Goodspeed's Henry County Biographies - A surnames
Judge Clinton
Aden, was born in Paris, Tenn., October 12, 1835, and is a
son of Harvey E. and Louisa M. (Brown) Aden. The father was born
in Charleston, S. C., in 1808 and when young moved to Simpson
County, Ky., and from there to Williamson County, Tenn., where
he married in 1829. He was a carpenter by occupation and died
October 27, 1884. The mother was a native of Lunenburg County,
Va., born in 1811, and came to Williamson County, Tenn., when a
girl; she is still living in Paris. Judge Aden was reared and
educated in Paris and also attended Bethany College, Virginia,
under Alexander Campbell for two years. He worked at the
carpenter trade until about twenty-three years of age when he
began reading law under Judge McCampbell. At the end of eighteen
months he attended one term of law school at Cumberland
University and was licensed by Judge Fitzgerald and Judge
Williams in 1859. He practiced until 1861 when he enlisted in
the Confederate Army in Capt. Conway’s company of the Fifth
Regiment and was promoted to captaincy in a cavalry company of
the Tenth Tennessee. He remained in the service till the close
of the war and then resumed his profession, which he continued
until 1874 when he was elected to the State Senate for one term.
He then resumed his practice until April 30, 1879, when he was
appointed judge of the Twelfth Circuit. He was elected to the
office in 1880 to fill the un-expired term closing in 1886. As a
practitioner Judge Aden has been very successful. In 1865 he
married Mary Fuqua of Carroll County, and the fruits of this
union were seven children, viz: John B., Harvey F., William H.,
Clinton, Sheila, Thomas B. and Mary L. The mother of these
children died December 13, 1884, having been a member of the
Christian Church. Judge Aden has always been a Democrat in
politics and an active member of his party. As a judge his
decisions have always been characterized by deliberation and
impartiality.
Capt. D. F.
Alexander, liveryman of Paris, senior member of the firm of
Alexander & Barton, established in 1865 the business which he
has continued up to the present time. In 1883, Mr. C. C. Barton
became a partner and has so remained from that time up to this
date. Mr. Alexander was born in Henry County in 1838 and is one
of two children born to Dr. Marion and Delilah (Crutchfield)
Alexander. The father was a native of South Carolina, and a
physician and surgeon by profession. He also followed mercantile
pursuits for some time. About 1842 he went to sea and has never
been heard from since. His wife was a native of North Carolina,
and died about 1878 at the age of nearly forty-nine. Our subject
was reared at home and received his education in the schools of
Paris. He remained with his mother till twenty years of age,
when he went to Salisbury, Tenn., and began clerking in a dry
goods store. At the breaking out of the late war he enlisted in
the Confederate Army May 20, 1861, in Company F, Fifth Regiment
Tennessee Infantry, and was elected sergeant. After the
reorganization of the army in 1862 he came home and organized
the escort company for Gen. Lyons, Mr. Alexander being made
captain of the same. He fought at Belmont, Hopkins (Ky.),
Shiloh, Ft. Donelson and numerous minor skirmishes. In one of
the battles he was wounded in the right thigh, which resulted in
keeping him from active duty nearly a year. He is yet lame from
the wound. In May, 1865, after an absence of four years, he
returned home and in the same year established his livery and
feed stable. December, 1865, he married Nellie Wright, a native
of Paris, Tenn., and the daughter of Thornton Wright. They have
two children: Eva and Mattie. Mr. Alexander has been one of the
leading business men of Paris for the past twenty-four years,
and is the oldest liveryman in the city. He has been in the
business so long that he knows thoroughly the wants of the
traveling public. He keeps on an average, eighteen horses, nine
single buggies, four hacks, three wagons, and all else that is
necessary for a first-class stable. Mr. Alexander is a stanch
Democrat in politics and he and wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South.
John Anderson,
carriage and wagon-maker, of Paris, was born in Pennsylvania in
1825, son of Robert and Elizabeth Anderson. The father was a
native of Pennsylvania, born about 1797, and was a stonecutter
and mason in early life, but later a farmer. He was a man of
marked honesty, morality, integrity and great firmness of
character. Mrs. Anderson was born in Pennsylvania, and was of
Scotch ancestry; she died in 1882. Our subject was reared
principally by his mother, as his father had died when our
subject was but fourteen years of age. When about nineteen years
of age he was apprenticed to A. B. and R. Patterson, of
Pittsburgh, Penn., to learn the carriage and wagon trade, with
whom he remained for several years. In 1849 he came to Henry
County and located in Manlyville, established his business at
that place, and continued there till 1854. He then came to Paris
and has followed the carriage and wagon making trade till 1877,
with the exception of a few years during the war when his
industry was greatly damaged. In 1855 he married Isabella W.
Brown, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1829, and a devout
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. By this union they
had six children, five of whom are living: Robert A., Nellie
(Mrs. Mitchum), Charles B., Anna and Elizabeth L. (Mrs. James
Thomason). Soon after the war Mr. Anderson was appointed circuit
court clerk and in 1866 was elected to the same office, which he
continued to hold for one term. He has served several terms as
mayor of the city of Paris and in 1882 was appointed postmaster
of the same place, holding this office for a term of four years
to the entire satisfaction of the people. He started in life a
poor boy but has managed his business affairs in a highly
successful manner. He is the present owner of considerable real
estate in town, also of a farm a short distance from town. In
politics Mr. Anderson was formerly a Whig, and cast his first
vote for Gen. Taylor in 1848. Since the war he has been a
Republican. He is a prominent member of the K. of H. and the K.
and L. of H.
Hon. J. D. C.
Atkins was born near Paris, Henry Co., Tenn., June 4, 1825,
son of John and Sarah (Manly) Atkins, natives of Anson County,
N. C. After moving to Montgomery County and soon afterward to
Stewart County, Tenn., they finally, in 1823, removed to Henry
County, and here passed the remainder of their days. The
mother’s death occurred in 1827 and the father’s in 1847. The
father was a farmer and a dealer in real estate, etc., and was a
man of fine financial means. He took great interest in his
county’s affairs and was one of its most respected citizens.
Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our
subject grew to manhood on the farm, and graduated from the East
Tennessee University in 1846. He then read law, but on account
of bad health left his profession and soon became enlisted in
political pursuits. In 1849 he was elected to the Legislature,
and re-elected in 1851. In 1855 he was elected to the State
Senate and in 1856 was an elector on the Buchanan ticket, being,
of course, one of the electoral college for Buchanan and
Breckenridge. He was nominated to represent the Ninth District
in Congress in 1857, and carried his election against a standing
Whig majority by a very spirited contest. He was defeated in
1859 by a majority of eight votes, and although pressed by his
friends to contest the election declined to do so. In 1860 he
was a delegate to the Charleston convention and advocated the
compromise or Tennessee platform. He was also a delegate to the
Baltimore convention, and was an elector in the Ninth
Congressional District of Tennessee on the Breckenridge ticket.
In 1861 he advocated the Crittenden compromise, and took an
active interest in public discussions; was elected
lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Tennessee, Confederate States
Army, May 20, 1861, and was elected to the provisional
Confederate Congress, without solicitation on his part. In Nov.,
1861, he was elected to the permanent Congress, and re-elected
in 1863 by the soldiers, receiving the largest number of votes
of any member of the Congress. He served on the committee of
post-offices, post roads and military affairs, and at the
conclusion of his services was on the committee of foreign
affairs. He introduced the resolution which effected the Hampton
Roads conference. At the close of the war he resumed farming,
and has continued that occupation ever since. In 1867 he, with
two other gentlemen, founded the Paris Intelligencer, and
continued several years as editor. In 1872 he was nominated over
Dorsey Thomas and elected over Col. Travis and W. W. Murray, to
Congress; re-nominated without opposition, and re-elected in the
years 1874, 1876, 1878,1880, and 1882. He retired in March,
1883, not allowing his name to be again presented before the
convention. He was a member of the committee on appropriations
eight years, four of which he was chairman of the committee. He
remained at home until March, 1885, when he was nominated by the
President, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate without
reference to a committee, as commissioner of Indian affairs. He
was chairman of the State convention to appoint delegates to the
National convention in 1884, was elector of the State at large
on the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket, but, owing to ill health,
made a limited canvass. Mr. Atkins is a man of home enterprise;
always patronizes the schools, churches and other institutions
of that character. In 1847 he married Miss Elizabeth Porter, a
daughter of Col. William Porter, a very prominent and dearly
beloved citizen of Henry County. To our subject and wife were
born five children: Sarah (Mrs. Hugh P. Dunlap), Bettie (Mrs.
Prof. F. H. Hunter), John D., Mattie and Clintie (wife of Dudley
Porter, second son of Gov. J. D. Porter). Mr. Atkins and wife
and Mrs. Hunter are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. Mrs. Dunlap is a member of the Christian Church. Mr.
Atkins is politically a firm State-rights Democrat.
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