J. H. Alexander, M. D., was born in Blount (now Loudon) County, October 16,
1845, the son of Francis and Margaret A. (Vickers) Alexander, the former born
near Leesburg, Tenn., in 1809, the son of Francis Alexander, a native of
Buncombe County, N.C., and who married Jane ODair, and became a pioneer of
Washington County. He was a farmer, and, with his wife, belonged to the
Presbyterian Church. The father, a farmer and blacksmith, moved to Blount
County when twenty-one and died in 1870. The mother, horn in the latter county
in 1830, was the daughter of James Vickers. Both parents were Presbyterians,
and had ten children. Our subject, the fifth attended the Quaker school at
Friendsville, and then entered Maryville College for three years, when he began
medicine with Dr. Blankenship at the latter place. During 1870, 1871, and 1872
he attended the medical department of the University of Louisville, graduating
in 1872 He practiced in Blount County until September l872, and then in
Elizabethton until the fall of 1879. He entered Jefferson Medical College of
Philadelphia and graduated in 1880, resuming his practice at Elizabethton where
he has succeeded remarkably. In 1868 he married Sallie M., the daughter of
William T. Dowell a Methodist minister. She died in 1869, and May 7, l873;
Senorita V., a daughter of H. H. Lutz, became his wife. She was born in
Virginia November 6, 1851. Their children are an infant son, born January 31,
1874, and deceased February 2, 1874, Henry F., born December 7, 1874; Maggie,
born April 3, 1877, Edwin C., born February 3, 1879; Sarah, born September 5,
1881, and deceased September 5, 1883; and Nannie, born October 30, 1888, and
deceased June 23, 1886. He and his wife are Methodists.
G. A. Anderson, a farmer, was born in
Carter County, August 17, 1849, the son of John A. and Elizabeth (Swingle)
Anderson, the former born in Carter County, December 17, 1823, and is a farmer.
Isaac and Elizabeth (McInturll) Anderson, the parents, were natives of
Tennessee, the former, of Irish origin and the latter of German. J. A., the
eldest child, has always been a farmer and stock raiser, and in 1845 married,
but the mother died in 1856. In 1858 he married Mary A., a daughter of Solomon
Jones, and has three sons and one daughter. He owns 250 acres. Our subject was
educated at Milligan College and has always followed farming, trading and stock
raising. July 12, 1876, he married Molly Crockett. Their only child is
Elizabeth. The mother died in August 1877, and February 8, 1882, he married Ida
L., a daughter of George T. Anderson, and born February 2, 1856, in Georgia.
Johnnie B. and Addie M. are their children. Our subject and wife are
Methodists, and he is a man who prefers private life.
Capt. James I. H. Boyd, was born near Gap
Creek, Carter County, May 29, 1821, the son of John and Mary (Tipton) Boyd, the
former born in North Carolina in 1783, the son of William Boyd, a native of
North Carolina, and a captain of light horse soldiers in the Revolution.
William Boyd married Rebecca Porter, and removed between 1785 and 1790,
settling at Gap Creek, as a pioneer. The first deed on record after Tennessee
became a State and in Carter County was made to him by William Sharp. In 1823 a
powder-mill explosion killed him. John, the father, was a farmer and died
August 19, 1873, and the mother was born in 1785, the daughter of Samuel
Tipton, of Virginia, and a pioneer of Carter County. He was the son of John
Tipton of the John Sevier difficulty fame; she died in Springfield, Ill., in
1856. Our subject grew up on the farm, and even when twenty years old could not
read a verse in the Bible correctly after having attended a few schools in log
cabin school houses. In 1843 he attended school four months at Holston College
and then began teaching, alternating farming and teaching, until he adopted the
latter. In 1851 he went to Springfield, Ill., and for two years was deputy
sheriff. In 1857 he returned and began teaching at Buffalo (now Milligan)
College, and in 1860 took charge of Duffield Academy at Elizabethton until
August 11, 1861. He then joined the Federal Army and became a messenger between
East Tennessee people and those intending to burn the railway bridges; he then
became colonel and organized a company of 1,000 men in Carter County, hut they
were disbanded and soon went to Kentucky. May 11, 1868, be was made captain of
Company B, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, at Louisville, Ky., and resigned June 7,
1864, on account of ill health. He then went to Knoxville and in 1865 to
Elizabethton. He had charge of Washington Hotel at Jonesboro, for a time, and
in 1867 taught school at Elizabethton until he became a representative in 1869.
He then returned and taught school until 1881, when he became assistant
door-keeper of the National House of Representatives, under Hon. W. P. Brownlow
who was principal door-keeper of the XLVII Congress. Since 1882 he has been at
home. During the above time he has practiced law more or less. Martha J. a
daughter of Isaac Tipton, became his wife October 7, 1847, and was born in 1824
in this county. Two of their five children are living, Henry C., a lawyer, at
Elizabethton, is one. The wife and three children died in Springfield, Ill., in
1856 and 1857, and February 28, 1860, he married Rhoda Williams, born November
7, 1824, in this county. They have two children. She is a member of the
Christian Church. Rhoda is a daughter of Edmund Williams, several times sheriff
of Carter County. He is a son of Archibald Williams, and Archibald is a son of
Edmund Williams, a pioneer, both of whom had served as sheriff, etc.
C. N. Brown, a farmer in the Ninth
District, was born February 28, 1887, in Carter County. He received a good
common-school education, was reared on a farm, and has since followed farming. He
was thrown upon his own resources when of age. He was married in 1882 to Miss
Nancy Worley, a daughter of James B. and Emaline (Shell) Worley natives of
Washington County, Va., and Sullivan County, Tenn., respectively. Mr. Worleys
mother was of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Worley were active workers in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a very successful and enterprising farmer,
and accumulated property quite easily. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown seven children
have been born, viz.: Lilly, Laura (now Mrs. Williams), Charles, Eugene, Lola (deceased),
Lela and Mamie. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Missionary Baptist
Church, in which Mr. Brown has been treasurer and deacon for several years. Mr.
Brown is a Democrat in politics. He is a Master Mason. He was the eldest of six
children of L H. Brown, an old resident of Carter County Tenn. Mrs. Emaline
Worley was a daughter of Aaron and Catherine (Glover) Shell, natives of
Sullivan County, Tenn. Mr. Shell was of English descent. He was a prominent
minister of the gospel in the Methodist Episcopal Church. I. H. Brown, the
father of our subject, was born March 4,1810, in Washington County, Tenn., and
when fifteen years old came to Carter County, Tenn., and excepting six years be
lived at Blountville, has since resided in Carter County. He is a carpenter and
cabinet-maker by trade. He was married April 14, 1856, to Miss Ruth Nave, a
daughter of John and Lizzie (Carriger) Nave, natives of Pennsylvania, and among
the earliest settlers of Carter County, Tenn. They were of Dutch descent. Six
children blessed this union. Mr. Brown served Carter County two years as
register, and two terms as trustee, being elected on a Democratic ticket in a
county which usually went Whig by about 1,700. He was the youngest of six
children of Jacob and Christina (Ramey) Brown, natives of Germany and Rockham
County, Va., respectively. Mr. Brown was brought to the United States by his
parents when quite small. He served as a solider in the Revolutionary war. Mrs.
I. H. Brown died October 6, 1858. Mr. Brown was married December 2, 1855, to
Mrs. Margaret M. Williams. Three children blessed the union. Mr. Brown began
life a poor man, and what he is now worth is the fruit of his own practical
business ability.
William Blount Carter was born where he
now resides, in Elizabethton, September 11,1820, the son of Alford M. and
Evaline (Perry) Carter, the former born near Elizabethton in 1785, the son of
Gen. Landon Carter, of Virginia, the son of Col. John Carter, a pioneer of
Tennessee of 1769, and chairman of the Watauga Association, from that date to
1777. Gen. Carter was in the Revolution, and a member of the Legislature, and
of the Constitutional Convention of 1796; he died in 1800. The father was
educated at Washington College under Dr. Doak and was devoted to farming and
iron interests. He was a magistrate and the first circuit clerk of his county,
and died in 1850. The mother was born at Staunton, Va., in 1797, the daughter
of David Perry, a native of Virginia, and of the family to which Commodore
Perry belonged. He settled in Greene County, and the mother died in 1877. They
were married in 1818, and our subject, the second of three sons, was reared in
Elizabethton, attended Washington College, and graduated from Prince ton (N.
J.) Theological Seminary. He was pastor of Rogersville Presbyterian Church
until 1846 when his health compelled him to be a farmer at Elizabethton. In
1843 he married Mary H., a daughter of Dr. Charles Fowler, of New York; she
died in 1846, and in 1850 he married Elizabeth J., a daughter of Col. William
J. Brown of Pennsylvania. Their children are William E., born June 19, 1856,
now a druggist; Mary B. born in 1860, and Caroline E., born in 1867. The family
are Presbyterians. The Watauga Association was represented by John Carter in
two constitutional conventions in North Carolina before 1789, and one in
Tennessee in 1796, was represented by Gen. Landon Carter, and the next
constitutional convention by Gen. William B. Carter, who was president of the
same, and was a Congressman several terms. In 1870 our subject represented
Carter County in the constitutional convention. Samuel P., an elder brother of
William B., was educated at Washington and Princeton Colleges, and became a
middy in the United States Navy in 1840, and was a lieutenant-commander at the
opening of war, and then in the army became brigadier-general, and afterward
major-general, then became captain of the navy, and was retired at the age of
sixty-two, with the rank of rear-admiral, now residing at Washington. James P.
T., a younger brother, was born July 29, 1822, and educated at Washington
College, and became a colonel of the Second Federal Tennessee Mounted Infantry,
President Johnson appointed him secretary of Arizona Territory, but he was
removed by Gen. Grant, and died in Mexico. It is a singular coincidence that in
each constitutional convention held between the years 1770 and 1870 the people
of Wautauga were represented by a member of the same family; first by Col. John
Carter; in 1796 by his son, Gen. Landon Carter; in 1834 by his grandson, Gen.
William B. Carter, and in 1870 by his great-grandson, William B. Carter, Jr.
J. D. Carriger, farmer, was born March 8,
1821, in Carter County, where he has since resided, and when seventeen years
old began for himself. He now owns about 2,206 acres, and was married June 17,
1866, to Edna G., a daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Potter) Dugger, natives of
Carter County. Their children are Godfrey Samuel (deceased), Elizabeth, Ida H.,
Eliza and Lulan. She is a Baptist, and he is, in politics, a Republican. He has
served ten years as justice, two years as trustee and two years as United
States storekeeper and guager, and he is a Master Mason. He is the eighth of
ten children of Godfrey and Elizabeth (Lovelace) Carriger, natives of Carter
County and North Carolina, respectively; the former a register, justice and
mayor, and died about 1826. The mother died the year before. The grandfather,
Godfrey, Sr, was a native of Germany, married there, and was among the first
settlers on the Wautauga River as a farmer, and operated the first mill in that
section. The father was a soldier in the Revolution, in which his brother was
killed.
W. L. Carriger, the subject of this
sketch, is one of the leading citizens of Carter County, Tenn., and was born in
the Ninth Civil District of said county, October 3, 1853, and is the son of
John T. and Rebecca (Nave) Carriger. The father was a native of Carter County,
Tenn., and was the son of Christley Carriger, an early settler of Carter County. The father was a
farmer, and one of the most enterprising and prominent citizens of the county.
The mother was also a native of Carter County, Tenn., and was the daughter of
Abe Nave. She was the mother of six sons and five daughters. Our subject is the
youngest but three, and was raised on the farm, and received a practical
education at Morristown, Tenn. His father died when William was quite young,
and left a small estate to the heirs, but our subject, by energy and industry,
secured an education at his own expense; and, when lie reached his majority, he
had no capital to begin the battle of life, and the pursuit for wealth. His
early labor was that of farming at home with his widowed mother, and with her
he lived, until a short period after his marriage which occurred when he was
twenty two years of age, and on the tenth day of May, 1876 he married Mollie L.
Morrel, daughter of Caleb Morrel. Five sons, two of which are living, have blessed
the marriage. The two living are George Allison and Charles. After our
subjects marriage, he farmed for four years, in the Ninth Civil District of
his county, since which he has been trading and merchandising; and is now
selling goods and liverying at Elizabethton. He is one of the popular citizens
of this county, and this fact was exemplified by his being elected in August,
1882, as county register for Carter County, and by his re-election in August,
1886. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is a man of
enterprise and public spirit, and is one who encourages all laudable
enterprises. He is a self-made man, having no capital to begin life with, and
has educated himself, and established a high character.
Nicholas Carriger, farmer and carpenter,
was born in Carter County, January 12, 1842, the son of Daniel S. and Margaret
(Patterson) Carriger, the former born in Carter County in about 1815, the son
of Christley, a farmer who removed to Missouri in 1846, and from there to
California, serving as a soldier under Gen. Fremont, and tiled soon after his
discharge. The mother, a daughter of Robert Patterson, was born in Carter
County, and died in 1847 in Missouri. She was a member of the Baptist Church.
Our subject, the third of four children, after his mothers death, came to
Carter County, and lived with his uncle, working on the farm and at the
carpenters trade until January 14, 1868, when be enlisted in Company B, Fourth
Tennessee Infantry, as a private. In August, 1868, he was captured at
McMinnville, and was paroled, joining his company at Lexington, Ky. He was
mustered out September, 1865, at Nashville, and returned to Carter County.
After spending the year 1871 in Missouri, he returned to Carter County, his
present home. He has never desired office, and is an esteemed man. He was
married January 1, 1873, to Catharine, a daughter of Elijah Simmerly, and has
four children. Both are Presbyterians.
J. N. Carriger, a retired woolen
manufacturer, was born June 25, 1841 in Carter County. He is self educated, and
ilt 1862 organized Company A, of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and
afterward became second lieutenant and first lieutenant, and refused the offer
of captaincy. He was mustered Out at Knoxville in 1865. He then clerked for
Butler & Co. two years, and then went to Morristown, and clerked for M.
Carriger & Co. a year, and then became partner, continuing under various
firm names for twelve years. He was United States mail agent on the C. C. G.
& C. Railway, February 16, 1871, and afterwards mail messenger between
Morristown and Warm Springs, N.C. After four years he purchased a part of
Mineral Hill Springs, assuming control of them, the firm being Brown, Carriger
& Smith. A few months later he farmed in Carter County, and became
successively a partner in the firm Doe River Woolen Manufacturing Company, and
the Watauga Woolen Mills, with entire control of the business. In 1882 these
were consolidated under the first firm name, and he became secretary and
treasurer, and in 1883 was given entire control. He retired in 1885 on account
of failing health, and was so successful that with a capital of $30,000, his
company declared a seven and one-half percent dividend. In 1861 he married Mary
C. Ferguson. Both are Baptists, in which church he has been a deacon for eight
years. He is a Republican, and a member of the G.A.R. His parents John T. and
Rebecca (Nave) Carriger, were natives of Carter County, and died in 1862, aged
fifty-five, and 1886, aged about seventy-six, respectively, the former a
trustee for twelve years, and a justice. He was a Whig and an active Baptist.
Our subject was city recorder of Morristown two years. The grandparents,
Christian and Lavicy (Ward) Carriger, were pioneers of this county, the former
a representative several terms, and both were natives of Philadelphia. The
latters grandmother was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln.
Albert Hughes is a farmer and stock raiser
in the Fifth Civil District of Carter County, Tenn., and was born in Carter
County April 3, 1833, and is the son of James and Susanor (Hines) Hughes. (See
sketch of John Hughes for parents). He was reared on the farm and was educated
in the county schools and Washington College, receiving a practical education.
He has, for the greater part of his life, been merchandizing, but for the last
fifteen years he has devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. He has been
successful in his undertakings. On February 4,1869, he was united in marriage
with Martha L., daughter of Thomas Hodges. She died, January 2, 1874, leaving
no children. On June 10,1877, he married for a second wife Laura C. C. Moody, a
daughter of George W. Moody. She was born in Carter County, Tenn., April 7,
1859. Two children have blessed this marriage, viz.: David W., born November
12, 1877 and James F. T. born May 17, 1887.
John Hughes is one of the most prosperous
farmers of Carter County, and was born and reared in said county. He was born
February 14, 1820, and is the son of James and Susanor (Hines) Hughes. The
father was a native of Sullivan County, Tenn., and was born May 15, 1790. He was
the son of David Hughes. The latter was born in Ireland, immigrated to America,
was among the early settlers of East Tennessee, and was one of the
Revolutionary soldiers. He was a farmer by occupation. The father of our
subject was a wagon-maker by trade, and followed farming and trading. He was a
successful farmer and trader, and amassed considerable wealth. He had gone on a
trading expedition South, and while in Alabama, a man by the name of Carter
from the same county as himself, who had started out with him on the
expedition, murdered him, it is supposed on April 15. 1834. The mother was born
near Blountville, Sullivan County, Tenn. October 29, 1792; she was the daughter
of George Hines, a native of Pennsylvania, and of German extraction. She died
at our subjects home February 10, 1868. She was the mother of five sons, viz.:
David, George, John, James and Albert. It may be noticed that our subject is
the eldest, but two; at the present (1887) only three of the sons are living.
viz.: John, James and Albert. Our subject was reared on the farm, and educated
in the country schools, receiving a practical training. He has devoted his life
principally to agricultural pursuits, but in the meantime he has conducted
tanning and distilling. He operated a very large tannery for several years
prior to the war, and has done considerable distilling. He is practical in
business, and has been successful in amassing considerable wealth, having a
very limited capital to begin with. He has had much misfortune in his time. but
has been successful against many embarrassments, and at present is one of the
most successful and prosperous farmers in Carter County, Tenn. In 1879 he
married Nancy Ellen Carral, daughter of William Carral. Two children, Albert
and Mary Anna, blessed this marriage. The mother died in 1880, and in 1885 he
married Martha J. Duncan. One daughter, Della Cleveland, has come to this
marriage.
Dr. E. E. Hunter, of Elizabethton, was
born in Washington County, Tenn., October 10, 1845, the son of Joseph and
Maranda (Harris) Hunter. His father was a farmer by profession, and was born in
1808, and died in August, 1885. His mother was horn in 1812, the daughter of
Dr. John Harris, a most celebrated physician, and minister of the Methodist
Church. The mother died in 1863. Our subject is the youngest son of eight
children, four sons and four daughters. When seventeen he attended school at
Jonesboro for three years and afterward at Eastmans Business College,
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. After spending some time in Illinois he returned to
Jonesboro, and in 1869 began the study of medicine under the celebrated Dr.
Sevier. In 1870-71 he attended the medical department of the University of
Tennessee. In March, 1871, he began the practice of medicine in Washington
County, Tenn. He was married September 19, 1871, to Miss Mollie Jobe, a
daughter of Dr. Jobe, of Elizabethton, Tenn., and their union has been blessed
with seven children. He and his wife belong to the Methodist Church South. He
removed to Elizabethton in March, 1877, and there resumed the practice of his
profession, and in the same year purchased an interest in the Doe River Woolen
Mills, the first establishment of the kind in East Tennessee. In 1885 he
attended and graduated at the Kentucky School of Medicine. In August, 1885, he
was appointed United States medical examiner, and was placed on the Johnson
City board, of which he is president.
Dr. L. F. Hyder, was born in Carter
County, February 11,1844, the son of Rev, J. H. and Elizabeth Fletcher Hyder.
The father was born October 20, 1812, on Powder Branch, Carter County, the son
of Jonathan. who was born in the same house as the son of Michael T., a native of
Virginia, and an early pioneer of Carter County, one of the first two settlers.
The father was a self-made scholar, and when twenty-two entered school at
Jonesboro, and then at Emory and Henry College, and finally at Maryville
(Tenn.) Baptist Theological Seminary. It is said that he converted about 10,000
persons, and was moderator of the Watauga Association, in 1869, holding it
until his death. When seventy four years old he started to visit all the
churches of this association, but exposure caused his death March 15, 1886. For
thirty years he was a surveyor of Carter County, was a major of militia, and as
a minister and man none stand higher. The mother was born in February, 1824,
the daughter of John Fletcher, born in Carter County, the son of Mollie Kyle, a
native of Ireland. The mother is living near Elizabethton on the old homestead,
and has reared fourteen children. Our subject was educated at Duffield Academy,
and when seventeen went to Kentucky, and in March, 1862, enlisted in Company B,
Fourth Tennessee Infantry, and became sergeant. He was captured five different
times but escaped, and in August, 1865, was mustered out and began medicine
under Dr. Cameron, and since 1869 has practiced, up to, within a few years. He
owns a farm of 100 acres in the Seventh District, and one of 196 acres in the
Tenth District. In 1873 the Republicans elected him to the Legislature. Maggie,
a daughter of Reuben Brooks, became his wife in 1871, and was born April 23,
1847, on Stony Creek. They have four children. She died April 22, 1885, and
January 28, 1886, he married Elizabeth Price a native of Washington County. Our
subjects brothers and sisters are A. J. F., a minister on Powder Branch, in
the old original Hyder House; Cordella A., now Mrs. J. T. Banner; W. B.C., with
the mother on the homestead; Daniel L., a graduate of Washington College, in
1885, also on the homestead, and Josie E., now Mrs. R. T. Johnson, of
Elizabethton. Daniel is the administrator.
Nathaniel E. Hyder, a physician, was born
in Carter County, in the Hyder settlement. the son of W. F. M. and Margaret
(Edens) Hyder, the former a son of Jonathan H., Sr., a son of Michael E., who
in turn was a son of Michael, one of the Watauga Association. The latter was of
German stock and a farmer, and came to the Rappahannock River, in Virginia,
where his son was born. They came to East Tennessee about 1761. Jonathan was a
relative of Jonathan Hampton, of South Carolina, for whom he was named. He was
a prominent farmer. The father was born in 1824, in Carter County, and married,
in 1848, a daughter of N. T. and L. Hyder Edens. She was born in 1829, in this county,
and our subject is the only child. The father, always a successful farmer, is
an active member of the Christian Church, and was second lieutenant in the
Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. The mother is a member of the same church, and an
esteemed lady. Our subject was educated at Franklin Academy, Washington County,
and when twenty-five began medicine by self study, and has practiced for the
last twelve years. He also farms 267 acres of land, and is county surveyor.
April 20, 1871, he married Amanda J. Hyder, to whom Laura S. was born, and the
mother died in 1878. In 1880 Eliza J. Treadway, became his wife. Their children
are L. W. Bate and Romulus B.
S. W. Hyder is one of the leading citizens
of Carter County, and is a very prosperous farmer, was born on Powder Branch.
Carter Co., Tenn., August 21, 1817; and is the son of Michael Hyder and Sarah
Simmernon. The father was born in Virginia, and was of English descent. He was
a farmer, and a practical and successful man, and was in most of the Indian
wars of the early history of Tennessee. The mother of our subject was born in
Virginia and was of Dutch lineage. She was the mother of four sons and one
daughter. Our subject was raised on the farm and received a practical education
in the country schools. He has followed agricultural pursuits all through life,
together with which he has milled. He has been a success in his calling, and is
a very well respected citizen. In early time he was captain of a company of
State militia. In 1840 he married Louisa Edens, daughter of Nathaniel T. Edens.
Eleven children blessed the marriage, and the wife died, her death occurring in
1866. In 1873 he married Sarah E. Fair for a second wife. Our subject is a
member of the Lutheran Church citizen, always encouraging public and domestic
enterprises.
Dr. A. Jobe was born near Elizabethton,
Carter Co., Tenn., October 9, 1817, the son of Joshua and Ruth (Tipton) Jobe.
The former was born in Washington County (before the State of Tennessee was
formed) September 15,1785. He was the son of David Jobe who immigrated to this
new country, about the year 1777, from Shenandoah County, Va. He owned and
resided on the farm where Johnson City now stands, and died there, about the
year 1799. Our subjects father was a farmer, and was once sheriff of Carter
County. In the war of 1812, he volunteered and marched with Gen. Jacksons Army
to the Horse Shoe, Talledega, and other battle fields, and then on to Mobile,
Ala. About 1821 he moved from Carter to Blount County, and after living there
about ten years (The Governor permitting settlers to move into the Cherokee
Nation), he moved in about ten miles of where Dalton now stands. While residing
here our subject, fifteen years old, attended the councils of the Indians for
two or three years, and was present at the concluding of the treaty between the
General Government, and the head men of the Nation. The father died at
Ringgold, Ga, May 8, 1868. The mother was the daughter of Thomas Tipton (son of
Col. John Tipton, who helped achieve American Independence, at the battle of
Kings Mountain, and Indian battles He also fought the memorable Franklin
battle, against Gov. Sevier), was born in Carter County, August 27, 1791, and
died at Ringgold, Ga., May 22, 1864. In June, 1836, there being trouble with
the Indians, especially the Creeks, the Government called out troops, and our
subject being then nearly nineteen, volunteered in the United States Army, to
protect white settlers, and gather up and remove the destitute bands of
Indians, west of the Mississippi. On completing his term of service and
receiving an honorable discharge, he came to Jonesboro, and entered school,
where he remained until February, 1839, when he commenced the mercantile
business, with his brother, under the firm name of A. & D. Jobe, at
Ringgold, Ga. In 1841 he commenced reading medicine with Dr. Samuel B.
Cunningham, of Jonesboro, Tenn. In 1848 he commenced practice, at Burusyille,
N. C. In 1844 he married Sophronia, only daughter of James H. Poteet, born in
Yancey County, N.C., May 8, 1826, and in 1845 moved to Elizabethton, Tenn.,
where he practiced medicine and surgery up to and during the war. In 1848-49 he
attended Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky., and graduated from the
medical department. In February, 1866, he received the appointment of special
agent of the postoffice department, with headquarters at Raleigh, N. C., and
served in that capacity three years and a half. While in this office, the
Secretary of the Interior, learning that the Doctor had a knowledge of Indian
character, procured a leave of absence from the postoffice department, an
appointed him special agent of Indian affairs, and sent him to the Chippewa
Nation, in the northern part of Minnesota. This was a dangerous mission. The
Indians had recently murdered their principal Chief, and were ready to go on
the war path. By traveling about 800 miles in the Nation, and
holding councils with them at their towns, he was enabled to appease their
wrath, and settle their misunderstandings. Our subject and his wife are
Methodists. Five of their eleven children are deceased. E. D., the only living
son, married Eva Taylor, sister to Gov. Taylor; Emma is Mrs. J. B. Miller;
Mollie is Mrs. Dr. Hunter; Hattie is the wife of Nat. W. Taylor, brother of
Gov. Taylor; the single daughters are Ruth and Sallie.
Robert T. Johnson. The paternal
grandfather of our subject, was Jacob Johnson, who immigrated to Tennessee from
Millerstown, Md., soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, and settled
near Eden Ridge,within five miles of Kingsport,Sullivan County. He was a farmer
by vocation, and alsb kept a tavern. He lived there until his death, which
occurred in about 1854. He was married to Elizabeth Church, who was a native of
Maryland, being born near Hagerstown. She died in 1848. To the grandparents six
children were horn, of which our subjects father was the fourth child. Thomas
C.,. the father, was born in Sullivan County on June 5, 1806 and was reared on
the farm and acquired a practical education in the schools of the neighborhood.
He removed to Carter County in 1834 with Dr. Joseph Powel, Sr., with whom he
made his home and studied medicine, but never practiced. He was a farmer by
vocation, and was quite a prominent man in the county, and served a number of
Years as deputy sheriff and coroner, and was lieutenant colonel of militia, and
also major and adjutant under Col. Daniel Stover. He was a member of Deshield
Lodge No. 238, F. & A. M., but was initiated in Kennedy Lodge of that
order. He was an industrious and enterprising citizen, and always took an
active part in public affairs. He was industrious and successful, and
accumulated a good competency. He died January 5, 1879. The maternal
great-grandfather of our subject was Samuel Tipton, who was the eldest son of
Col. John Tipton, who fought in the battle of Franklin with Gen. John Sevier.
Col. John Tipton immigrated to Tennessee from the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia, and settled in what is now Carter County during the Revolutionary
war. He was the grandfather of Gen. Jacob Tipton, for whom Tipton County,
Tenn., was named. Abraham Tipton, the grandfather of our subject, was the son
of Samuel Tipton, and was named for Col. Abraham Tipton, who was killed in Bear
Grass, Ky., during the Revolutionary war by Indians. He was born in Carter
County August 27, 1794, and married Martha Lacy of Carter County. He served as
sheriff and justice of the peace of Carter County for a number of years, being
elected sheriff in 1836, the first one after the adoption of the new
constitution, He was elected to the State Senate in 1849. He was also adjutant
and major of militia. He died July 3, 1868. To this union two children were
born, of which our subjects mother was the second. Nancy J., the mother, was
born in Elizabethton on November 7, 1818. The parents of our subject were
married January 8, 1887, and to them have been born nine children, six of whom
are living. The children are as follows: Martha B., born May 28, 1838, now Mrs.
Huff, of Doyle Station, White County, Tenn.; Saraphenla, born December 30,
1840, married John T. King, of Kings Springs, in Carter County, and died
November 2, 1884; Anna M., born December 13, 1843, now Mrs. D. N. Reece, and
living at Carter Depot, Carter County; Mary C., born September 6, 1847, now
Mrs. W.T. Rucher, of Doyle Station; Ada L., born January 3.1850, married Hiram
Bowman, of Johnson County, and died December 8, 1877; A. T., born May 28, 1853;
Eugene, born November 7, 1859, died same day; Robert T.,born December 20,1860;
William, born February 25, 1858, A. T., is a resident of Elizabethton. William
is United States mail agent on the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia
Railway, between Bristol and Chattanooga. He was married on April 6, 1887, to
Miss Ella Bridewell, of Knoxville, and is also a resident of Elizabethton.
Robert T., the subject, is depot and express agent and telegraph operator at
Elizabethton, and is also engaged in merchandising at that point, being senior
member of the firm of Johnson & Waters. He was married September 6, 1868,
to Josie B. Hyder, youngest daughter of Elder J. H. Hyder. To this union three
children have been born. The mother of Mrs. R. T. Johnson is a sister to Andrew
Fletcher, who was Secretary of State under Gov. Brownlows administration.
J. J. McCorkle, farmer, was born in
Sullivan County, January 4, 1846, the son of Samuel and Lucinda (Colbaugh)
McCorkle, the former a native of Tennessee, and born in 1818, the son of
Joseph, a native of Pennsylvania, and of Irish origin. The father was a highly successful
farmer, and died in 1885. The mother, born in 1812, in Sullivan County, was the
daughter of John Colbaugh, a soldier in the war of 1812, and a farmer. Their
children were William M., John 3., Eliza, Mary, Martha, Susan and Harriet. Our
subject educated himself by the light of a pine knot, and has been very
succesiful as a farmer. When seventeen years old he joined Company H,
Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and was mustered out April 6, 1866, as captain,
in the First United States Artillery. He has since been farming, and for five
years was a trustee, and for four years a sheriff. September 20 1866, he
married Ruthey E., a daughter of John and Louise (Amess) Hentrix, and born in
Carter County January 15,1849. They have eight sons and four daughters. He and
his wife are members of the Christian Church, of which he Is an elder. He is an
able and esteemed man.
D. S. Nave, merchant, was born September
2, 1836, in Carter County, and when fifteen years old his fathers death
compelled him to support the family. He is now owner of 104 acres of land,
besides a stock of goods at Hampton, where he been a merchant for two years. In
1866 he became revenue collector, and served until 1870. September 23, 1863, he
joined Company A, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and was mustered out September
5, 1865, at Knoxville, as first lieutenant, while he had first been orderly
sergeant. In March, 1860, he married Elizabeth Bowers, a native of Carter
County. Their children are Daniel S., Jr., Mary J., John T. and Sarah L. He and
his wife are Baptists, of which church he has been a deacon two years. He is a
Republican. He is the ninth of ten children of T. and J. (Stover) Nave, natives
of Carter County, and died at the ages of fifty-four and seventy-eight,
respectively. They were Baptists; he a prominent deacon. The Stover family were
of Dutch descent. The grandparents, Abraham and Mary (Williams) Nave, were
among the first settlers of Carter County and were Baptists. Abraham was the
second son of Teter Nave, who, with three sons, was among the first pioneers on
the Watauga River.
Andrew J. Peebles, a minister and farmer,
was born in Carter County, January 16, 1829, the son of William and Elizabeth
(Sheets) Peebles, the former a native of Carter County, and died in 1875, at
the age of eighty-nine. The mother was born in Virginia, and died in 1886, aged
ninety-two. They had six sons and four daughters. Our subject was educated at
Paperville, Pleasant Grove and Fall Branch, and In 1854 began the practice of
medicine, partly in North Carolina, Mississippi and Tennessee. In the war he
was a quartermaster, and since then has been a farmer, now owning 325 acres in
the Fifth District. February 11, 1858, he married Clarissa H., a daughter of
Henry Ray, and born February 7, 1841, in North Carolina. They have four sons
and two daughters. He is a Methodist, and his wife a Missionary Baptist. Our
subject is a Mason, and postmaster at Okolona. Their eldest son, Rev. H. M.
Peebles, was educated at Milligan College, and is now an itinerant Methodist
Protestant minister.
J. P. Scott, proprietor of the Watauga
Woolen Mills, and one of the prominent citizens of Carter County, was born in
that county August 19, 1834, and is the son of John and Jane (Humphreys) Scott.
The father was born in Washington County in 1797, and was a soldier of the war
of 1812, participating in the battle of Horse Shoe. He was a carpenter by
trade, and also followed farming. He was quite prominent during his life, and
served as a captain in the militia. He died in 1857. His father was Absalom
Scott, a native of Scotland, who immigrated to Maryland, where he was married,
and then came to Tennessee and settled in Washington County, of which he was
one of the pioneers. The mother was born in Carter County, on Doe River, three
miles above Elizabethton in 1808, and was the daughter of Elisha Humphreys, a
farmer of Carter County. She died in 1868. She was a member of the Baptist
Church. To the parents were born nine children, of which our subject is the
fifth. He was reared partly on the farm, and also worked at different trades.
In 1869 he associated himself with Messrs. Isaac Slinker and C. H. Lewis, and
established the Doe River Woolen Mills both of whom were Northern men, and were
attracted to the location, and its rare advantages by the report of the State
geologists just after the war, and by the lectures delivered in the North by N.
G. Taylor, the father of the present governor. Remaining with that
establishment for about six years, he then sold out his interest in that mill
and established the Watauga Mills, of which he is the present proprietor. He
was married, in 1870, to Emma Josephine Fleteher, who was born at Newport,
Cocke County, in 1844, and is the daughter of A. J. Fletcher. To this union
seven children have been born, two of whom are dead.
The Watauga Woolen Mills, J. P. Scott,
proprietor, of Elizabethton, Tenn., were established in 1876 by the present
proprietor. The mills have a daily capacity of about 300 yards, while during
the year 1886 upward of 45,000 yards of goods were manufactured. It has water
and steam power and 815 spindles, and uses 150 pounds per day. About $15,000
capital is invested. The large two story building is on the Watauga River, one
mile from Elizabethton.
Judge J. P. Smith, chancellor of the first
chancery division of Tennessee, was born in Johnson County, March 30, 1846, the
son of A. D. and Mary (Powell) Smith, the former born in Wilkes County, N. C.,
in 1808, the son of Caleb Smith, a native of North Carolina. Eleven brothers,
including the father of the latter, were with Gen Gates in the Revolution, and
two were killed. Caleb married Elizabeth Doren, a daughter of Robert Doren, of
Ireland, and afterward, in 1810, a pioneer of Tennessee. The marriage occurred
in North Carolina. He was an iron bar manufacturer and farmer, and died before
our subject was born. The father was a sheriff of Carter County about 1830, and
in 1835 became sheriff of Johnson County, after which he became circuit clerk,
until 1856. He was a lawyer, and engaged in active practice until 1863, when
Gen. Burnaide authorized him and John K. Miller, as lieutenant-colonel and
colonel, to organize the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, but he died in November,
1863, before the organization was completed. The mother was born near
Washington City, Va., February 27, 1816, the daughter of John Powell, a sea
captain, who died while his daughter was a child. She came to her relatives in
East Tennessee, and in 1832 was married. Our subject, the sixth of eight
children, grew up in Johnson County until his seventeenth year, attending James
Keys private school at Taylorsville. He then joined Company B, Fourth Union
Tennessee Infantry, at Nashville, scouting through the Confederate lines to
Kentucky. In October 1864, he became second lieutenant; and was mustered out
August 2, 1865, at Nashville. He then entered a claim office in Knoxville, and
continued until November, 1867, when he began law, and assisted in the clerks
and masters office at Elizabethton. He was admitted to the bar in October,
1869, and in 1870 began practice in Johnson County, where he resided until
December, 1880, and then became assistant United States attorney for the
eastern district of Tennessee. On July 8, 1885, he resigned and moved to Carter
County, and in 1886 became chancellor of the first chancery division. He was
married in February, 1867, to Mary A., a daughter of William Craig, born July
2, 1846. Two of their nine children are deceased. He and his wife are
Presbyterians.
John C. Smith, clerk and master of the
chancery court, was born near Eiizabethton, August 26, 1844, the son of James
O. and Rosana (Ellis) Smith, the former born in 1818 in North Carolina, the son
of Caleb Smith, of Pennsylvania, who is mentioned in the sketch of J. P. Smith.
The mother was born in Carter County, the daughter of John Ellis. Our subject
was educated at Elizabethton, and when seventeen went through the lines, and
July 2, 1862, joined Company F, Second Federal Tennessee Infantry, and on
November 6, 1863, was captured at Rogersville and imprisoned at Belle Isle,
Richmond, then in Andersonville, and finally exchanged December 15, 1864, He
then went to Annapolis, and returned to Knoxville; but on March 19, 1865,
rejoined his command at Cumberland Gap. He was mustered out at Knoxville June
19, 1865. He then entered the claim business at Elizahethton until 1868, when
he began merchandising. In 1873 he entered his present office. On December 22,
1868, he married Eva V. a daughter of Isaac P. Tipton, deceased. She was born
in April, 1845, and has borne five children to our subject. Both parents are
Methodists.
C. C. Taylor, farmer, was born in Carter
County, September 12, 1846, the son of C. C. and Nancy (Duncan) Taylor, the
former born in this county, May 15, 1795, the son of Dr. Isaac Taylor; of
Virginia, who was born in 1756, and came to what is now Carter County about
1776. He was in the Revolution. The father was a physician and farmer and
married, January 28, 1833. the daughter of Jeremiah Duncan, who was born July
4, 1809. Two sons and one daughter are now living. Our subject was educated at
Boones Creek Seminary, and has always been a successful farmer. He was United
States Internal revenue guager for five years, and in 1870 deputy marshall and
census taker. In 1867 he married Frances T., a daughter of George D. Williams.
Their children are Lucy N., Margaret E. A., George C. and Frank A. H. Our
subject is a Republican, a Mason, and a member of the Christian Church.
J. P. Van Huss, farmer, was born in March,
1833, in Carter County, on his present farm. He was educated in the common
schools, and when twenty years old began life, and now owns 157 acres of fine
land. In 1860 Rebecca, a daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Roadcap) Nead, of Hagerstown,
Md., and Rockbridge County, Va., respectively, became his wife, About 1837 they
came to Washington County, where the father died. The children born to our
subject and wife are as follows: Minnie F., James M., Daniel F., Barbara E.,
Flora J., William L. and John D. He and his wife are Baptists, the latter of
the German Church. He is a Republican and Prohibitionist. He was a justice in
1860 and has been since 1882. From January, 1888 to 1887, he was a trustee in
1866, and served four terms. He was deputy sheriff three years, and is a Master
Mason. He was twice elected moderator of the Watauga Association of Baptists,
and was also clerk of the same body from its organization in 1868 for six
consecutive years. He is the ninth of eleven children (five of whom yet
survive) of Mathias and Lovina (Duggar) Van Buss, natives of Carter (now
Johnson) County and the present Carter County respectively. The former was a
soldier in 1812, a Whig, a farmer, and a blacksmith. He was a son of Valentine
Van Huss, of North Carolina, and of Carter County, the latter born about 1778.
He was of Dutch descent, while the mother was of Scotch-English origin. The
mother was a daughter of was a daughter of William Duggar, a native of North
Carolina, and a pioneer of Duggers Ferry. He was a soldier of the Revolution
and married three times. The Duggar family are long lived.
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