The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Nashville TN, 1886-1887

Biographical Sketches Shelby County

transcription donated by Rose-Anne Cunningham Bray

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Dr. G. W. Overall, a well known physician of Memphis, was born in Rutherford County, Tenn., in December, 1849, and was one of five children that was raised. The parents were Nathaniel S. and D. H. Overall. The father was born in Rutherford County in 1812, and educated in that county, and is a farmer, now residing near Murfreesboro, Tenn. The mother was a Miss Crutchfield, born in Wilson County in 1820. Dr. Overall received his literary education at the Southwestern Baptist University at Murfreesboro, and then commenced the study of medicine under Drs. Clayton and Murfee, of that place, and afterward attended lectures at the University at Louisville and the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, graduating at the latter place in the spring of 1875,. then located in his native town, and practiced medicine for three years,. when he moved to Memphis, and the following year was elected to fill the chair of physiology, nervous diseases and electrotherapeutics in the Memphis Medical College, and filled the position for five years, when be resigned on account of ill health. April, 1879, he married Miss Rowena, daughter of Emmet and Jane (Ewing) Eakin, the mother being a sister of the Hon. Joseph W. Ewing. Mrs. Overall is a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Dr. Overall has been very successful in his profession, and is regarded as a remarkably well posted physician, and his large practice is constantly increasing.

 Walter L. Parker, secretary of the People's Insurance Company, is a native of this city and was born January 5, 1852. His parents were Robert A. and Lamira A. (Minter) Parker, natives respectively of North Carolina and Kentucky. In 1845 the father came to Memphis and engaged in the mercantile pursuit, continuing successfully until his. death in 1864. Our subject was reared and educated in his native city, and in 1869 he left the schoolroom and entered the employ of the People's Insurance Company as clerk, and has remained with the company continuously to the present time, having by close and accurate business methods won the highest confidence of his employers. He is also agent for the following companies: Phcenix, of Hartford; Guardian, of London; American, of Philadelphia; Northwestern National, of Milwaukee;. and Hibernia, of New Orleans. Mr: Parker has the enviable credit of having originated the Tennessee Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and has been largely instrumental in securing legislation in kindred philanthropic movements. June 13, 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Burr; of this city, and to this union there are living three sons and three daughters. Mr. Parker is a Democrat, is a member of the K. of P., and in religious views is a Presbyterian.

Page M. Patterson, of the firm of P. M. Patterson & Co. (the Co. being Robt. W. Galloway), was born in Orange County, N. C., on the 8th of January, 1828. His parents moved to West Tennessee and settled near McLemoresville, Carroll County, in the year 1833, where they engaged in agricultural pursuits. In this family were ten children, six of whom are living. In 1868 his father died. His parents were Cumberland Presbyterians; of their sons two were in the Confederate service, one being killed. Our subject was of Scotch-Irish descent. He came to Memphis in August, 1850, and engaged in the stage office as agent of the different lines leading out of Memphis. In 1852 he engaged in the omnibus and transfer business, in which he has continued up to the present time. On October 11, 1854, he was married to Harriett F. Hart, near McLemoresville, by whom he had seven children, only one now living, named Nannie M. Patterson. She was married in October, 1876, to Dr. Walter Wesser, who died of yellow fever in September, 1878. They had born to them a son, August, 1877, who is living, and in December, 1885, she was married to G. W. Harris, of Louisville, Ky. Both Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a Democrat in politics. Since 1866 he has run the local ferry between Memphis and Hopefield, Ark. For thirty-six years Mr. Patterson has been intimately connected with the business of Memphis, and has ever been considered one of the most active business men of the city.

Joseph T. Penton, auditor of the L., N. O. & T. R. R., is a son of George R. Penton, a native of New York, who came when young to Louisville, Ky., where he married Emma Kendrick, by whom he had two sons, only one of whom is now living. He was a merchant by occupation, and died in 1860. Our subject was born October 21, 1859, in Louisville, Ky., where he grew up and received his education. In 1877 he began his career as a railroad man. He was clerk in the auditor's office for some time, and from that he arose, step by step, to the auditor-ship. In 1883 he married Florence Melone, a native of Kentucky. Upon the appointment of Mr. Penton to the auditorship of the above road in 1885, they moved to Memphis. His father was a consistent member of the Episcopal Chnrch, and his mother, himself, and wife are members of the same.

Calvin Perkins, attorney at law, came to Memphis in 1881, and has since practiced his profession here. He is a native of Lowndes County, Miss., and was reared there and educated in the schools of that State, remaining there until he came to Memphis. His parents were Calvin and Louisa (Blakeney) Perkins and were natives of South Carolina, but were engaged in planting in Mississippi at the time of their deaths in 1863 and 1869, father and mother respectively. In 1878 our subject married Miss Susan A. Chapman, a native of Orange County, Va. She has borne her husband six children, five of whom are still living. Mr. Perkins is president of the Shorthand Type-Writer Company of this city, which company was organized in April, 1884, and incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000, James H. Anderson being secretary and treasurer. In February, 1885, they sold the patent, but retained a royalty.

George B. Peters, Jr., attorney-general of the criminal court, was born in Hardeman County, January 11, 1850, and is the son of Dr. George B. Peters, long a well known resident and physician of Hardeman County, and now a resident of Arkansas and a member of the Senate of that State.. In 1870 our subject graduated at Washington Lee University, Virginia, and then entered the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., and graduated thence in 1871, and began practicing his profession in Memphis as one of the firm of Finlay & Peters. He continued thus until his election to his present official position. Mr. Peters is an unswerving Democrat, and as such was elected to the State Legislature in 1875 and again in 1877. In 1884 he declined the nomination of the Democratic convention to the State Senate. He is a member of the K. of P., K. of H., A. O. U. W. and of the Episcopal Church. June 13, 1872, he was married to Miss Katie B. Greenlaw, of this city. They have five living children—one son and four daughters.

Augustus F. Phillips, dealer in staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, etc., is a native of Shelby County, Tenn., and has been in business at Brunswick for a period of seven years. He is a son of William and Sarah W. (Purser) Phillips, natives respectively of Virginia and North Carolina. The father lived in this county for many years, and died when our subject was quite small. He was married three times, his first wife being a Miss Head. Six children were the fruits of this union. To his second marriage were born three children, two of whom are now living. In 1871 he married Mrs. Lucy A. (Thomas) Rogers, a native of Mississippi, and by her became the father of two children. After spending about nine years of his life in Arkansas, engaged in farming the principal part of the time, our subject returned to this county, about twenty-nine years ago, where he has remained up to the present time. Since locating here many improvements have been made that add greatly to the general appearance of the village, which Mr. Phillips has been quite instrumental in producing.

William E. Polk, extensive farmer and merchant, is a son of Charles G. and Mary A. (Massey) Polk, both natives of Middle Tennessee. They came to Shelby County when young; married here, and made this their permanent home. He began life with a wife, a pony and a few pounds of bacon. When he died he owned 2,500 acres of good land. Their family consisted of eight children, only one of whom is now living. One of the boys died in the Confederate service. The father died in 1876 at sixty-one years of age, but the mother is still living. Our subject was born in January, 1856, in Shelby County, and while growing up received a good English education. At the age of nineteen he began his career as a farmer, which he has made his chief business since. In 1878 he married Lena A. Wesson, of Shelby County. The fruits of this union were five children, two now living, viz.: Charley W. and Lewie R. Mr. Polk owns 960 acres of land in the best part of Shelby County, and takes an active interest in the rearing of fine stock. In 1884 he and Mrs. L. T. Anderson opened a stock of general merchandise in Millington. He is a Democrat in politics as was his father before him. Our subject's great-grandfather, Civil Charlie Polk (as he was called), helped to raise the liberty flag in Mecklenburg, N. C.

Capt. E. C. Postal was born in Jefferson City, Mo., in 1843, and is the son of William and Luna C. (Carter) Postal, natives of New York, who remained in their native State until about 1820, and then removed to Missouri; their family consisted of twelve children—six sons and six daughters. Three of the sons followed steamboating and became masters of vessels. At the age of fifteen Capt. Postal began his career on the river as clerk on a steamer. From that he went to piloting on the river in 1866, and while thus engaged gave such proof of his ability and skill, that he was made captain in 1874, which position he has since held, running almost exclusively on the White River. Through the instrumentality of himself and Capt. J. H. Rees, the steamer " Chickasaw" was built in 1883, and Capt. Postal took command of that noble vessel and has run her ever since. The Captain is a pleasant man socially, and is accounted among river men as one of the ablest masters in the service.

Poston & Poston, general legal practitioners of the Memphis bar and general attorneys for the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, is a firm consisting of D. H., W. K. and F. P. Poston, sons of W. K. Poston, Sr. The father came to Memphis in 1839, and practiced law here until his death in 1866. He was a prominent man, and was a member of the State Legislature just at the close of the war. His wife, Mary (Park) Poston, at present resides in this city. The three brothers, members of the above firm, are all natives of this city. D. H. and W. K. were admitted to the local bar in 1866, and practiced with the firm of Humes & Poston, with a few changes, until April 1, 1882, when F. P. was admitted and Mr. Humes withdrew, leaving the firm as it is at present. This firm has a large practice and the confidence of the public. The two elder brothers served throughout the war in the Confederate service and are both married. The younger brother is yet single.

George R. Powel, coroner of Shelby County, was born in Rogersville, Hawkins Co., Tenn., January 10, 1816. His parents were Benjamin and Ellen (Rutledge) Powel, natives respectively of Pennsylvania .and Tennessee. In 1817 our subject was taken to Franklin, Tenn., where he was reared to manhood and given a fair education. May 4, 1843, he married Musadora C. Jones, of Bedford County, Tenn., and to this union there are three living sons and two living daughters. John A., his eldest son, is a constable of the Fifth District, Shelby County. His son Benjamin is superintendent for a Memphis cotton storage company. His son, George R., is a traveling salesman for a Memphis company. His daughter Annie is the wife of E. E. Colby; and his daughter Sallie is yet at home. In 1844 our subject moved to DeSoto County, Miss., and in 1851 came to Memphis. He followed various pursuits until 1856 when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Shelby County, and served until 1860. He was then elected State and county tax collector, and was re-elected in 1862, but could not serve, owing to the disorder attending the civil war. In 1866-67 he again served as collector, and then for a time conducted his plantation near Memphis. In 1870 he was made deputy sheriff, and in 1871 deputy trustee. In 1872 he was again elected tax collector, and in 1876 was appointed deputy trustee and tax collector, serving thus until 1880. In 1882 he was elected magistrate, and in 1886 was elected coroner of the county, which office he yet holds: He is a notary public, and is a Jacksonian Democrat. He is one of the most useful, upright and substantial citizens of the city.

Col. Joseph D. Powell was born in Henry County, Tenn., near Paris, December 29, 1833. His father was born near Raleigh, N. C., and came with his parents to Tennessee in 1827, and settled near Paris, where he married, in 1829, Eliza Fowler, daughter of William and Morning (Cridup) Fowler. Four sons and five daughters were born to them, our subject being the second. All of them are living, but one son—John C., who died at Lauderdale Springs, Miss., from disease contracted during the Shiloh campaign. The Powells and Fowlers were among the early settlers of Tennessee; the latter family moved to the State in 1820. The father of our subject was a farmer and a carpenter, and is still living in Marshall County, Miss. The mother was born in 1812, near Raleigh, N. C., and died at Marystown, Tex., December 22, 1884, while visiting relatives. Both parents were members of the Baptist Church, having united with the church before their marriage. Our subject was raised on a farm, and has made farming his business. He enlisted in the Confederate Army May 10, 1861, and belonged to the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, under Col. R. P. Neely, and was at the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, and the retreat from Dalton to Atlanta. Toward the close of the war he became a member of Forrest's cavalry, and was surrendered at Gainesville, Ala., in May, 1865. Col. Powell was married in Marshall County, Miss., December 28, 1870, to Miss Sarah A. McFadden, daughter of James McFadden, a tanner by trade. They have had five children, four living: James B., Joseph D., Vannoy H. M. and Edna E. The mother was born in Marshall County, Miss., March 11, 1848. Her parents were natives of South Carolina and Tennessee; her mother was born in Smith County, Tenn., in 1810, and lives near McGregor, Tex. She was a Miss Barry, and her father had been one of the first printers at Nashville. Col. Powell is an enthusiastic Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Buchanan; he owns 100 acres of land one and three-fourth miles northwest of Colliersville. He is sincere in his friendships, liberal in his ideas, and honest in all of his transactions.

John H. Priddy, proprietor of the Priddy House, is a native of Virginia, born July 4, 1811. He is the son of William and Lucy (Priddy) Priddy, both native Virginians. Our subject was reared on. a farm and at the age of sixteen went to Richmond, Va., where he learned the brick-layer's and plasterer's trade. In 1833 he wedded Maria A. Priddy and in 1835 he came to Shelby County with his father and located on a farm, but still worked at his trade. October 10, 1868, his wife died, leaving six children to mourn the loss of a mother. In 1869 he married Lucy A. Martin, of Memphis. She was keeping boarding-house at the time, which prospered under its new landlord until 1882, when he took a five years' lease on his present house and is running it in first-class style. Mr. Priddy is well known in Shelby County, having held responsible offices, and is well suited to the position he now so admirably occupies.

W. P. Proudfit, manager of the DeSoto Oil Mills, is a native of Tennessee, and came to Memphis in 1853. He was for a number of years junior member of the firm of Harris, Wormley & Co., wholesale grocers and commission merchants, but severed his connection with them in 1858. He was a member of the firm of Day & .Proudfit for about twenty-three years, they being commission merchants and cotton factors. At the end of that time he became stockholder and manager of the De Soto Oil Mills, this institution manufacturing crude oil, oil cake, oil meal and regin lint. The business was established in 1881, with E. Ensley, president; W. P. Proudfit, manager, and E. S. Proudfit, secretary and treasurer. Our subject is the son of William and Eliza (Walker) Proudfit, both natives of Fredericsburg, Va., and of Scotch origin. In 1852 our subject married Laura Harris, of Memphis, and the daughter of A. O. Harris. She died in 1869, leaving four children. In April, 1870, Mr. Proudfit married Fairfax Harris, half-sister to his first wife, and five children were the result of this union. He and family are members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. E. S. Proudfit, brother of our subject, was married July 1, 1874, to Virginia A. Tharpe of Macon, Ga., and the daughter of C. A. Tharpe. One child, Irene H., was born to this union. Mr. Proudfit came to this city when about ten years of age, and with the exception of eight years, has made this his home up to the present time. He and wife are worthy members of the Episcopal Church.

Benjamin K. Pullen, Jr., register of the taxing district of Memphis, was born in Richmond, Va., February 2, 1860, and is the son of Benjamin K. and Minerva A. (Smith) Pullen, natives respectively of North Carolina and Virginia. His father came to Memphis in 1860, and yet resides here engaged in the mercantile business. Our subject was reared and educated in Memphis, and first began business here as entry clerk, with Langstaff, Graham & Proudfit, but later entered the employ of the Manhattan Bank as individual bookkeeper for eighteen months. He subsequently accepted a position as traveling salesman for a New York firm, and later still became bookkeeper for the Gayoso Hotel. In September, 1886 he was appointed by the city council of Memphis, to the position of register, succeeding his father who resigned after having held the position for five years, which responsibility he has carried in a highly satisfactory and efficient manner to the present time. Mr. Pullen is a young gentleman of high character and fine promise. In politics he is Democratic, and in religion he is a member of the Central Methodist Church of this city.

Dr. Hortensius W. Purnell was born June 17, 1838, in Green County, Ala., near Greensborough, in what was known as the "canebrake and prairie" portion of the county. He grew up there and at the age of fifteen removed to Noxubee County, Miss., in December, 1853. He subsequently attended Wesleyan University at Florence, Ala., and afterward attended college at Oxford, Miss., graduating from the literary department of that institution in 1859. He also attended the Medical University of Louisiana, spending several years as resident student of medicine in the Grand Charity Hospital in New Orleans; La., and graduated in March, 1862. On the breaking out of the war, he joined the medical department of the army, on the Confederate side, and (save about two months, stationed in the hospitals at Holly Springs, Miss., until the evacuation of Corinth, after the Shiloh battle) was in the field medical service down to the close of the war. Subsequent to the surrender of the army at Greensboro, N. C., he came to Memphis, Tenn., at which place he located, and has practiced his profession, both in surgery as a specialty and the general practice of medicine since October, 1865, having practiced in the cholera epidemics of 1866 and 1873, and the other epidemics of small-pox, yellow fever, etc., he being especially well qualified to practice in these diseases, owing to his intimate acquaintance with them and on account of the favorable opportunities he had enjoyed for observation and practice in New Orleans during the days of such surgeons as Drs. Warren Stone, Samuel Choppin, Mercier James Jones, Cenas, Mandeville, Thomas Hunt, William C. Nichols, Chaille, Richardson and others. He practiced in the epidemics of yellow fever in Memphis in 1867, 1873, 1878 and 1879, reporting in 1878 as many as 685 cases of yellow fever, and with a remarkable record of successful treatment of these cases, showing a very favorable per cent of recoveries. Since that time he has resided in Memphis, and has assiduously devoted himself to the practice of surgery, both general and special, he being posted and skilled in the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear and all operative surgery. At present he is located at 279 Main Street, his residence being 393 Vance Street, in the most pleasant locality and most eligible portion of the city. Thomas Purnell, the originator of the family in America, came from England in 1664, and settled in Maryland, from which place ramify the different branches of the family. Dr. William Purnell married in Christian County, Ky., and subsequently removed to Pulaski, Tenn., thence to Green County, Ala., at which place Hortensius Purnell was born and lived, rearing a family of five children, of whom the Doctor, the subject of this article, is the second son. In 1849 his father, Hortensius P., died in Alabama. After his decease the widow, Mrs. E. W. Purnell, and three children—the Doctor, and her two daughters, Misses S. A. and M. E. Purnell (all still single) —re-turned to Tennessee to make their home. The other surviving son, William Purnell, resides in Issaquena County, Miss. In 1885 the widow died in the seventy-third year of her age at Nashville, Tenn. Of William's family, one son, John Hortensius, having graduated in medicine in the Memphis Hospital Medical College in 1882, was connected with the board of health at Memphis until he resigned, subsequently becoming surgeon-general of the State of Mississippi, where he now resides.

 Peter J. Quigley, clerk of the county court of Shelby County, is a native of Ireland where he was born March 10, 1845. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in the spring of 1864 came to the United States, locating in Philadelphia where he followed the saddler's trade. In 1866 he came to Memphis where he continued his trade in the employ of others, but later engaged in the business for himself, continuing until 1875, when he was elected justice of the peace, and as such officer served in a faithful and efficient manner until August, 1886, when he was elected by the Democracy of the county to the office of county court clerk, and is yet discharging the duties of that office. He is a most popular officer and is highly respected. In 1873 his marriage with Miss Martina E. Trainor was solemnized. This lady is a native of this city. She is the mother of five living children—two sons and three daughters. Mr. Quigley is a member of the K. of H., K. of I., C. K. of A., K. of L., K. and L. of H., and A. O. U. W. Himself and wife are members of the Catholic Church.

 Gilbert D. Raine, general insurance agent of Memphis, was born in Lynchburg, Va., January 13, 1856, and is the son of the late Capt. Charles H. Raine by his marriage with Miss Mary Dixon, husband and wife being natives respectively of Virginia and Pennsylvania. The father entered the last war as a young lieutenant of artillery, was promoted to the captaincy, then to the command of the artillery of Johnson's division of Stonewall Jackson's aid corps, his commission as major being sent him just before his death. He was a gallant soldier, and at the time of his death was the only officer on horseback at the front. He was killed at Nine Run, succeeding the battle of Gettysburg. Our subject came to this city in 1870, finishing his education at the high schools. In 1872 he accepted a clerkship with the Hernando Insurance Company, and continued with this company six years, and then became manager of the Planters' Fire & Marine Insurance Company. In the fall of 1885 he engaged in the insurance business on his own responsibility, and to the present has met with remarkable success, doing probably the largest insurance business of any man or firm in the South. He now represents the following well known companies: New York Life, North British & Mercantile,Westchester of New York; Union of California; Equitable, of Nashville, and Knoxville, of Knoxville. He has been a member of the Memphis Board of Fire Underwriters for eight years. In 1877 he was united in marriage with Miss Julia Woodward of this city, and to this union there are two living children—a on and a daughter. Mr. Raine is a Democrat in politics and is a member of the Episcopal Church.

C. H. Raine, cashier of the Mercantile Bank, is a native of Lynchburg, Va., and was born December 11, 1857, and educated in prominent eastern institutions and in the schools of Memphis. He came to this city in the autumn of 1870, and after attending school three years clerked in a store for a short time and then did a collection business for a sewing machine company. In 1873 he became connected with the Phoenix Insurance Company, but in 1875 became collector of the Bank of Commerce, filling afterward the positions of individual bookkeeper, general-bookkeeper and teller. Upon the organization of the Mercantile Bank, April 18, 1883, he accepted the cashiership, and is thus serving at present. Mr. Raine is a Democrat, and is a member of the Episcopal Church. His father was a native of Virginia, and his mother of Pennsylvania. They were married at Lynchburg, Va., and resided there until the commencement of the war, when they moved to Appomattox C. H. The father was major of artillery November, 1863, when killed at Nine Bun. (See sketch of Gilbert D. Raine.)

Richard J. Rawlings was born at Jackson, Tenn., March 17, 1845, and was a son of John Rawlings, of Alabama, who moved to Mississippi when a young man, and settled at Jackson, where he engaged in merchandising until 1837, when he moved to Jackson, Tenn., and in 1848 to Memphis. He was married at Jackson, Tenn., to Miss Sarah J. Hays, daughter of Col. Stokely Hays, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, and participated in the battle of New Orleans. She was born in Jackson, Tenn. The father continued the mercantile business for some time in Memphis, then was extensively engaged in the manufacture of bricks, and supplied nearly the entire demand during the rapid growth of Memphis before the war. He died at his home in Memphis in 1860. Our subject was but three years old when his parents moved to Memphis, where he was raised and educated, and was at La Grange College when the war broke out. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in the Second Tennessee Infantry under Col. Walker, but was transferred to the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Regiment, and participated in the battles of Belmont, Mo., and Richmond, Ky.; after the last battle he was captured and held as a prisoner at Frankfort, Ky., but was finally moved to Memphis and given the privilege of the city. When Forrest advanced he was ordered to take arms in defense of the city, but escaped and joined Forrest's cavalry. After this he was at the battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Harrisburg and various other battles, and after serving through the en-tire war was surrendered at Gainesville, Ala. His two brothers, Stokely and James S., were in the Confederate Army. The former died after the battle of Shiloh; the latter went through the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and the Georgia campaign, from Dalton to Atlanta. Mr. Rawlings was married at Memphis, June 16, 1873, to Miss Sarah F. Venable, daughter of Joseph Venable, a native of Kentucky and merchant and manufacturer of Memphis. He was born at St. Joseph, Mo., January 28, 1847. Their children were named Adelia, John H., Mary, Richard J. and George Venable. Mr. Rawlings has been in the mercantile and lumber business, and also connected with the oil-mill in Memphis, and has been very successful. He owns 900 acres of land, thirty-seven acres in the home place on Poplar Boulevard, four miles east of Memphis. He is a man of sound judgment, generous impulses and undeviating honesty.

S. P. Read, cashier of the Union & Planters' Bank, was born in Nelson County, Ky., in 1831, and was educated at St. Joseph College, Bardstown, Ky. He came to Tennessee in 1849 and to Memphis in 1857, and engaged in the cotton and commission business, continuing until 1862, and then embarked in the dry goods trade. He remained thus engaged until he became connected with the organization of the People's Insurance Company, and of this he was made secretary. He served thus until the organization of the Union & Planters' Bank, September 1, 1869, since which date he has been its cashier. His honesty and powers of observation eminently fit him for the duties of this responsible position. He is one of three surviving children of a family of four born to the marriage of William Read and Ann Bealmear. The father was born in Kentucky and the mother in Maryland. They were married in Nelson County, Ky., and followed agricultural pursuits until the father's death in 1841. The mother afterward married William Ritchie, and is still residing in that county. In 1852 our subject married Miss Susay Hay, a native of Brownsville, Tenn., who has presented her husband with four sons and three daughters, of whom the following are still living: Myra B., Samuel P., Theodore, Pearl and Sidney. Mr. Read is a Democrat, and is a member of the orders F. & A. M. and K. of H.

James Reilly is a native of Dublin, Ireland, and was born in June, 1838. He came to the United States in 1853, and to Memphis in 1856. He was residing in Mississippi when the war broke out, and enlisted in the Fourteenth Mississippi Regiment and served three years in the Confederate service. After the war he located in Memphis, engaged in mercantile pursuits, but in 1866 accepted a position as deputy county court clerk of Shelby County, and in 1870 was elected county court clerk and served two terms of four years each. He served one year as public administrator, but resigned and organized the Brinkley Oil Company, of Arkansas, and was its president five years. In December, 1885, he became a member of his present firm. In 1859 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Fenton, who has presented her husband with five sons and seven daughters. Mr. Reilly is a Democrat, a member of the Catholic Church, and is president of Branch 35, C. K. of A.

A. Renkert, a prominent druggist of 215 Main Street, Memphis, Tenn., is a native of Germany. He came to America in 1846, and located at Buffalo,. N. Y. Three years later he moved to Ohio, and in 1852 settled in Memphis, where he has since resided. The first six years after his arrival in Memphis he filled clerkships in H. F. Farnsworth & Co.'s drug stores, and in 1860 embarked in that line of business on his own responsibility, which he has since followed at the corner of Main and Market Streets, and without forming a partnership. He located at his present place of .business in 1881. He has been quite successful, and by his close attention to affairs and courtesy to patrons has established a substantial and profitable trade. He is highly esteemed in the city, and is a director in the Arlington Insurance Company and the Manhattan Savings & Trust Company Bank. He is also an eminent member of the I. O. O. F. In 1860 he married Elizabeth Lambreth, to whom one child was born, who died in infancy. The mother passed away in 1861. In 1863 Mr. Renkert wedded Ottelia Handwerker, with whom he had a family of many children. Mrs. Renkert died December, 1883, and in 1884 he was united in marriage to Emma Heintz, of New Orleans, a daughter of Rev. Heintz. The parents of our subject, Christian and Anna M. (Bushmiller) Repkert, came to America the same year in which our subject came. The father died in Ohio. The mother is still living in Crawford County, Ohio. Our subject's eldest son, Alfred F., has lately graduated from the Memphis Medical College.

Miss Annie C. Reudelhuber. In the early part of the nineteenth century John D. and Evelyn M. (Wilhelm) Reudelhuber, who were born, reared and married in the Rhine Provinces, Germany, immigrated to the hospitable shores of America and settled in New Orleans, La. Five children were born unto them—three sons and two daughters. They then moved to Memphis, Tenn., where their children were educated in the Memphis city schools. The parents were baptized in infancy as Lutherans, but attended the First Presbyterian Church, in which their children were trained and became members. The family is noted as possessing many sterling qualities of head and heart. One of the sons, popularly known as Capt. J. S. Reudelhuber, was quite a military genius, and served in the light artillery at the age of seventeen in the late war. The daughters are the only survivors, the father having passed away in 1872 and the mother in 1881. The eldest daughter, a product of the public schools, engaged in teaching at the age of fifteen years, and step by step has been promoted, until today she is the principal of the largest school in Memphis, and ranks second to none in ability. Her sister, Miss Pauline, also graduated in the Memphis city schools with the first honors, and is now principal of the Merrill School. Both have distinguished themselves not only as efficient imparters of knowledge, but as able disciplinarians.

William H. Robinson, attorney at law, is a native of Memphis and was born in 1858. He was educated at Washington-Lee University, Virginia, where he graduated in 1876, after which he spent three years in Europe completing and polishing his education. He returned in 1879 and studied law at Ann Arbor, Mich., and was admitted to the bar in 1881 in this city, and has risen steadily in the ranks of his profession. He is now a director of, and the attorney for, the Bluff City Stove Works. He is yet unmarried. His parents were John B. and Bettie (daughter of Burchette Douglass) Robinson, the father being a native of Kentucky and the mother of Tennessee. The father came to Memphis in 1845, and was for several years secretary of the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, and became identified with various other enterprises of the city. He was a useful and prominent man and died October 8, 1885. He was one of the pioneer merchants of this city.

John Roper is a native of northern Ireland, and was born in August, 1843. He was reared to manhood in his native country and in 1864 came to the United States and the following year came to Memphis and engaged in the retail grocery business with his brother James, and a year or so later they merged their business into the wholesale trade and conducted it successfully until the death of James of yellow fever in 1878. Since that time Mr. Roper has been prominently connected with the success of the firm. For the last six years he has given much attention to the cotton business, and is among the heavy dealers of the city. He is a Democrat, a member of the K. of H. and the C. K. of A., and himself and family are Catholics. January 13, 1863, he married Miss Sarah McCarty, of Ireland, and by her has four sons and one daughter living.

Anthony Ross, mechanical engineer, draughtsman and paymaster of the engineer's department of the Memphis Taxing District, was born in Mayence, Germany, July 9, 1822, and was reared and educated in his native country, securing a thorough knowledge of the classics, and mastering the art of mechanical engineering. He followed this profession in his native country until 1848, when he came to the United States, and in 1851 came to the city of Memphis and accepted a situation as machinist. In 1856 he became draughtsman and store-keeper for the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, continuing until 1875, being master mechanic at Memphis for the last three years. The shops of the company were built here in 1856 under the superintendence of Mr. Ross. In 1875 he engaged in mercantile pursuits in this city, and in 1880 became time-keeper of the sewer department of this taxing district. Two years ago he was made superintendent of sewers, draughtsman and paymaster of the engineers' department, which responsible positions he yet holds to the satisfaction of the public. In 1863 he built the Brierfield (Ala.) rolling-mill, sixty-two miles north of Selma, of which he was in charge until his return to Memphis in 1865. In 1850 Mr. Ross married Mrs. Anne R. Jacobs, a native of Maryland. Mr. Ross is independent in his political views, is a member of the K. of H., and himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Maj. Frank W. Royster was born in Goochland County, near Richmond, Va., August 12, 1816, and is a son of David and Elizabeth (Sampson) Royster, both parents being natives of the same county. Frank W. grew to mature years in his native State and was there educated. In April, 1838, the father with his family, including our subject, reached Memphis and located on his plantation in this county, which was settled in 1825-26, and upon the same resided until his death, February 22, 1843. He was well advanced in years, and had served in the Revolutionary war as a soldier. Our subject early engaged in the mercantile business in this city, and continued the same until the war. During the first year of the war he served in the State ordnance department at Memphis, and later at Columbus, Miss., and Selma, Ala., continuing in the same department until the close of the war. From 1865 until the present he has been engaged in the real estate business in this city. April 23, 1849, he married Miss Helen Lake, of this vicinity, who presented her husband with eight children, four of whom are yet living, one son, William B., in partnership with his father, and three daughters, still residents of the State. He is one of the original members of the Old Folks Society of Shelby County, is a Democrat in politics, himself and family all members of the Episcopal Church.

Capt. C. B. Russell. The Memphis & Cincinnati Packet Company was organized in 1884 as successors to the Memphis & Ohio River Packet Company. They own four steamers carrying yearly over 20,000 tons from this city—the " De Soto," the "Buckeye State," the Ohio" and the "Granite State." To represent them as passenger and freight agent at Memphis they have placed Capt. C. B. Russell, a native of West Virginia, born May 19, 1847. His parents, J. Thornton and Octavia (Wells) Russell, were both natives of Virginia. The father was owner and master of a vessel, being among the first who ran steamers. Their family consisted of four children—two sons and two daughters. Our subject was educated at a college in Wheeling, W. Va., and when twenty years of age began as second clerk on a steamer. From that he arose to first clerk and finally to master of a vessel and continued in the latter capacity about eight years. In 1884 he was appointed to his present position, which he has filled ably ever since.

George W. Rutland, merchant and farmer, was born near Raleigh, Shelby Co., Tenn., February 9, 1852, and is a son of William C. Rutland, who was born near Huntsville, Ala., and immigrated to Tennessee in 1840, settling near Germantown, Shelby County; two years later he went to Memphis and entered his father's store as clerk. He was married near Germantown to Miss Lydia A. Graham, a daughter of Joseph Graham, who was a brother of Gov. Graham of North Carolina, and one of the organizers of Shelby County, Tenn. The father followed farming from the date of his marriage until the close of the war. He was in the Confederate Army for a short time during the war. After the war he went into the mercantile business in Memphis, under the firm name of Taylor, Gay & Rutland, grocers and cotton dealers. Mr. Gay soon withdrew and the firm was Taylor & Rutland until 1873, and in 1879 Mr. Rutland went into business at Little Rock, Ark., under the firm name of W. A. Ober & Co. After the dissolution of this firm he engaged in cotton buying until his death at Little Rock in January, 1881. The mother was born near Memphis and is still living at Buntyn. Geo. W. Rutland wak raised in Shelby County and received a collegiate education, having graduated at Macon Masonic College, June, 1869. He spent, nine years clerking for Eckerly Bros., merchants at Memphis, but for three years has been in business for himself at Buntyn. He was married near White's Station, October 10, 1879, to Miss Euzelia M. Buntyn, daughter of Dr. G. O. Buntyn, a prominent and well known citizen. George W. and Euzelia were the children born to this marriage. The mother was born in Shelby County, August 6, 1854. Mr. Rutland is a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He owns thirty acres of land near Buntyn Station. He is developing fine business capacity and has a genial, social disposition.

George Rutschman, retail liquor dealer, whose establishment is situated at 172 Poplar Street, is a native of Kentucky, born in. the city of Louisville. He came to Memphis in 1849, and in 1861 enlisted in the Confederate Army, Seventh Tennessee Regiment, under Gen. N. B. Forrest. He displayed so much bravery and skill during many of the hard-fought battles, that in 1863 he was promoted to the rank of adjutant-general, which office he filled with honor and credit till the termination of the war. He received a wound in the right hip at the battle of Shiloh, which rendered him unfit for service for about three months. The ball was never extracted. In 1866 he returned to Memphis and engaged as clerk in a dry goods store at that place, where he remained about eight years. He then began business for himself, and although he endured many hardships during the war, and has passed through many since, he is always found at his place of business, attentive and considerate of the wants of his customers. October 2, 1877, he married Frederika Welsh, of this city. She is a native of Germany, and by marriage became the mother of three children, two now living.