for the State National Bank of Memphis since its organization. Our subject was born August 7, 1848, and is one of a family of six children, all of whom are still living. Mr. Sneed is recognized as one of the rising young attorneys of the Memphis bar. His parents are W. M. and Louisa (Bethell) Sneed, and are natives of North Carolina, and were married in Granville County, where they followed agricultural pursuits. The mother died in 1863, and the father married Mrs. Sarah A. Bullock, who is also deceased.
John K. Speed, senior member of the firm of J. K. Speed & Co., grain and commission merchants, and member of the firm of J. M. Phillips & Co., grain dealers in West Memphis, is a native of Kentucky, and in 1835 was taken by his parents to Chicago, and in 1866 came to this city with his mother and engaged in the retail grocery trade. A few months later he established the grain and commission business to which he has since devoted his attention. He was the pioneer grain merchant of Memphis and loaded and unloaded the first barges of grain at this port. In 1874 in connection with the grain trade he began the milling business, and the Memphis City Mills are now among the best in the city. In West Memphis the company has a large elevator and a wharfboat, said to be the largest in the United States. Mr. Speed was the first president of the Board of Trade and of the Board of Exchange. He is interested in the extensive grain elevator at this city and is vice-president of the Home Insurance Company and is a director in the State National Bank. In 1871 he married a Miss Clark, of Peoria, Ill. His father died in Chicago.
Prof. Andrew J. Steele, principal of Le Moyne Normal Institute, was born July 2, 1848, in Wisconsin, and secured his education at Milton College, in that State, graduating from the State Normal School of Wisconsin in 1870. He then came South and took charge of the normal department of Tongaloo University, near Jackson, Miss., where he remained till 1873, after which he came to his present position. His parents, Samuel and Olive (Pierce) Steele, were natives, respectively, of Vermont and New York. The father, when young, moved to New York where he met and married Miss Pierce. In 1842 they moved to Wisconsin. In the family were eight children—five sons and three daughters. Three of the sons served in the Federal Army. Our subject when only seventeen years of age left home without the consent of his parents and entered Company L, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and served nearly two years of the latter part of the war. In 1871 he married Amelia Crandall, a native of Wisconsin and a graduate of Milton College, by whom he had two children: Jessie (deceased) and Howard. Both Mr. and Mrs. Steele are members of the Congregational Church.
J. D. Stewart, a farmer, residing in the First District of Shelby County, was born in Gibson County, Tenn., in 1824, and is a son of James T. and Mary A. (Craig) Stewart. The father was a resident of Gibson County and engaged in farming. He was a moral and industrious man, highly esteemed in his neighborhood. Our subject was educated in the common schools in Gibson County, the advantages offered by the primitive schools in the country at that time being meager. He enlisted in the Confederate Army under Col. Aaron Burrows, in 1862, but remained only a short time as his eyes were seriously affected, and when he returned home the citizens of his neighborhood petitioned for his release, that he might manage a mill, that was at that time much needed. In 1848 he married Miss Mary Epperson, daughter of Joseph Epperson, a farmer of Wilson County, Term. Ten children have been the issue of this union, seven of them now living. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a Mason, but does not adhere to any political party. He is a well-informed man, and a genial companion.
Dr. Cyrus M. Stewart, a leading physician in the First Civil District of Shelby County, Term., was born in Gibson County in 1832. He is a son of James T. Stewart, who was born in Sumner County, Tenn., in 1802, and moved from that county to Gibson County, where he lived for twenty years, then moved to Shelby County and engaged in farming until he died, January 31, 1880. He was a member and an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He married Miss Mary A. Craig, a native of Tennessee, born in 1821, and a daughter of Maj. Craig, who was a prominent officer in the Indian war during the early settlement of West Tennessee. Our subject was but thirteen, years of age when his father moved to Shelby County, Tenn. He was educated in the county, attending New Salem Academy. He has been practicing medicine since 1859. In March, 1860, he graduated in medicine at Cincinnati, and afterward graduated from the Memphis Medical College. Dr. Stewart was married February 16, 1860, to Miss Virginia A. Walker, a daughter of Rev. J. R. Walker, of Shelby County. They had two children, but both died, and Mrs. Stewart died August 18, 1864. She was a devout Christian and a member of the Methodist Church. Dr. Stewart was married the second time to Miss Kate J. Douglass, daughter of G. L. Douglass, a prominent farmer of the First District. Four children have been the issue of this marriage, only two of them living. Dr. and Mrs. Stewart are active members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a Mason and K. of H. He ranks high in his profession, and has met with marked success in his extensive practice. He is a Democrat and an influential citizen of Shelby County.
Prof. W. B. Stewart is a native of New Orleans, La., was born in 1843 and immigrated to Memphis with his parents, E. P. and Mary (Battle) Stewart, in 1846. The father was an extensive building contractor, also handled cotton on the factorage system. He was the second president elected for the Elmwood Cemetery, and held the office at the time of his death, which occurred in 1859; the mother followed in death in 1865. In 1861 our subject left his desk in the school room and enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Regiment Infantry, Confederate Army, and was discharged the same year at Columbus, Ky., on account of being afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism. In 1863 he re-enlisted, joining the Twelfth Tennessee Regiment Cavalry and remained in service until the close of the war. He then began teaching school and has continued in that business up to the present time. In 1871 he located in the village of Arlington, and has since made it his home. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and a good citizen.
A. A. Strange is one of the wholesale and retail coal dealers of Memphis, with yards at the corner of Clinton and Beale Streets, and at the corner of Market and Front Streets, where he handles Kentucky coal. Mr. Strange is a native of Memphis, born in 1858, but when a mere boy was taken to New York City where he received his education. At the age of fifteen he engaged in the mercantile business and in 1876 he came to Memphis. He was engaged in different occupations till 1883 when he opened a coal yard. He began at first by hiring teams, but by industry and close attention to business has attained a position among the leading coal dealers. His father, W. R. Strange, was one of the first book dealers in Memphis. He died in 1861. The mother, Maria (Merrill) Strange, is a daughter of Dr. A. P. Merrill. She is still living. Our subject is an experienced coal dealer, having worked formerly for C. B. Bryan & Co., and having been, also, traveling salesman for a mining company.
Dr. A. S. Stratton, of the firm of Stratton & Humphreys, was born in Athol, Mass., July 5, 1820. He is a son of David Stratton, who was a. native of Athol, Mass., where he was raised and educated and married to Sarah Wadsworth, who was of an English family. Three sons and three daughters were born to this marriage, our subject being the fifth child. The father was a farmer and by trade a shoemaker. He died in his, native State in 1854. He was of Scotch descent. The mother was born in Grafton, Mass., and died in Athol, Mass., in 1825. Our subject was. raised, and educated in the common schools of Grafton, and his time has been given to the practice of medicine and to merchandising all of his life. In 1845 he immigrated to Mississippi and settled near Como, where he read medicine under Dr. D. W. Harris, and afterward graduated at the Memphis Medical College in 1848, and commenced practicing at Colliersville, Tenn., where he became a member of the firm of Moore & Stratton, dealers in general merchandise. Afterward Dr. Stratton sold goods at Centerhill, Miss., for a year and a half; then returned to Colliersville, Tenn., where he again went into business, with E. J. Kindred,. but in May, 1868, their store was destroyed by fire, and he formed a partnership with J. T. Biggs and Co., which lasted sixteen years. In 1884 Dr. Stratton opened his present dry goods store under the firm name of Stratton & Humphreys. July 10, 1849, he married, in Shelby County, Miss Mary E. Chamberlain, a daughter of Jacob Chamberlain, who was a native of Connecticut. Mary Eudora, now the wife of T. H. Humphreys, junior member of the firm of Stratton & Humphreys, was the only child born to this marriage. Mrs. Stratton was born in Sharon, Conn., in November, 1821, and is a sister of the distinguished Rev. Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, who is a resident missionary at Manda Palla, India; also of W. J. Chamberlain, formerly secretary of the State board of agriculture of Ohio, and is now president of the Iowa State Agricultural College. Dr. Stratton has been successful as a business man, and popular as a physician. He owns a pleasant home in Colliersville, and in politics is an influential Democrat. Dr. Stratton and wife are prominent members of the Presbyterian Church.
John H. Sullivan, superintendent of the Kansas City Railroad, and of the Memphis, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad, was born in 1850, and is a native Tennessean in which State he was reared and educated. His parents were natives of Ireland, and came to America settling in Missouri, where the father followed agricultural pursuits. Our subject. has been prominently connected with several railroads. He was with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in various capacities in Missouri was with the Northern Pacific Railroad as superintendent from 1872 to 1876, and with the M. K. & T. Railroad as superintendent from 1876 to 1878. He then returned to the Northern Pacific and was superintendent of that during its building through the Yellowstone Valley in Montana. In 1880 he married S. P. Orrick of Kirkwood, St. Louis. Co., Mo., and to this union were born two children. In 1882 Mr. Sullivan was called to his present position. He has been an able and diligent official, as may be seen from his successive promotions.
Jeremiah Sullivan, secretary of the Memphis Board of Fire Underwriters, is a native of Memphis, Tenn., and was born December 7, 1862, being the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Powers) Sullivan, both parents being natives of the Emerald Isle. Our subject grew to manhood and received his education in the Memphis City public schools. In 1883 he became connected with the fire department and served in various positions—pipeman, driver, captain and secretary, to Chief Clary—receiving steady promotion for meritorious conduct. In September, 1886, he was elected to his present position, and is now faithfully and efficiently discharging the duties assigned him. He is yet unmarried, is a Democrat, and a member of the Catholic Church. He is chairman of the finance committee of the Memphis Fire & Relief Association, and is also secretary of the K. of H.
Julius A. Taylor, a member of the law firm of Taylor & Carroll, began reading law while acting as deputy clerk and master, at the age of seventeen years, and when the war broke out was reading in an office. He stopped his studies and enlisted in the Twenty-first Tennessee Confederate Infantry, with which command he served a year as lieutenant and was then transferred and held the same rank under Gens. Chalmers and Forrest until the cessation of hostilities. He then returned to Memphis and resumed the reading of law, and in 1866 was admitted to the bar. Except a few months he practiced alone until 1878 when the present firm of which he is a member was formed. From January, 1876, to January, 1882, he was attorney for the county of Shelby. He is one of a family of ten sons and four daughters, of whom four sons and two daughters survive. In 1866 he was married to Miss Margaret Ruffin, a native of Mississippi, who bore the following children, all living; James R., Fanny H., Rosa R. and Julius A. His wife died in 1879, and in 1881 he married Miss Louise Crawford, who has presented her husband with two children, both living: Margaret and West C. Mr. Taylor is a member of the following orders: F. & A. M., K. of P., K. of H. and A. O. U. W. His father was Dr. William V. Taylor, who was born in Yorktown, Va., in 1790. His mother was Fanny H., daughter of Chief Justice Henderson, of North Carolina, and was born in 1796. Dr. Taylor was assistant surgeon in the United States Navy during the war of of 1812. He practiced medicine for sixty years and died in 1872. After his marriage he lived in North Carolina, until 1836, then at LaGrange, Tenn., until 1810, then in Holly Springs, Miss., till 1848, then in Memphis until his death.
George W. Thomas, an enterprising merchant at Germantown, Tenn., was born.in Mississippi, May 23, 1837. His father, L. W. Thomas, was a native of North Carolina, and immigrated to Mississippi in 1837, settling at Pontotoc, where he was a merchant and a farmer, doing business with his.brother, Dr. Thomas. He was married in North Carolina to Miss Nancy McClintock. Eight children were born to them, George W. being the fourth child. Both parents died in Mississippi, the mother in April, 1847, and the father August 25, 1851. Our subject was raised on a farm, and through his own efforts secured a good education. He served in the late war; although opposed to the manner of settling the trouble between the North and the South, he entered the army and discharged his duty in a faithful, courageous manner. He was married in Fayette County, Tenn., October 3, 1865, to Miss M. F. Scott, daughter of M. Scott, a farmer, and a native of Virginia. They have had five sons and four daughters. The mother was born in Fayette County, where she was raised and educated.. The Thomas family is an old one in this country, and is of English and Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are active members of the Missionary Baptist Church; he is a Democrat, a Mason, and a K. of H. He owns 1,000 acres of land, 150 acres of it being in the home place at Germantown, Tenn., where he has a beautiful residence. Mr. Thomas has a frank, sincere disposition, and is known as a man of probity and kind heart, and has many friends.
The Memphis Carriage Works, located at 81 to 83 Madison Street, was established in December, 1886. Mr. G. W. Tomlin, the manager of this great enterprise, was reared in Jackson, Tenn., and came to Memphis in 1865. He has since that time been identified with the carriage business, having acted as manager for Woodruff & Oliver for fifteen years. At the time of the failure of said firm, he and William Benges purchased their stock and manufacturing department, and engaged in business under the firm name of Tomlin & Benges. Mr. Tomlin withdrew from the firm in November, 1886. He is the son of James S. and M. L. (Hawkins) Tomlin. In 1867 our subject married Martha Tanner, of this city, and a daughter of John A. Tanner. To this union were born eight children, two of whom died during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878. In May, 1861, Mr. Tomlin enlisted in the Confederate Army, Sixth Tennessee, as orderly sergeant, and near the close of the war was promoted to first lieutenant. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., the K. of H. and the K. of P.
William A. Tucker, one of the leading citizens of Kerrville, is a son of William B. and Elizabeth (Murphy) Tucker, both natives of North Carolina, where they were reared and married. They came to Tipton County in 1833, and here passed the residue of their days. Their family consisted of nine children—two sons and seven daughters. Our subject was born in Tipton County, Tenn., in 1834, and followed farming and merchandising until 1872, when he went to Memphis and was here engaged in mercantile pursuits till 1881. He then moved to Kerrville, and is still engaged in his last named occupation. In connection with this he carries on his farming interest, being the owner of about 600 acres of land. In 1861 he volunteered in a company of Arkansas cavalry, but ill health prevented his remaining long in service. In the fall of the same year, having sufficiently recovered, he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-first Tennessee Infantry, and during three and a half years of service was never taken prisoner. At the battle of Murfreesboro he received a wound from a bursting shell. At the conclusion of the war he returned home and engaged in mercantile pursuits until he removed to Memphis. Previous to the war, in 1857, he married Helen Montague, of Fayette County, who bore him four children—one son and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Tucker has been in business for about fourteen years, and has added much to the business progress of the county.
T. B. Turley, a member of the law firm of Turley & Wright, attended the University of Virginia one year in the literary department, and one year in the law department, from 1865 to 1867, and began the practice of law at Memphis in 1870, continuing alone one year, and then as a member of the firm of McKissick & Turley, until 1875; then with Harris, McKissick & Turley until 1880; then with Harris & Turley, and subsequently the firm of Turley & Wright was formed. They have a good practice, which is steadily increasing. Thomas J. Turley, the father of our subject, was a native of Virginia, and the mother, whose maiden name was Flora Battle, was a native of North Carolina, but was reared mainly in Shelby County. The father came to West Tennessee in his youth, and located in this county previous to 1840, and here married our subject's mother. He practiced law in Memphis until his death in 1854. The mother is still living. Our subject was an only child, and was born in April, 1845, and has always resided in this county. When the war broke out he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Confederate Regiment as a private, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville (Ky.), and numerous ones on the Georgia campaign, serving with honor and distinction until peace was declared. In 1869 he was joined in matrimony to Miss Irene Rayner, daughter of Eli Rayner, of this county, and by her has the following children: Rayner, Flora, Thomas and Mary. Mr. Turley is a Democrat, a member of the K. of H., and is one of the leading citizens of the city and county.
Gen. Alfred J. Vaughan, clerk of the criminal court of Shelby County, was born in Dinwiddie County, Va., May 10, 1830. In 1851 he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, and then adopted the profession of civil engineering. Locating at St. Joseph, Mo., he surveyed the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and was afterward appointed deputy United States surveyor of California. November 6, 1856, he was united in marriage with Miss Martha J. Hardaway, of Mississippi, and to this union there are five living children—three sons and two daughters. After his marriage he settled in Mississippi, where he resided until the late war broke out. He at first opposed a dissolution of the Union, but finally went with his adopted State, Mississippi. He raised a company in Marshall County, of that State, but they could not be received, owing to lack of military equipments. He then joined a company at Moscow, Tenn., and was elected captain. He followed the fortunes of the grand army of Tennessee, fighting gallantly at Belmont, Shiloh, Richmond, (Ky.), Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, and rising steadily in rank and in the confidence of his superiors. At the bloody battle of Chickamauga he was made brigadier-general by President Davis, on the field, for conspicuous gallantry. In the fight near Marietta, Ga., on the 4th of July, 1864, he unfortunately lost his leg. After the war he engaged in farming in Mississippi. In 1872–73 he was connected with the Grange movement, and was located at Memphis. In 1878 he was elected, on an independent Democratic ticket, clerk of the criminal court. In 1882 he was unanimously nominated for the same office by the Democratic convention, and was, at the election following, again elected. He was not a candidate in 1886. In this election his majority over his opponent was 5,701, one of the greatest ever given for any candidate in the county. He is a very popular officer, and is the soul of honor, and accordingly no citizen stands higher in the estimation of the public. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the K. of H. and the R. A., and himself and wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Memphis.
Rev. Father John Veale was born October 2, 1846, in County Waterford, Ireland. He received instruction at the national schools, the Christian Brothers' school and then began his classical studies under the famous Mr. Dwyer of Dungawan, who had educated over 400 priests. He then attended Mt. Mellary Seminary and graduated from this institution in 1865. After this he entered the Foreign Missionary College of All Hallows, Dublin, being ordained priest in 1870. The same year he came to America and located at Nashville. After acting assistant of the late Very Reverend M. Riordan for a time he was sent to Jackson, Tenn., where he remained three years as pastor. In 1876 he was recalled to the cathedral at Nashville where he served in various capacities till 1881 when he came to Memphis and assumed the duties of pastor of Patrick's Church at that place.
A. J. Vincent is manager for C. W. and S. G. Boyd, dealers in pine and hardwood lumber, making a specialty of walnut, ash and poplar lumber. Their offices are at No. 1 Madison Street, Memphis, and No. 91 Water Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. Our subject, the manager of this branch of their business, is a native of Michigan and a son of W. H. and Rachel (Shimmel) Vincent, both natives of Watertown, N. Y. Mr. Vincent has devoted many years of his life to the lumber business, trading in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi and is not only one of the most energetic and thorough-going business men of this section of the country but has the respect and esteem of all who know him. In 1879 he married Jennie Snodgrass of Metropolis, Ill., the daughter of David and Annie Snodgrass. To this marriage were born two children: Harry S. and Gertrude. In October, 1885, our subject permanently located in this city and engaged with C. W. and S. G. Boyd, one of the largest hardwood lumber firms in the United States. Later, since the above was first put in type the lumber firm has failed in business and is succeeded by Charles C. Boyd & Co., who occupy the same offices here and at Cincinnati and transact the same business. Mr. Vincent remains with the new company.
Joseph K. Waddy was born in Roane County, Tenn., May 11, 1820 His father, Samuel Waddy, was a native of Virginia, and in early life immigrated to Huntsville, Ala. Before leaving Virginia he married Martha H. Kimbrough, and of ten children born to them five sons and three daughters lived to be grown, our subject being the seventh child born. The father moved to Roane County, Tenn., in 1818, and remained till 1825, when he moved to Davis, Tenn. He was engaged in farming until 1830, then went into the hotel business at Paris, where he died in 1840. The mother was born in Virginia, and died in 1845 while on a visit to friends in East Tennessee. Joseph K. Waddy was raised in Paris, Tenn., and received a good English education, and has been a merchant since leaving college. In 1849 Mr. Waddy moved to Colliersville, Shelby County, and was married in that county, September 24, 1851, to Miss Virginia H. Vaden, a daughter of William Vaden, a farmer and native of Virginia. The children born to this marriage were William S., born October 31, 1853, and died December 18, 1864; Vaden S., born February 18, 1856, and died February 14, 1857 ; Mollie Holmes, born July 29, 1859, and died December 30, 1884. She graduated from Bellevue College in 1877, and April 25, 1878, she married Mr. T. H. Canon. They had four children: Emma Holmes, Joe Waddy, Thomas Hope and Alfred Orville. Mrs. Waddy, the wife of our subject, was born in Virginia in 1833. In 1849 Mr. Waddy went into the mercantile business in Colliersville and still continues that business. He was an old line Whig, but is now a Democrat. He is one of the leading business men of the place and a man of fine character and correct business principles, and is the president of the board of directors of Bellevue College, and also of the board of directors of Magnolia Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Waddy are active members of the Christian Church. They have six acres of land in the center of the town, with a handsome residence upon an elevated and beautiful site, and they contribute a great deal to the pleasure of the social circle of their town. Mr. Waddy is justly recognized as a leading citizen.
Rev. William Walsh, rector of St. Brigid's Church, Memphis, was born in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland, May 4, 1850. He was educated at Prof. Walter Hawe's Intermediate School and at the Augustinian College, Callan, and later at St. Jarlath's College at Tuan, From 1869 to 1874 he attended and graduated from All Hallow's College, Dublin, and was ordained priest at this institution June 24, 1874. He came to the United States in September of the same year, and was attached to St. Peter and Paul's Church, Chattanooga, and to several missions in Tennessee east of Nashville. In October, 1876, he was sent by Bishop Feehan to Memphis to serve as an assistant to Rev. Martin Walsh, pastor of St. Brigid's Church, continuing thus until the death of the latter, August 29, 1878, since which time he has been in charge of the church. He is a very able pastor, a courteous gentleman and is greatly respected by his congregation.
Hiram Campbell Warinner, a member of the law firm of Eastes & Warinner, graduated at Bethany College, Virginia, in 1857, and at the commencement of the war enlisted as a private in Clark's Second Missouri Battery, Confederate States Army, and after seven months was promoted to first lieutenant. He participated in the battles of Oak Hills, Mo.; Lexington, Mo.; Elkhorn Ridge, Corinth, Iuka, Van Dorn, Atlanta and elsewhere, serving the last few months of the war in Forrest's command. In December, 1865, he came to Memphis and resumed the study of law, and was admitted to the Memphis bar in August, 1866. He was first with Chalmers, Lee & Warinner, then with Lee & Warinner, then with Warinner & Lee, and in January, 1884, formed the present partnership with Mr. Eastes. Willis W. Warinner, the father of our subject, was born in Lincoln County, Ky., in 1810, and was married there to Miss Clemence Mason, who bore him five children. The mother died in about 1847, and the father then married Margaret Scales, who bore him eight children. These parents live at Richmond,. Mo. The father followed merchandising and banking at that place, and at Kansas City, but is now retired. Our subject was born in February, 1841, and was married in 1867 to Miss Sally T. Ardinger, a native of Missouri, who has presented her husband with the following children : Annie Bodieu, Carrie Belle, Hugh Lee, Gussie and Ardinger. Mr. Warinner is a Democrat, but has no political aspirations.
Fred J. Warner, merchant and resident of Bartlett, Tenn., is a son of F. L. and Matilda (Young) Warner, and was the second of six children born to this marriage. The father was captain in the Confederate Army, in Gen. Sneed's command, and was the founder of the German National Bank, of Memphis, and was considered one of the prominent and influential citizens of that city. The mother was a native of Germany, and came to this county when quite young. Fred J. Warner was educated at Memphis, and after completing his education engaged in farming, on a farm belonging to his mother in the Seventh District. In 1883 he established his present business at Bartlett, and has succeeded well with it. He married Miss Sallie Miller, daughter of W. N. Miller, a prominent farmer in the Seventh District of Shelby County, and has one child by this marriage. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Methodist Church; he is a member of the K. & L. of H., and is a true Democrat. He possesses many excellent qualities that have won for him a host of friends.
Cesar Weatherford, collector of delinquent revenue, was born in North Carolina, May 29, 1843, son of William and Frances G. (Hooper) Weatherford, natives of Virginia. At the breaking out of the war, Caesar Weatherford was at college in Cheatham County. He responded to the call to arms, left college and enlisted in the Fourteenth Tennessee Regiment, Company H, of the Confederate States Army. He served during the entire war and so conducted himself as a soldier that he enjoyed the confidence of both officers and men, and especially of his immediate commander. He was promoted for gallantry at the battles of Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown, and was complimented by his commander for individual gallantry at the battle of the Wilderness. While in the trenches in front of Petersburg his name was forwarded for promotion for meritorious conduct during the campaign. It was through the lines of the brigade to which he belonged that the enemy made their entrance into Petersburg, the men being stationed behind the works eight feet apart. After the line was broken and the brigade surrounded and retreat almost cut off, he was directed by Gen. McComb, commanding, to take such men as were available and skirmish with the head of the Federal column in order to aid the retreat and save as much of the brigade as possible. This he did, until finally he was surrounded and captured, near the banks of Hatchie River, while making an effort to swim across. He was carried to Fort Delaware prison, where he remained until the breaking up of the war. He returned home and went to college at Russellville and to the law school at Lebanon. He located in Memphis in 1870 and practiced law in the firm of Weatherford & Weatherford, and afterward of Heiskell, Weatherford & Heiskell. December 19, 1870, he married Eliza Heiskell, of East. Tennessee, and they have five living children. Mr. Weatherford is a Democrat in politics, a Knight of Honor and a Methodist Episcopalian in religious belief.
Dr. A. M. West, a talented physician of Memphis and professor of chemistry and hygiene in the Memphis Hospital Medical College, was born in Memphis March 5, 1849, and is one of a family of nine children, six of whom are still living. The parents are A. M. and C. O. (Glover) West. The father was born in Alabama in 1818, and for many successive terms, before the war, served in the State Senate of Mississippi. In the early part of the late war he served as brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, and was afterward candidate for governor. He was defeated by Gen. Charles Clark, who had returned home permanently disabled by wounds received in the service and was therefore invincible before the people of his State. Gen. West afterward served as quartermaster-general of his State until the termination of the war, when he was elected president of the Mississippi Central Railroad Company (now the Illinois Central Railroad), and was elected to Congress. He was one of the Tilden electors for the State at large in 1876, and was afterward a candidate for Vice-president of the United States on the Greenback ticket with B. F. Butler. Although not a partisan Democrat he has uniformly acted with that party and voted its ticket, save when he had the opportunity to support a worthy Greenbacker. He is now a resident of Holly Springs, Miss., and one of the prominent men of the State. The mother, who has been an invalid for many years, is generally known and recognized as possessed of rare intellect. Our subject graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1869 with high honor, receiving the degree of B. A., and served as assistant professor of mathematics in the same institution after graduating. He also graduated with honor at the University of Pennsylvania, and was unanimously elected by a class of over 300 students to deliver an address to the faculty and board of trustees. He read law a short time, but preferring the medical profession began the study of medicine and spent eighteen months in the medical department of the University of Virginia and while here served as editor of the college magazine. In August, 1876, he located at Holly Springs, Miss., where he practiced his profession successfully and was for a number of years health officer of the county. December 5, 1877, he married Eva W., daughter of Judge J. W. and E. D. Clapp, of Memphis, and to them have been born three children: Evlyn L., Alston Madden and Jere. Dr. West has built up a large practice since moving to Memphis and is recognized as an excellent citizen and a most skillful physician.
William A. Wheatley, United States commissioner and real estate broker, is a native of this city and was born January 4, 1843. His father was Seth Wheatley, a distinguished lawyer of this city in antebellum days. Our subject was educated at Macon College, Randolph, Va., and upon the breaking out of the war enlisted with the Culpeper riflemen, Thirteenth Virginia Confederate Regiment, under Capt. Stockton Heath, and in this command served one year, and then came to Memphis and enlisted in Saunder's cavalry, and served as a non-commissioned officer until the surrender at Shreveport, La., in 1865. He returned to Memphis in 1867 and engaged in the real estate business, at which occupation he has since been continuously engaged. He now has one of the largest businesses of the kind in the city. He is a Democrat in politics and is one of the solid men of the city. October 1, 1867, he was joined in marriage with Miss Bettie Bowen, of Winchester, Va., and by her has three living children—one son and two daughters.
Col. F. M. White. Among the emigrants who came to America from Leicester, England, as early as 1720, was one by the name of John White, then aged twenty years, who settled in Orange County, Va. One of his grandsons was Thomas White, a native of Orange County, Va., whose father, when quite young, removed to Elbert County, Ga., where he grew to man's estate. Among the fair daughters of Virginia he sought a wife in Elizabeth G. Clarke, with whom he returned to Georgia to make that their permanent home. Their family consisted of twelve children, only two of whom are now living. In early life the father followed merchandising and later became a planter. Politically he was a Whig, and for a number of years was a member of the Georgia Legislature. Having lived an active and useful life they passed away and are now sleeping in the soil of their adopted State. Col. F. M. White, son of the above and president of the Mississippi & Tennessee Railroad, was born December 16, 1810, in Jones County, Ga. He was reared on a farm and received an academic education. In 1834 he married Lucinda S. McGehee, who was born 1815, and this union resulted in the birth of four children—three sons and one daughter. In 1847 his first wife died and later in the following year he wedded Frances Hamilton, who bore him one son, Francis H. Soon after his second wife died, and in 1858 he married Catherine Gardner, of Augusta, Ga. He and his present wife are members of the Episcopal Church ; his other wives were also professors of religion. In 1840 the Colonel moved to Miss. to engage in farming and has since been thus interested. In 1852 he was appointed by the State Legislature as commissioner to assist in organizing the Mississippi & Tennessee Railroad Company. The following year he was elected president of the same, holding that position continuously since. He is also interested in the great Gayoso Hotel. He was a Whig till that party went down, and since then has been a Democrat. He has always been just in dealing and pre-eminently successful in business.
Dr. Elbert A. White, an old resident and physician of Memphis, was born in Alabama in 1825, and was one of a family of six children, four of them living. The parents were John D. and Sabra White; the father was born in Georgia in 1794, and moved to Shelby County, Tenn., in 1830, and at one time owned much of the land where the city of Memphis now stands. He was a farmer, and died in 1849. The mother's maiden name was Sabra McNees; she was born in 1792, and died in 1860. Dr. White was educated at Cumberland College at Princeton, Ky., and read medicine under Dr. Brown, of Memphis; then attended the Memphis Medical College and graduated in 1850, and has met with marked success as a physician, and has rendered valuable service during the visitations of yellow fever, doing a great deal as a physician and a citizen to alleviate the suffering. In 1849 he married Miss Almeda Waldran, who died in 1862. Three of the four children born to this marriage are living. In 1865 Dr. White married Miss Susan, daughter of James Felts. Mrs. White is a native of Shelby County. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. White is a Mason, a K. of H. and an ardent Democrat.
A. J. Whitney, master of trains on the Little Rock Railroad, was born in Jersey City, N. J., and is one of the three sons born to the union of C. O. and Adelia (Swartz) Whitney, natives of New Jersey. For a calling in life the father followed railroading. He filled the position of superintendent of the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad for some time. He died in 1872. The mother is still living. The subject of this sketch was educated principally at Elmira, N. Y., but completed his scholastic training at Lookout Mountain Educational Institute. For three years Mr. Whitney was operator at Chattanooga and was subsequently train dispatcher, which position he held for nine years. In 1885 he assumed the duties and responsibilities of master of trains on the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad. He is an obliging young man, and one whose business qualifications are highly spoken of by his company.
Dr. E. Miles Willett, Sr., well known as one of the leading physicians in Memphis, Tenn., is a native of Kentucky; he was graduated in the classical department of St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Ky., in 1851, and two years later received the degree of Master of Arts in the same institution. Having decided to adopt the profession of medicine he repaired to Philadelphia, where he remained more than four years, attending the lectures of the eminent professors of that day, in the colleges and hospitals of that city, then the most famous seat of medical instruction in this country. He graduated in Jefferson Medical College in the class of 1855, and then had the good fortune to be elected one of the resident physicians of Philadelphia Hospital, where he served a term of one year. This hospital, better known as Blockley Almshouse, had a population of 2,300 and 280 children, besides 1,000 beds for the indigent sick, who were afflicted with all the ills that human flesh is heir to. As resident physician he was not a mere looker on, but it was his duty to treat disease in all its countless manifestations, the medical department being under the management of one chief resident and eight resident physicians. In the deadhouse opportunities were offered every day to study the ravages of disease. His term of office having expired, he decided in the spring of 1857 to make Memphis, Tenn., his future home, not on account of personal friendships, for he did not know any one in that city, but simply on account of what he supposed to be the advantages of the location. As he was quite youthful in appearance, he did not jump at once into practice; his success was gradual but permanent. Since 1860 he has enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. During the four terrible epidemics of yellow fever, which visited this ill-fated city, he might have always been seen in the front ranks of that noble band of physicians, who by day and through the lonely hours of the night, regardless of personal danger, were in constant attendance on the victims of this dreadful scourge. To his praise be it said, he was equally prompt and conscientious in the discharge of his professional duty to the poor as to the rich. He has always manifested great devotion to his profession, and with the exception of an extensive tour of Europe, and an occasional visit to the northern cities, he has rarely taken a trip for pleasure, but is always engaged in the active duties of his calling, visiting the sick, or he may be found in his library reading up in connection with his cases, or it may be, studying kindred branches of science as an ornamental part of education. He was one of the original members of the faculty of the Memphis Hospital Medical College, and as such lectured on the diseases of women and clinical medicine for five years. At present he is professor of clinical medicine, physical diagnosis and diseases of the chest. He has always been regarded with great favor by the various classes of medical students as a fluent and pleasant lecturer and impressive teacher. He has always been held in high esteem by his professional brethren because of his uniform courtesy and great sincerity. He was one of the medical directors of the Southern Life Insurance Company for ten years, the term of its existence, and he had the honor to be elected the first supreme medical examiner of the C. K. of A., which place he has held for six years. These offices were not simply positions of empty honor but there was attached to the one as there was to the other a great deal of work and a substantial salary. The organization of Catholic Knights of America is a mutual benevolent society composed of between 400 and 500 branches and 20,000 members, scattered through the States and Territories of this country. When you ara told that all of the medical examinations, made for this order throughout the United States, must be superintended by the supreme medical examiner, the nature of the office will be understood, and when it is stated that since the office was created Dr. Willett, the present incumbent has rejected nearly 1,000 applicants, the importance and responsibility of the office will be appreciated, especially when you remember that each accepted application represents a liability of $2,000.
John W. Willey is a son of Willis and Mary (Perkins) Willey, natives of Halifax County, N. C. The father was born in 1790 and moved to Tennessee in 1803. The mother was born in 1800, and when young came to Tennessee. Their marriage occurred in Dickson County, where both passed the remainder of their days engaged in agricultural pursuits. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812 under Jackson. Their family consisted of ten children, our subject being the fourth. He was born in Dickson County. May 28, 1825, and when twenty-three years of age came to Tipton County. In 1849 he began running mills, and from that time till the breaking out of the war he continued in that business. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-first Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, and was one of the brave defenders of Fort Donelson, where he was captured. For seven months he was imprisoned at Camp Butler, Ill., and such was his health when released that he did very little more in the service. After the war he engaged in the firm of Willey &, Merrell. Mr. Willey is largely interested in landed property, owning about 900 acres. In 1856 he married Nancy E. Miller, of Tipton County, by whom he has one child—Mary, now the wife of H. N. Smith. Mr. Willey is also interested in the Kerrville Agricultural Association. He is a Democrat in politics, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
W. N. Wilkerson, vice-president of the Security Bank of Memphis, and a member of the wholesale drug firm of W. N. Wilkerson & Co., 334 Main Street, was born in 1831 in Montgomery County, Tenn. His parents were Samuel M. and Mary A. (Wyatt) Wilkerson, natives of Virginia. The father had been school director in Haywood County for about forty years next prior to his death in 1884. The mother, in her seventy-eighth year, is still living. Upon reaching manhood our subject studied medicine and practiced the same a short time before the war. He served three years in the Confederate service, and in 1864 came to Memphis and established his present drug business in 1865. He is a member of the firm of D. B. Blair & Co., Australia, Miss., where they own a large plantation and a general merchandise store. He wrote the charter of the Memphis City & General Insurance Company, of which he is vice-president, and with which he has been connected since its organization. His wholesale drug trade varies from $250,000 to $300,000 annually. In April, 1878, he was joined in marriage to a daughter of Judge L. V. Dixon, and has by her four living children and two deceased.
George Winchester was born in Baltimore, Md., July 14, 1818, and is the son of William and Henrietta (Cromwell) Winchester. The father was a son of William Winchester, who was a brother of Gen. James Winchester, two of the original proprietors of the Chickasaw Bluffs. The father, who was a first cousin to Marcus B. Winchester, came to 'Tennessee in 1800 and located in Sumner County, but returned East after a three-years' residence. In 1831 our subject came to Tennessee, locating first in Jackson, but three years later moved to Brownsville,. where he married and resided eleven years. In 1845 he came to Memphis and carried on the mercantile business two years, and then engaged in the cotton business, and has thus been engaged, with a short intermission, from that day to this, being one of three antebellum cotton buyers of this city. Mr. Winchester is a Democrat, but takes no active interest in politics. In 1859 he was one of the organizers of the De Soto Insurance Company, and was its secretary until the war stopped business. In 1839 he married Miss Jane, daughter of Col. Richard Nixon, of Hayward County, and by her has had twelve children, of whom only four are now living.
Woods & Swoope, dealers in wagons, buggies, carriages, all kinds of agricultural implements, harness, saddlery, engines, and mowers, are the sole agents in this city for the Studebaker wagon. This firm is unequaled for variety of stock in the South. The members are Frank F. Woods and W. C. Swoope, who established their business in September, 1885, and are located at 332 Second Street, Memphis. Mr. Woods was born in Nashville and came to Memphis in 1873. He is a son of Joseph L. and Fannie (Foster) Woods, and grandson of Robert Woods,. a distinguished member of the old firm of Woods & Yateman of the Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company. Mr. Woods engaged with Orgill Bros. of this city in the hardware business and from them obtained his knowledge of his present business. He is the principal manager of the business. December 16, 1880, he married Annie H. Hancock, of Florence, Ala., and the daughter of James Hancock, the well known member of the firm of Hancock, Jones & Co. Mr. Woods is a member of the K. of H. .Woods & Swoope were lately succeeded by Woods & Woods, composed of F. F. and R. J. Woods.
Hon. Archibald Wright (deceased) was for over thirty years the recognized leader of the Memphis bar. He was born in Maury County, Tenn., November 29, 1809, but was reared in Giles County and studied law at Pulaski under Judge Bromlett. He was admitted to the bar at that place in 1832. He secured his education partly at Mt. Pleasant Academy, near Columbia, and partly at Giles College, Pulaski. His parents, John and Nancy (McIntyre) Wright, were both natives of North Carolina and both of Scottish parentage. Our subject practiced at the Pulaski bar until October 1, 1861, and then moved to this city where, at different times, he was associated with Judges Eldridge, Turley and Curran. In August, 1858, he received an appointment from Gov. I. G. Harris, to the supreme bench of the State to fill an unexpired term. In November of the same year he was elected to the same position, which he filled with credit until the breaking out of the war. He was not a regular soldier during this unpleasantness, but helped the soldiers fight, followed them in their battles, bivouacked with them and shared their dangers and privations. He had two sons in the service; one was killed at Stone's River; the other, Gen. Luke Wright, is a resident of this city. Our subject's name was mentioned in connection with the supreme bench long before he was placed there, but he was never a strong aspirant for office, preferring rather to prepare for, than to seek office. He served in the Florida war, and soon after his return married Elizabeth Eldridge, May 29, 1837. He was a member of the Methodist Church and led a true devoted Christian life. At the bar he was not demonstrative in language or polished in oratory, but his arguments were always clear, comprehensive and convincing. He was noted for simplicity of character and by his death, which occurred September 4, 1884, Tennessee lost one of her noblest men, the bar one of her greatest leaders and Memphis one of her most prominent and beloved citizens.
Hon. Thomas B. Yancey, United States marshal for the Western District of Tennessee, was born in Fayette County, Tenn., October 10, 1843, and is the son of Alexander L. and Elizabeth (Bragg) Yancey, both natives of North Carolina. Thomas B. passed his youth in his native county without noteworthy event, and having graduated in medicine and dentistry at Baltimore College he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in Somerville, Fayette County. He at once secured an encouraging practice which steadily increased until he left to accept the position he now holds (September, 1886). During the war Dr. Yancey served two years in the Confederate service as a private and two years on the staff of Gens. Preston Smith and Vaughan, ranking as first lieutenant and afterward as captain. In November, 1884, he was elected to the State Legislature and served in the session of 1885-86, securing his election from the Democracy, of the principles of which party he is a strong supporter. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity and of the Episcopal Church. In April, 1871, he was united in marriage with Miss Narcissa J. Warren, and by her has a family of three sons and three daughters.
James Yonge, a member of the firm of Mullins & Yonge, cotton factors and commission merchants, and a director of the Home Insurance Company, is a native of England and came to America in youth. He returned to England to educate himself, and then again came to the United States, locating in Georgia, where he connected himself with the lumber and manufacturing business until 1870, when he came to Memphis and became superintendent of the Memphis & Tennessee Railroad. Two years later he became a member of the firm of F. M. White & Co., wholesale grocers and cotton factors, which firm existed about one year, when Col. White withdrew and the firm of J. W. Caldwell was formed and continued to exist until February, 1885. In August of that year the present firm was formed. It is now doing a handsome and profitable business. In 1866 our subject was married to Miss Wilson, of Augusta, who has borne four children, all living. The parents of our subject were natives of England. The family remained in that country, while the father followed boating along the American coast, where he finally died off of Georgia.
James W. Young was born in Memphis, Tenn., July 17, 1852, and is a son of Dr. James Young, an eminent physician, who was born in Chambersburg, Penn., September 13, 1800. He was raised and educated at that place, and graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania; then moved to Tennessee, bringing with him letters of introduction to some of the leading citizens of Nashville, and by their ad-vice established himself in Jackson, Tenn., and was soon recognized as a successful practitioner. In 1832 he married Miss Rebecca R. Hogg, daughter of Dr. Hogg, a well known physician of Nashville. Soon after his marriage Dr. Young moved to Nashville and formed a partnership with Dr. Hogg in the practice of medicine, and from Nashville moved to Natchez, Miss., where he continued to practice until 1840; then moved to Memphis, Tenn. His wife died without children in 1847, and he afterward married Mrs. Mary N. Coffee, a daughter of John Brahan, who was a native of Farquier County, Va. Two sons and two daughters were born to this union, three now living: our subject, William B. and Rebecca L. The mother was born in Huntsville, Ala., May 10, 1817, and is still living in Shelby County. She had one son by her first marriage: John D. Coffee, who died at Devall's Bluff, Ark., in 1874. Our subject was raised on the farm, and well educated under Prof. Tutwiler, of Alabama. He was married in Shelby County, Tenn., December 14, 1876, to Miss Kittie McConnell, daughter of James McConnell. One daughter, Mary, was born to this union. Mrs. Young died July 13, 1881, and June 18, 1884, Dr. Young married Miss Louisa Johnson, daughter of the Rev. W. C. Johnson, D. D., of the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was born in Holly Springs, Miss., February 24, 1859. Dr. Young is a prominent Democrat, and is at present a member of the executive committee of the county, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South; his mother and sister are members of the Presbyterian Church. He owns 160 acres of land four miles northeast of Memphis, on the Raleigh Road, which is devoted entirely to garden planting. Dr. Young is well known in social, business and political circles, and is a man of influence and integrity.
Zellner & Co., one of the leading wholesale and retail boot and shoe firms of Memphis, was established in the year 1872, by David Zellner and Emil L. Goldbaum, both of whom were born in Germany. Mr. Zellner came to America when quite young, being the only one of his family who crossed the waters. After clerking a number of years he saved sufficient means to open a shoe store in St. Louis, under the firm name of Green & Zellner. Some time later he dissolved this partnership and came to Memphis, which city he recognized at once as most promising for future development and concluded to make this his permanent home. There he met his present partner, Mr. E. L. Goldbaum, with whom he again engaged in the boot and shoe business. The firm took high rank at the start, and from a modest beginning became the leading shoe house in the Southwest, and is noted for its liberality, enterprise, push and energy. Their reputation for highest class foot wear is not confined to Memphis alone, but extends into many adjoining States, from which they derive a large share of their business through orders by mail. In 1874 Mr. Zellner married Miss Annie Sonfield, of Memphis, by whom he has two sous and two daughters. Mr. Goldbaum came to the States in 1864, coming direct to Memphis, where he has resided ever since. After being a traveling salesman for Schwab & Co. for eight years he gave up his position and joined Mr. Zellner in establishing the now famous firm of Zellner & Co. In 1885 he wedded Miss Louise Andrews, a daughter of Mr. J. I. Andrews, one of the pioneers, and who built the first three-story brick house, now known as the Commercial Hotel, of Memphis. Both of the firm are thoroughly identified with the commercial and financial interests of the city, Mr. Zellner being a director of the Merchants' Protective Association, and trustee of the Security Savings Bank & Trust Company. Mr. Goldbaum is a director in the Memphis Building & Loan Association, and also a trustee of the Manhattan Savings & Trust Company.
Paulette Carpenter, Project Coordinator
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