Hamilton County Tennessee Genealogy Society

Hamilton County Tennessee Genealogy SocietyHamilton County Tennessee Genealogy SocietyHamilton County Tennessee Genealogy Society

Hamilton County Tennessee Genealogy Society

Hamilton County Tennessee Genealogy SocietyHamilton County Tennessee Genealogy SocietyHamilton County Tennessee Genealogy Society
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Hamilton and James County Biographies A - B

Albert, Paul R.           

          Paul R. Albert, manager of the now opera house, and a member of the wholesale firm of J. Seeman & Co., was born December 13, 1841, in France, and his father, Paul, was also a native of France. His mother, Sophia Gurhauer, was born in Berlin, Germany. When only six years of age our subject came with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, a merchant, died sometime after the removal, and the mother married Dr. George Kuhlmann. Young Paul, the only son by the first marriage, was educated in the public schools and at Woodward College, Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Urbana University. His stepfather wished him to prepare for a professional life, but he secretly took a commercial course preparatory to entering the business world. When his stepfather decided to send him to Yale College, our subject concluded to run away from home. He engaged with a Cincinnati firm at $1.50 per week and at last arose to the chief clerkship.  Having received a better offer from a large Cincinnati firm to enter a Nashville branch of the house he came South in 1862, and such was the confidence and esteem in which he was held by the firm that he was soon taken in as a partner, and three years later was given charge of three branch houses in which he was also a partner. The failure of the Cincinnati firm involving the branch establishment swept all the fruits of his labor away, and in 1872 he came to Chattanooga, and engaged in the confectionery business with J. Seeman, on very small capital. Gradually they arose until in 1876 they began an exclusively, wholesale business as tobacconists and manufacturing confectioners. Mr. Albert is connected with the Star Jelly Works, is president of the Chattanooga Canning Company, is one of the directors of the Chattanooga Building and Savings Association, is a director of the Handel Musical Society, also of the Chickamauga Guards, is secretary of the Chattanooga Opera House Company, is Trustee of the Burris Syndicate and president of Lookout C. M. Association. He was Grand Dictator of the K. of H. for the State of Tennessee and is now Supreme Representative of the State. He is a Mason, and a prominent officer in several benevolent fraternities besides. Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887 


Alexander, Clarice Gladys Fuller        

            "Aunt Clarice" was born to Samuel Logan and Anna Mae Alexander on June 5, 1910. She was the first of 6 children. She lived in the home of a true pioneer of the Sale Creek Church of God. She married Harry Fuller and lived in Hodge town, a part of Sale Creek, Tennessee. Clarice was a genteel woman. She loved her children (5 boys and I girl), grandchildren, and her nieces and nephews alike. She treated us all well. I always enjoyed being around her. She called me "Rexy Boy" and I didn't mind at all. She worked hard in the kitchen and garden. Aunt Clarice was a very good cook. I "really" liked her chicken and dumplings as well as banana pudding. They would melt in your mouth. I don't know of anyone she ever offended. She always tried to be diplomatic and keep peace, but she stayed in close touch with the Lord. As she aged and had health problems, she prayed earnestly for the Lord to take her home. He didn't answer her immediately but on the summer morning of July 27, 1989, she knew she knew she was going to die. One of her granddaughters was there and she told me that Aunt Clarice, who was not hallucinating, joyfully declared, "I see Jesus" and slipped away to her heavenly reward. Those who knew this sweet lady have no doubt that what she saw was real! She had planned every aspect of her funeral right down to the songs to be sung. It was joyous in that she finally went to be in HIS presence but painful to lose someone so respected and loved. She was one of those people that you felt would surely go to Heaven. She was laid to rest beside Harry in the Welsh Cemetery in Sale Creek. I really loved this lady, and she will always have a warm place in my heart.


Alexander, Hershel Wilson           

          Hershel, who was the oldest of the boys, was born September 22, 1912, to Logan and Mae Alexander.  He married Esther Elizabeth Edmondson and lived in the Slabtown. area. During WW II, he was drafted into the Army and served in North Africa. Some things left a permanent impression on me. He had a horse, Ole Maude, and she was the first horse I ever sat on. As a young child, I stayed with them when my mother worked. I developed a taste for fresh buttermilk, straight from the cow to the churn. Uncle Hershel often called me "Buttermilk Bill". I enjoyed being around him; he was a quiet man with a strong character. He good-naturedly teased me and that was fine. The only time I ever saw him with tears was when I went to visit them prior to me shipping out to Korea. He had a soft side-or was it memories of his war experience? I never heard him speak of the war. He was employed by the Electric Power Board in Chattanooga. He enjoyed hunting squirrels, always raised a good garden, and at one time, he enjoyed a beer and chewing tobacco (and that is not a negative statement). Uncle Hershel developed severe kidney problems which ended his employment.  He endured dialysis treatments for some time. On May 27, 1977, while I was stationed in Japan, he passed away. He is buried in the Welsh Cemetery in Sale Creek, Tennessee. I really liked the man; he was always good to me. Upon receiving the news of his death, I had to spend some time alone and grieve for I had lost a fine uncle and knew I had been so much richer by having him jn my life. He was very special to me.          Alexander, Esther Elizabeth Edmondson Born:   Sept17, 1920 to Louis and Opal (Keltch) Edmondson Died: Nov 4, 2002, Children: Thomas Samuel Alexander and Jack Randall Alexander 

She was a second mother to me. 



Alexander, James Thomas & Susan J. Keith

          James was born to John Hinton and Barbara Smith Alexander in Knox County , TN in1844. He was the fourth of eight children. His siblings were: William S.-1836, John S-1839, Robert H. Smith-1843, Nancy H.-1847, Elias R.-1850, Mary L.-1852, and Andrew Jackson-1856. His father was of Scottish ancestry. His mother’s grandfather had emigrated from Ireland . They were considerably wealthy.  It was surmised, by some, that the wealth came from the Smith side; however, John’s ancestors had owned large parcels of land also. John H. had quite a large holding in and around Concord .

 Little is known of James’s early life. The Civil War began in 1861. In March of 1863, at the age of 19, he joined the Confederacy in Knoxville , TN. He was enlisted as a Private by Major L. Peck, into Company B, 31st (Col. W. M. Bradford’s) Tennessee Infantry Regiment. In June of 1863 it became the 39th Tennessee Mounted ( Calvary ) Infantry.

 The unit joined Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of the Mississippi and they marched through Kentucky and Tennessee covering 700 miles in 42 days.  This was often without food or water, in dust, mud, and snow-all of this with no tents. They only had their belongings. The unit fought in Tennessee , Virginia , North Carolina , and Mississippi . Records show that James had once been in a CSA hospital in Charlottesville , VA

 The Siege and Battle of Vicksburg ( Mississippi ) was a turning point in the war.  The South spent 47 days in the trenches under heavy fire and artillery attacks from Major General U.S Grant’s army of 80,000 men. Of the original 40,000 Confederate’s under the command of Lt. Gen John C. Pemberton, only 20,000 starving souls survived and surrendered.  James Thomas became a Prisoner of War on July 4 and paroled on July 10, 1863 by the USA Commanding Officer, Capt. Pullen, of the Illinois Volunteers. He signed the solemn oath not to bear arms against the Union again. I expect he was relieved that he and the others did not receive the same treatment afforded other POW’s-that of having their trigger fingers cut off. Official records reflect that this was not the end of his military career. He was hospitalized at the CSA General Hospital in Charlottesville , VA in June 1864 and returned to duty June 17, 1864 -almost a year after being paroled as a POW. 

 Three brothers also fought for the Confederacy. William S. Alexander enlisted as a Private in Company G of the 63rd Infantry Regiment in Knoxville , TN on May 6, 1862 .  John S. Alexander enlisted in the same company and regiment in Cumberland Gap , TN on April 1, 1863 . Robert H. Smith Alexander entered the service as a Private in Company I, 12th Infantry. All three fought in the Battle of Chickamauga. On September 20, 1863 , John was killed.  William, now a Corporal, and Robert H. were wounded. They were sent to the Foard (Ford) Hospital in Newman , GA and William died November 23, 1863 . Robert H. remained hospitalized until June 1864 then was sent to Richmond , VA on May 10 by order of the regimental surgeon. He was present with the 63rd Infantry at Appomattox Court House on April 2, 1865 and surrendered seven days later.

 After the war was over for him, James returned home to Concord and helped with the farming operation. Family members have recalled that there had been some bitter feelings between James and his father. It is unknown whether it was because of James T’s war service or his selection of a wife

 In 1877, James married a lovely young lady, Susan Jane Keith, daughter of Gabriel Pinckney and Eliza Jane (Fuller) Keith. Prior to 1880, they moved to Hamilton County , north east of Chattanooga , TN. They appear in the 1880 Census with son, James A. and James T’s brother, Elias R.  His Alexander cousin’s and one brother migrated from the Knoxville area and resided near Chattanooga . Susan’s parents and family now also lived beside them.

 At first, James and the family resided in the Hixson/Falling Water/Middle Valley community. On page 8 of the aforementioned census, they lived next door to Andy and Preston Gann, origin of present day Gann’s Middle Valley, the Igou’s, who owned the ferry to Birchwood, and James Parks, the grandfather of Daisy Parks, for whom Daisy, Tennessee is named. Henry Baker, Postmaster of Falling Water, George Card, Postmaster of Melville, and Ephraim F. Hixson, for whom the former town of Lookout was renamed, lived nearby. The families of Poe, Igou, Hamil, Pendergrass, Penny, Levi, Gadd, and Varner’s were neighbors and many streets of Chattanooga bear their name.

 Within the next 10 years they moved to the Bakewell area and lived in a two-story house near present-day McCallie Ferry Road . There, they raised their large family. They were-James (after his father) Albert-1877, John Elias (after James father and brother)-1880, Mollie Jane (after a neighbor’s child and Susan)-1884, Samuel Logan (after The Honorable Samuel Logan, Knox County Criminal Judge) Pinckney (after Susan’s father)-1887, Liza (after Susan’s mother) C.-1888, Thomas Jackson (after James’s brother and Susan’s brother-1889, William S. (after James’s brother)-1891, Benjamin Franklin-1893, Charley S.-1895, Margaret (Maggie) Frances-1896, Kate-1899, and finally, Marie Elizabeth (after Susan’s mother). 

 It had been thought that Jim T. had not been that affluent but he did acquire property in the area. Heirs of Robert Patterson, the first settler of a newly formed Hamilton County , researched the deeds in the latter part of 1999. They found acquisitions of land purchased from James Alexander in the Bakewell area. He wasn’t wealthy but perhaps could have been - except for the problem between him and his father.  Two theories have been voiced about their problem, (1) it had to do with the War, and (2) it had to do with James T’s marriage to a Keith and one that was 16 years his junior. When John H. died, James did not return home to gain his inheritance. His last daughter, Marie, related that information to me and she was made privy to it by her older sister, who raised her. In addition, one of Susan’s nieces also confirmed the information-so it seems to be factual. Either way, Jim T. (as he was known here) never returned to Concord . 

 They all worked hard, as did everyone, since the times were not easy.  The boys worked in the fields, hewed trees into wood for fuel, hauled corn by horseback to be ground into meal at the gristmill in freezing weather, and the girls did the washing, mending, and cooking. Everyone worked!   In 1904, at the age of 59 or 60, Jim T. contracted pneumonia and died prior to Marie’s birth. James Thomas Alexander was laid to rest in the Hughes Cemetery-Bakewell, TN. The family marked the grave, with stones. When but a young lad, my grandmother Alexander showed me the area in which he was buried and said, “That is where Papa-Daddy’s ( Logan ’s) folks are buried.” In 2000, I purchased a granite stone and had it placed near the gravesite in memory of both James Thomas and Susan Jane Alexander.

 Each of us should be proud of our Alexander name and the heritage we share as Scots Irish descendants.  We are products of industrious, patriotic, and honorable men and women who helped shape this great nation, state, and locale into what it is today. 

To my great-grandfather, James Thomas Alexander, I thank you, I am proud of you-and I salute you!

Compiled and Submitted by Rexford C. Alexander rexcalex@bellsouth.net


 Alexander, Samuel Logan & Anna Mae (Carroll)          

           Samuel Logan Pinckney Alexander was born of James Thomas and Susan Jane (Keith) Alexander on July 24, 1887. He was one of 12 siblings born in the Bakewell/Soddy area of Tennessee. Logan, as he was called, married Anna Mae Carroll in Dayton (Rhea County), Tennessee on Jan 11, 1909. The Marriage Record Book 1908-1910, (p. 200) specifies Logan Alexander to May (Mae) Carroll. Witnessed by his brother William Alexander, whose “X” was noted by the clerk. Logan ’s responsibility for a bond of $1250.00 was part of the action recorded.) Their children are as follows: Pearcey and Pearl were still born in 1909. Clarice Gladys 1910-1989 married Harry Fuller. Hershel Wilson (1912-1977) married Esther Elizabeth Edmondson. Cornelius Gentry (he changed it to “George”) (1916-1990) married Eva Mae Edens. Mark David (1919)­ married Anna Roselyn Gann. Jessie Anna Mae (1921-  ) married (1) R.D. Crisp (changed name to Cecil Taylor) and (2) Odus Underwood. Harold Logan (1926-)  married (1) Florence (Flo) (2) Charlotte ?. Logan was a hard working man but managed to make it look easy. It was said that he appeared to be doing little but could do more work than anyone around. He worked in the coal mines, logging industry, farming, and was the minister of the Sale Creek Church of God. No matter what he earned, Reverend Alexander firmly believed in giving back one tenth of his earnings to the Lord. Logan once worked for a week and earned only $5.70 but when he gave the money to Mae for food, he said, “Don’t forget to bring back .57 cents for tithes”). If there was no work he would travel by foot, horse and wagon or by train to church services. His interest in religion and following Christ led him to attend the famous 1925 "Scope's Trial" in Dayton, Tennessee. He was there when history was made in “ Monkey Town ” as Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan fought the court case of evolution and creation. He and Mae lived in several houses in the Hodge town and Slabtown areas. He never owned a home; times were extremely hard. Everything, including food, was scarce. It may be only cornbread, but the family ate; even if it was only a couple of ears of corn, the mule or horse was fed. Raising corn required hoeing many, many acres and this was usually accomplished by Mark and Cornelius. Hard work was essential to feeding the family. One night a week, the family shelled corn-by hand. It was bagged and taken to the mill to be ground into corn meal. The owner of the mill received a portion of the product as payment. Logan spent many weeks in the local mountains logging or mining coal. During the Depression, in 1930, Logan went to Fleming , Kentucky to find work in the coal mines. In June of 2004, Mickey Alexander attended a party at his daughter’s home. Her husband’s grandmother was there and had brought a 1930 census of Fleming. The document revealed that Logan was boarding on Front Street and another Sale Creek man, Sheridan Shipley, lived in a boarding house operated by Monroe Shipley. Monroe Shipley was the husband of Annie Gann Shipley, sister of my grandfather Charlie Gann. Small world, huh?   His zeal, dedication, and love for the church and God were evident in the community and to all who knew him. He held the early Church of God together until his death. While replacing wooden shingles atop the church roof, he fell, and a broken rib punctured a lung. He suffered for 3 months; on October 2, 1936, at the age of 49, he passed away. He is buried in the Welsh Cemetery in Sale Creek, Tennessee along with Mae.  He was “the glue that had held the church together” . Read “Reverend Samuel Logan Alexander, His Legacy: God! Family! Church!”  by this author.

Compiled and Submitted by Rexford C. Alexander rexcalex@bellsouth.net 


 Allen, James A         

           J. A. Allen, chief of police of the city of Chattanooga, was born January 16, 1833, at Columbus, Ky., but was reared to manhood in East Faliciana Parish, La. At the commencement of the late war he was an overseer of a plantation in that State, but this he resigned to enlist in the Sixteenth Louisiana Regulars (Company A), and in 1862 was ordered to Chattanooga on detached duty. He remained at this point until the evacuation of the city by the Confederates, then went to Macon, Ga., and in 1865, at the close of the war, returned to Chattanooga, which has since been his home. Mr. Allen is a carpenter by trade, and this occupation he followed until appointed on the police force in 1876. Prior to his election as chief of police in April 1883, he officiated for one year as county jailer. In 1863 be was united in marriage with Mrs. Travers, and to their union six children have been born, only one now living. He and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is a son of Louis and Lucy (Feltz) Allen, who were natives of South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, the former dying in Louisiana in 1860, preceded by his wife in Arkansas in 1840.

Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887

1880 US Census, 2nd Ward, Chattanooga, Hamilton Co., Tennessee; Page 14 


 Anderson, John          

          John Anderson, Esq., a prominent citizen and planter of the Fourth District, James County, was born in Bledsoe County, December 2, 1814. He is the youngest and only surviving one of six children of Col. John and Betsy (McNair) Anderson. Both parents were of Scotch descent. The father was born in Scott County, Va., October 5, 1778, and died October 27, 1814, while on a march with his regiment to New Orleans. He was colonel of the State militia. He was by occupation a farmer and merchant. The mother was born near Knoxville, Tenn., March 31, 1783, and married in Knox County, November 5, 1805. Her death occurred August 13, 1859, near Pikeville, Bledsoe County. They were devout members of the Presbyterian Church. Our subject received a good education in his native county. In his early days he dealt in corn on the Sequatchie River. In 1835 he moved to Hamilton (now James) County and was one of the first settlers. He opened the first store at Georgetown, where for a few years he engaged in mercantile business. In 1838 he purchased and settled upon the farm where he now resides. Since that date he has given his attention to agriculture and livestock trading. From 1836 to 1886 he was postmaster at Georgetown. The office was for a time in the village, and then at his residence. For forty years he was justice of the peace. He resigned in 1886. He is a warm Republican. In the latter part of 1835 he married Miss G. Allen, who bore him two children; she died in 1838, an earnest member of the Methodist Church. January 16, 1840, our subject wedded Purlymly Luttrell, by whom he has had ten children. Five of his sons served in the Federal Army. J. M. received a mortal wound September 27, 1864, at Pulaski, Tenn., while engaged with Forrest's forces. He was brought home by his father and died the following 24th of December. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are active members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

“Goodspeed’s History of East Tennessee,” James County, 1887. 


 Anderson, John C           J

          John C. Anderson, agent for Western & Atlantic Railroad at Chattanooga, was born in Dalton, Ga., November 27, 1853, and is the son of John W. and J. S. (Chester) Anderson, natives, respectively, of Georgia and Tennessee. Our subject was reared and educated in his native city, came to Chattanooga in December 1870, and entered the employ of the Western & Atlantic Railroad as clerk, where he has remained since. He is one of the organizers, and is president of the Empire Lumber Company, established in Chattanooga in 1882, secretary of the South Chattanooga Land Company, president of the Chattanooga Real Estate Company, and has been prominently identified with the real estate interests in the city. March 27, 1879, he wedded Miss Fannie I. Woodruff, of Griffin, Ga. He is a Democrat in politics, a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and is recognized as one of the enterprising and reliable businessmen and citizens of Chattanooga. He has been a resident of that city since 1870, with the exception of three years, from 1878 to 1881, when he was in Georgia in charge of large lumber operations for the Georgia Land & Lumber Company. 

Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887 Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887

 

PIONEER ANDERSON FOUNDED CHURCH By John Wilson Free Press Writer
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN - 1998

     When he was 18, William Walker Anderson of Rockbridge County, VA, left his plow in the field at noon and embarked on an adventure in the Tennessee frontier. He became one of the first settlers of
Chattanooga and a founder of its Presbyterian Church. 

Anderson was born June 10, 1804, near the old Rock Church six miles from Lexington. That day in 1822he found his uncle stopping at his home and he decided to go with him to Maryville, where the uncle had a store. W. W. Anderson returned to Virginia long enough to marry his sweetheart Elizabeth McChesney, then they set up housekeeping at Maryville.
Anderson began driving horses through the Indian nation, selling them in Alabama and Mississippi. Onone of these trips, his horse became entangled in vines while trying to swim Chickamauga Creek.
Anderson lost his saddle bags full of papers and clothing. An Indian witnessed the accident, and a few
years later when he spotted W. W. Anderson, he returned the bags to him.
W. W. Anderson, who was over six feet tall and was called “Skygusty” by the Indians, after two years moved to Athens. For his general merchandise store there, he would annually load up his four-horse
wagons with bacon and exchanged it for dry goods at Baltimore. This was a two-month trip, but a set ofcups and saucers would fetch $5 on the frontier and a lady’s Leghorn bonnet was worth $25.
W. W. Anderson was “an unusually fine looking man” and was “strictly temperate in all things.” He wasmade colonel of the militia at Athens and “with cocked hat on horseback made a striking appearance.”
Three of the five Anderson children died at a young age, leaving James and William Jr. In hopes of benefiting the family’s health, W. W. Anderson in 1840 pushed on to Chattanooga. They occupied a frame dwelling on the southeast corner of Fourth and Walnut. The Andersons were joined by James Berry, who had married Rebecca McChesney, a sister of Mrs. Anderson.
However, Mrs. Anderson became ill and died September 12, 184__. Two years later, Anderson married Louisa Penelope Campbell Smith, widow of James Smith. Her sister, Mary, was married to the
Chattanooga merchant D. C. McMillin. W. W. Anderson was clerk of the Presbyterian congregation and would regularly lead the hymns. The visiting minister would often stay in the Anderson home. W. W. Anderson started Sunday School for blacks. Anderson owned several slaves “and always treated them kindly. He would not sell or separate them.”
The children of W. W. Anderson by his second wife included Jefferson Campbell who married Mary Ellen Burton, Sarah Anne who married Thomas Rowland, Milo Smith who married Mary Bush, and Mary Louisa who married George Vinson. His eldest son, James, married Mary Morrow, daughter of the Indian agent Dr. William Morrow. James Anderson became a physician and went to California in 1850. Two years later he started home for his family on the streamer Philadelphia. But the cholera broke out off the coast of Havana, and he died at sea.
The other son, William Jr., attended Burritt College and in 1857 he was returning on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. There he renewed his acquaintance with Lydia Cravens, daughter of the ironmaster Robert Cravens. They were married in 1859 and set up housekeeping at the old Anderson place at Fourth and Walnut. However, the health of Lydia Cravens Anderson became bad, and they moved to the side of Lookout Mountain to the cabin that Robert Cravens had first occupied. A son, Charles Cravens Anderson, was born. there, and a second son, William Franklin Anderson, came along in 1862.W. W. Anderson Sr. was “a decided Whig and thought it best for the South to make the fight in the Union, but when his state seceded, he went with it in good will.” He was too old to fight, but he “took great interest in the Southern cause.”
Following a skirmish on Citico Creek, he found a Confederate soldier badly wounded and hid him upstairs until he recovered. The Yankees later found revenge by filling his well with rocks and tearing down his house.
W. W. Anderson Jr. in the early part of the war with Robert Cravens manufactured saltpeter in a furnace at the mouth of a cave near Moccasin Bend. Then he joined the Lookout Artillery and was made first sergeant. When his wife’s health worsened, he took a leave of absence and found his wife had hired a substitute for him. He then shipped coal and coke to Confederate authorities in Memphis.
Just before the Battle Above the Clouds, the Andersons fled the mountain, hauling their goods in wagons to Chickamauga Station and taking the train to Dawson, GA. W. W. Anderson Sr. went with them and the following January his second wife died at Dawson. Three months later, Lydia Cravens Anderson died also.
Then two-year-old Frank became sick and died. He was given a “repugnant” black medicine and the
doctor said it was “pure ink.” W. W. Anderson Jr. later surmised the doctor may have been “merely
experimenting.”
After the war, W. W. Anderson Jr. made his home at Forsyth, GA. He had a number of children by his second wife, Louisa Estelle Sharp.
His son, Charles Cravens Anderson, moved to Chattanooga and in 1888 married Mary Bachman, daughter of the Presbyterian minister Dr. Jonathan Bachman. After her death, he was a widower about seven years before marrying Julia Leach in 1901.
C. C. Anderson resided just below the old Cravens property on the mountainside, and he discovered “Mystery Falls,” an underground waterfall. This was developed as a water source for St. Elmo. Anderson was also an investor in oil well drilling, but his syndicate was unsuccessful in a project at Franklin County, TN, and he was forced to declare bankruptcy. He was so distraught that he shot himself with a revolver on November 20, 1902 – hours before his creditors were set to meet. 


 Arnold, James T.             

       Hon. James T. Arnold, of the firm of Loomis, Hart & Co., Chattanooga, was born in Greenville, Ohio, April 5, 1845, and here reared and educated. In 1866 he engaged in mercantile pursuits in Bluffton, Ind., until 1871, when he went to Montpelier, Ind., and engaged in the same business until 1885. In February of that year he came to Chattanooga and became a member of the above named firm, superintendent of the main office and furniture department. In 1871 he wedded Miss Elizabeth Johnston, who died in September, 1883, leaving three children, all sons. In July, 1886, he married Lettie Cleveland, of Indiana. Mr. Arnold is a Republican in politics and represented his district in the Indiana Legislature in 1879-80. He is a prominent man and is well respected.  His parents, William and Margaret (Folkerth) Arnold, are natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Maryland.Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887 

 Bachman, Dr. Jonathan Waverly          

      Jonathan Waverly Bachman, son of Jonathan Bachman and Frances Rhea Bachman, was born at Roseland Farm in Sullivan County, Tennessee, October 9, 1837. He died in Chattanooga , September 24, 1924. He attended Fall Branch Academy and the Blountville Academy and then entered Emory and Henry College . After graduating there he went to Illinois to teach school. In 1860 he entered the Union Theological Seminary in New York City . At the outbreak of the War Between the States he left the Seminary and entered the Confederate Army as a private in the 19th Tennessee Regiment. He was soon afterward commissioned Captain of Company G of the 60th Tennessee Regiment. He served under General Stonewall Jackson and General Robert E. Lee. He was captured and paroled in 1863. He was exchanged and was commissioned Chaplain. His commission as Chaplain was withheld (with his consent) by General Breckinridge who ordered him to command a regiment. While serving as Colonel of the Regiment, his horse was shot under him in battle. A short time later he was returned to his office as Chaplain and served in that capacity until the end of the War. He was then called to the pastorship of Churches in New Providence and Rogersville , Tennessee , and was elected President of the Rogersville College .In 1873 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga which he served as pastor for fifty-one years. Many pages could be written concerning Dr. Bachman's heroic service to his people of the Presbyterian Church and his wider service to the entire community. During the yellow fever epidemic he aided all classes, creeds and colors. He helped to nurse the victims and literally helped to bury them as well as reading the service. He became the most beloved citizen in the town and was affectionately known as the "Bishop of Chattanooga." The Board of Commissioners in late years conferred upon him the title of Chaplain of Chattanooga.October 20, 1863, he married Evalina Elizabeth Dulaney, who was born in 1837 and died in 1898. She was the daughter of Dr. William R. Dulaney and Mary Taylor Dulaney. Of their ten children five survived to maturity, (1) Frances Taylor, who married William Lawson Magill; (2) Mary, who married Charles C. Anderson; (3) Anne Rhea, who married Charles R. Hyde; (4) Nathan Lynn, who married Pearl Duke; and (5) Evalina Dulaney, who married Charles Edward Buek. The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga Tennessee, Volume 1 by Zella Armstrong, 1931. 


Baldwin, C. H.    

           C. H. Baldwin, secretary, treasurer and local manager of the Chattanooga Stove Company, was born at Town Line, N. Y., November 10, 1855, but removed at an early age to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was educated in the excellent public schools of that city. Having a liking for mechanics he early engaged in the stove manufacturing business at Cleveland, but from 1878 to 1884 he took charge of branch foundries of the Cleveland Co-operative Stove Company located at Black River, Ohio, Indianapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis. In January 1881, the Chattanooga Stove Company began operations, and Mr. Baldwin was appointed manager, a position he has since retained with entire satisfaction to the stockholders, besides being a stockholder in the Cleveland Co-operative Stove Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. The father of our subject, W. W. Baldwin, is a native of Vermont, and is now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, being the general manager, secretary and treasurer of the Cleveland Co-operative Stove Company of that place, and general manager of the Chattanooga Stove Company of Chattanooga. The mother of C. H. Baldwin, whose maiden name was A. A. Johnson, of New York, died in November, 1886, leaving three sons and two daughters living from a family of seven children.

Goodspeed's History of Tennessee 1887


 Banks, Hugh R.          

           Hugh R. Banks, of the well-known firm of Chapman & Banks of Chattanooga, was born in Charleston. S. C., September 27, 1843, where he was reared and educated. While securing a good collegiate education the stirring events of the war put a stop to further study. He entered the Confederate service paymaster's department for North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, serving through the entire war. After cessation of hostilities he went to Texas, and engaged in the cotton business as factor until 1878, when he returned to his native city and resided there until December 1884, when he came to Chattanooga, and engaged in his present real estate business with Mr. M. L. Chapman. May 20, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Ella Hammond, of Robertson County, Tex., who bore him two living children, both daughters, named Aviline and Caroline. Mr. Banks is a Democrat in politics and an enterprising citizen.

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  


 Banks, John C.           

          John C. Banks is a native of Olney, IL, born September 29, 1852, and the Son of John and Martha (Pulliam) Banks, both natives of Indiana. At the close of the late war our subject removed with his parents to Cynthiana, Ky., where he was reared and educated. He assisted his father in the stove and tin business until 1870 when he left home and went to Vincennes, Ind., there worked at his trade (tinner) for Smith & Sons until January 1872. He married Miss Laura Snyder, and by this union became the father of one son named Charles H. In 1881 he removed to Chattanooga, Tenn., and was in the employ of Gibson, Lee & Co. until 1884, when he engaged in business for himself at 304 West Ninth Street. Upon the completion of the Adams Block he secured a large and commodious storeroom at 120 East Eighth Street, where he carries one of the largest and best selected stocks of stoves, crockery and house furnishing goods in the city, doing a wholesale and retail business (with one man on the road), and employing about twenty tinners. Mr. Banks is a Democrat, a member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of P., and of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  


Barkley, Thomas E. V.                

          Thomas E. V. Barkley, A. B., M. D., was born in Winchester, Ky., January 7, 1858, and is a son of Capt. Hiram Barkley, a native Kentuckian, and Martha Betty (Campbell) Barkley, also a native of Kentucky, where they are now living. Of their family of four children, our subject was the oldest. He was educated in the high school at home and at Washington and Lee Academy and finished his education at Bethany College in 1877. He then took a medical course at Miami Medical College where he graduated in 1880. He came to Chattanooga and became a partner of Dr. Berlin. He is a member of the K. of P., and K. of H., Fraternal Legion, and also of the Christian Church. He is a member of different societies and is much esteemed by all who know him. Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 18and is a son of Capt. Hiram Barkley, a native Kentuckian, and Martha Betty (Campbell) Barkley, also a native of Kentucky, where they are now living. Of their family of four children, our subject was the oldest. He was educated in the high school at home and at Washington and Lee Academy and finished his education at Bethany College in 1877. He then took a medical course at Miami Medical College where he graduated in 1880. He came to Chattanooga and became a partner of Dr. Berlin. He is a member of the K. of P., and K. of H., Fraternal Legion, and also of the Christian Church. He is a member of different societies and is much esteemed by all who know him. 


Bass, Ed David    Former Mayor of Chattanooga             March 28, 1873 – March 12, 1960)                                      Ed Bass was elected mayor in 1927, born Edward David Bass he became the second mayor to have been born in Chattanooga. Unlike the other, Hugh Whiteside, Bass’s family was not a family of great wealth.  Orphaned at the age of eleven, Bass quit school to begin work at the D.M. Stewart Manufacturing Plant.  By 1900, Bass had saved enough money to follow in his father’s footsteps and open a grocery on the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue.     In 1906, as a group of businessmen formed the Highland Park Business League and searched for a candidate to run for the Hamilton County Court; Bass agreed to be a candidate.  Upon winning the seat, Bass sold his grocery store and dedicated his life to public service.  In 1911, as Mayor T.C. Thompson led the campaign to change the city government to the commission format, Bass ran for the state senate.  As a Senator, Bass helped pass the legislature that allowed Chattanooga to change its city government structure.  After his senate term, Bass returned to Chattanooga and served as Commissioner of Streets and Sewers for three terms.  During his service as a commissioner, Bass attended the University of Chattanooga’s Law School and passed the bar at the age of forty-six. Upon the resignation of Mayor Chambliss in 1923, Bass’s fellow Commissioners elected him mayor.  However, state politics kept Bass from accepting the position.  In 1923, as Governor Austin Peay prepared to appoint Mayor Chambliss to the Tennessee Supreme Court, he was pressured to not appoint Chambliss if it meant that Bass would become mayor in Chattanooga.  Governor Peay then asked Bass to promise that, if elected, he would not serve.  Bass did as the Governor asked.  The motivation for this political action appears to have been pressure from the statewide Ku Klux Klan, who promised to have Chambliss’ appointment blocked if Bass was to step up to the position of mayor in Chattanooga.     During his last term as Commissioner of Streets and Sewers, Bass performed an act that may be the one he is most remembered for; he extended Broad Street past Ninth Street.  At the time, Broad Street ended at Ninth Street where a row of brick buildings sat upon the southern side of Ninth Street across from Broad Street.  The warehouses, owned by the state of Georgia, sat empty, and Bass worked for many years to negotiate the purchase of the buildings so that Broad Street could be opened to the south.  Georgia officials continually refused to sell the buildings.  On May 6, 1926, without consulting the mayor, city attorney or other commissioners, Commissioner Bass led a large crew of street department workers in descending upon the buildings and tore them down. Bass drove the first car through the opened buildings around midnight.  According to news accounts, word of the escapade spread quickly, and the streets filled with citizens cheering Bass and his workmen.  The Elks Club Band, said to be practicing nearby, appeared and played the song “Marching through Georgia.”  By Monday morning, the length of Broad Street was extended.  The state of Georgia sought immediate action against the city, but the Supreme Court ruled that a state’s sovereignty ended at the state line.  The following Saturday, Commissioner Bass and his crew began the destruction of buildings that blocked Broad Street at Eleventh.  At the end of his project, Commissioner Bass had successfully opened Broad Street south to link with Whiteside Street (which ran from Lookout Mountain to Twelfth Street.)  Today, Whiteside Street is known as South Broad Street.     In 1927, the city of Chattanooga elected Bass as mayor and re-elected him for the next five terms.  Mayor Bass led the city through many events, including the nation’s Great Depression.  Upon his retirement in 1947, Bass said he took great pride in the fact that, during the Depression, Chattanooga was one of the few cities able to meet its debts without issuing city script.  At the time, Bass noted that not only did Chattanooga pay all its debt but continued to pay all of its city employees without raising the tax rate.     In 1929, Mayor Bass oversaw the annexation of many of Chattanooga’s suburbs including St. Elmo, Missionary Ridge, Alton Park, North Chattanooga, Brainerd and Riverview.  These annexations doubled the size of Chattanooga.   In a press conference on June 17, 1946, Bass announced that he would not seek re-election the following year but would complete his term even though his doctors had asked him to resign from office due to health problems.  On January 10, 1947, three months before his term ended, Bass’s health forced him to resign 

 Submitted by Jeffrey C. Webb 

Baxter, G. A.       

          G. A. Baxter, A. M., M. D., is a son of George W. and Catherine (Alexander) Baxter, both born and reared in North Carolina. While growing up the father received a good literary and legal education and made the profession of law his pursuit in life. He died in 1854, and later the mother married his brother, Hon. John Baxter, lately United States circuit judge. The mother lived until 1865. To the second marriage there were no children, and only one, the Doctor, to the first marriage. He was born in Buncombe County, N. C., November 28, 1851, and his higher education was received at Earlham College, Indiana, from which he received the degree of A. B. He then attended Kenyon College, and later graduated from Hobert College of Geneva, N. Y., from which also he received the degree of A. M. The East Tennessee University conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M. In 1873, he graduated from Belleview Hospital Medical College, and thereupon accepted the position of assistant surgeon on the Erie Railroad, the surgical department of which he organized. In 1875, he came to Chattanooga and has practiced his profession here since. In 1879, he married Miss Ellen Douglas, of Nashville, who bore him three children, two of whom are living: Douglas and Bruce. The Doctor has held the position of vice-president of the State Medical Society, is a member of the city board of health, Royal Arch Mason, K. of P., K. of H., and both he and wife are members of the Episcopal Church. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887 


 Beck, Henry C.            

          Henry C. Beck, the efficient and affable register of Hamilton County, was born on the 10th of March, 1853, in the county where he now resides, and which has been his home through life. His father, Joshua Beck, was a native of North Carolina and immigrated to this county at the early period of 1822. He here wedded Margaret Hixson, a native of Hamilton County, Tenn., and they became one of the county's best and most respected families. They followed agricultural pursuits until the death of the father, August 5, 1886, since when the widow has lived a retired life near Chattanooga. Henry C., the immediate subject of this biography, was reared and mostly educated in his native county, although, for a time, he attended school at Athens, Tenn. He first began his public career in August, 1874, when he was elected to the office of county register; so, efficiently did he fill the requirements of this position that he was re-elected at the end of his term, and twice thereafter re-elected, and is now serving his fourth term in that office. Mr. Beck also fills the positions of secretary of the Northside Steamboat & Ferry Company, secretary of the Grandview Cemetery, and is a director in the Mutual Real Estate and Home Building Association. To his marriage with Miss Rhoda D. Wexler, a native of Sullivan County, this State, there have been born two sons and one daughter, one son being now deceased.

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  

  

 Beck, Joshua  

          Joshua Beck, born in Rhea County, Tennessee., August 8, 1813; died in Hamilton County August 5, 1886. He was the son of David and Sarah Hunter Beck. He moved to Hamilton County with his parents in 1820. He married, July 31, 1850, Margaret Hixon who was born February 12, 1833, and died December 4, 1897.

Their children were:

1.  Henry Clay, born March 10, 1853, died August 6, 1915, married October 10, 1875, Rhoda D. Wexler,       born 1876 

2.   Sarah Rebecca, born December 21, 1858, died March 10, 1864 

3.   David Houston, born September 17, 1862, died young 

4.  William Tecumseh Sherman, born June 6, 1866, married October 11, 1887, Flora A. Tarwater 

5.  U. S. Grant, born December 16, 1868, died young 

6.  James, born June 17, 1871, died young 

7.  John, born 1873, died young.

Some Pioneers – History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga Tennessee, Vol. I, 1931  


 Beck, William Sherman            

          WILLIAM SHERMAN BECK, son of Joshua Beck and Margaret Hixon Beck, was born in Hamilton County, June 6, 1866. His par­ents were among the earliest residents of the County and his grand­father, David Beck, a soldier of the Revolution, was also an early citizen. He is buried on the Beck farm. William Sherman Beck was educated in the public schools of Hamilton County and at East Tennessee Wesleyan Uni­versity. After his graduation he went into business with his brother, the late Henry Clay Beck, who had established the Title Guaranty and Trust Company in Chattanooga, of which William S. Beck is now President and manager. He became interested in civic and county duties, and he served in 1906 on the High School Board of Hamilton County. This Board built the Central High School and the High Schools of Tyner, Soddy, Sale Creek and Hixon. He was instrumental in organizing the Hamilton County Board of Education which took over the grammar schools from the various school districts of the County. Under his administration forty-two schoolhouses were constructed in Hamilton County. The school terms were increased from five to nine months and most of the one-room schoolhouses were abolished. The Hamilton County School System was recognized at this time as one of the best in the South. He served the County Schools for sixteen years and was chairman of both boards. When the town of North Chattanooga was organized in 1914, he was elected a commissioner; he also served as Treas­urer until 1923 when he was elected Mayor. In 1925 when Greater North Chattanooga was organized, he was elected Mayor and under his administra­tion many improvements were made. He is a member of St. Marks Methodist Church, which he helped to organize and finance as well as to build. In 1887 he married Flora Tarwater, a descendant of pioneer families of Knox County, including the Tarwaters and the Rules. The late Co1. William A. Rule, the distinguished editor of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune for many years, was her kinsman. Mr. and Mrs. Beck have six children, William C.; Otis Henry; Frank Eugene; Edgar Sherman; Anna Lucille; and Flora Elizabeth. 

 

Bell, David Newton

          Son of Samuel Bell, was born in Wythe County, Va., in 1787. He died in Bradley County April 16, 1882. He moved to Knox County with his parents when he was a boy.  In the early 1840's he moved to Harrison.   Late in life he lived for a time with a daughter in Warren County, and with a daughter in Bradley County.  He married in Monroe County, a widow, Mrs. Eliza A. Martin Manley, who was born June 10, 1813, in Philadelphia, Tenn. She was the daughter of John Martin. She died in November, 1898.

Their children were:

(1) Samuel Granville, born 1837, died unmarried;

(2) Mary J., born April 1, 1839, married W. H. Smartt;

(3) Sidney A. (a daughter), born 1841, married twice, married first, 1860, C. F. Swann,

married second, 1864, James Laymon;

(4) Rosa, born 1844, married Gus Cate;

(5) David Newton, Jr., born 1846, died unmarried;

(7) James Smith, born 1848, died 1930, married Ann Williams, daughter of Samuel Williams;

(8) Ellen N., born 1850, married Allen C. Burns.  

The History of Hamilton County


 Bell, James Smith            

          James Smith Bell, son of David Newton Bell and Eliza Anne Martin Bell, was born February 20, 1848, in Harrison, Tennessee. He moved to Chattanooga when a young man. He received his education in the public schools of Hamilton and Bradley counties. Later he attended Ewing and Jefferson College of Knox County, and Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee. He completed his education at Eastman National Business Col­lege of Poughkeepsie, New York. He began his business career in partner­ship with Mr. Samuel Williams. They were cattle dealers. In 1881 he was elected School Commissioner for Chattanooga and for fifteen years served as President and Treasurer of The Hamilton County Industrial School, later known as Bonny Oaks School. All of these services were rendered without compensation. He also served several terms as Dis­trict School Commissioner in the County, and in 1897 was County Com­missioner to the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. At one time, during his young manhood, he was a deputy in the County Court Clerk's office. He had from time to time interested himself in various lines of business enterprises and was one of the oldest bank directors in point of service that Chattanooga has known. His father, David N. Bell, was owner of original stock in The First National Bank. In 1882 James S. Bell became a director in that institution and held this place up to the time of his death, which occurred May 4, 1930. He was a director of the old Fourth National Bank, and director and vice president of the Bank of Commerce and Savings Company for a short time. At one time he was a director, later vice president, then president of the Richmond Hosiery Mills, and of the Chattanooga Knitting Mills and a director of the Rockwood Hosiery Mills. At one time he was also director and vice president of the Chattanooga Coffin and Casket Company. He married Ann Williams, daughter of Samuel Williams and his second wife, Keturah Taylor Williams. The marriage took place January 5, 1873, in Chattanooga, the ceremony being performed by Dr. Thomas Hooke McCallie of the First Presbyterian Church of which Church Mr. Bell became a member later. Mr. and Mrs. Bell had four sons and three daughters, (1) James Edgar who makes his home in Purcell, Oklahoma, he married Alta Wilson and has Joe Edgar, James Smith, Clara May and Wilson Bell; (2) David Newton who is unmarried; (3) Charles Alonzo who makes his home in Shawnee, Oklahoma, he married Gail Miller of Purcell, and has George Miller and Charles Alonzo, Jr.; (4) Allie Rose, married Thomas S. Myers of Chattanooga and has William Thomas Myers; (5) Ralph Williams who makes his home in Colorado Springs, Col., he married Shelley Nixon of Chattanooga and has Anne Elizabeth, Margery Nixon and James Timmons; (6) Ethel Ann who married Isaac B. Merriam, Jr., of Chattanooga and has Martha Dews Merriam; and (7) Marie, who married William A. Quinn of Henderson, Kentucky , and has James Bell Quinn and William A. Quinn III. 

The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga Tennessee, Volume 1 by Zella Armstrong,


 Bell, Dr. J. T.           

           Dr. J. T. Bell, physician and surgeon of Soddy, was born in Rhea County September 15, 1850, and is the son of William H. and Nancy (Rainy) Bell. The father was born in Green County and died February 19, 1876. He was a minister of the gospel in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of which he was first to establish in East Tennessee. He organized congregations and built churches all over East Tennessee. A few of the many churches he was the means of building were at Cleveland in Bradley County, at Jasper in Marion County, and at New Bethel in Bledsoe County. He was taken sick while preaching in the Presbyterian Church at Cleveland during the session of the synod, was taken home and died shortly afterward. He was a charter member of Washington Masonic Lodge and was very active in the furtherance of every interest, pertaining to the prosperity of the lodge. The mother was born in Bledsoe County and died in May 1883, in Cook County, Tex. Dr. Bell received his literary education principally at Sequatchie College in Bledsoe County, where he graduated in the mathematical and English course of study, He is also a graduate of the medical department of the University of Nashville and the Vanderbilt University. At each of those institutions of learning he acquitted himself in a highly creditable manner, taking rank with the best of the students in attendance. After attending his first course of lectures he located at Dayton, Tenn., where he remained but a short time. He was at Coulterville two years and then moved to Soddy in June 1883 and has been quite successful as a practitioner. Dr. Bell is a young man, but his prospects seem very bright for the future. He married E. L. Abel, of Dayton, Tenn., daughter of Perry and Mary Abel. The Doctor is a descendant of purely Irish ancestry. Mrs. Bell is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and of Dutch descent. The Doctor is a Democrat and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  .  


 Berlin, Dr. Henry         

           Dr. H. Berlin is the son of H. and C. H. (Peters) Berlin, both natives of Mecklenburg, Germany, where they now live. The father was a farmer and manufacturer of fishing tackle. Of their family of two children our subject was the youngest. He was born May 8, 1851, also in Mecklenburg, Germany, and secured his education, both literary and professional in his native country. After practicing medicine there for two years he came to the United States in 1879 and located in Chattanooga. He was for a time engaged in the general practice of medicine, but of late years has devoted his entire energy to surgery and female diseases, wishing to familiarize himself more with the ideas and practice of the profession in this department he became a student at the University of Tennessee. In 1875 he married Miss Mary Von Podewils, of Germany, by whom he has two children, Charlotte and Henry. The Doctor is a correspondent for several medical journals on subjects pertaining to the profession and science. He is a member of both State and county medical societies, being vice-president of the latter. He is a Mason, and a member of the K. of P. Mrs. Dr. Berlin is a member of the. Episcopal Church. Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  


Bickerdyke,  Mrs. Mary A.

          Mrs. Mary A. Bickerdyke, philanthropist and army nurse, born near Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, 19th July. 1817.  

She is the daughter of Hiram and Anna Ball.  The mother died when Mary was only seventeen months old.  The little one was reared by her grandparents. Her grandsire was a Revolutionary soldier named Rogers and a descendant of the Rogers who landed on Plymouth Rock.

While young, she was married to Mr. Bickerdyke, and in a few years was left a widow, with helpless little ones to rear. When the Civil War came, she left home and loved ones to offer her services as nurse to the soldiers, who were dying by scores for lack of food and care.

When the supplies to the army were sent from Galesburg to Cairo, Mrs. Bickerdyke accompanied them as delegate. After the battle of Belmont she was assigned as nurse to the field hospital.

Fort Donelson brought her in sight of battle for the first time.  She obtained supplies sometimes by visiting the North and superintending fairs, by a simple note to a pastor at sermon time, and by her famous "cow and hen " mission, by which she furnished the wounded soldiers with a hundred cows and a thousand hens, to provide fresh dainties for the sufferers.

During the winter of 1863-64 she made a short visit home, and returned and took part in the establishment of Adams Block Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee.  This accommodated about 6,000 men, and from this she became the matron of Gayoso Hospital, in which were more than 700 wounded men brought in from Sherman’s battle of Arkansas Post.

She took charge in Memphis, Tennessee, of a small pox hospital and cleaned and renovated it with her own hands, when nine men lay dead with the disease.

Through the battles at Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Chattanooga Mrs. Bickcrdyke nursed friend and foe alike, and when, in 1864, Sherman started on his memorable March to the Sea, always devoted to the Army of the Tennessee, "Mother" Bickerdyke, as the soldiers used to call her, accompanied the 100,000 men who marched away.

Resaca, Kingston, New Hope, Cassville, Allatoona, Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain furnished her with 13.000 of those brave men as subjects for her care.

When Sherman cut his base of supplies, Mrs. Bickerdyke went to the North and collected immense sanitary stores for the soldiers.

When Sherman entered Savannah, she sailed for the South, to take care of the liberated Union prisoners at Wilmington.

At Beaufort, Averysboro and Bentonville she pursued her mission, and at the re­quest of General Logan and the 15th Army Corps she marched into Alexandria with the army.

At the final review in Washington Mrs. Bickerdyke, mounted upon a saddle-horse, dressed in a simple calico dress and sun-bonnet, accompanied the troops.  This dress and bonnet were sold as relics of the war for $100.

Since the rebellion Mrs. Bickerdyke has spent her life in procuring homes and pensions for the "boys." She resides with her son. Prof. Bickerdyke, in Russell, Kansas.

American Women – Volume I


 Biese, Charles W.          

           Charles W. Biese, secretary and treasurer of the Lookout Ice and Cold Storage Company, of Chattanooga, was born in Holstein, Germany, November 8. 1835; came to the United States in 1860 and located at Chicago, where, in 1861, he enlisted in the Federal Army, serving through grades of private, sergeant, lieutenant and captain in the Eighty-Second Illinois Regiment until 1865. He then opened one of the first coal mines in this locality which he operated three years.  He was then connected with Cherokee Mining & Manufacturing Company, and later was connected with the Georgia Coal Company. In 1869 he assisted in building bridges and trestles on the Great Southern Railroad, Alabama. Later he engaged in the same business with the Alabama Grand Trunk Railroad, with office at Mobile, Ala. and was engaged in the commission business for two years. In 1875 he returned to this place and engaged in the agricultural implement business which he lately sold to his son Robert and a Mr. Dickinson. In 1883 Mr. Biese had a company formed to engage in the manufacture of artificial ice but owing to competition it proved a failure. In 1884 he again formed a company of which the present company is the outcome and of which he is secretary. In 1864 he married Narcissa H. McDonald, of Dade County, Ga., who died in 1873, leaving four children, all of whom are living. In 1875 he married his present wife, Miss Eliza A. Pryor, of Jasper, Tenn., who has presented him with two sons, only one living. Mr. Biese is a Republican, a Knight of Labor, a Mason, and a member of the G. A. R., was Post Commander of Lookout Post, No. 2, during 1886. He is also a member of the K. of P., K. of H., and of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which he is a steward. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887 Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887  


 Billmeyer, U. D.          

           U. D. Billmeyer, D. D. S., whose birth occurred March 14, 1853, is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Carnahan) Billmeyer, who were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania. After living in that State for some time they then moved to Michigan about 1852. In early life the father was a contractor and builder and later a farmer and fruit grower. Both are living in Michigan at the present time. Of their family of seven children our subject is the eldest. He graduated in the Michigan State Normal School in 1876, and, after teaching a year, entered the dental department of Michigan University, completing the course in 1879. The following year he accepted the position of demonstrator of operative dentistry in the same institution, which position he held in a highly creditable manner four years. On account of failing health, he was obliged to resign his position in the middle of a session. In 1884 he came to Chattanooga, and, without the assistance of relatives or friends, succeeded in building up an excellent practice. In 1882 Miss Lida Wallace, a native of Michigan, became his wife. They are both members of the Methodist Church. He is a member of the East Tennessee Dental Association, is a Royal Arch Mason and president of the Union Wood Dish Co. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887


 Blair, Samuel            

          Samuel Blair, of Chattanooga, was born in Harrison County, Ky., December 2, 1816, where he was reared and educated. In 1840 he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and engaged in the ice business, and is still a member of the Cincinnati Ice Company. He came to Chattanooga in 1883, and a year later organized the Lookout Ice Company of which he has been principal stockholder and president. In December 1886, the company began the erection of cold storage warehouses, and have changed the name to Lookout Ice and Cold Storage Company, with increased capital. In April 1843 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Lafferty, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The fruits of this union were five living children-three sons and two daughters. Mr. Blair is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a member of the I. O. O. F., also of the encampment of the I. O. O. F. and is a Democrat in politics. He is an honest and well-respected citizen. He has lately organized a stock company of $50,000 and is now boring for natural gas and oil in Hamilton County, Tenn., near Suck Creek. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887. 

Block, Dr. M. 

           Dr. M. Block, wholesale druggist, is a native of France, born in 1832. He received his literary education in Metz, Lorraine. In 1857 he immigrated to the United States, spending his first two years in New York as clerk in a wholesale notion house. In 1859 he went to Chicago, where he taught French, while attending two courses of lectures at the Chicago Medical College, where he graduated in 1863, and at once entered the United States Army as acting assistant surgeon. In 1866 he was mustered out of the service as assistant surgeon, located in Chattanooga, engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he met with much success. Excessive labor broke down his health, which forced him to give up the practice. In 1868 he embarked in the drug business in co-partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Prosper Lazard, under the firm name of M. Block & Co. The combined capital of the partners being $22,500. In 1872 Dr. Block commenced traveling in north Alabama and Georgia in the interest of his house, laying the foundation of the wholesale drug business, in which the firm has met with such remarkably good success since. The firm keeps now two traveling salesmen on the road, has a regular laboratory in charge of a competent chemist, and owns several valuable propriatory articles, among others the well known Bee Hive Cough Syrup, a valuable expectorant that meets with large sales. In April, 1885, Mr. Lazard, owing to ill health, withdrew actively from the business. The firm name of M. Block & Co. is still retained, but will soon be changed (about July 1, 1887), in that of the M. Block Drug Company, under a recent charter obtained from the State of Tennessee. The new company will remove into larger quarters, and with an increase of capital will correspondingly increase its operations. Dr. Block married in 1865, and is the happy father of two daughters and two sons, one of the latter, Master Leo Block, a promising lad of seventeen, being order clerk at his father's store. The remarkable success of the firm is mainly due to the principle of strict honesty and rule of promptness adopted from the start. The Doctor enjoys a well merited social and professional reputation, has at one time been president of the board of education. He is now president of the Chattanooga Druggist Association, and vice- president of the East Tennessee Pharmacy Association. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887.  


 Bolton, Peter            

           Hon. Peter Bolton, mechanic and magistrate, was born February 27, 1824, in Rhea County, Tenn., about five miles north of where he now lives. He is the eldest of nine children, born to the union of Robert and Annie (Holt) Bolton, and he and two brothers are the only surviving members of the family. The father was a native Virginian, who came to Tennessee at a very early day, and settled in Rhea County in 1816. He died in 1869. Mrs. Bolton was born in Williamson County, Tenn., and died in 1870. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Peter Bolton, grandfather of our subject, came to Granger County, Tenn., some time before the Indians were moved out of East Tennessee, and was quite an extensive tobacco raiser. Our subject came to Hamilton County about 1839, made his home with his uncle, and was educated in the subscription schools of Hamilton County. He worked at the black smith's trade until twenty-five years of age, after which he worked at the carpenter's trade, which he had learned in connection with the blacksmith's trade. He was, postmaster at Sale Creek twelve years, but resigned the office after his election as representative from Hamilton County. He was elected justice of the peace of the Eleventh District in 1864 and has been elected each successive election since that time. During the years 1868 and 1869 he was tax collector for his district and served as deputy sheriff at the same time. During the late war his warmest sympathies were with the stars and stripes. Previous to the war, in 1852, he married Miss Selena L. Merriman, of Bledsoe County, Tenn., daughter of Bryant and Martha (Ferguson) Merriman, who came from Wilkes County, N. C., to Bledsoe County, Tenn., in 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, of which Mr. Bolton is now Deacon. In politics Mr. Bolton has been a lifelong Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 

Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887. 


 Boydston, Cavanaugh         

           Cavanaugh Boydston lived peaceably in Lookout Valley for many years before the cruel "Trail of Tears" in 1838, and now he lies buried near his Indian neighbors. The early Lookout Valley settler rests in the Boydston Cemetery at the foot of Elder Mountain, and many Indians are buried on the rise just above his grave. The Boydston's left Scotland and came over to Maryland at an early date. James Boydston, son of David Boydston, married Mary Pruitt in North Carolina in 1758.The James Boydston's moved to East Tennessee in 1779, when their son, Thomas, was 9. He had been born near Raleigh in 1770. Thomas Boydston married Elizabeth Newport, daughter of a Baptist minister, in 1792. Thomas Boydston is said to have moved on to Lookout Valley, then pushed on to Ripley, Tenn., where he died in 1835. Some of his sons, including John, Cavanaugh and Thomas, were also early Lookout Valley settlers. John Boydston and his wife, Sarah Condray Boydston, were still in Hamilton County at the start of the Civil War. Cavanaugh Boydston lived there the rest of his long life. He lived from 1796 (the year Tennessee became a state) until 1871. Cavanaugh Boydston and his wife, Polly Slape Boydston, built a log cabin not far from Brown's Ferry, where there was much traffic coming through. Cavanaugh Boydston was a farmer and trader. A religious man, he was an elder of the Primitive Baptist Church. He gave land for the church, located on Brown's Ferry Road. The log church was burned during the Civil War at the time of a skirmish nearby. Some of the soldiers killed in the fighting are buried behind the church as well as a family that died during the Yellow Fever epidemic, a Boydston descendant said. The church is now used by Presbyterians. Among the land grants to Cavanaugh Boydston, one mentions "both sides of the valley road leading from Washington to Brown's Ferry." Old Washington was a Tennessee River landing in Rhea County, and a ferry still runs there today. Another grant mentions the road "leading to John Brown's old ferry.” Cavanaugh Boydston had, 12 children, some of whom married into the Valley families. Thomas lived until 1866. Elizabeth married Thomas Condray. John married Elizabeth Cummings, and they were among the families who went west with the Indians in the Trail of Tears. Martha and Richard both died in 1841. George married Ann Williams. Sarah married J.C. Hartman. Other children included William, Calvin, Manerva and Samuel. James Madison Boydston, another son of Cavanaugh, was born in 1828 at his father's log cabin. He died in the same cabin in 1911. "Uncle Jimmy" Boydston had been a scout for the Confederate army during the war and was captured and placed in a Union prison. Family members still have his parole papers. It was said his four years of war service were the only time in his life that he was outside Hamilton County. He was blind the last 12 years of his life, according to his obituary. He first married Rachel Hood and his second wife was Mattie Hood. The sons of J.M. Boydston and Rachel were Edger, Walter and Frank. There are still Boydston's in Lookout Valley, living on the homeplace and still possessing the old land grants and account books from a pre-Civil War Boydston store. However, the Cavanaugh Boydston log cabin burned in the early 1970s. Mrs. Lawrence (Ruth Chandler) Boydston, whose husband was a son of Ed, Boydston, lives on the Boydston property, most of which has been sold "a lot at a time." Her children are James Robert Boydston, Lawrence Boydston and Gwendolyn Boydston Carroll. Lawrence Boydston is the husband of Janice Boydston, a member of the City School Board. 

John Wilson February 14, 1993 


Boyle,  Virginia Frazer
         Author; born near Chattanooga, (Hamilton Co) Tenn.; daughter of Charles Wesley and Letitia S. (Austin) Frazer; paternal grandparents John A. and Frances Ann (Jones) Frazer; maternal grandparents Hugh Rice and Eliza Ann (Ragan) Austin; graduated from Higbee School, Memphis, Tenn.; married Thomas R. Boyle; member of Colonial Dames, D.A.R. and U.D.C.; author: "The Other Side" (poem), 1893; "Brokenburne," 1897, "Devil Tales," 1900, "Serena" (novel), 1905; "Love Songs and Bugle Calls," 1906; wrote prize centennial ode, "Tennessee," 1896, series of Negro folk lore tales in Harper’s Magazine, 1900, "Jefferson Davis," Centennial Ode, 1908, "Abraham Lincoln," for the centenary celebration of the Philadelphia Brigade Association, 1909; "The Dream of the Alabama," centenary of Admiral Semmes, C.S.N., for the Confederate Memorial Association, 1909; poet-laureate for life, Confederated Southern 8 Memorial Associations, 1905; constitution changed to create office of post-laureate United Confederate Veterans’ Association, 1910; served as poet-laureate Tennessee Division U.D.C. 1909-10; contributor to Century, Harper’s Magazine, Weekly and Bazaar, Delineator, and other magazines.
Source: Who’s Who in Tennessee, Memphis: Paul & Douglass Co., Publishers, 1911

 

Brackett, Chester           

           In an area of Sale Creek commonly called "the ridges" which is simply the area from Sale Creek east to the river, there were many peach orchards. On Daugherty Ferry Road just about one-half mile from the intersection with Poole Road, Chester Brackett had a farm and orchard. Chester Brackett was the son of J. T. Brackett. He married Ida Mae Potter, daughter of Bill Potter who also had an orchard in the same area and which was of approximately equal size as Brackett's. The Brackett Orchard, by the best estimates, was planted prior to 1930, most likely prior to the big years beginning with 1925. It extended from the Esther Smith property today to a point joining with Walter Howard's orchard of approximately the same size near New Providence. Brackett's orchard contained approximately 2,000 trees or about 20 acres in size. Nearly all of the trees in this orchard were Elberta's with just a few Brackett peaches. This orchard was a partnership between Chester and his father, J. T. Brackett. They raised all of the money to set out their trees and do all spraying and upkeep. They also did all of their own grading and packing except for one year when they hauled their peaches to Sale Creek and processed them through the Eli-Dee shed. The Brackett's operated their peach orchard until Chester's son, John, returned home from service with the U.S. Army Air Force. Because of the condition of the orchards and the fact that it was increasingly difficult to get agricultural workers, after the war, Chester and John pulled up all of the peach trees in February of 1946. Shortly, thereafter, Chester and John built chicken houses in which they raised frying and laying chickens, which they bought as chicks from Waldo Card in Bakewell. Chester also continued to raise corn, green beans, and beef cattle on his farm. "When Peaches Were King", 

The story of the Peach Business at Sale Creek, Tennessee by Curtis N. Coulter. Page 26.  


 Branham, Aaron          

           Aaron Branham was born about 1832 in Roane County, Tennessee, to John and Melinda Kane Branham. On November 19, 1854, Aaron married Catherine Freeman of Roane County, Tennessee. They had a daughter whose name was Margaret. Aaron and his three brothers Elias Mitchell, John C., and Marquis de Lafayette Branham walked covertly over land in the dark of night to arrive in Kentucky where they joined the Union Army during the Civil War. They were four of the 30,000 Tennesseans who fought for the Union, many of them from East Tennessee. Patriots they were as the name of his brother 'Fate' was named for the Frenchman who fought with George Washington during the Revolution. On November 6, 1963, while Aaron and his brothers were fighting with the 2nd TN Mounted Infantry at the Battle of Big Creek in Rogersville, Tennessee, his brothers were captured and sent to the southern-kept Andersonville Prison outside of Macon, Georgia, where they died from the horrible conditions of the camp. Aaron served from February 25, 1862, until he was honorably discharged three years later. In June of 1862, he received the rank of Corporal. In 1870, Aaron and Catherine lived on Whiteside Street (current Broad Street) in Chattanooga. At that time, Aaron worked at Rolly Mill. From the effects of the Civil War, he was sick the rest of his life which probably caused his early death on September 22, 1877, at the age of 45. Aaron is buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery, and Catherine is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery. 

Submitted by Lona Brannon cbrannon15@comcast.net 


 Bright, Robert L.           

           ROBERT L. BRIGHT - One of the leading attorneys of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is Mr. Robert L. Bright, a native of Fayettevi11e, Lincoln County. His father was also a native of Tennessee, and a well-known man. His mother was a daughter of Gov­ernor Clark, of Kentucky. His father is one the prominent at­torneys of the State and is still living and in practice at Fayetteville. Robert L. was educated in the schools of Giles County and attended the Cumberland University. After com­pleting his course of study, he was admitted to the practice of law in 1871, at Fayetteville, and remained there until 1886, at which time he came to Chattanooga, and has fol­lowed his profession here continu­ously ever since. In the fall of 1887, in company with others, he organized the Nash­ville and Tellico Railroad, running from Athens, East Tennessee, east through the Great Smoky mountains, which was built for the purpose of de­veloping the inexhaustible resources of iron, slate, timber, water, power, etc. This undertaking was a master­ful effort, and one but few men would have had the hardihood and business nerve to have prosecuted. The result of the undertaking, however, has warranted the experiment and ex­penditure. Mr. Bright is president of the Te1lico Manufacturing Com­pany, one of the important enter­prises of this section of the State. The organization is now in its eighth year of successful operation. He has never taken any part in politics, but instead has devoted his energies to the promotion of organi­zations of corporations for the de­velopment and up-building of the city and surrounding country. Mr. Bright is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and was deacon of the Home Society, at Fayetteville. He has been very successful in the practice of his profession and stands now prominently at the head of the Bar in Chattanooga. He is a man who is universally liked and respected for his many fine business and social qualities. East Tennessee Historical and Biographical, A. D. Smith & Co., Chattanooga East Tennessee Historical and Biographical, A. D. Smith  


 Brundage, William M.          

            William M. Brundage, farmer, is a native of New York, born November 11, 1831, and the son of Jonathan W. Brundage and Permelia (Mills) Brundage, both natives of Orange County, N. Y., and both of German descent. The father was one of the most successful physicians of Susquehanna County, Penn.; he died in 1864, at the age of sixty-five, and mother in 1861, at the age of sixty-one. Our subject received a fair education in the common schools of Pennsylvania. He began life a poor man after the late war, but now owns a good farm on Mission Ridge, four miles from Chattanooga. The farm is well cultivated, is very fertile and productive, is estimated to be very valuable, as compared with the valuation of land sold near him. In 1858, Mr. Brundage married Miss Sarah J. Bennett, a native of Pennsylvania, born May 22, 1841, and the daughter of L. G. and Maria J. Bennett. To our subject and wife were born two daughters: Georgie V. and Nora E. Previous to the war Mr. Brundage was a Whig in politics but since that event has voted with the Republican party. He is an honest, industrious man and is respected by all. Mrs. Brundage is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 


 Burell, Thomas S.           

          Thomas S. Burell, an enterprising planter of the Fifth District, (James County), was born in Towns County, Ga., March 3, 1849. He is the second of five children born to Butler and Malinda (Hooper) Burell. The father was born about 1818 in South Carolina. He was a successful farmer but lost his property by the late war. He was a stanch Democrat, and a prominent member of the Baptist Church. He was killed instantly by a shot at the battle of Seven Pines, in 1863. He belonged to the South Carolina troops and was first lieutenant of his company. The mother was born in 1819, in Towns County, Ga., where she now resides, a respected member of the Baptist Church. Our subject received his education in the common schools of his native county. At the age of fourteen he was bereft of a father and left almost penniless. He engaged as a farm hand. In 1872 he went to Kansas, where for eight months he served in same capacity on the farm of John Maddox for $15 per mouth. In March 1873, he came to Tennessee, and settled in James County, where he continued farming. July 18, 1878, he married Miss Eliza Russell, a native of Hamilton County. She owned 217 acres of land, to which our subject has added 380, making a total of 597 acres. He is an industrious, energetic man, and a Democrat. He is not connected with any church, but is a firm believer in religion, and has a high moral character. Mrs. Burell is the daughter of James and Mary (David) Russell. Her father was born in North Carolina, July 6, 1780, and was reared in Washington County, Va. Her mother was born in Campbell County, Va., November 19, 1794, and was reared in Rockingham County, N. C. They were married in Hamilton County, Tenn., November 6, 1834, and in that county spent the remainder of their days 

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