More than half of Cannon County lies in the Central Basin, and the
remainder on the Highland Rim. Spurs shoot out from the highlands,
forming numerous valleys, through which course mountain streams, giving
the county probably as much varied and picturesque scenery as any in the
State. The soils on the highlands are light colored, and are for the most
part thin and unproductive, save of a rank, barren grass which affords
good summer grazing. Fruits and tobacco will also grow, in the highland
soils. The knobs of the Central basin are usually fertile to the top, but
limestone crops out in such abundance as to render much of the surface
unfit for cultivation. In the basin, however, is found the valuable farm
lands of the county. The soil is rich, loamy and pebbly, easily worked and
highly productive. Bluegrass grows spontaneously and luxuriantly on the
slopes and tops of the hills, and even in the glades, furnishing rich
pasturage. The crops of the county are corn, wheat, hay, clover, tobacco
and the grasses, while the timber embraces species of oak, ash, poplar,
walnut, hickory, chestnut, gum, maple, beech, buckeye, cherry and elm.
Stone River traverses the county from the east to the west, receiving
the waters of numerous tributaries, and is the principal water course of
the county. Other streams are Rockhouse, Carpenter, Rush, Lock, Hill,
Hollis and Brawley Creeks, all emptying into the Stone River, Carson Fork,
emptying into Brawley Creek, and Barren Fork of Collins River, Clear Fork,
Sycamore, Hurricane, Saunders and Marshall Creeks.
The country now embraced in
Cannon County was settled as early as 1807 and 1809, though it
then belonged to several other counties in part. The early settlers were
chiefly North Carolinians, who, however, came here from East Tennessee, to
which section they had previously immigrated in quest of homes, but pushed
on over the mountains as Middle Tennessee opened up for settlement. Among
the settlers living here in 1836, when Cannon County was organized, were
Henry D. McBroom, John Wood, James and Edmond Taylor, Wm. Hollis, Noel
Lilly, Isham Cherry, Alexander Hill, Phillip Rough, Phillip Hoas, Henry
Ford, Benjamin Allen, Usibid Stone, George St. John, Wm. Mears,
Melchesedec Self, Joseph Harrison, Samuel Lewis, Wm. Middleton, James and
John Barkley, Richard Vincent, Alexander Orr, Wm. McFerrin, Calvin Carlee,
Jackson Wherry, Daniel Travis, Arthur Warren, Phillip Mouser, Joshua
Barton, George Petty, Benjamin Arant, L.S. Gilliam, Reuben Evans,
Benjamin Blodes, Tilman Bethal, G.W. Duncan, Joseph Simpson, D.M. Stewart,
James Ferrell, Archibald Stone, J.G.W. Rose, Joseph Clark, Asa Smith,
Elijah Stephens, James M. Brown, John Wright, Pumphry Bynum, Charles Espy,
Wm. Preston, Sr., Walter Wood, Benjamin Cummings, Sr., Warren Cummings,
Wm. Cummings, Sr., John Stone, Andrew Melton, Caleb and Wm. Sevillirant,
Joseph James, James Miles, Alexander McBroom, Kit and Wm. Pyburn, Cullin
Corlee, Edmond Sutton, William, James and John Wood, Nathan Finley, Jesse
and James Todd, Robert Carson, Jonathan Jones, Ambrose Petty, Thomas
Williams, John McClain, Archibald Hicks, Thomas Fowler, Gideon Rucker,
Jesse G. Moore, Louis Jetton, Gabriel Elkins, James Hawkins and Charles
Evans, many of who are still living. One of the first schools taught in
what is now Cannon County was the one situated about seven miles west of
Woodbury, of which James Barklay was the teacher.. This school was taught
as early as 1810 or 1812. Other Early schools of the years between the
above school and 1815 were taught by Jacob Mackeroy, on Hill Creek, one
and a half miles east of Woodbury; by Bartlett Wade, in the same
neighborhood, and later in that neighborhood by John Finley. In about 1814
James Rucker opened a school in Woodbury (then Danville), and a few years
later Elliot Tunley taught a school in the Methodist meeting-house in
town. The next school in Woodbury was taught by Thomas G. Wood. Laurens
Academy was established in Woodbury in 1838 as a county academy, for which
a frame building was erected. In 1859 the house was destroyed by a fire,
when a substantial brick was erected, which is now occupied as a private
residence. In about 1855 Baptists established a school, which has since
become the Woodbury College. The school building is a large two-story
brick, and the school a most excellent one. The other schools of the
county besides the commons schools are those at Short Mountain, Auburn,
Bradysville and Readerville, those at Woodbury and Short Mountain being
chartered and working under the four-mile law. In 1838 the scholastic
population of Cannon County was 1,961; in 1868, 3,559, and in 1885, as
follows: White--male, 2,296; female, 2,251. Colored--male, 118; female,
179; total, white and colored, 4,844. Among the first churches of Cannon
County were Brawley Fork Baptist Church, in which is now the Third
District; Prospect Methodist Church, on Hill Creek, in the Sixth District;
Ford Meeting-house, Christian, in the Sixth District, and Corlee’s
Meeting-house, on Brawley Fork, also in the Sixth District, all of which
were log houses and built all along between 1815 and 1820. The first
church erected in Woodbury was a log house, built about 1820 by the Methodists.
This stood until about 1840, when the present brick was erected.
The next was a frame church erected by
the Baptists about 1841, which is still in use, and the next was the
Christian Church, frame, which was erected about 1842 and is still in use.
The Cumberland Presbyterians have an organization and meet in the
courthouse, they having no building of their own. The churches of the
county by districts are as follows: First District, New Hope, Christian;
Second District, Berea, Christian; Third Distract, Marion, Baptist, and
Corlee, Christian; Fourth District, Bethlehem, Christian, and Wesley
Chapel, Methodist Episcopal South; Fifth District, Daniels’ Chapel,
Methodist Episcopal South; Seventh District, Cold Springs, Christian, and
Walnut Grove, Methodist Episcopal South; Eighth District, Wood’s
Meeting-house, Christian, and Blue Wing, Methodist Episcopal South; Ninth
District, Osment schoolhouse and Baptist, and Melton, Christian; Eleventh
District, New Hope, Cumberland Presbyterian, Shiloh and Poplar Stand,
Baptist, and Auburn, Christian; Twelfth District, Bradyville, Christian,
and Thytira, Cumberland Presbyterian; Thirteenth District, Holly Springs,
Baptist, and Parker’s Chapel and Gilley Hill, Methodist Episcopal South;
Fourteenth District, Pleasant Ridge Christian, and Pleasant Ridge Baptist;
Fifteenth District, Jones’ schoolhouse Methodist Episcopal South.
Among the early mills of the county were those of Nathaniel Moorhead at
Woodbury, on the Stone River, about 1813; Chas. Ready’s mill on Stone
River, at Readyville, about 1812; Thomas Rooker’s mill on the same stream,
four miles west from Woodbury, about 1814; Bryant’s mill, on the same
stream eight miles west from Woodbury, about 1816; David Whittaker’s mill,
near town, at about the same time; Archibald Prater’s mill, on a branch of
Stone River, five miles east of town, about 1820, and Alexander Hill’s
mill, on Hill Creek, about 1821. The principal mills of the present are
the Readerville flour-mills, owned by P.C. Talley; Isaac McBroom’s mill on
Stone River, in the Second District; W.F. Brerard’s mill, on Stone River,
at Woodbury, and J. L. Sheckley’s mill, on Stone River, in the Second
District, all of which are excellent flour and meal-mills, and like the
above named old mills, are operated by water power. Upon almost every
creek in the county are found small, water-powered corn-mills, and there
are from ten to fifteen portable, steam saw-mills at work in the county.
Cannon County was established by the act of the General Assembly, passed
January 21, 1836, and was organized the following May. It was named in
honor of Gov. Cannon, and its county seat for Hon. Levi
Woodbury of New Hampshire. The county is bounded on the north by the
counties of Wilson and Smith, east by Warren and De Kalb, south by Coffee,
west by Rutherford, and has an area of 420 square miles. The county court
in 1836 ordered the erection of a courthouse and jail. The former was
completed in 1838 after the style and plan of the Rutherford County
Courthouse, and cost about $13,000. The building is in use at the present
and bids fair to do service for the next fifty years. It is a large,
square, two-story brick building and is very conveniently arranged. The
jail was also completed in 1838, was a brick building, but being too near
Stone River it was washed away in the freshet of 1850. A second brick jail
was erected in 1852 which served until 1880, when the present substantial
stone building was erected.
In 1840 Cannon County had a population of 7,163, of 8,982 in 1850, of
9,509 in 1860, of 10,502 in 1870, of 11,200 in 1880 and of about 12,500 in
1886. In 1870 there were assessed in the county for taxation 160,013 acres
of land, valued at $1,452,220, and the valuation of the real and personal
property was $1,079,260. The tax duplicate for 1886 shows taxes assessed
as follows: State, $3,237.78; county, $3,117.90; school, $4,796.90; road,
$539.63, and poll $1,670, making a total of $11,692.21. In 1870 the live
stock of the county amounted to 4,839 head of horses and mules, 3,533 head
of cattle, 12,198 head of sheep and 23,550 head of hogs. In 1870 the
cereal products of the country amounted to 79,520 bushels of wheat,
564,330 bushels of corn, 26,870 bushels of oats and 3,167 bushels of rye.
In 1886 the products were 94,150 bushels of wheat, 821,012 bushels of
corn, 22,802 bushels of oats and 6,985 bushels of rye.
In May, 1836, Thomas Powell. Isaac Finley, Allen Haley, Joseph Simpson,
Blake Sedgly, James L. Essary, John Pendleton, Isaac W. Eledge, Elijah
Stephens, I.M. Brown, F.L. Turner, John Milton, Charles C. Evans, Samuel
Lance, Wm. Bates, Wm. B. Foster, John Martin, John Frazier, Martin
Phillips, Reuben Evans, Lemuel Moore, James Goodwin, Peter Reynolds, James
Beatie, Joel Cheatham and Jonathan Fuson, all bearing commissions as
justices, met at the house of Henry d. McBroom, which was the old hotel,
in Woodbury, for the purpose of organizing the county court. The body was
called to order by Leighton Ferrell, sheriff of Warren County, and the
oath of office was administered by Eli Bailey, acting justice for Warren
County. The court then organized by the election of Thomas Powell as
chairman, and the wheels of government were put in motion.
The Cannon Circuit Court was organized at McBroom’s tavern in Woodbury in
1836 by Judge Edmund Dillahunty, who presided in the inter-change with
regular judge, Wm. Anderson.
Judge B. L. Ridley organized the Cannon Chancery Court at the old tavern
in Woodbury in 1836, and appointed Henry Tratt, first clerk and master.
Among the early lawyers of Woodbury were Jonathan Farr, Abraham Burger,
Jr., M.W. McKnight, J.S. Barton and Thomas G. Wood. The present attorneys
are J.H. Cummings, H.J.
St. John, A. Finley, James A. Jones, John S. Wood, W.C. Huston, A.J.
Smithson and W.H. Cummings. Of the above M.W. McKnight was
attorney-general of this circuit for eight years, 1866-74; H.J. St. John
represented the county in the Legislature, 1857-58; J.H. Cummings held the
same position, 1875-76; W.C. Huston filled the same office, 1877-78, and
James A. Jones represented this district in the State Senate, 1875-76.
County Court Clerks: Samuel Garrison, 1836-39; James M. Brown, 1839-40;
Rezin Fowler, 1840-52; Brinkley Lassater, 1852-60; Thomas Smith, 1860-62;
Josephus Finley, 1865-70; E.B. Vance, 1870-78; Wylie W. Gray, 1878-86;
J.G. Moore, 1886, and present incumbent.
Circuit Court Clerks: Thomas G. Wood, 1836-44; John Q. Weatherford,
1844-52; James Wood,
1852-56; D.L. Elkins, 1856-68; E.T. Dillon, 1868-72; Thomas Finley,
1872-78; E.C. Preston, 1878-86; Josephus Finley, 1886, and present
incumbent.
Clerk and Masters: Henry Tratt, 1836-42; Caleb B. Davis, 1842-47; Thomas
G. Wood, 1847-62; J.S. Ridley, 1865-68: A.F. McFerrin, 1868-70; W.J. Wood,
1870-76; J.E. New, 1876-82; F.B. Martin, 1882, and present incumbent.
Sheriffs: George Grizzle, 1836-38; Higdon R. Jarrett, 1838-40; John A.
George, 1840-42, Isaac W. Elledge, 1842-44, Samuel Vance, 1844-46; R.A.
Smith 1846-50; Clint Elledge, 1850-52; Baden Raines, 1852-54; Warren
Cummings, 1854-62; A.F. Todd, 1865-70; George Finley, 1870-72; B.F.
Vincent, 1872-76; James H. Mitchell, 1876-80; B.F. Vincent, 1880-82; James
H. Mitchell, 1882-84; H.L. Preston, 1884 and present incumbent.
Registers: Alexander McFerrin, 1836-40; Isaac Finley, 1840-42; Thomas J.
Williams, 1842-48; Barton S. Travis, 1848-52; Burrel Spicer, 1852-56;
James Ward, 1856-58; Cicero Sowers, 1858-62; Jack Merritt, 1865-66; Jack
McBroom, 1866-77; Zebediah Brevard, 1871-72; A.G. Brown, 1872-78; W.A.
Moody, 1878-86; Adam Fuller, 1886, and present incumbent.
Cannon County, as a county, furnished to the wars of 1836 and 1846, but
they went as individuals, there being no regularly organized bodies or
companies raised in the county for either of those wars.Not so, however,
with the late Rebellion, to which she furnished the following eight
companies, all regularly organized within the county:
Three full companies to the Eighteenth Regiment of Tennessee Infantry,
organized in May, 1861, and commanded by Capts. Richmond Rushing, A.J. St.
John and Grand Wood; one company to Col. Barton’s Mississippi Regiment of
Calvary, organized in the latter part of 1861, commanded by Capt. Timothy
Ellison, who was killed in 1862, and succeeded by W.M. McKnight; two
companies to Col. Hill’s Fourth Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, organized
in 1862, and commanded by Capts. M.M. Brin, Jr., and J.H. Wood, and two
companies to the Fourth Regiment of Tennessee Calvary, organized in 1863,
and commanded by Capt. H.A. Wylie and J.W. Nichols.
The county was occupied first by the Northern and then the Southern
Armies during the struggle, and numerous skirmishes were fought in the
county, but none of sufficient importance or consequence to merit mention.
Woodbury, the county seat, was formerly Danville, and belonged to Warren
County. Danville was founded in about 1819 by Henry D. McBroom and Henry
Watt, who were the first merchants, and the former the first
tavern-keeper. Other early merchants were Henry Watt, Jr., Wylie &
Dunkerson, Nathan Neeley, and Wood & Wylie. In 1836, when Cannon County
was established, the commissioners entrusted with the locating of a county
seat, selected Danville, and the name of the town was changed to that of
Woodbury. At that time there were not over 100 inhabitants in the place.
Woodbury now has a population of about 600, and is situated on the south
bank of Stone River, at the terminus of the Woodbury and Murfreesboro
Turnpike, nineteen miles east from the latter town, and fifty miles
southeast from Nashville, in the lovely valley of Stone River, surrounded
by high, rounded hills, and having beautiful scenery and excellent health.
Woodbury was incorporated in 1852, and with the exception of the years of
the late war, worked continually under the charter of incorporation then
secured until 1880, when the charter was surrendered in order to give the
“four-mile” temperance law force and effect.
The first merchants of Woodbury were Henry Trott, Jr., James J. Trott,
Joseph Ramsey, Ramsey and Garrison, Parker F. Stone, Thomas C. Wood, Bates
and Hume, and Nathan Neeley. Henry D. Broom continued as tavern-keeper up
to about 1857-58. The merchants of the present are Martin & Gribble,
McFerrin & Wylie, Hoover & Mason, J.A.H. Thompson, C.P. McBroom, J.G.
Smith & Bros., and E. and J.T. Stephens, dry goods and
groceries; R.H. Preston, groceries; William Brewer, C.C. Broom, and J.H.
Thrower, drugs; Z. Dillon & Bro.,saddle and harness shop; T.J. Vance,
livery stable; J.H. Thrower, undertaker and furniture, and W.A. Talley,
hotel.
The
Cannon Carrier, W.T. Mingle, editor and proprietor, is the only
paper published in the county. The Courier was established in 1882, is
Democratic in politics and is prosperous.
The early physicians of Woodbury were Drs. Gowan, New, Barnes, Flowers
and Tatum, and those of the present are Drs. Robert F. Tatum, B.F. Lester,
L.B. McCreary, H.M. Hern and Dr. Barton.
The villages of the county, all of which are small and have only from
fifty to one hundred and fifty inhabitants each, are Bradyville, ten miles
southwest from Woodbury, in the Twelfth District; Auburn, sixteen miles
north from Woodbury, in the Eleventh District; Mechanicsville, at Short
Mountain, ten miles northeast from Woodbury, in the Ninth District.
Readerville, seven miles from Woodbury and twelve miles from
Murfreesboro,on the pike, is part in Cannon and part in Rutherford County,
the county line running through the town, yet it is placed in Rutherford
County, and the postoffice is in that county.
Biographical Sketches
Hon. J. H. Cumings, of Woodbury, attorney at law, is a native of Warren
County, Tenn. and was born in 1839. His parents were Warren and Orlend
Cumings, both natives of Warren County, the former having been born in
1814, is a farmer by occupation and held the office of sheriff of Cannon
County six years. He was a member of the constitutional convention of
1870, and now resides at Woodbury, Tenn. The subject of this sketch
received his literary education at Woodbury, and in 1872 began the study
of the law with T.B. Murry of McMinnville, Tenn, and afterward attended
the law department of the Cumberland University at Lebanon,Tenn. He was
admitted to the bar in 1873 and has since been engaged in the practice of
the law at Woodbury. In November 1885, he was elected to the legislature.
He enjoys an extensive and lucrative practice, and in politics he is an
ardent Democrat. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Eighteenth
Tennessee (Confederate) Infantry, under Capt. H.J. St. John. He was with
the company three years and engaged in some of the heavy battles of war.
During the last year of the war he was with the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry,
commanded by Col. Baxter Smith of Nashville. H. A. Wiley of Woodville was
his captain. He participated in numerous engagements, was captured once
but soon paroled, and returned home in 1865.
J.A. Dement, an enterprising farmer of the First District, was born
in Rutherford Count, Tenn., in 1823. He was the only son of Cader and Mary
(Andrews) Dement. The father was born in Tennessee in 1777. He took part
in the war of 1812 under Gen. Jackson. He was a farmer by occupation, but
filled some minor political offices. He was well known and universally
respected. He was three times married and raised thirteen children. His
death occurred in 1849. The subject of this sketch received his education
in the schools of his native county. In 1847 he married Margaret, daughter
of Alexander Lockey of Rutherford County. She died in 1851. A few years
later our subject wedded Miss Jane J., daughter of Rev. E. McMillian of
Gallatin, Tenn. By this union there are three children living: Mattie
(widow of D. Hogwood), Albert M. and Wilson M. In 1847 Mr. Dement located
where he now resides. He has always been an energetic, worthy citizen and
a generous supporter of all laudable enterprises. He has been a member of
the Presbyterian Church for fifty years; his wife belongs to the same
church. He is a Democrat, but was a Whig previous to the war.
Josephus Finley, Clerk of the circuit court of Cannon County, is a
native of the county, and was born in 1825. He was the first of a family
of nine children, six of whom are still living. His parents were Isaac and
Eleanor Finley, the former a native of Tennessee, born in 1799, and was a
farmer, and had held the office of magistrate and county register, holding
the latter at the time of his death. The mother of our subject was born in
Kentucky in 1796, and is now living at the old homestead near Woodbury.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the schools of the
county. In 1848 he was married to Louisa Simpson, by whom he has two
children living, and who died in August 1860. He has followed farming most
of his life. In 1865 he was elected clerk of the county court, and was
twice re-elected. He has held the office of magistrate for the past
twenty-four years, and in 1886 he was elected to his present office. In
1861 he was married to Zenobia Foster, who was born in Cannon County in
1834. They have six children, all of whom are living. Mr. Finley is an
independent in politics, voting for principles rather than for party. Both
he and his wife are consistent members of the church, and both are widely
known highly esteemed.
D.D. Hare, a prominent farmer of the First District, was born in
Williamson County in 1838. He was one of four surviving children of a
family of eleven born to John P. and Nancy Hare. The father was born in
North Carolina in 1809, and came to Tennessee with his parents when a
child. He has been a farmer and resident of Cannon County since 1840. The
mother was born in Tennessee in 1809, and died in 1855. Our subject
received his education in the county schools, and at Irwin College.
In 1855 he located where he know resides. In 1859 he married Miss
Martha L., daughter of Rev. E. McMillan, of Carlinville, Ill. Their union
resulted in the birth of B.B., Minnie and Fannie. In September, 1862, Mr.
Hare enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company E, Fourth Tennessee
Cavalry, under the command of Col. Baxter Smith, and Capt. H. A. Wiley. He
took active part in the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, and
Chickamauga, and many minor engagements. He was captured shortly after the
battle of Chickamauga. He was confined a few days at Carthage, Gallatin
and Nashville, and finally taken to the federal prison at Indianapolis and
retained nineteen months. He returned home in March, 1865. Previous to the
war he was a Whig; but is now a Democrat and a Mason. He is a useful and
respected citizen, deeply interested in the advancement of educational and
beneficial enterprises. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian
Church.
Hon. W.C. Houston, of the firm of Jones & Houston, attorneys at law,
residing at Woodbury,Tenn., is a native of Bedford County, having been
born there March 17, 1852. He is the son of William and Elizabeth Clay
(Morgan) Houston. The former was a native of Iredell County, N.C., born in
1821, and came to Tennessee about 1835. He located in Bedford County,
where he lived the rest of his days. He was a planter and a very
successful business man. His death occurred in March, 1853. His wife was
born in Rutherford County, March 10, 1822. She was first married to Newton
Clark, of Bedford County, whom she survived; afterward married William
Houston, and some time after his death married Benjamin Fugett, of Cannon
County, who is now deceased. The subject of this sketch received his
education mostly at Woodbury. At the age of twenty-two he took charge of
the Woodbury Press, and continued editor and proprietor two years. In 1876
he was chosen representative in the Legislature from Cannon and Coffee
Counties. On his retirement from this position he devoted himself to his
farm and to the study of the law until 1879, when he was admitted to the
bar. In 1880 he was again elected to the Legislature, and in 1882 he was
again re-elected. At the session which convened in 1883 he was appointed
chairman of the committee on finance. While occupying his seat in the
Legislature he took a very active and prominent part in the settlement of
the State debt question. From 1882 to 1884 he was a member of the State
Democratic executive committee. In November, 1878, he was married to Miss
Lura Kittrell, daughter of Maj. M.B. Kittrell, of Rutherford County. She
is a native of Wilson County, and was born March 22, 1859. By their
marriage they have two sons: Frank, born July 4, 1882, and William, born
March 19, 1884. Mr. Houston has
a half-sister, formerly Hattie Clark, now wife of Hon. William Barton;
and also half-brother, Simpson Fugitt, both of whom are residents of
Cannon County. The law firm of Jones & Houston was formed in 1886, and is
universally considered the strongest in the country, both members being
men of high honor and marked ability. Mr. Houston is an ardent and
enthusiastic Democrat, and both himself and his wife are members of the
Christian Church.
Hon. James A. Jones, of the firm of Jones & Houston, Woodbury, Tenn., is
a native of Alabama, born in 1838. His parents were Joseph and E.A. Jones,
the former a native of North Carolina, a dentist, a planter and a very
successful business man, dying in December, 1857; the latter born in
Butler County, Ala., in 1818, and dying in 1853. The subject of this
sketch completed his literary education at the Brownwood Institute, La
Grange, Ga. In 1858, and shortly afterward began the study of law with
Judge John K. Henry, of Greenville, Ala., where he remained until April,
1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army, becoming sergeant of
Company A, Eighteenth Tennessee Infantry, under Capt. M.P. Rushing. He
served as sergeant about four months, and was then transferred to the
Twenty-third Tennessee Infantry and elected captain of the company just
before the battle of Shiloh, after which he returned home. He then served
as quartermaster in the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and at the close of the
war was on the coast defenses in Florida, as lieutenant of his company.
After the close of the war he returned to Alabama, and was engaged in the
real estate business until about 1870, and in 1871 he moved to Woodbury,
where he has since engaged in the practice of law. In 1874 he was elected
to the State Senate from Cannon, Warren, Coffee and DeKalb Counties, and
was in the Legislature that elected ex-President Johnson to the United
States Senate. In 1859 he was married to Miss Harriett Morton, of Warren
County, by whom he has nine children. Mr. Jones has always been an active
man, and was for some time engaged in the newspaper business. He is a
Democrat in politics, is widely known and as a lawyer stands very high. He
is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and both a Mason and an Odd
Fellow.
L.L. Melton, an enterprising and prominent resident of the Tenth
District, was born in Cannon County, in 1845. He was one of eleven
children born to John and Catherine Melton. The parents are natives of
North Carolina, and now reside in the Seventh District of Cannon County.
The father was born in 1800. He is a farmer. The mother was born in 1804.
The subject of our sketch received his education partly in the county
schools and by private instruction. In 1859 he married
Miss. Pairlee, daughter of William Powell. By this union there are five
children living. For many years our subject was successfully engaged in
agricultural pursuits. In 1884 he purchased a saw mill, and since then has
done an extensive manufacturing business, and has also been engaged in
merchandising with G.G. Melton. They have a liberal patronage. In August,
1879, Mr. Melton was elected magistrate, and has since held the office. He
is a stanch Democrat and a Mason. He has always been an active and able
business man, widely known and esteemed and ever interested in the
improvement and welfare of the community. He and his wife are earnest
members of the Christian Church.
W.T. Mingle, editor and proprietor of the Cannon Carrier, was born in
Cannon County, August 25, 1857, one of seven children of William J. and
Alice G. (Cathey) Mingle, both natives of Cannon County. The father was
born in 1828. He is a farmer of the Eleventh District, and served as
deputy sheriff some time. The mother was born in 1828. The subject of this
sketch received his education in the county schools. In 1873 he went to
Alexandria, where he and his brother, R.A., had charge of the Alexandria
Enterprise for a year. He then located at Woodbury. November, 1884, he
took his present position and has been very successful. He is an ardent
Democrat and wide-awake business man, and an able editor. July, 180, he
married Miss. M.A., daughter of J.A. and N.L. Bryson of Cannon County.
Four children have been born to the union: Clingman T., Eliza J.
(deceased), Hugh L. and Lemuel B.
J.G. Moore, clerk of the county court of Cannon County, is a native of
the county, having been born in 1837 and is the eldest of a family of ten
children, nine of whom are still living. His parents were William and
Elizabeth (Warren) Moore. Both natives of Virginia, the former having been
born in 1813, and having come to this country in about 1843. The latter
was born in 1816. The subject of this sketch received his education mainly
in the Mountain Creek Institute, Warren County. In 1866 he was married to
Miss Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of N.M. Taylor. To this marriage were born
six children. Mr. Moore is a carpenter and builder by trade and also a
farmer, though he follows his trade most of the time. In 1872 he was
elected register of the county, and filled the position for one term. In
August, 1886, he was elected to his present position. He served as
magistrate of the district ten years. He is a man well known and highly
esteemed by all, and has always given encouragement to every laudable
public enterprise. Politically he is a Democrat, and he is a member of
both the Odd Fellow and Masonic fraternities. Both himself and wife are
members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In 1861 he joined the
Confederate Army, becoming a member of Company H,
Eighteenth Tennessee Infantry, of which J.B. Palmer was
at the time colonel. He was in many of the hard-fought battles of the war,
was wounded at Fort Donelson, and was captured at Missionary Ridge, whence
he was taken to Indianapolis, Ind., where he was held prisoner until the
close of the war.
