Biographies
| J. A. Andrews, of J. A. Andrews & Co., dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, was born in Rockingham County, Va., March 15, 1812. He is one of thirteen children of Samuel and Jane (Wells) Andrews. The father was born March 22, 1774, in Virginia. His father, William, a merchant, came from Scotland at an early day, being born there in 1737. Samuel came to Sumner County in 1818, and was an old Jackson Democrat. He died August 24, 1857. The mother, born in September, 1789, in Virginia, came to Wilson County, Tenn., in 1818, and died in 1834. Our subject, a self-made and educated man, began, when twenty-two, in his present business, with a small stock at first, but now carries an average year's stock of about $10,000. He has been a subscriber to The Nashville American ever since it was first established. In 1844 he married Lumiza Sewell. They had one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Andrews died in 1846. In 1852 he married Georgetta Smith, who died the same year. His first wife was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his last wife belonged to the Christian Church. Mr. Andrews has always been a Democrat in politics. |
| Col. D. L. Goodall, present clerk of the county court of Trousdale County, and a son of David and Tobitha (Clark) Goodall, was born in Smith County, now Trousdale, in 1823. He was the sixth of ten children who lived to be grown, only two of whom are now living. The father was a native of Virginia, born about 1781 and grew to manhood in his native State. He was twice married, his first wife being a Miss Davis. He removed to Smith County at a very early day and resumed his agricultural pursuits which he followed up to the time of his death in 1856. The mother was also a native of Virginia. She was a worthy member of the Christian Church, as was also her husband, and died in 1851. Our subject was reared at home on the farm, and received his education in the common schools of the county. Upon reaching his majority he came to Hartsville and acted as a clerk in a dry goods store at that place until the war with Mexico when he enlisted in Company F, First Tennessee, of the Polk Guards, commanded by ex-Gov. W. B. Campbell. He took part in the battles of Monterey, siege of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, and several sharp skirmishes. At the end of his enlistment (one year) he returned to Hartsville and engaged in the mercantile business which he continued up to the civil war. He then organized Company F, Second Confederate Tennessee Regiment, of which he was made captain and at the organization of the regiment at Nashville he was elected lieutenant- colonel and acted in that capacity until the battle of Shiloh when he took command of the regiment after Col. Bate (Maj. Doak was killed) was wounded. After that battle he was discharged on account of ill health. He then returned home and again engaged in mercantile pursuits, which he followed for several years, after which he returned to his earlier employment of farming and continued until 1878, when he was elected to the office of county clerk. He has held this postion to the general satisfaction of the people ever since, having been twice re-elected. In politics he has been a life-long Democrat and cast his first presidential voted for James K. Polk in 1844. He is an active member of the Masonic fraternity. |
| Hon. H. W. Hammock, lawyer, is the son of Capt. L. and M. J. (Gammon) Hammock; was born in Texas in 1856. Of the three children, he and a sister are now living. The father was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and born in Virginia, about 1812; removed to Smith County, Tenn., with his parents when a child; reared there, when thirty-seven years of age he married, and in 1855 resumed farming until 1858; he then returned to Smith County, where he died in 1859. In early life he spent several years as captain on a river steamer. He was a stalwart Whig. The mother was born in Smith County in 1823 and died in 1858, a member of the Baptist Church. Left an orphan, our subject was cared for by W. Martin, of Smith County, until twelve years of age, when he had to do for himself. Attending the common schools, and a session in the Tennessee University, Knoxville, in 1871-72, he finished by attending in 1876-77 the law department of Cumberland University at Lebanon. Since then he has practiced at Hartsville, and had become one of the best attorneys in this section, and a self-made man. When twenty-one he was elected mayor of Hartsville, serving two years, and in 1886 elected to represent Trousdale and Sumner Counties in the Legislature. He has served as special judge on several occasions in these two counties. He also owns considerable real estate in Hartsville. In April, 1877, he married Bettie, daughter of Arch and Francis Allen, of Hartsville. In politics an active and uncompromising Democrat, his first vote was for Gen. Hancock. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Hammock was born in Trousdale County in 1858; is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. |
| W. W. Jenkins, farmer and trader, was born January 24, 1849, one of eight children of John T. and Fannie (Williams) Jenkins. The father was a merchant and farmer. Our subject left home when sixteen and engaged in farming and trading for two years. Until his marriage, in 1873, he traveled in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Tennessee, for trading purposes. He then returned to the community where he now resides and married Mrs. Elizabeth Ward, May 15, 1873. They have three children: Fannie, Mary Elizabeth, and John T. Mr. Jenkins has been a life-long Democrat, voting his first presidential ticket for Seymour. In 1873, he purchased a fine farm of 276 acres, seven miles Hartsville, and besides this owns two other farms, which aggregate 379 acres, in Smith County, on the Hartsville and Carthage Pike. |
| E. P. Lowe, Jr., of the firm of Neely & Lowe, freight agents at Hartsville Landing, was born in Wilson, now Trousdale County, in March, 1855. He is one of four children of E.P. and Nancy B. (Ward) Lowe. The father, of Irish origin, was born in Smith County in 1813, and as a farmer and trader has become an extensive land owner with about 400 acres, and lives near Hartsville. He was justice for about twelve years and chairman of Wilson County Court about ten years. When cut off from Wilson into Trousdale County, he still held his office of justice and was soon elected chairman of Trousdale County Court, which he held five years, refusing re-election on account of old age; an able and respected officer. His wife was born in Smith, now Trousdale County, in 1813 and died in 1869. She was Irish in origin. Our subject, educated at Hartsville and East Tennessee University, Knoxville, the latter in 1873 and 1874, was dependent on himself at twenty, and began farming, his present business, together with his freight agency. In October 1884, he married Lucy, daughter of Henry and Lucy Neely, and born in Sumner, now Trousdale County in April 1859. In politics he is a Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is one of the leading farmers, owning 200 acres of improved land near Hartsville. |
| J. H. Neely, farmer and freight agent at Hartsville, was born in Sumner, now Trousdale, County in 1854, and is one of six children of Henry M. and Lucy A. (Paisley) Neely. The father, of Irish origin, was born in Sumner County in 1820, and was a dentist, but in his old age retired to farming and trading and was a universally successful man. He was a Jackson Democrat in politics and died in 1878. His wife was born in Logan County in 1829 and died in Sumner County in 1863. Educated in Hartsville Academy, our subject began for himself when nineteen years of age as freight agent in his present position, of the firm of Neely & Lowe. At Present Dictator of K. of H. Lodge at Hartsville, he has held every office in the organization there. He votes the straight Democratic ticket, first voting for Tilden. Their landing is a shipping point for over ten surrounding counties, shipping in 1886 over 1,000,000 feet of lumber and about 1,000 hogsheads of tobacco. Mr. Neely owns about 235 acres improved, and three-fifths of the Hart Ferry tract on which he lives, about 173 acres, all on the Cumberland River. |
| J. W. Rankin, farmer, was born July 12, 1841, on his present farm, one of four children of John and Mary C. (Forgason) Rankin. The father, born 1775, came to Tennessee at an early day and settled near where his son resides. He died in 1847. The mother was born in what is now Trousdale County, January 8, 1818, and died July 2, 1854. Our subject was educated at Irving College, Tenn., and October 25, 1860, married Sarah Wilson, who was born December 6, 1842, in what is now Trousdale County. Their two children are John, born February 8, 1862, and Lee Madden, born April 30, 1867. Leaving home at twenty, our subject rented the first ten years of his married life, and then bought his present farm five and one-half miles from Hartsville, on the Hartsville and La Fayette road. He is a Master Mason, and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Rankin has succeeded in accumulating about 450 acres of land by his own efforts. |