NASHVILLE DAILY AMERICAN, 1876, A GENEALOGICAL SCRAPBOOK
Researched and Compiled by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2003
NASHVILLE DAILY AMERICAN
(Page 78)
December 7, 1876
Alex. J. Porter, executor, would sell on the premises, 122 North Summer Street, Nashville, the residence of Mrs. Madeline T. Allison, dec. Sale on December 20, 1876.
December 8, 1876
Mattie James Griffith, youngest daughter of James O. and Mattie K. Griffith, Nashville, died Dec. 7, 1876, aged 17 months. “Our little bud of promise is taken to bloom in the sweet fields of Eden where the two sainted sisters now sing sweeter songs than earth can ever learn.”
G. A. Dazey and Medora Donnigan were married in Nashville, December 7, 1876.
Captain Henry C. Ward, U. S. Army, and Frances C. Maney were married in Nashville, Dec. 6, 1876.
December 9, 1876
John Martin, aged 68 years, died in Nashville, Dec. 8, 1876; funeral today.
Annie Rooney, daughter of Michael and Margaret Rooney, died Nashville, Dec. 8, 1876 aged 13 months, 12 days; funeral today.
Susie Lee Griffith, third daughter of J. O. and Mattie Griffith, died Nashville, Dec. 9, 1876, of diptheria, aged 4 years, 11 months and 8 days [January 1, 1872]; funeral today.
December 10, 1876
Marye Elizabeth Browne, daughter of James and Alice Brown, Nashville, died ostensibly on Dec. 9, 1876, aged 2 years, 3 months; funeral today.
Jennie Wrenne Smith, daughter of William and Ellen Smith, Nashville, died Dec. 9, 1876, aged
2 years, 6 months.
Lulu Cannaday, daughter of John H. and Jennie Cannaday, Nashville, died ostensibly Dec. 9, 1876; funeral today. [December 17, 1876 issue, page 4, memorial to "Lulie" by "Berta."]
Burial of Mary E. Lockett, wife of George W. Lockett, in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, today; her body had been in the vault at Mt. Olivet since April but today it would be buried in a permanent grave.
December 11, 1876
Missing issue
December 12, 1876
Minna W. Gennett, daughter of Andrew Gennett and wife, Nashville, died of diptheria, died Dec. 11, 1876, aged about 8 years. [December 24, 1876 issue, page 4, has a tribute to her memory, to Lady Minna Gennett who died Dec. 11, 1876; her last words, reportedly were, Light the candle, Papa, I am dying."]
Florence Adkisson, wife of D. H. Adkisson, died Dec. 11, 1876 in the 20th year of her age; funeral today. Died from severe burns.
Mardie Harris, daughter of W. Hooper and Mary Harris, Nashville, died Dec. 10, 1876, aged 1 year, 1 month and 3 days [January 7, 1875].
Jacob Schutt, native of Markroningen, Wurtemburg [Germany], died December 10 1876 aged 39 years; a butcher; funeral today. '
William Carroll Napier, son of E. W. Napier and wife, died of diptheria, ostensibly Dec. 11 1876; aged 3 years, 11 months and 7 days.
December 13, 1876
James W. Perkins died in Nashville, Dec. 12, 1876 in the 80th year of his age; interment in “the family burial ground, eight miles from Nashville, on the Franklin turnpike.”
(Page 79)
December 14, 1876
Mrs. Captain J. N. Alexander died in Nashville, Dec. 13, 1876; funeral today.
B. Carter Hillman, son of D. and Mary A. HilIman, NashvilIe, died Dec. 12, 1876, aged 1 year, 10 days; funeral today.
December 15, 1876
Mrs. Lydia E. Phinney, formerly of Ontario Co., New York, died Edgefield, Tenn., Dec. 14, 1876, aged 62 years; funeral today from residence of son-in-law, Theo S. Ford.
December 16, 1876
R. H. Cato, estate administrator of Sally Derickson, formerly Sally Hinton, dec., notified her heirs and distributees, that on April 7, 1877, in the office of the county court clerk of Smith County, Tennessee, in Carthage, he would make a final settlement of the estate and the heirs should be present then. Supposedly these heirs lived in Ark., Tenn. and Missouri.
Mary B. Martin, widow of Hon. Wilson Y. Martin, Smith Co., Tenn., died near Dixon's Springs, December 10, 1876.
John W. Dodge, son of John Dodge the miniaturist, died in McMinnville, Tenn., Dec. 15, 1876 aged 27 years.
December 17, 1876
A follow-up on John W. Dodge, miniaturist, whose likenesses of Andrew Jackson and Henry
Clay won him a national reputation; his son, John W. Dodge, Jr., died of consumption in
McMinnville, their former home, Dec. 15, 1876 aged 27 years.
Poem in memory of Mrs. Mary W. Alexander, ten stanzas long.
Alice Hickman, wife of General James Hickman, died in Nashville, Dec. 16, 1876; funeral today.
Minnie Childress Davis, only daughter of W. G. and Jennie Davis, Nashville, died Dec. 16, 1876, aged 6 years, 1 month and 18 days [October 28, 1870]; funeral today.
December 18, 1876
Missing issue
December 19, 1876
Tom Morton Winstead, youngest son of T. E. and Maggie Winstead, Nashville, died Dec. 18, 1876; funeral today.
James Burns, son of Luke and Maggie Burns, Edgefield, died Dec. 18, 1876 aged 5 years, 1 month, 12 days [November 6, 1871]; funeral today.
December 20, 1876
Page 4: Judge Guild’s Golden Wedding
Last night a large party of ladies and gentlemen assembled at the house of Judge Jo. C. Guild, on Russell street, Edgefield, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his wedding day, Dec. 19, 1826. A man who has dispensed justice from the bench for many years; who has mingled n the contests of the flush times at the bar with the legal giants who have almost passed from the stage; who has participated in the conflicts of party politics and upheld the flag of his country in the Florida wars; who was the friend of Jackson – the anniversary of the happy event of fifty years ago of course recalled a thousand reminiscences of the olden time. There were not wanting among the guests those who carried the memory back to the purer and better days of politics and social life. But one, however, who participated in the festivities, and as an attendant – “waiter,” they called it then – witnessed the marriage which the gold wedding celebrated – Hon. Balie Peyton, of Gallatin.
An ivygram over the mantel gave the date when Judge Guild was wedded to Miss Catherine M. Blakemore, daughter of the celebrated pioneer and Indian fighter. The happy bride and groom, attested by their placid contentment, the joy and happiness of fifty years of married life; and four sons-in-law – Col. Baxter Smith, Capt. T. L. Dodd, Mr. John McKee, and Mr. Walter J. Guild – with their families, were present to make the picture completely patriarchal.
Shortly after the guests had assembled, Gov. Neill S. Brown, is his happiest style, presented from Mr. Jo. W. Allen and his sister, Mrs. Allison, a magnificent toilet mirror, silver framed and beautifully chased with a golden inscription of the date, “Dec.
(Page 80)
19, 1826.” About the time of the wedding, the donors, a little boy and girl, had broken a mirror at the house where the marriage ceremony was performed, and the incident had suggested, the mirror, as a pleasant reminder of a trivial incident, to show how their minds kept the past fresh in memory.
Judge Guild responded in a characteristically humorous speech, reviving a few reminiscences of weddings in old times and the pleasant associations of the old bar. He referred to those present and spoke of a letter of regret from Hon. R. L. Caruthers, and presented his old friend Hon. Balie Peyton. Mr. Peyton for one moment referred to the past with a tremor of sadness in his voice, and then let the full light of his genial humor shine upon the olds, as he painted briefly with that delicious quaintness of outline, and delicate humor of which he is such a master.
A substantial banquet of choice and substantial viands met with substantial justice.
Altogether it was a most enjoyable occasion, and said to all present, in the children and grandchildren, in the happy faces of the living couple of a half century: “Be wedded and enjoy fifty years of calm, peaceful, married life.”
The company separated, heartily wishing Judge Guild and his wife a diamond wedding, and their presence, one and all, to enjoy its celebration.
December 21, 1876
John Smiley died near Baker's Station, Tenn., Dec. 18, 1876; a youth who succumbed to consumption .
Rev. S. G. Caruthers died Columbia, Tenn., Dec. 18, 1876 in the 45th year of his age; son of Abraham Caruthers and brother of Robert L. Caruthers.
Henry B. Bradford, son of George B. and Narcissa Bradford, Nashville, died Dec. 20, 1876 in the 18th year of his age; funeral today. [December 24, 1876 issue, page 4, Henry Brown Bradford, second son of G. G. Bradford and M. Narcissa Bradford, born Nov. 19, 1858; died December 20, 1876]
Elder Phillip S. Fall, Nashville, Christian Church, would give up his ministry there, the first of the new year and return to Kentucky. He began preaching in 1819, when 20 years old, in Kentucky and came to Nashville in 1824 but it was in 1826 when he became pastor of the Nashville Christian Church and so served until 1831 when he returned to Ky.; there he oversaw the Female Eclectic Institute at his residence near Frankfort and conducted it for 26 years. Requested to return to Nashville, he did so, in 1857 and remained there until the present time. After the battle of Nashville, during the Civil War, the federals occupied this church for a time.
December 22, 1876
Dr. Edward T. Noel married Bettie Demoss, daughter of Judge A. L. Demoss, near Nashville,
Dec. 20, 1876.
December 23, 1876
The house of Asa B.Young, near Cherrefield, Maine was burned Dec. 21, 1876. In the fire, Gussie Young and a child were burned to death.
December 24, 1876
S. Laufer, aged 62 years, died in Nashville, Dec. 22, 1876; funeral today.
Mrs. A. S. Blackburn, formerly of Nashville, died in Dickson, Tenn., Dec. 21, 1876; burial in Dickson on December 22.
Captain John L. Bateman, Nashville, died Dec. 23, 1876 in the 53rd year of his age; funeral from Primitive Baptist Church and burial in old city cemetery in Nashville.
Funeral of Miss Emma H. Atkinson to be held today in Nashville.
Israel Pickens Lenoir died Dec. 21, 1876 in the 50th year of his age; Lenoir’s Station.
December 25, 1876
Missing issue.
(Page 81)
December 26, 1876
M. A. Campbel1, widow of W. G. M. Campbel1, died at home, on Lebanon Pike, two miles from Nashville, Dec. 24, 1876; funeral today.
Mary Bone McConnell, daughter of Herschel B. and Sallie P. McConnell, died Dec. 25, 1876 near Cornersville, Tenn. “She has gone to join sweet little Anna who left us twenty-eight days ago.” She was 8 months old.
December 27, 1876
James F. Pentecost died in Nashville, Dec. 26, 1876 in the 44th year of his age; funeral today.
Mollie E., daughter of Joseph F. and Annie Smith, died Dec. 26, 1876, aged 13 years and 4 months.
Neill S. Roberts died Dec. 26, 1876 in Nashville in the 13th year of his age.
H. H. Crockett and Willie C. Baber were married November 24, 1876.
December 28, 1876
On the night of December 17, 1876 three thugs killed a 17 year old son of Hartwell Scruggs, robbing him and another boy who were riding towards LaGrange for Helena, Ark.
December 29, 1876
Elder H. A. Jackson, black, died Natchez, Miss., Dec. 28, 1876; educated at Wilberforce University in Ohio and moved to Washington state; came south after the Civil War and pastured several churches. He was fifty-five years old.
December 30, 1876
Announcement that Greenwood Seminary, Lebanon, Tenn. would begin its next session Jan. 22, 1877. The second session of Vanderbilt University would begin February 1, 1877.
December 31, 1876
A. Patton, widow of William M. Patton, died in the residence of her son, James W. Patton, Nashville, Dec. 30, 1876 in the 76th year of her age.
Maggie E. Wilson, daughter of R. H. and Fannie Wilson, Nashville, died Dec. 30, 1876, aged 2 years, 4 months and 18 days [August 12, 1874]; funeral today.
Major Alex. Bean born Westmoreland Co., Pa., fifty years ago; came to Nashville thirty-two years ago; married, with three sons. Died of pneumonia, December 30, 1876.
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
February 15, 1876
After contracting a severe cold at a temperance gathering last week, Miss Addie Forbes died from its effects in Nashville, February 13, 1876; burial in old city cemetery.
March 22, 1876
“A Scotchman named Murdoch Frazer of Saginaw, Mich., died on the morning of March the
18th, at the Warren House, McMinnville from the effects of hard drinking. Frazer said the cause of his dissipation was family troubles. His remains were shipped to his home in Michigan for interment.”
April 15, 1876
W. M. Cassetty and Mollie Cutter, Nashville, married April 13, 1876 in the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
May 7, 1876
“John L. Swaney is the oldest man in Sumner County. He has reached the age of 95 [years].”
(Page 82)
June 25, 1876
William Donelson Robertson, only child of W. M. and E. M. Robertson, died June 18, 1876 of cholera infantum.
Mrs. Mariana Clees, aged 86 years, died Bell's Bend, Davidson Co., Tenn., June 23, 1876.
Luella Cantrell, daughter of G. P. and M. J. Cantrell, died 12 miles from Nashville, June 24, 1876, aged 11 months, 24 days.
The remains of Charles Plummer to be removed from the vault at Mt. Olivet Cemetery and taken nearby for interment in Calvary Cemetery, today.
June 28, 1876
John M. Seabury, formerly superintendent of waterworks, Nashville, died in Edgefield in the residence of his son-in-law, H. S. Peach, June 27, 1876, aged 80 years as of last February; active freemason.
July 8, 1876
Tom Kelly's funeral. [He died July 6, 1876.] “He was a poor boy, as the world would say, but he was rich in grace and goodness of heart. He was industrious and honest and his employers, Messrs. Walsh & O'Keefe, were among the chief mourners. Though not yet 18 years old, he had established for himself a character which millions could not buy. The funeral cortege left St. Mary's school at 9 a. m., St. Aloysius Society leading, followed by a large number of friends to the cathedral where a solemn mass for the dead was offered by the Rev. Father Fahy. . . appropriate remarks from the priest drew tears from every eye and the procession reformed to carry the body to Calvary Cemetery.” [Kelly's name is inscribed on a tombstone, bearing the names of others in the lot, but his death date is unfortunately given as 1886 thereon.]
July 28, 1876
Mrs. Jane Davidson, "who was famous among travellers for having the best tavern on the
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway" died in Decherd, Tenn., July 27, 1876, aged
94 years.
August 1, 1876
Fountain E. Hughes "one of the best pilots on the Cumberland River" died July 30, 1876 from the bite of a venomous insect.
September 9, 1876
At a picnic in Cannon Co., Tenn., yesterday, Jim Carnehan became so intoxicated that a friend, Charles Ferrell, took him home, in Civil District 23 of Rutherford County; on reaching the homeplace Carnehan got into a quarrel with Ferrill, struck him with a rock, killing him.
September 14, 1876
Mrs. Catherine Clark, Manchester, Tenn., formerly of Nashville, member of the Christian Church, died September 10, 1876, aged 86 years.
September 17, 1876
John W. Ranson of Tuscumbia, Alabama died in Nashville, Sept. 16, 1876.
John W. McGrath, son of Thomas A. and H. V. McGrath, aged 5 years and 21 days, died Sept. 21,
1876; body sent to Versailles, Kentucky for interment there.
Lucy W. Stevenson, youngest daughter of James F. and Elizabeth A. Stevenson, died Sept. 16, 1876, aged 6 years, 10 months, 12 days [November 4, 1869].
Mary Gallagher, wife of Maurice Gallagher, died Sept. 15, 1876 aged 42 years; funeral today.
“In Memoriam” to Robert Emmet Olwill, aged 6 years.
(Page 83)
The Independent: Order of Immaculates, an organization organized by and for black men to elevate their race, celebrated the organization's fifth birthday, September 21, 1876 with a parade in downtown Nashville and speeches. “The order is evidently composed of the best class of colored citizens.”
Christian Kropp, tobacconist of Clarksville, Tenn., died Sept. 20, 1876; consumption.
October 4, 1876
Robert Stewart, native of Davidson Co., Tenn., died in his residence in Edgefield, October 3,
1876 aged 63 years.
October 14, 1876
"Isaac Sheron dropped dead in Murfreesboro yesterday [October 23]. He was 87 years old."
October 24, 1876
Miss Mary Pitts, working at a sorghum mill on her father's premises, near Sharon, Tenn., was accidentally killed in a tangle with the machinery, October 18, 1876.
October 27, 1876
James H. Foster, born Bardstown, Ky., Oct. 1, 1798, son of Robert Foster, with whom he moved to Nashville late that year; farmer; died Oct. 26, 1876, at home, on Murfreesboro Pike, near Nashville.
November 8, 1876
Dr. W. D. Senter, graduate of the Nashville Medical College and a preacher in the Pacific
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, died in Merced, California, Oct. 27, 1876; buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville; married Sue Hobson.
November 11, 1876
Jane Robertson cut her throat, committing suicide, November 8, 1876.
November 19, 1876
Joseph G. McClelland, formerly a Nashville merchant, died in residence of his brother, Matt McClelland in Lafayette Co., Missouri, Nov. 7, 1876.
November 23, 1876
Thomas J. Hannon, south Nashville, was killed about last midnight in the Louisville Railroad yard in Edgefield; his legs were cut off in an accident, from which wounds he died.
November 26, 1876
Kate Nixon married J. E. Kenney and Florence Nixon married Noah Hancock, in Pulaski, Tenn., November 21, 1876; sisters and daughters of Chancellor G. H. Nixon.
December 3, 1876
The Humphreys County courthouse, Waverly, Tenn., a two-story brick building, was burned the morning of December 2, 1876.
December 17, 1876
Buck Tomlin, aged 14 years, committed suicide by a small pistol near Columbia, Tenn., Dec. 14, 1876, weary of his father's work demands upon him, he took his own life.
(Page 84)
A FRUITS NOTE
Probably the Oldest Couple in the World
A man and woman who live in Montgomery county, Indian, and whose ages are respectfully 113 and 111 years, were married eighty-five years ago. The name of this ancient couple is Fruits. The old man stands up as straight as a ramrod, and does quite a good deal of work every day. He had always been a moderate [illegible], and uses no tobacco, which is an argument against tobacco users. But his wife has been a steady smoker sixty years, which is an argument in favor of tobacco. The old lady is afflicted with a cancer, which made its appearance upon her forehead forty years ago, and which she is now doctoring with coal oil. At one time in her life she weighed 225 pounds, but gradually shrank away until now she tips the beam at 125.
NASHVILLE DAILY AMERICAN, Feb. 3, 1876
GEORGE FRUITS
from an old tintype likeness of him owned by a great-grandson, Burl E. Fruits (1906-2002), Crawfordsville, Ind.
The AMERICAN picked up this story from another newspaper, apparently originating with an interview given by George Fruits, himself, with a staff member of the Crawfordsville, Indiana JOURNAL shortly before his death. The old tombstone of George Fruits, in the Bunker Hill Cemetery near Alamo, Indiana reads, in part, "GEORGE FRUITS Died Aug. 6, 1876 Aged 114 Y. 7 M. 4 D A remnant of the Revolutionary War. "This stone document and the interview substantiate that George Fruits, son of an older George Fruits and his wife, Margaret, who were German immigrants, was born in Maryland, January 2, 1762. The Fruits moved to Washington Co., Pa. where the younger George enlisted in a militia outfit late in 1781 and saw service during the Revolutionary War for sometime afterwards. In 1793 the family moved to Fleming Co., Ky., then in 1802 to Franklin Co., Indiana where the father died in 1811. In middle-age, George married Catherine Stonebraker, in Ohio, in October 1806 and they eventually moved, about 1820-21, to Montgomery Co., Indiana where they spent the rest of their long lives; parents of thirteen children. Fruits also saw action as a frontier scout in Kentucky and later served in the War of 1812, for which his widow drew a pension. Catherine Fruits was nothing like the 111 years old the AMERICAN states. Her dates on the tombstone she shares with her husband, erected by their children, reveals that she was born May 6, 1790 and died Jan. 17, 1880. They had been married some 70 (not 85) years by 1876.
Return to Contents
This Website Has Been Generously Hosted By
USGenNet Since 1999
We Thank Them