GENEALOGICAL TIDBITS FROM THE MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL
DURING THE CENTENNIAL YEAR OF 1876
By Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2002
ADDENDUM I.
TIDBITS FROM THE MEMPHIS DAILY AVALANCHE
(Page 78)
January 1, 1876
EUGENE BERTON married LULA HELBING, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Memphis, Dec. 28, 1875.
M. HENOCHSBURG died in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 31, 1875 aged 64 years.
Mrs. THOMAS H. COCKE died December 1, 1875; wife and mother.
FOLLY BANCROFT, Hartford, Conn., a hermit for many years, whose father formerly "owned a large property in East Windsor"; aged 73 years; having died in December; never married.
W. CARROLL BOLTON, whose farm was near Cuba in northern Shelby County, was shot and killed as the result of a feud, by Jack HINSON, December 29, 1875.
January 16, 1876
SANDY GEARY, black, was accidentally shot and killed in a saloon on Beale Street in Memphis, January 15, 1876.
January 18, 1876
JOSEPH BRODER died in Memphis, January 17, 1876 aged 46 years; funeral today.
January 21, 1876
Dr. JESSE W. TURLEY moved with his family to Pettus County, Missouri in 1855. "His boys were very mischievous and gave him much trouble." He left considerable property when he died during the Civil War. His oldest son died, a younger son accidentally killed his mother, the oldest daughter became insane and died. A son, Dave, went to California in 1857 but returned in 1866, was in constant trouble, returned to California where he was sentenced to be hanged for murder in 1876. John Turley, another son, was killed "in a row in western Kansas about a year ago. Jim Turley, another son, imprisoned for murder, went to California; the whereabouts of a daughter, Julia, unknown.
January 23, 1876
JAMES LONGINOTTI married ROSA BRICHETTO, Memphis, January 20, 1876 in St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
January 28, 1876
GEORGE F. DAVIDSON, Memphis, married MARY E. SMITH, Island No. Ten, January 27, 1876 in Memphis.
(Page 79)
LOUIS DECASTRO, an elderly Italian, presumably a piano-tuner, somewhat of a recluse, lived in the Gayoso House [hotel], Memphis; he hadn't been seen for about a week; on checking his room his decaying corpse was found. He was about 60 years old, 5'8" and wore gray chin whiskers. [City death records state he was an Italian, aged 57 years.]
January 29, 1876
Dr. J. J. NEELY, JR. married JULIA A. SMITH. Dr. PAUL JONES married her sister, ANNIE M. SMITH; both married in Bolivar, Tenn., January 26, 1876; both daughters of the late Thomas R. Smith.
January 30, 1876
FRANK SNOWDEN, widower, died near Shelby Depot [Brunswick], January 28, 1876 in the 47th year of his age; moved with his parents from eastern North Carolina to Shelby County, Tennessee in 1834; had four sons, one daughter; burial in New Salem Churchyard; a freemason. [He appears not to have a tombstone at New Salem.]
SALLIE STEPHENS, formerly of LaGrange, Tenn., married WILLIAM D. STEPHENS, San Bernardino, California, January 11, 1876.
February 1, 1876
MARY E. BRYANT wife of W. L. Bryant died in residence of her father, L. PARTERI, DeSoto St., Memphis, January 31, 1876; funeral today.
SAMUEL L. TRICE died in residence of John R. GODWIN, Memphis, Jan. 31, 1876; funeral today.
February 4, 1876
JAMES W. PENN married Mrs. GABRIELLA LANDRUM, Memphis, February 3, 1876.
EDWARD TATE PERKINS son of N. T. and Delesseline Perkins, died Jackson, Tenn., Feb. 2, 1876 aged 3 months and 24 days old. [His parents were Nicholas Tate and Mary Selesseline Womack Perkins of Jackson.]
February 9, 1876
ROBERT E. HATCHER died in Memphis, of consumption, February 8, 1876 aged 32 years; funeral tomorrow. His nickname was "Bones." A native of Petersburg, Va.; his brothers, Samuel, Melville and Peter Hatcher also lived in Memphis.
VAN A. W. ANDERSON died in Memphis, Feb. 8, 1876 in the 40th year of his age.
IKE A. CHASE, Memphis cotton merchant, married BLANCHE daughter of A. B. HARRISON, Clarksville, Tenn., February 8, 1876.
February 10, 1876
LEILA SCOTT BERRY daughter of L. V. and Sarah J. DIXON, wife of Henry Berry, died on Vance St., Memphis, Feb. 9, 1876; funeral today; burial in Elmwood Cemetery. [Lot 155, South Grove. Stone: LEILA SCOTT DIXON BERRY, Aug. 15, 1849-Feb. 9, 1876]
February 12, 1876
S. S. HOLLOWELL died in Collierville, Tenn., Feb. 10, 1876; freemason; husband and father.
February 13, 1876
Colonel JOHN MARTIN, Sr. died in Paducah, Ky., Feb. 9, 1876; prior to 1869 a resident of Memphis; served in the Tennessee legislature. [He served as a Memphis alderman, 1857-1858; in the 34th, Confederate, Tennessee General Assembly, as Representative, 1861-1863. (BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, edited by R. M. McBride, Nashville, 1979, volume 2, page 605)]
February 15, 1876
PAUL C. KAY married MATILDA BECKLEY, Memphis, February 14, 1876.
(Page 80)
BETTIE LAWRENCE wife of William WILLIS died in Richmond, Virginia, February 1, 1876 in her 28th year of age.
MARTHA AUGUSTA YOUNG wife of A. K. Young died in Monaghan, Ireland, January 8, 1876 on her forty-seventh wedding anniversary. Sister of Mrs. Margaret Doyle of Memphis.
February 19, 1876
Professor HUGH KELLY, Southern Express Company, Memphis, married L. WALSH, Memphis, in St. Peter's Catholic Church, Feb. 16, 1876; made wedding trip to New Orleans.
February 23, 1876
A. BRASSEL died in Memphis, February 22, 1876 aged 36 years; funeral today.
ADOLPHUS CRAWFORD, Crittenden Co., Ark., died February 21, 1876 in his 29th year of age; formerly employed in Memphis.
JOHN A. HOLT, JR. infant son of John A. and Belle A. Holt died in Memphis, February 22, 1876; burial today.
February 24, 1876
JOHN B. CAMPBELL married Mrs. MARGARET HARGAN, Memphis, February 23, 1876.
Colonel HENRY B. WILLIAMS died in Memphis, February 23, 1876; funeral today; lawyer; native of North Carolina; about 60 years old [buried in lot 466, Turley section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis].
CHARLES E. SAINT son of J. C. and Mary H. Saint died in Memphis, February 23, 1876 in the 21st year of his age; burial in Elmwood Cemetery, today. [Buried in unmarked grave in lot 579, Chapel Hill section]
February 25, 1876
The Reverend ROBERT L. SHAW married Mrs. JENNIE WILKINS, both of Lucy, Tenn., in Memphis, ostensibly February 24, 1876.
JAMES F. THOMAS died in Memphis, February 24, 1876; funeral today.
February 27, 1876
WILLIE E. ROLLAND died in the residence of parents on old Raleigh Road, February 26, 1876; burial today.
March 5, 1876
WALTER E. SHELTON married LUCY H. WHITE, Memphis, February 29, 1876.
|
MEMPHIS BOARD OF HEALTH. for the week ending 12 p.m., March 4, 1876: HEBER JONES, M.D. |
(Page 81)
March 7, 1876
THOMAS COX, Collierville, died February 22, 1876 aged 87 years; freemason.
March 8, 1876
MARY ANN MONTGOMERY wife of B. F. McCONNEL died near Jones' Landing, Ark., March 8, 1876 aged 28 years and 10 days old.
March 10, 1876
CHARLES BEHRINGER died March 9, 1876 [of "congestion"] aged 51 years; funeral today. [Buried in unmarked grave, lot 238, Fowler section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis]
March 12, 1876
Mrs. MARY YARBRA* died in residence of her daughter, Mrs. JOSEPH SPECHT, Memphis, March 11, 1876 in her 66th year of age; funeral tomorrow. [City death records reveal that her name was GARBRA.]
March 14, 1876
Dr. W. F. SOUTHERN, dentist, was found dead in his bed, March 12, 1876; aged about 65 years; native of Maury Co., Tenn.; moved to Memphis in 1865. [Buried in unmarked grave in lot 244, Fowler section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis]
March 15, 1876
HENDERSON BROOKS, light skinned mulatto, supposedly an escaped convict was shot and killed by a policeman, March 14, 1876; he was about 25 years old.
ALBERT H. SCHRADER son of Caroline and the late George Schrader died near Memphis, March 14, 1876 aged 14 years, 11 months and 20 days.
KATIE GRAHAM OMBERG daughter of J. A. and Eliza Omberg died March 14, 1876 aged 6 years, 11 months old; burial today. [Katie and her sister, MAUD Q., who was buried March 17, 1876 aged five years, five months are buried in unmarked graves in lot 280, Miller Circle, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, having been moved there from lot 275, Turley section, in March 1900.]
March 16, 1876
LULA HUMI'HREYS PULLEN daughter of Ben K. and M. A. Pullen died in Memphis, March 15, 1876 aged 4 years, 6 months and 12 days old.
March 17, 1876
MAUD QUINTARD OMBERG daughter of J. A. and Eliza Omberg died in Memphis, March 16, 1876 aged 5 years, 5 months old; funeral today. She and her sister died of scarlet fever.
March 19, 1876
MEL [Melville] C. PRIDDY, Coahoma Co., Miss., married BLANCHE MILES in Evansville, Indiana, March 16, 1876.
March 22, 1876
OLPHA GRAY son of T. J. and Sallie Gray died Atoka, Tenn., March 7, 1876 aged 7 months and 21 days old.
March 23, 1876
ALOYA MAYER married Mrs. MARY SIVEL, Memphis, February 26, 1876.
Mrs. JENNIE GRANT wife of L. D. Grant died in Memphis, March 22, 1876 aged 30 years, 3 months.
March 24, 1876
GEORGE P. BOONE died at White Station [Memphis area], March 21, 1876.
(Page 82)
March 26, 1876
F. G. DOOLY died three miles from Memphis, March 22, 1876; burial in Elmwood Cemetery.
March 30, 1876
SERAFINO GUSCIO died in Memphis, March 29, 1876 aged 38 years; funeral today.
Dr. H. S. BROWER, Los Angeles, California, formerly of Baton Rouge, La., died in Memphis, March 29, 1876; a member of the California state senate.
March 31, 1876
A. [A. H.] HUBER, Memphis, died March 30, 1876 aged 50years; funeral today. [Buried in Fowler section of Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis.]
April 5, 1876
LIZZIE BALTON wife of Frank O. ROBERTSON died in Walnut, Ark., April 3, 1876; burial in Hernando, Miss.
April 8, 1876
Mrs. LUCY H. CARROLL, widow of Colonel John W. Carroll, formerly of Tuscumbia, Ala., died in Little Rock, Ark., April 6, 1876.
April 9, 1876
Dr. HENRY SKIPWORTH TAYLOR died near Somerville, Tenn., April 4, 1876 in his 61st year of age; oldest son of Dr. William V. Taylor who died four years ago; lived and practiced medicine in Fayette Co., Tenn.; married and had a large family; funeral at Asbury Chapel near. Somerville, April 16. [He is surely buried in an unmarked grave beside his wife in Asbury Cemetery located several miles south of Somerville on the west side of LaGrange Road.]
ROBERT L. ELLIS, Bartlett, Tenn., died April 7, 1876; an older man.
April 11, 1876
EMMA BLAIR NEWSOM daughter of A. W. and E. C. Newsom died April 10, 1876 aged 7 weeks old; funeral today.
April 18, 1876
J. N. PRIVETT of Fugerson and Privett, Memphis, died April 16, 1876; burial in Elmwood Cemetery.
April 20, 1876
LILLY BARNES, black, resident of Memphis, claimed to have reached her 109th birthday on Dec. 25, 1875; reared in Georgia; sold to a Miss. planter many years ago; now nearly blind she lived with a past-70 aged daughter.
April 23, 1876
Captain B. I. B. WEAVER died in New Orleans, April 12, 1876; formerly of Aurora, Indiana.
May 4, 1876
WILLIAM ATKINS married MARY DOUGLASS, black, recently of Bolivar, Tenn., May 2, 1876.
May 7, 1876
JOHANN. C. SCHULTELUS, Little Rock, Ark., married Mrs. WILLIE ZINMERMAN, Memphis, May 6, 1876.
May 16, 1876
ED ELDRIDGE, Coahoma Co., Miss. married ANNA MINGO, Bolivar Co., Miss., in the latter county, May 3, 1876.
May 18, 1876
Mrs. ELIZA EDWARDS wife of Dr. R. G. Edwards, Memphis, died May 17, 1876 aged 55 years.
(Page 83)
May 21, 1876
THOMAS NEYLON died in Memphis, May 20, 1876; funeral tomorrow.
JOHN W. HARGAN married MILDRED BRADLEY, Memphis, May 18, 1876.
JACOB LUTZ, JR. married JULIA CASSADAY, May 16, 1876 in St. Bridget's Catholic Church.
May 29, 1876
EUGENIA GRIFFIN wife of Martin Griffin died May 27, 1876; funeral today.
May 30, 1876
JAMES BLACKWELL CLARKSON youngest child of James E. and Helen Clarkson, Memphis, died May 29, 1876; funeral today.
Tribute of Respect for ROBERT W. EDMONDSON who died recently; a friend, husband and father; by Nonconnah Valley Grange No. 18, dated May 12, 1876.
May 31, 1876
EUGENIA GEIS daughter of Chris Geis, Memphis, died May 30, 1876 aged 2 years, 3 months old; funeral today.
June 1, 1876
DANIEL BAIN, Memphis died ostensibly May 31, 1876 in the 36th year of his age; funeral from St. Bridget's Catholic Church.
PATTIE A. FINNEY wife of B. P. SMITH died May 31, 1876 of consumption; funeral today.
June 4, 1876
A. RAGLAND, Stanton, Tenn. married NERISSA N. SHELBY, Bartlett, Tenn., June 1, 1876.
In Memoriam: B. [Bertie] DEKALB TREADWELL born Marshall Co., Miss., April 28, 1840; son of T. L. Treadwell who moved to that county from North Carolina in 1836 and who died in 1870. In 1857, B. D. Treadwell moved to Memphis and worked in the cotton business; served in the Memphis Dragoons, a Confederate outfit; married Maria Holmes in 1866; 4 daughters; member of the Treadwell mercantile firm; died May 26, 1876; burial in Elwmood Cemetery. [Treadwell lies in an unmarked grave in lot 72, Lenow Circle, Elmwood Cemetery. In the biographical sketch of Robert A. Treadwell, the elder brother of B. D. Treadwell, Goodspeed's HISTORY OF TENNESSEE, Madison Co., Tenn., 1887, page 909, his birth date is given as August 18, 1831 in Rutherford Co., N.C.; his parents, Timmons L. and Eliza (Allison) Treadwell. In the CEMETERIES OF MARSHALL CO., MISS., published by the Old Time Press, 1983, in the Lamar, Miss. cemetery, the dates of T. L. Treadwell - born Darlington Dist., S.C., Aug. 27, 1800; died Lamar, Miss., March 25, 1870. Eliza Treadwell - born Rutherford Co., N.C., Oct. 2, 1840; died Lamar, Miss., April 26, 1848. In Timmon L. Treadwell's household, Marshall Co., Miss., Northern Division, Sept. 12. 1850 U.S. Census, page 288:
Timmon L. Treadwell, 48, S.C., planter;
Robert A. Treadwell, 19, N.C.;
Arthur B. Treadwel1, 17, N.C.;
Mary A. Treadwell, 13, Miss.;
Amelia A. Treadwell, 11, Miss.;
BERTIE D. TREADWELL, 10, Miss.
Frances Treadwell, 8, Miss.;
Arthusa Treadwell, 6, Miss.;
Reuben D. Treadwell, 62, S.C.
From the DAILY AVALANCHE, Dec. 24, 1874:
|
A. C. TREADWELL & BROTHERS Large and Well-Assorted Stock of Fresh Among the old reliable and enterprising grocery and cotton wholesale firms of Memphis, none rank that of A. C. Treadwell & Brothers, whose large establishment, at No. 11 Union street, is filled with a choice stock of goods just received. Treadwell & Brothers are too favorably known, to the public to require a notice in this connection, for their honesty, reliability and extensive business have long since established their name upon a high and solid basis. The new stock of groceries just received has been selected with especial care, and will suit all who wish to purchase an extra quality of goods at lower prices than have heretofore been offered. Retail dealers and country merchants, as well as planters and others wishing supplies, should remember this and examine the immense stock of this reliable house, which offers great. inducements. Not only in the wholesale grocery trade, but as cotton factors, A. C. Treadwell & Brothers are favorably known to the public as reliable, energetic and prompt business men, who give entire satisfaction in all their dealings, and fully merit the large patronage their house enjoys. |
(Page 84)
June 6, 1876
JOHN STURLA married MARY CORDANO, Memphis, June 5, 1876.
June 10, 1876
Mrs. ANNE E. MATHES wife of Ed. H. Mathes, Raleigh, Tenn., daughter of Colonel Harvey S. Williams, dec., Bartlett, died June 9, 1876.
June 24, 1876
SINGLETON W. ELLIS, Henderson, Ky. married ANNA GRAHAM, Memphis, June 22, 1876; would live in Kentucky.
June 28, 1876
JOHN G. LITTLE, Mt. Sterling, Ky. married MARY BELLE TOOF, Memphis, June 27, 1876. [The Memphis PUBLIC LEDGER, June 27, 1876 carried a long account of this wedding.]
KATIE WALKER daughter of J. and Alice Walker died ostensibly June 27, 1876; burial in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis.
July 1, 1876
WILLIAM MORGAN son of J. B. Morgan, and VICTOR MONROE, both young men, drowned in Lake Harmon about 11 miles from Hernando, Miss., June 29, 1876 while on a "fishing frolic."
July 2, 1876
E. H; CHURCHILL, Chicago, Ill., rnarried CARRIE SMITH, Memphis, June 28, 1876.
|
Mortality Among Newspaper Men Eleven Memphis journalists have been swept off by the dreaded scythe swinger "Old Mortality" within as many years. The first who fell victim to his shrine was Col. McClannahan, of the Appeal, who died from the effects of a fall from a window in the Gayoso Hotel daring the year 1865. He was shortly after followed to the grave by Col. Dill, also of the Appeal, who died at Forrest Hill, 20 miles out on the Charleston Railroad, in December, 1866. The next to next to go was Harry Beek, local editor of the Appeal, who died in 1869. Following him was Col. J. H. McMahon, long connected with the press of this city and Tennessee, who died at the Peabody Hotel about January 1870. The next was J. Birney Marshall, who was killed by falling from a window in the old Postoffice Building, on Jefferson street, about 1871. Then died Captain R. T. English, of the Appeal, during the month of October, 1872. A few months later James Cox, a young man of brilliant promise, and of the AVALANCHE force, died of small pox. Col. F. Y. Rockett, of the Ledger, was the next to depart. Then M. E. Smelser of the AVALANCHE, who died during October, 1875, followed more recently by Mr. John Mulroy and David M. Philp. |
July 4, 1876
GEORGE P. SHEPHERD died in the residence of his grandmother, Mrs. WALKER in Germantown, Tenn., June 22, 1876 in the 21st year of his age.
July 9, 1876
Captain THOMAS R. DASHIELL died in Columbus, Miss., July 4, 1876.
July 13, 1876
JAMES A. SLAUGHTER married PATTIE S. daughter of Dr. A. P. WADDELL, near Whiteville, Tenn., July 12, 1876.
July 14, 1876
C. L. STRICKLAND married ELLA DAVIS, Ripley, Tenn., July 4, 1876.
W. P. H. HUNTER married ADA only daughter of Colonel P. T. GLASS, Ripley, Tenn., July 5, 1876.
July 15, 1876
W. C. C. FOSTER, Memphis, died Austin Springs, Tenn., July 13, 1876.
(Page 85)
July 16, 1876
Quoting from the Memphis DAILY EAGLE AND ENQUIRER, April 3, 1855, it was mentioned that Colonel ALEXANDER K. McCLUNG of Mississippi had "blown his brains out" in the Eagle Hotel in Vicksburg, Miss., March 22, 1855, aged 41 years.
July 19, 1876
L. H. ESTES, JR., Memphis, married ESTHER T. DAMAN, Memphis, July 18, 1876.
July 21, 1876
MAINORA O'REILLY youngest daughter of Michael and Mary O'Reilly, died Memphis, July 20, 1876; funeral today.
The newspaper deplored the massacre by a mob of white men of black men in the South Carolina state militia, in Hamburg, South Carolina, July 9, 1876. The murdered men were A. T. ATTAWAY, DAVID PHILLIPS, POMPEY CURRY, ALBERT MYNIART, MOSES PARKS and another black man not a militiaman named HAMPTON STEVENS.
July 22, 1876
OSCAR A. HERMAN died in Memphis, June 20, 1876 aged 21 years; burial in New York. Resolutions of Respect in his memory by the Philomatique Club, Memphis, of which he was a member, dated July 21, 1876 published in the July 23 issue. He worked for a mercantile firm; had lived in Memphis for six months.
July 23, 1876
MARTIN REYNOLDS, a well-known barkeeper, Memphis, became ill July 22 and died that evening.
July 27, 1876
GUSTAVUS SMITH KIRK only son of Edward C. and Anna A. Kirk died in New York City, July 24, 1876.
July 28, 1876
LAURA A. ELLIOTT, formerly of Marion, Ala., died in Memphis, July 27, 1876; funeral today.
Colonel REES B. EDMONDSON, Memphis, married REBECCA LOUISE daughter of W. G. FORD, Washington, D.C., July 27, 1876.
RANDOLPH MESSENGER, twelve-year-old son of L. C. Messenger, painter, drowned in the Mississippi River, July 26, 1876.
August 1, 1876
JOSEPH LOEFFEL died in Memphis, July 30, 1876 in the 26th year of his age; funeral today.
In Memoriam: T. D. McFARLAND born in McNairy Co., Tenn., Sept. 6, 1828; moved to Tipton Co., Tenn. when young; married M. J. Bass in 1850; Methodist; died June 28, 1876; surviving were his widow and 3 children; burial in Bethuel Cemetery [in north Shelby County, Tenn.].
THOMAS JONES, nephew of Captain Tom SEXTON died in Crittenden Co., Ark., July 28, 1876 aged about 25 years old, from consumption.
August 5, 1876
R. H. SIMPSON married ADDIE BILLINGS, Mobile, Ala., July 20, 1876.
August 6, 1876
LEVI WICKERSHAN died in Memphis, August 2, 1876 aged 60 years.
August 8, 1876
CHARLES WEBBER, black, was shot and killed by P. R. STARR, mate of the steamer "Illinois" at Niblett's Landing, Bolivar Co., Miss., August 5; allegedly drunk, Webber threatened violence on board, with a pistol, saying that he had "a dog that barks and when it barks it bites." He followed Starr ashore, fired his pistol but missed him when the intended-victim instead shot Webber.
(Page 86)
August 15, 1876
PHILLIS PRICE, black, born in 1771, lived in Civil District 20, Bedford Co., Tenn.; "sprightly" but recovering from mumps.
August 17, 1876
Mrs. M. F. BELL, Memphis, gave birth to a daughter on August 16, 1876.
August 22, 1876
T. D. MALLORY died in Memphis, August 21, 1876 aged 51 years; funeral today. [The PUBLIC LEDGER, September 29, 1876, carried a resolution of respect for Mallory by the Memphis Bar in which it was mentioned that he died August 21, 1876 "after a long and torturing illness." He is buried in an uninscribed "cradle" grave bearing only the date October 1876 on it, in lot 362, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis.]
August 25, 1876
JOSEPH KOLLER, German, aged 59 years, a carpenter, fell from a portico on which he had been working and died from the injuries therefrom, August 24; resident of Memphis for 25 years; surviving were his widow and 3 children.
August 30, 1876
THOMAS F. BUCHANAN, Memphis, married SARAH HUFFMAN, Lawrence Co., Ark., August 27, 1876.
SAMUEL LAMBERT died in Memphis, August 29, 1876 aged 52 years; funeral today.
JAMES McCAIN died in Helena, Ark., August 28, 1876 in the 48th year of his age.
September 2, 1876
GILES THOMAS died ten miles north of Holly Springs, Miss., ostensibly Sept. 1, 1876 aged about 42 years.
WILLIAM HOLLOWAY, aged about 40 years, living "on" Hatchie about four miles from Bartlett, Tenn., was killed near his home by a falling limb from a tree, having his neck broken and skull crushed from this freak accident, August 29, 1876.
September 5, 1876
FRANKY TYNDEL, aged 4 years, resident of the Leath Orphanage died Sept. 4, 1876.
Mrs. LOUISA PONTENS died in Memphis, Se. pt. 5, 1876 aged 25 years.
September 6, 1876
Captain HAMPTON F. MEARES died Sept. 1, 1876 aged 59 years; native of South Carolina.
September 10, 1876
A son was born to MATTIE and EUGENE A. CLOUSTON, Memphis, Sept. 9, 1876. [This child may have died in infancy. His parents are listed in a household in Civil District 14, Shelby County, 1880 U.S. Census, page 395B, with a son, "Ch., age 1 year" Mulattoes, the father was a barber, the mother a school-teacher. Eugene Clauston, 1848-1894, is buried in lot 22, South Grove 10 section, Elmwood Cemetery, along with his parents, Joseph Clauston, c. 1818-1894 and Eudora Ann Clouston, 1828-1906. The father was an antebellum free black; prosperous landowner; member of the Memphis city council, ward five, before he was defeated for re-election in January 1876. See, THE NEGRO IN TENNESSEE, 1865-1880, by A. A. Taylor, 1941, pages 159-160; 249; also, Elmwood plat map. Joseph Clauston, mulatto, was given as age 42 in the U.S. Census, 1860, Ward 7, Memphis, page 59, a barber with real estate valued at $20, 000. In her estimable book, IN THE SHADOWS OF THE ELMS (Elmwood Cemetery), Memphis, 2001, page 90, Pierre Magness states that Joe Clouston, Sr. came from Fayette County, Tenn. to Memphis.]
September 15, 1876
IDA TOPP daughter of Colonel Dixon Topp, Holly Springs, Miss., died there, Sept. 10, 1876.
(Page 87)
September 17, 1876
WILLIAM A. GLISSON, JR. son of the late R. H. Glisson, died in Memphis, September 15, 1876 in the 21st year of his age; funeral today.
LULU LISSENBURY daughter of James and C. Lissenbury died in Memphis, Sept. 16, 1876.
September 19, 1876
MATTIE E. WOOD wife of Thomas M. Wood, died Sept. 17, 1876 in the 28th year of her age, near Overton Station.
September 20, 1876
FRED. LIND son of Fred and Frances Lind died in Memphis, Sept. 19, 1876 aged 2 years, 5 months and 9 days old.
September 22, 1876
JOHN J. FREEMAN married LULIE DANIEL, Nicholasville, Ky., Sept. 14, 1876.
JAMES K. PORTER married Mrs. MAGGIE McCREA in her mother, Mrs. E. R. Davie's residence, Memphis, Sept. 21, 1876.
September 26, 1876
JAMES B. CRAIGHEAD married ALETHIA ALLISON, Memphis, Sept. 25, 1876.
October 1, 1876
D. ALLEN, Moscow, Tenn., died Sept. 30, 1876 aged 85 years; native of Pittsylvania Co., Va.
October 3, 1876
ATIVIN B. MASSEI son of G. B. and Franciscan Massei died inMemphis, Oct. 2, 1876; funeral today.
October 6, 1876
M. L. DUKE died near Germantown, Tenn., Sept. 29, 1876 aged 73 years.
October 8, 1876
JENNIE HAMILTON MELLARD daughter of Capt. James P. and M. E. Mellard and granddaughter of J. G. LONSDALE, died Hot Springs, Ark., October 4, 1876.
THOMAS THOMPSON, New York, father of R. H. Thompson, died Brooklyn, Oct. 7, 1876 aged 68 years.
October 10, 1876
WILLIE McCAIN youngest son of R. H. and Cornelia McCain died in Memphis, Oct. 9, 1876 aged 1 year, 3 months and 4 days old; funeral today.
October 11, 1876
MARTIN THOMAS died in Memphis, Oct. l0, 1876 aged 30 years; funeral today.
WALTER L. OTEY, planter of Lee Co ., Ark ., died October 8, 1876.
October 12, 1876
Mrs. JANE M. WALKER, mother of Samuel P. Walker, dec., Memphis, and Mrs. W. S. PICKETT, died in Columbia, Tenn., October l1, 1876; born in Mecklenburg Co., N.C., in 1798; a sister of former U.S. president, James K. Polk; her progeny numbered 100 at her death. [Her tombstone in Greenwood Cemetery, Columbia reads: JANE MARIA WALKER, wife of James Walker Born Jan. 14, 1798 Died Oct. 11, 1876]
October 17, 1876
DANIEL G. SHELBY, Bartlett, Tenn., married JENNIE CALHOUN in Stanton, Tenn., Oct. 12, 1876.
(Page 88)
October 24, 1876
"UNCLE JAKE" PULLIAM
There died near Rossville, Tenn., a few days ago, a venerable and a remarkable old negro, perhaps one of the oldest in the land, a man who has seen generation after generation come upon the stage of life, act its part and pass off into oblivion. He has seen his friends born, ripened into manhood and gone down in old age to the grave. Children of three generations have clustered around his knees and heard his recital of the legends of a past century and have, one after the other, been laid to rest in a grave over which his tears have fallen. Yet like the 'Wandering Jew' of Sue's great fiction he has been forced to "go on" until the Creator that gave him life should see fit to take back the gift. "Uncle Jake" Pulliam has for many years been living in the county where he died, having before the war been the slave of the Pulliam family.
"Uncle Jake" claimed to be 156 years old and was probably, judging from his age at the time various scenes were enacted, not less than 125 years old. To men of this generation there is some thing weird and almost incomprehensible in the existence but a week ago of one who was a man grown at the time of the birth of the republic. The old man's stories of the stormy events of the Revolution were singularly fresh and accurate and showed that he had acted his part in those great and perilous scenes which attended the ushering into existence of the best government the world has ever seen. The history of this old patriarch's life as he has told it over and over again beside the pine-knot fire before his cabin door, contains so much that is marvelous that it should not be withheld from the public.
UNCLE JAKE'S BIOGRAPHY
Uncle Jake's earliest memories take him back to a confused mingling of a savage crowd, a sea voyage and the crowding of new sensations of a strange people and a strange land. From all of which Uncle Jake thought that he was brought to this country when he was about ten years old. He never knew a mother or a father. His first home was among the rice fields of the Carolinas where he was for several years, the don't know how many, employed "round the house." When about seventeen years old he was sold to the DuPont family of Huguenot extraction and was the body servant of the "young mass'r", Henry DuPoint. When the Revolution began in 1775 his young master enlisted as an Ensign under Moultrie in the Continental Army and he accompanied him. The old man says he was then "jes about grone and didn't hab no har on my chin."
He remembers clearly his first engagement with the Red Coats; it was when Colonel Moultrie sent his young master with their captain, Marion, to take Fort Johnson. When the fort was taken he himself rammed the ball in one of the old cannon that was turned against the British fleet. Uncle Jake tells some marvelous tales of his own personal daring upon that and similar occasions. One ludicrous incident of how "de sojors laffed" when a ball striking the sand bags of the fort he was covered up to the chin and lay yelling for help, thinking the rest of his anatomy had been carried off by the shot.
At the assault on Savannah by the combined forces of the French and Americans his young master fell by the side of the gallant Pole, Count Pulaski. The old mans s voice would grow husky as he spoke of the burial by torchlight on the margin of the marsh and how Capt. Marion kindly patted his shoulder as he lay sobbing on the ground and said, "Never mind, Jake. He fell like a brave man and you can tell his father so. "After that he attached himself to Marion and was, after the return of the command to Carolina, presented to Marion by his old master for his use until the close of the war. Uncle Jake could tell many incidents of the siege of Charleston; how Marion's leg was broken there and how he helped to bandage up the shattered limb. He was with the "Swamp Fox" [Francis Marion] in all his battles and ambushes with Tarleton and his tories, being once captured by that bold rider but afterward escaping, carrying off Tarleton's own pack mule with his private baggage. He followed Marion through the swamps of the Pedee and Santee rivers, was present when three "Britishers" were swung up to one limb by way of retaliation for the hanging of three of Marion's men. He describes Marion as a small man who he feared and yet loved devotedly. But, strangest of all is the narrative Uncle Jake gives of an incident which is familiar to every schoolboy. The instance of the visit of the English officer to Marion at Snow Island and how Marian gave him a dining on potatoes. Uncle James [Jake] affirms that his hands put "den taters in de ashes and took den out on a sharp stick and put den on de log between de General and de officer." After the war Jake returned to the old homestead. The "old mass'r" had gone down in sorrow to the grave to be followed son by "old missis." The plantation was sold and the slaves scattered among various owners. Jake fell to the lot of a cousin of the Du Pont's who lived in the rice country of South Carolina. Here his children and grandchildren grew around him.
WHEN HE SAW LAFAYETTE
When he was, he says, about sixty years old, he went down the river to Savannah, "pulling de six ode bote," used on such occasions. There everybody was on the streets cheering and yelling as an old man richly dressed drove by slowly in a carriage bowing to the crowd. From the date all this must have been when Lafayette made his tour of triumph through the land in 1825. Besides, Uncle Jake said he was "a Frencher," though he "disremembered" the name.
Soon after this Uncle Jake came out to Mississippi with a new master, taking many weeks to make the journey. In that state he lived for a few years and then was brought up into Tennessee
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when [where] he has since lived. The old man's account of his first sight of a locomotive, a steamboat and the other triumphant products of the march of civilization were replete with interest.
THE OLD MAN'S END
Up to the last his faculties were wonderfully clear. Last year he even made a small crop of corn and cotton. On Thursday [October 19, 1876] this man who measured his life by decades, not by years, ended his long and eventful career. Death so long in coming finally touched his old limbs and cut the thread of life asunder. Old Jake, who so long has listened to the "angel voices calling", answering back, "I'm coming, "has at length been gathered to his loved ones to reap the reward of a life of usefulness. Reguiescat in pace.
[Fleshing-out the particulars of this man's life would be an interesting and involved project. Just how old he actually was at the time of his death is probably beyond determining. There was a prominent Huguenot-descended DUPONT family in South Carolina, likely the one with which he was identified. He is probably the black man given as age 80 years of age, a servant in the household of Lucy PULLIAM, widow of David K. Pulliam, in Fayette County's U.S. Census, Slave Schedule, 1860, page 133. Jake Pulliam lived in southwest Fayette County. David K. Pulliam, who died in December 1854, lived in this same vicinity and he and his wife are buried on their old farm.]
October 31, 1876
ANNA ELIZA GATES wife of Richard L. COCHRAN died in Memphis, Oct. 29, 1876; funeral today.
November 3, 1876
ROBBIE HERRON son of R. F. and Mollie Herron, Memphis, died Nov. 3, 1876 aged 16 months and 18 days old.
November 14, 1876
R. C. SMITH married M. E. COUSINS, Memphis, Nov. 13, 1876.
November 24, 1876
JAMES S. QUINN died in Memphis, Nov. 22, 1876 aged 56 years; funeral today.
December 1, 1876
A. G. DUFF, an Englishman, died on Nodena plantation, Ark., sixty miles north of Memphis, Nov. 30, 1876 aged about 42 years.
December 12, 1876
RICHARD D. B. MILLER, native of Fauquier Co., Va., formerly of Memphis, died near DeWitt, Ark., Nov. 21, 1876 aged 59 years.
ERNEST HOWARD HOUSE youngest son of Capt. J. H. House, de~., died Bledsoe's Landing, Ark., Dec. 7, 1876 aged 16 years, 4 months old; burial in Elmwood Cemetery.
Colonel JOHN H. GLASS, editor of the GIBSON MIRROR, Trenton, Tenn., married EMMA PYBAS, Dec. 13, 1876 in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
December 20, 1876
Mrs. ALICE GREENE COLLINS daughter of L. S. and Sarah Greene, formerly of Memphis, died in Thibodeaux, La., December 11, 1876.
December 23, 1876
MAGGIE MOORE, black, daughter of Aleck and Mary Moore, Memphis, died Dec. 21, 1876 aged 5 years; funeral today.
December 29, 1876
B. F. WEEMS, Houston, Texas, married MARIA daughter of Dr. W. F. CARRINGTON, Halifax Co., Va., in Petersburg, Va., Dec. 3, 1876.
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