Anthony, T. A.
Dr. T. A. Anthony, Sr., a physician of Durhamville, Lauderdale County, Tenn.,
is a son of James C. and Mary S. (Lee) Anthony. His father was born in
Campbell County, Va., in 1786, and his mother in Westmoreland County, Va., in
1791, and they were married in 1810. Four sons were born to them: Phillip L.,
born in 1811; William A., born in 1813; James G., born in 1815; and our
subject. In 1832 they moved to Arkansas and lived there until the father died
in 1866, and the mother died in Arkansas in the same year. They did not
belong to any church; he was an old line Whig. Our subject is of Italian
descent on his father’s side, one of his ancestors being a merchant of Genoa,
Italy, and, while trading on the Mediterranean Sea, was captured by pirates
and taken to Algeria and sold as a slave, but was afterward liberated by an
Englishman and went to England. On the mother’s side, Dr. Anthony’s ancestors
were English, tracing back to William the Conqueror. Hugh Lee, one of his
ancestors, was made Earl of Litchfield by William the Conqueror, for services
rendered at the battle of Hastings; some of his ancestors fled to Virginia,
when Cromwell ruled in England, and after the coronation of Charles II,
returned to England to ask the King to restore their estates; but the King, on
account of Parliament, gave them large tracts of land in Virginia and they
returned to that State, and from them came the famous Lee family of Virginia.
Our subject was born in Richmond, Va., April 1, 1817. His opportunities for
educationg himself while young were neglected, as his parents were moving from
place to place. At the age of eighteen he commenced studying at home and, in
1840, commenced the study of medicine, graduating at Jefferson Medical College
in 1843. June 23, 1853 he married Miss Sarah M. Rice, a native of Georgetown
District, S.C., born in 1836, and they have five children: Thomas A., Jr.,
Eugene R., Charles McHenry, Albert Sydney, and Mary L., all living. Dr.
Anthony came to Lauderdale County, April 4, 1843, and engaged in the practice
of medicine, which he still successfully continues. With his wife he belongs
to the Missionary Baptist Church. Dr. Anthony has divided his land among his
children. He has been a resident of Lauderdale County for forty-three years
and is a most agreeable, pleasant gentleman.
Goodspeed’s Biographies of Lauderdale Co., TN