Tag Archives: Wilson

04/10/14

McDONALD, J. W.

J. W. McDonald, clerk of the Circuit Court of Houston County, was the eldest child of a family of five children born to the marriage of Daniel McDonald and Elizabeth Wilson. The father was born in North Carolina December 30, 1802, and when but eight years old came to what is now Houston County, where he followed farming, and died May 11, 1864. He was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The mother was born August 19, 1810, and died in October, 1880. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. John W. was born October 30, 1831, near Erin, and spent his early life on a farm securing a very limited early education. At the age of twenty-three years he married, and farmed on a part of the home farm until 1878, when he was elected to this office, having held the office a term of two years before this. He was married October 29, 1854, to Nancy A. McAuley, of this county, the result of this union being two sons, William A., a druggist in Erin, and Daniel W., now attending school. Mr. McDonald, his wife and eldest son are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Previous to 1860 he was a Whig, but since then has been a conservative Democrat. He has filled his office since 1878, and is held in the high esteem of his constituents.

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

LEE, James S. (1830- )

James S. Lee, clerk of the County Court of Houston County, was born May 26, 1830, within the present limits of Houston County. He was the youngest, but one, of eight children born to the marriage of John W. Lee and Elizabeth Hawkins, natives of North Carolina. The father was born about 1790. He married the mother in that State, and soon after came to Tennessee, where he followed farming. He was one of the prominent pioneers, and bore the high esteem of the people. His death occurred in 1849, and his mother in 1884, she being in her eighty-sixth year. Our subject was reared on a farm, and had the common school educational advantages, and has acquired his education mainly by his personal application outside of school. He remained with his parents till he married at the age of twenty-five, after whichhis mother lived with him till her death. He taught school in this county two
and a half years, and then engaged in mercantile business at Ashley, Ill., for
one year. He then returned to Tennessee. In 1861 he enlisted in Company I,
Fiftieth Tennessee Volunteers, Confederate States Army, in which he served three months at Fort Donelson, and was discharged because of sickness. He was then a mercantile clerk till 1871, when he was elected to the office he now holds, the only incumbent ever in the office. In 1873-74 he read law, which he now practices. October 13, 1856, he was married to Sarah C. Richardson, a native of this county. Eight children have been born to this union, viz.: Ella, the wife of William Wilson, of Stewart County; Minnie, the wife of E. W. Rauscher, of Erin; James S., Alma, Robert E., Harry, Sallie, and Harrison C., who died at sixteen years of age. The wife died October 1, 1885. She was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Lee is a member of the Knight Templar Degree, F. & A.M. Politically he is a firm Democrat, and stands high in his party and as a citizen.

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.

08/31/13

History of Arlington Elementary School

Compiled by Miss Lola Knight 
circa 1966
 
Arlington Elementary School has served this community since 1899, when a frame building was constructed. The school is located south of the L & N Railroad and on the Rocky Hollow Road which leads to Lewis Branch and Long Branch.

The first teacher was Ira Balls, assisted by Mrs. Lillie Connell Knight and Mrs. Lillian Weaks Wilson. Other teachers who followed were Arthur Averitt, Annie Nichols, Bert Robbs, Clatie Thomas, Amelia McMillan, Olive McMillan Harris, Bessie Hall, Stella Gross, Kitty Largent, Pearl Robins, Edgar Hassell, Flora Bratschi, Mr. McClanahan, E. M. Neighbors, Sarah Shelton, Moody Hobbs, Alice Hobbs, Flora Hobbs, A. L. Platt, Delma May Morrison, Gertha Brooks, and Grace McMillan.

The school is the only school in the county located on the same plot of ground as the original school. The building, constructed in 1899, was torn down, but some of the material was salvaged and used in the new school on the same location.

Later teachers have included Pauline Dillard, Tilden Richardson, Jennie Roby, Lura Warden, Luther Wynns, Mrs. Emma Wynnas, Edward Holmes, Annie Black, Helen Fussell, Ina Jones, Lola Knight and Lora Roby.

The present faculty at Arlington School has a unique twin sister-teacher team–Mrs. Lora Knight Roby and Miss Lola Knight. Mrs. Roby has been at the school for the past sixteen years and Miss Knight has been at this school for the past twenty years. It is believed that this is the only two-teacher school in the public school system of Tennessee with twin sisters as teachers.

Some pupils who have attended Arlington School down through the years have included Garner, George, Margaret, Lora, Lola, Viola, Percy, G. A., Grady, Claude, Dossie, Pauline, Ruth, and Blanche Knight; Carl, Gervis, Ira, Mamie, Ida, Gilbert, Marshal, William Francis, Maxie, and Rowe Nichols; Mabel, Sarah, and Arthur Burns; Loyd, Pearl, Hattie, and Bessie Roby; Grace and Bird McMillan; Keenana, Balls, Pulleys, McElroys, and many others from the old families of Arlington.