NASHVILLE DAILY AMERICAN, 1876, A GENEALOGICAL SCRAPBOOK
Researched and Compiled by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2003

(Page 31)

NASHVILLE DAILY AMERICAN

April 1, 1876

Susie A. Bosworth, wife of William H. C. Bosworth, Nashville, died March 31, 1876 in the 29th year of her age; funeral today. "She was a loving wife and mother and a true Christian."

Betty Maney, daughter of Hon. Thomas Maney, Nashville; wife of Professor Kimhenly, University of North Carolina, died at Glenn Creek farm, Buncombe Co., N.C., March 24, 1876.

 

April 2, 1876

Willy McHugh, son of Thomas McHugh, Nashville, died April 1, 1876 in the 5th year of his age; funeral today. [On one tombstone in Calvary Cemetery, Nashville: William McHugh Born Nov. 11, 1871 Died April 1, 1876. Bridget McHugh Born April 27, 1872 Died April 1, 1876.]

Jimmie T. Tarpley, son of James E. Tarpley, Nashville, died April 1, 1876 of consumption in the 29th year of his age; funeral at Primitive Baptist Church and burial in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville.

Mrs. Minerva O. Jackson, wife of Warren Jackson, Nashville, died April 1, 1876 in the 68th year of her age; funeral tomorrow.

Michael Quinn, Nashville, died April 1, 1876 in the 66th year of his age; funeral today.

Mike Zewald was killed at the Sewanee Mines, March 30, 1876.

 

April 4, 1876

Mrs. Eliza Jane Hawkins died in Little Rock, Ark., April 1, 1876; sister of W. T., R. L. and J. L. Weakley.

W. R. Taylor, esquire, Nashville, died April 3, 1876 in his So. Cherry Street residence.

The funeral of Mrs. Sarah McPherson, mother of Mrs. Mary Goodwin, today.

Sarah Anna Campbell, widow of Waller Campbell, formerly of Elkton, Ky., died at Sycamore, Cheatham Co., Tenn., March 25, 1876.

 

April 5, 1876

On April 4, 1876, in the Supreme Court of Tennessee, Nashville, George H. Morgan of Gainesboro, Tenn., made eulogistic remarks about the late Hon. Samuel M. Fife, formerly a judge and a member of Congress from the 4th Congressional District: [BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1774-1971. Washington, D. C., 1971, page 945:

FITE, Samuel McClary, a Representative from Tennessee; born near Alexandria, Smith County, Tenn., June 12, 1816; attended the common and private schools and was graduated from Clinton College, Tennessee; studied law in Lebanon; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Carthage, Tenn.; member of the State senate in 1850; presidential elector on the Whig ticket of Scott and Graham in 1852; judge of the sixth judicial district 1858-1861; resumed the practice of law in Carthage, Tenn.; appointed on July 24, 1869, judge of the sixth judicial district to fill a vacancy; elected to the same office on January 8, 1870, and served until 1874; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John W. Head and served from March 4, 1875, until his death, at Hot Springs, Ark., October 23, 1875, before the assembling of Congress; interment in Carthage Cemetery, Carthage, Tenn.; reinterment in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tenn., in 1908.]

 

April 6, 1876

Mrs. S. B. Hays, late of Nashville, mother of W. H. McBride, died in Mt. Vernon, Ill., April 5, 1876 in the 60th year of her age.

Edward S. Lewis, St. Louis, MO, and Pattie Cooke were married in Edgefield, April 4, 1876.

 

(Page 32)

April 7, 1876

Frank Brisco Glenn, son of Sam B. and Kate V. Glenn, aged 10 months, died in Bowling Green, Ky. [date not provided]; burial today in Nashville.

 

April 8, 1876

The Winchester, Tennessee HOME JOURNAL mentioned recently that an old lady called Granny Hunter, about 110 years old, was living three miles south of Winchester. "She recollected well the Revolutionary War and says she was 8 or 9 years of age at that time."

 

April 9, 1876

Josiah J. McClain "born on the last month of the last century" had served as clerk of the Wilson County Court for forty years and retired therefrom in 1870. Considered an honest public servant, he died at home, in Lebanon, Tenn., April 6, 1876.

 

April 10, 1876

Missing issue

 

April 11, 1876

Mary J. Armstrong, wife of LeRoy Armstrong, died Nashville, April 10, 1876 in the 44th year of her age; funeral at First Christian Church today.

Eugene Edward McDonnell, infant son of M. C. and S. M. McDonnell, died April 9, 1876. Nashville; funeral today.

W. R. Tyner died in his brother, J. S. Tyner's residence, Nashville, April 9, 1876; funeral today.

John Buck, 55 years old, died Gallatin, Tenn., April 4, 1876.

Anderson Landis dropped dead on the street in Shelbyville, Tenn., April 9, 1876.

 

April 12, 1876

A poem in memory of Mary Eloise Knox, only daughter of William W. and Eliza J. Knox, Nashville, died April 9, 1876 aged 11 months and 27 days [May 12, 1875].

 

April 13, 1876

"Having learned through the medium of our friends that certain wholesale merchants of this city [Nashville] have put in circulation false and slanderous reports regarding us and believing that these reports are circulated with the malicious intent to injure our business character and reputation, we take this method of publicly denouncing these reports as false and slanderous. The facts are, that by purchasing strictly for cash we are enabled to undersell other wholesale merchants in our lines of goods and by so doing have incurred the envy and ill-will of our less fortunate competitors in business; hence their malicious attack upon us. . . ."

D. Weil & Co. Corner Broad and Market"

 

Blanche H., youngest daughter of George F. and Julia Fuller, died in Nashville, April 12, 1876 in the third year of her age; funeral from residence, 22 Berrien Street today.

On April 8, 1876 an elderly man named Wash Howard was found dead near a bridge of the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad, between Pope's Station and Courtland [Alabama]; he was on his way to visit relatives in Texas and being out of money was hoofing it when he was confronted by a man named Frank Taylor who asked him for a chew of tobacco; on refusal, as the man later admitted, he beat the old man to death (head wounds).

 

April 14, 1876

Katie B. Fite, second daughter of Judge Samuel M. Fite, dec., died Nashville, April 6, 1876 in the 16th year of her age; funeral services in Carthage, Tennessee. [In section five, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, tombstone: Kitty McClary Fite daughter of S. M. & Kate Fite

 

(Page 33)

Born in Smith Co., Tenn., June 24, 1860 Died at Ward's Seminary, Nash., Tenn., April 6, 1876. She is not dead the child of our affection but gone into that school where she no longer needs our protection and Christ himself doth rule. (unquote) Samuel McClary Fite was a sometime senator and circuit court judge; he died October 23, 1875.]

 

April 15, 1876

Paris, Tennessee, POST-INTELLIGENCER reported that Mrs. Brad. Crawford, "a very estimable lady in the northern part of this county [Henry County] hanged herself one day last week; mental derangement was given as the cause."

Shelbyville, Tenn., GAZETTE reported that Dr. W. Eugene Gosling, eldest son of William Gosling, died in his father's residence in Shelbyville, April 5, 1876.

 

April 16, 1876

Emma Wharton, black, dropped dead in her home on Gleaves Street, Nashville, April 15, 1876; inquest determined that death was due to "heart disease."

The mother of Emile Berta who drowned a day or two ago [in Cumberland River] requested that his body, if found, to be brought to her residence a mile and a half on the Clifton Road from Nashville. [April 23, 1876 issue noted that Berta's companion in a canoe, John Young, was charged with throwing the boy into the river.]

 

April 17, 1876

Missing issue

 

April 18, 1876

Alice Hinton, black, was arrested yesterday for cruelty towards her adopted, ten-year-old daughter; the child had been confined by a trace chain on her ankle; it had to be removed by a blacksmith.

 

April 19, 1876

"John R. Speed, of the Memphis AVALANCHE, was married late yesterday afternoon [April 18] to Miss Mary Waldine Putnam, at the residence of Miss Julia Putnam on Park Street [Nashville]. The bride is a lineal descendant of 'Old Put' [Israel Putnam] of Revolutionary memory." [Formal account of the wedding given on page 4, April 20, 1876 issue]

John Thompson, in his 83rd year of age, died of erysipelas, at home, on the Franklin Pike, four miles from Nashville, April 18, 1876; funeral today. "He was born on the same farm where he died." [In the April 30, 1876 issue it was noted that in Thompson's last will/testament he left $50,000 in Davidson County bonds to his sons; $37, 000 in bonds to his widow as well as $10,000 cash; real estate was divided among his widow and children and a few other bequests were detailed. An obituary was published in the May 5, 1876 issue, page 4:

The Late John Thompson.         Died April 18, aged eighty-three, John Thompson, of this county. The funeral sermon was preached at his residence by Rev. Thos. S. Hoyt, of the First Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Thompson had worshipped for many years. A very large concourse attended the services, and followed him to the grave, (the old family burying grounds) within a few hundred yards of the place of his birth.         It is not often one is called upon to chronicle the events of such a life. Nearly eighty-three years ago, in the then sparsely settled neighborhood a few miles south of Nashville, in a block-house, John Thompson first saw the light. Then Davidson county had some three or four thousand inhabitants, and the whole state of Tennessee not over forty thousand. Nashville was a trading post, a mere village; canebrakes were everywhere; a few settlers' cabins and an occasional block house might be found, and the Indians were still occupying the country.         He lived through nearly three generations; saw Nashville grow from a village to be a city of say, thirty thousand inhabitants, and Davidson county with sixty-four thousand people, and the State with more than one and a quarter million inhabitants. These are wonderful changes to take place in a single lifetime — and yet he witnessed them all. The canebrakes have disappeared; the Indians are gone; beautiful farms and splendid residences dot the country in every direction, and all these changes have been wrought in his day.         Mr. Thompson commenced life poor — as the world calls poor — and yet he was rich, endowed by nature with a capability of self reliance. Trusting in his own strong arm, with persistent energy he secured a competency, and finally a large property.         The subject of this sketch was four times married: first to Miss Mary Washington, then to Mrs. Buchanan, Mrs. Rawlings, and finally to Mrs. Mary H. House, who survives him. Only three children survive these marriages, one daughter (Mrs. Jo. Horton) and two sons, all living near the city.

 

(Page 34)

Mr. Thompson was a man of the strongest native sense, clear judgment, the strictest morals and an integrity unstained and unquestioned. Sober, thoughtful, patient, kind in his feelings and expressions toward his fellow-men, he was honored and esteemed by those who knew him best in a very high degree. He was the kindest of husbands, and a loving, faithful father — sparing no pains and no expense to make all about him comfortable and happy.         It was late in life, eighteen or twenty years ago, before he gave to religion that earnest attention and thought its importance demands. Engrossed by the world and this life's interests, had had made the mistake that so many make, of neglecting the higher and grander interests of the soul until he was three score; but when he did turn his attention to it, with characteristic energy he thought, prayed, read his Bible and set up prayers in his house — a practice he kept up till failing strength rendered him incapable of the duty. It was under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Bardwell that he was guided to a knowledge of the truth and a faith that gave him peace. It is a source of regret to his friends and the writer that he did not become a member of the church and thus before the world boldly avow his faith.         His home was to abode of hospitality. For twenty-five years the writer knew him intimately, was frequently at his house, and spent many pleasant hours with him and his happy family.         But he has gone! He, who for more than four-score years walked among man, has met the fate of all, and gone down to his grave. He leaves behind a large estate — and what is far better — that best heritage for his children, a good name. "Only the actions of the just, Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."

J. W. HUNTER

 

From HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE, by William W. Clayton, Nashville, 1880, page 69:

JOHN THOMPSON, the subject of this sketch, was of Scotch-Irish descent and was the son of Thomas und Nancy Thompson, and was born in an old stockade on the farm where he always lived, four miles south of Nashville, on the 1st of June, 1793. His father was a native of Guilford, N.C., and emigrated to Tennessee, and settled on a tract of six hundred and forty acres of land, four miles south of Nashville, soon after the first settlement of Davidson County. Here he built a log cabin and commenced the clearing of his farm. Here was the place where his children were born, among whom was his son John. Thomas Thompson became greatly embarrassed on account of his going security for friends, but the farm was redeemed by his son John, who became in time the sole owner of the old home.         Thomas Thompson was a plain, unassuming man, charitable towards all, and hospitable to the poor. He had five children, of whom John was the second. He died March, 1837, his wife having died previously, and both were buried on the farm in the old family cemetery.         John Thompson died April 18, 1876, and from the pen of a friend we quote the following, written at the time of his death:         "It is not often one is called upon to chronicle the events of such a life. Nearly eighty-three years ago, in the then sparsely settled neighborhood a few miles south of Nashville, in a block house, John Thompson first saw the light. Then Davidson County had some three or four thousand inhabitants, and the whole State of Tennessee not over forty thousand. Nashville was a trading-post, a mere village; cane-brakes were everywhere; a few settlers' cabins and an occasional block-house might be found, and the Indians were still occupying the country. He lived through nearly three generations; saw Nashville grow from a village to be a city of, say, thirty thousand inhabitants, and Davidson County with sixty-four thousand people, and the State with more than one and a quarter million of inhabitants. These are wonderful changes to take place in a single lifetime, and yet he witnessed them all. The cane-brakes have disappeared, the Indians are gone; beautiful farms and splendid residences dot the country in every direction, and all these changes have been wrought in his day.         "Mr. Thompson commenced life poor — as the world calls poor — and yet he was rich, endowed by nature with a capability of self-reliance. Trusting in his own strong arm, with persistent energy he secured a competency, and finally a large property.         "The subject of this sketch was four times married: first to Miss Mary Washington, then to Mrs. Buchanan, Mrs. Rawlings, and finally to Mrs. Mary H. House, who survives him. Only three children survive these marriages, — one daughter (Mrs. Jo. Horton) and two sons, all living near the city. Mr. Thompson was a man of the strongest native sense, clear judgment, the strictest morals, and an integrity unstained and unquestioned. Sober, thoughtful, patient, kind in his feelings and expressions towards his fellow-men, he was honored and esteemed by those who knew him best in a very high degree. He was the kindest of husbands, and a loving, faithful father, sparing no pains and no expense to make all about him comfortable and happy.         "His home was the abode of hospitality. The writer knew him intimately for many years, and was often at his house, and spent many pleasant hours with him and his happy family. But he has gone; he who for more than fourscore years walked among men has met the fate of all, and gone down to his grave. He leaves behind a large estate, and what is far better, that best heritage for his children, a good name. 'Only the actions of the just, Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.'"         His daughter — Ann Elizabeth — by his third marriage married Joseph W. Horton, who is a hardware merchant in Nashville. His sons, John M. and Joseph H., are the children of his fourth wife, Mrs. Mary H, House — maiden name, Hamilton — daughter of Joseph D. and Sarah B. Hamilton, of Russellville, Ky. John M. Thompson married Mary McConnel, daughter of John Overton, and has one daughter, Mary. He occupies the old house, is a large farmer, and deals largely in fine stock. Joseph H. is also a farmer, and resides on a part of the old farm, very near where his father was born. He married Ella, daughter of Michael Vaughn, and has one daughter, Emma.

 

[John Thompson's tombstone, Mt.Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, gives his birthdate as Dec. 1, 1798.]

Dr. J. A. Draughon and Nettie Pritchitt were married in Nashville, April 18,1876.

 

April 20,1876

Mrs. L. D. Knowles, wife of Joseph B. Knowles, Nashville, died April 19,1876 in the 65th year of her age; funeral today.

Samuel Ramsey King, son of Archy and Maggie King, died April 19, 1876 aged 15 months, of spinal meningitis; funeral today.

The funeral of John Edward Porch to be held this morning at residence of his grandfather, Robert T. Hoskins, in Nashville,Tennessee.

Page 3:

WHY AN OLD MAN SINNED A Distressing Illustration of the Hard Times Elkton (Ky.) Witness         On Friday last we had quite a touching scene in our courthouse. Old John Garner, an old, gray-headed man, was arraigned for the crime of grand larceny — horse stealing. He pleaded guilty, and presented himself to the jury in a brief and touching address. He said:         Gentlemen of the Jury: I am an old man and my race is nearly run. This is the first time in my life I have ever been before a jury. I have never even been a witness in a magistrate's court. I was born in 1816, and have been a hard working and an honest man all my life until now. I am a stranger to every man in this house, except His Honor who sits on the bench. He has known me for nine years and he will tell you I have been an honest man and a good citizen. This jury looks like a set of honest and intelligent men, and I wish you to deal with me the best you can. I read in the papers that the prison at Frankfort is an awful place — that it is so crowded that one can scarcely live there. From the accounts of that place I suppose I could not live there long. You see I am old and feeble, and I ask you to do the best you can for me.

 

(Page 35)

Gentlemen, if I could have got work I could have supported my family and not been here. But I want to tell you — I am a very poor man and have to work to live. Well, last year the times were very hard indeed, and I could not work much of my time. I am a mechanic, and I went to Clarksville, Fairview and many other places, but I could not get any work. The times were very hard, as you all know, and but few men had money to pay for labor. I traveled around till I spent all that I had but a bed and a chair. I was tired and out of heart, and my family suffering for food and clothing. I heard then that I could get work in North Logan, and I sold my kit of tools to get my family moved up there. I paid $75 for my tools in Louisville and had to sell them low. After paying for moving I had $15 left. I got a place for my family for a little while, and started again for work. I tried hard to find it, but could not. I went back to my family broken down in spirit, thinking I would have to starve or beg. Gentlemen, my little boy, about six years old, got in my lap and put his little arms around my neck and asked me if the good Lord would let us starve. I love my family as well as any man, and could not think of their starving.         The prisoner became overwhelmed with emotion, and pausing for a few moments, he pleaded for as light a verdict as the jury could give him. The occasion was exceedingly solemn. The prisoner told his story without reservation. Age and care had whitened his locks and furrowed his brow. He had seen better days, but he was now a broken reed. The jury, the attorneys, the judge and the spectators were touched by the homely recital of the suppliant prisoner. The jury gave him two years in the penitentiary, and the judge, jury and lawyers then signed a petition to the Governor for his pardon.

 

April 21, 1876

Walter Ketner, little son of Henry Ketner, Jefferson Co., Tenn., "ate a piece of wild parsnip, last week, and was a corpse three hours later."

 

April 22, 1876

The funeral of Nina Cunningham, infant daughter of James A. Fisher and wife, to be held at 210 South High Street, Nashville, today.

 

April 23, 1876

Alexander Ledbetter, whose body had been kept in the vault at Mt. Olivet Cemetery since his death [date not provided], would be buried today.

 

April 24, 1876

Missing issue

 

April 25, 1876

Frank Wilson, a clerk at the Decatur depot, who died November 2, 1875 was taken from "the" vault and buried April 23, 1876.

Robert W. Thomas, editor of the Clarksville, Tennessee CHRONICLE, a native of Virginia, died in the residence of his son-in-law, Gen. J. M. Quarles, Edgefield, Tenn., April 23, 1876, aged about 68 years; moved to Hopkinsville, Ky. in 1835 where he edited a newspaper for two years, then he went to Clarksville and "took charge" of the CHRONICLE; three sons, three daughters. His body was buried temporarily in the graveyard on the Colonel James S. Cummings' place, three miles from town, but the Clarksville officials had set apart a plot for his final resting place in the municipality.

 

Page 5:

NASHVILLE'S BIRTHDAY April 24 is the Anniversary of Her Settlement — When She Can Celebrate Her Centennial         Gen. James Robinson [Robertson] made his exploration in 1779 where Nashville now stands, and determined to settle here. He then returned to the Wautauga settlements, and in conjunction with Col. John Donelson, made up the party who sailed on flatboats from the head-waters of the Tennessee river, coming down the Holston and Tennesse, up the Ohio and Cumberland. They were often attacked by the Indians, and several of the party were killed and wounded. Gen. Robertson came overland on horseback via Cumberland Gap. Col. Donelson and party reached Nashville on Monday, the 24th of April, 1780. This day may very properly be termed the birthday of Nashville. Col. Donelson was the ancestor of the distinguished family who have figured so honorably and conspicuously in Tennessee history. His daugher was the wife of Gen. Jackson, and his granddaughter was the wife of Gen. Coffee.         In four years more Nashville will be able to celebrate her centennial.

 

(Page 36)

April 26, 1876

Minnie Gray Noel, wife of Charles R. Groomes, died in residence of O. F. Noel, Nashville, April 25, 1876; funeral today.

Peter Murphy, son of John and Mary Murphy, died in Nashville, April 25, 1876 aged 10 weeks old; funeral today.

Authur G. Brewer, son of Mrs. W. C. Brewer, Nashville, died April 25, 1876 aged 2 years, 10 months and 20 days old [June 5, 1873]; funeral today.

 

April 27, 1876

J. E. Davidson, aged 14 years, was shot and killed in St. Joseph, MO, April 26, 1876 by Frank Carey, aged 18 years.

John G. McMurry and Emma C. Moggiana married in Nashville, April 26, 1876; her mother lived in Edgefield, Tennessee.

 

April 28, 1876

John Murray, son of John and Mary Murray, Nashville, died April 27, 1876 aged 5 years; funeral today.

The funeral of R. H. Rose to be held from his late residence, Nashville, today.

Dr. Charles S. Briggs, Nashville, and Carrie S. Carter were married in her father, John A. Carter's residence in Louisville, Ky., April 26, 1876.

Sallie Ferguson, daughter of Landrus and Elizabeth Ferguson, mentally ill, hanged herself, April 27, 1876 in the family's home, seven miles on the Nolensville Pike from Nashville.

Jo. T. Howell, Nashville, son of Dr. R. B. C. Howell, dec., married Sue Grundy near Lebanon, Tenn., April 27, 1876.

 

April 29, 1876

Mary Annie Wheling, daughter of C. E. and Lucinda Wheling, aged 3 years, 7 months, 15 days [Sept. 13, 1872] died in Nashville, April 28, 1876; funeral tomorrow.

 

April 30, 1876

John G. Black, on a spree, was run over and killed by a train on the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad bridge in Clarksville, April 27, 1876.

Louis Pfeiffer died suddenly at his home in Nashville, Apri1 29, 1876; funeral today.

Samuel Moore, aged 80 years and 6 months, died at home, 244 Broad St., Nashville, April 29, 1876; funeral today.

 

Return to Contents