Category Archives: Biography

04/10/14

EDWARDS, John F. (1842- )

John F. Edwards was born in Virginia, May 15, 1842. He was one of the children born to the marriage of Jackson Edwards and Rebecca Mountcastle, natives of Virginia. The parents remained in their native State till 1850, when they moved to Kentucky, where the father died in 1854, and where the mother still lives. The father was a cabinet-maker, and our subject was reared at that trade. He remained with his parents to the age of fifteen, when he engaged at his trade in Kentucky till 1875, at which time he came to Houston County and engaged in saw-milling. In 1882 he came to Erin and engaged in the undertaking business, and is still interested in that trade. In the spring of 1884 he, with James Hoppes, established their present business, that of general blacksmithing, wagon-making, carpentering, etc. They run a set of machinery, including lathes, planers and saws. He was in army service for about two years in Company I, Thirtieth Tennessee Volunteers, Confederate States Army, and was in battle of Fort Donelson, as was his partner in the Federal Army. His wife, Mary F. Edwards, is a native of Todd County, Ky., and his marriage to her was celebrated November 16, 1869. Five living children now bless this union, viz.: Lula, Patterson, Eddie, Herschel and Bessie. Politically Mr. Edwards is a Democrat. He is a member of the F. & A. M. Order. He is one of the well respected and enterprising citizens of Erin and of Houston County.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.

04/10/14

DILLON, Samuel D. (1849- )

Samuel D. Dillon, proprietor of the Erin Livery Stable, was the second of a family of five sons and five daughters of William H. And Elizabeth (Cummings) Dillon. The parents are now living in Stewart County, where the father follows farming. They are of Scotch-Irish and Irish parentage. Samuel D. was born June 22, 1849, and was reared on a farm to the age of twenty-two, when, in 1873, he went to Little Rock, Ark., and remained one year. He then returned to Stewart County, Tenn., where he was appointed deputy sheriff, and served four years. He then traveled in the marble trade for three years. Then he engaged in merchandising in Dickson County, where he had established a business before quitting the road. May 1, 1883. He began the livery trade at Erin, in which he has been very successful. He was married, December 28, 1882, to Emma E. Parker, of Stewart County, the result of this union being one son, William G. The wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Dillon is a Democrat. He is one of the prominent and well respected citizens of the county.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.

04/10/14

DICKSON, James W. (1847-1873)

James W. Dickson, a farmer of Houston County, was born December 12, 1847, in the county. His father, Hugh J. Dickson, was born in 1816; was raised in Houston County, and died October 3, 1873. His mother was raised in Humphreys County; she died in March, 1870. At the age of twenty-one J.W. married Miss Bennetta Edmonson, of Montgomery County, the ceremony being solemnized December 16, 1875. Three children have blessed this marriage: Benjamin H., Minerva B. and Francis P.  Mr. Dickson’s wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Dickson’s educational advantages were limited. He has been a farmer all his life and has been successful. Politically he has always been a firm Democrat. He is a good and substantial citizen of Houston County and is highly respected as such by all.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.

04/10/14

DICKSON, James C. (1840-1921)

 

James C. Dickson, a prominent farmer of Houston County, was born October 19, 1840, near Omega. His father was a native of East Tennessee, and came to Middle Tennessee at a very early day, where he lived and died, having been a farmer. The mother was a native of Robertson County. The father died when James C. Was fifteen years old, and our subject then remained with his mother till eighteen years of age, when he began life for himself. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted in the Eleventh Tennessee Volunteers, C. S. A., and saw considerable service. He was captured and taken as a prisoner to Camp Douglas, Ill. Returning from the war he resumed farming, which he has successfully continued to the present. October 11, 1874, he was married to Miss Fredonia Adams, a native of Dickson County. Six children have blessed this union, two of whom are dead. Their names are as follows: James L., Alvah C., Luther, William, Sophronia M. and Merdolia. Mr. Dickson and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Dickson is a member of the F. & A. M. He is a Democrat, and is one of the respectable, moral and upright citizens of the county. Mr. Dickson’s paternal grandfather, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, lived in what is now Houston County, then a part of Dickson County.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.

08/25/13

BUQUO, Henry H. – (1844-1903)

Hon. Henry H. Buquo, attorney at law, and one of the prominent business men of Houston County, was the third of a family of five children of Jacob and Margaret (Hohenadel) Buquo, natives of Bavaria and France, respectively. They (the parents) each came to Pennsylvania in about 1830, being yet single. In Pennsylvania they married, and Jacob followed farming there until 1868, when he moved with his family to Erin, Tenn., where his son, H. H., had come the year previous. Here the mother of our subject died in 1873. The father yet lives in Erin, a hale old man, whose birth was in 1813. The immediate subject of this sketch was born May 29, 1844, and was reared on a farm in his native State, and secured a good common school education and attended commercial college at Pittsburgh, Penn. At the age of nineteen years he left home and worked by manual labor at mining coal. With money thus earned he attended school. His early business life was in mechanical pursuits and the improvement of his education. In 1867 he came to Erin, where he continued work as a mechanic, and began the study of law, which he continued while pursuing his avocation. For ten years Mr. Buquo practiced law in Erin very successfully. He was actively instrumental in the organization of Houston County, and by his efforts the county seat was secured at Erin. He is the architect for the court house, and helped survey the county lines. He has held several of the county offices, and in 1880 was elected to the State Assembly, in which he served one term. He then engaged with Harris & Buquo Bros. in the manufacture of lime, cooperage material, etc., for some time. In 1884 he purchased a half-interest in the firm of Harris & Buquo, in the manufacture of lime and cooperage, etc., and in the mercantile trade. The firm also conducts the Clifton Cement & Mining Works at Clifton, Tenn., and does an extensive real estate business, now owning about 15,000 acres of land in this county. The firm does an annual business of about $125,000. Mr. Buquo also continues the practice of law. He is one of the few who withstood the yellow fever plague of 1878, and so untiringly cared for the distressed. November 23, 1868, he was married to Mary Jane Brigham, of this county, and daughter of A. W. Brigham. To this union have been born six children, all of whom are now living, as follows: Maggie A., Sallie A., Samuel J., George C., Helen H. and Jennie L. Mr. Buquo, his wife and two oldest children are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Buquo is an elder in the church and is regarded as one of the leading lights in the church at this place. He was honored with the appointment as delegate to the General National Assembly of the church, and takes great pride in his religious relations and benevolent and elevating works. He justly sustains the high regard of all good citizens, and is widely known in business circles as an honorable and energetic business man.

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.

08/25/13

BROADDUS, W.J. (Gen.) – (b. 1826)

Gen. W. J. Broaddus, attorney, and editor of the Houston County News, was born in Trenton, Todd Co., Ky., December 23, 1826. His parents were William and Jane E. T. (Moore) Broaddus. The father was a merchant, and after 1836 lived in Clarksville, Tenn. He was a man of integrity and a highly respected citizen. The mother was a very pious Christian, and died in 1840 when Gen. Broaddus was but fourteen years old. Four of the family of seven children survived the parents, our subject being the eldest. He was educated in the old Male Academy at Clarksville, Tenn., and partly at Lexington, Ky., where he attended one year. In 1847 he returned to Clarksville and began the practice of law, which he continued there till 1851. On June 10, 1850, he married Miss M. E. Carter, daughter of Dr. B. N. Carter, of Aetna Furnace. In 1851 Mr. Broaddus removed to Centerville, Hickman Co., Tenn., and practiced his profession there a year or so. He then purchased an interest in the Mount Aetna Furnace, which he sold in 1853. He then became interested in the Clark Furnace in Stewart County. In 1859 he sold out his interest and returned to Clarksville to resume the practice of law till 1859, when he located at Paris, Tenn., and remained till the breaking out of the war. In 1865 he was appointed clerk and master of the Chancery Court of Stewart County, and practiced law till 1867, when he was elected attorney-general of the Tenth Judicial District. In 1870 he retired from the office, removed to Nashville and entered into a law partnership with Judge John A. Campbell. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the bill creating Houston County. After eight months in Nashville he returned to Houston County, and has ever since practiced law there, except a short time while he edited a paper at Guthrie, Ky. He also now edits the Houston County News. He has been blessed with a family of eight children, four of whom died in infancy and four of whom survive, viz.: John F., Edward N., Sallie Ann and Mary L., all of whom are grown. Before the war Mr. Broaddus was a Whig, but since has been a Democrat. He was licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1867, and was afterward ordained deacon. He is a very prominent citizen of Houston County.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.