USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 12
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In 1867 he was joined in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Taylor, born in Obion county, Tennessee. To their union were born twelve chil- dren, eight of whom grew to maturity and six of whom are now liv- ing. Three died young, James J. died at the age of sixteen and of those who grew to maturity, Laura is the wife of C. T. Arnold, of Ken- ton, Tennessee; Ella married Ed Prunington and died at about twenty- seven years of age; George W. is a farmer of this county; Nevada is the wife of A. J. McNeely, of this county; Elbert R., of St. Louis, Missouri, is connected with a loan and trust company ; Martin V., Jr., is a farmer at Amson, Texas; John A., is a farmer in this county ; and Lexie married E. L. Peoples, and died January 6, 1913. Mr. Bruce is a son of James and Pearly (Hooper) Bruce, who came to Tennessee from South Carolina and of whose eight children he is third in birth. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church, and he is a Democrat in his political views, but would never accept office.
JESSE ALLEN. While Tennessee may well be proud of her states- men and her soldiers, and freely acknowledge her indebtedness to them, yet she is equally indebted to those captains of industry who have been contributors in advancing her commercial prestige. In the following lines is presented a brief outline of the career of Jesse Allen, a retired capitalist of Burns, Tennessee, who both as a soldier and as a business man has honored the state that gave him birth. He was one of thousands of Southern young men left at the close of the Civil war with nothing but those resources within themselves with which to wage their contest for success in life. Today Mr. Allen is one of the wealthy men of Dickson county. He began under the spur of necessity, but he had courage and integrity, a large capacity for business, and was
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willing to strike hard blows; such men seldom fail of the merited reward of their labors.
Born in Henry county, Tennessee, May 15, 1840, his life was spent on the paternal farm until the opening of hostilities between the states in 1861, when he enlisted in Company D, of the Tenth Tennessee Regi- ment of mounted infantry, of which N. N. Cox, of Franklin, was colonel. He served throughout the war and participated in many of the hardest fought battles of that conflict but escaped being wounded or cap- tured. Hardships and privation had been the common lot of the sol- diery of the South during the latter part of the war. At its close young Allen went to Nashville, where at the home of an uncle he was clothed and fed, and for some time he was employed there with these neces- sities as his only remuneration, though at that time they were luxuries to him. Later he became an employe in the A. H. Hurley mercantile establishment, where he remained three years and by his ability and fidelity to his employers' interests won promotion to the position of foreman. Following that he clerked for a time for D. Weil & Company, a Jew, and then went to Murfreesboro, where he sold goods at auction and also peddled goods through the country. Later he opened a store at Murfreesboro but it was burned after a few years and then Mr. Allen went into business again, opening a first-class drygoods store in the heart of the business section. After several years at Murfreesboro he went to Greenville, Mississippi, but he only remained a short time and then returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where he became a travel- ing salesman for a wholesale house in Nashville. After ten years spent in this line of activity he, in partnership with the wholesale firm he represented, bought a large quarry and lime kiln in Dickson county for $15,000. Of this Mr. Allen became manager and from time to time he added to his interests in the establishment until finally he became its sole owner. This he has developed until its present capacity is four cars of lime per day. It is one of the largest plants of its kind in the state, has its own spurs and railroad sidings, and is valued at $100,000. It pays the heaviest taxes of any business concern in Diekson county and employs on an average of fifty men, though frequently it has double that force in its service.
Richard H. Allen, the father of our subject, was born January 1, 1807, in Halifax, Virginia, and came to Williamson county, Tennessee, with his parents when he was sixteen years of age. He served a three years' apprenticeship at carpentry at Franklin, Tennessee, and from there in 1831 went to Paris, Tennessee, then a new town, where he acted as foreman in the construction of many of the early buildings of that place. There he was married in 1833 to Elizabeth Parker, who was born in North Carolina, in 1814, and was a daughter of James Parker, a large slave owner in this state. Of the fourteen children born to this union, Jesse is seventh in birth and is one of five now Vol. V-7
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living. After his marriage Richard H. Allen took up farming in Henry county and continued in that occupation until his death, he too being a large slave holder. His first wife died in March, 1874, and he after- wards married Mrs. Annie Caldwell, widow of Preston Caldwell. In politics he was a Whig and in religious faith both he and the mother of our subject were devout Baptists. He was a son of Lawson Allen, a soldier in the War of 1812, who settled in Williamson county of this state about 1823.
While a resident of Murfreesboro Mr. Allen, our subject, was mar- ried in 1871 to Miss America Smith, of Murfreesboro, and to their union two children were born: John R. and Jesse A. John R., whose birth occurred in 1872, died in 1897. Jessie A., became the wife of Andrew D. Clark, now manager of the Jesse Allen Lime Kiln. Mrs. Allen died December 2, 1876, at Nashville, and in 1882, Mr. Allen wedded Adelia Ware, daughter of John W. Ware, of Cannon county, Tennessee. Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Mr. Allen gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party but is a stanch believer in prohibition and has labored zealously to pro- mote prohibition in Tennessee. Imbued with the spirit of charity, he gives liberally of his means to relieve the needy. Mr. Allen is now retired from active business and is enjoying the leisure well deserved as the reward of years of energetic and fruitful endeavor. Mr. and Mrs. Allen now usually spend their winters in Orlando, Florida, where they have a handsome home.
JESSE KENT SPARKS is a representative of the younger native legal talent of Tennessee and has chosen his native county of Perry as the immediate field of his endeavors in carving out a legal career. Though he has been before the bar but a little more than three years and has yet had barely time to prove his merits as a lawyer, he has given evi- dence of that ability and that ambition and energetic spirit which presages that he will steadily progress successward. His name is a familiar one in this locality as he is the third in line of descent to bear it here, and his great-grandfather, also named Jesse, was for many years a resident of the adjoining county of Hickman. The family originated in Tennessee with the latter, who came here from his native state of Georgia and settled in Hickman county, passing the remainder of his career in that locality as a farmer. His son Jesse grew to manhood in Hickman county but subsequently removed to Perry county, where at the age of forty-five he was united in marriage to Mrs. Polly Horner. He became one of the prominent farmers of that county and passed away there at the age of eighty. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. To his marriage was born one son, Jesse, who is the father of our sub- ject. Jesse Sparks was born at Lick Creek, Perry county, Tennessee, in 1862, and has spent his whole life in his native county. He was edu-
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cated in the public schools in the vicinity of his birth and at Mckenzie and Centerville, Tennessee, and began his independent career as an agriculturist, locating on the Lick Creek farm of his father. As years have passed he has become one of the well known and prominent men of Perry county and was its representative in the Tennessee state legis- lature in 1909 and 1910. Politically he is an adherent of the Demo- cratic party. He is a director of the First National Bank at Linden. In 1886 he wedded Miss Minerva Ledbetter, a native of Perry county and a daughter of H. M. Ledbetter, a well-known farmer of Perry county. Two children came to this union: Jesse Kent Sparks of this review, and Ammah, who is now Mrs. D. E. Starbuck and resides at Linden.
Jesse Kent Sparks, born July 17, 1888, first pursued his educational training in the Branham and Hughes school at Spring Hill, Tennessee, later becoming a student in Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennes- see, from which institution he was graduated in 1908 with the degree of LL. B. As he was then but twenty years old and not of legal age he was not admitted to the bar until the following year of 1909. He then took up the practice of law at Linden, Perry county, where he has continued to the present time. Full of the vigor of young manhood, able, energetic and well prepared in technical training, we feel safe in predicting that in due time he will be numbered among the foremost members of the Perry county bar and as one of the most forceful men of that community. He is also at the present time the postmaster at Linden, Tennessee, and editor of the Perry County News. He is an enthusiastic Democrat and an active and efficient worker in behalf of his party. Fraternally he is affiliated with Linden Lodge No. 210, Free and Accepted Masons, and with Chapter No. 156, Royal Arch Masons, and is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He is unmarried.
JAMES EDWARD SMITH. One of the prominent and highly respected citizens of Linden, Perry county, Tennessee, is James Edward Smith, cashier of the First National Bank of Linden, who has formed a wide acquaintance during his twelve years or more of residence there and who by his force, probity of character and honorable business methods has become recognized as a business man of worth and a citizen of high principles.
He was born near Wartrace, Bedford county, Tennessee, January 26, 1876, and represents a family that was established there full a cen- tury ago. After completing his educational studies in the Brandon Training School at Wartrace, Tennessee, he entered the Bedford County Bank at Wartrace, as bookkeeper, and from there he came to Linden, Tennessee, in 1899, to take up the duties of cashier in the Perry County Bank, of which he became also a stockholder and director. In 1912
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the bank was reorganized as the First National Bank of Linden, in which Mr. Smith still continues to hold the responsible position of cashier. As a financier he is conservative, yet progressive, and is deeply interested in furthering the prosperity of his community. The First National Bank of Linden has a capital of $25,000, a surplus of $8,000, with deposits averaging $75,000, and has won a large confidence and patronage in this community. Mr. Smith also holds farming inter- ests in Perry county.
The first of the family in Tennessee was James Edward Smith, the grandfather of our subject, who located in Bedford county. He was well educated and taught school there for many years, but later in life turned his attention to farming. He married a Miss Stokes, who bore him four children, the oldest of whom was Jasper Newton Smith, the father of our subject. The grandfather and his brothers joined the emigration to California in 1849, but the former died on the way. His brothers continued on to California and located there. Jasper New- ton Smith, born November 28, 1828, in Bedford county, Tennessee, remained in his native county, where he became a prominent and well- to-do farmer. He married Sarah Elizabeth Caruthers, also a native of Bedford county, and to their union were born twelve children, of which family James Edward Smith of this review is next to the young- est and is one of the eight children now living. Jasper Newton Smith passed away in Bedford county in March, 1912, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, and had been preceded in death many years by his wife, whose demise occurred in 1888. He was a Democrat in politics and served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil war. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church.
James Edward Smith was married in 1900 to Miss Addie Starbuck, daughter of the late Daniel Starbuck, of Linden, Tennessee. They have five children, named: Leila, Elizabeth, Lena, James Edward, Jr., and Ben Daniel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Christian church, and in political sentiment and allegiance Mr. Smith is a Demo- crat. He is prominently affiliated with the Masonic order as a mem- ber of Linden Lodge No. 210, Linden Chapter No. 156, Jackson Council, and of Tennessee Consistory No. 1, at Memphis, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite.
DANIEL EUGENE STARBUCK. A young and energetic figure in the business circles of Linden, Tennessee, is Daniel Eugene Starbuck, assis- tant cashier of the First National Bank of Linden and a representative of one of the wealthy and prominent business families of Perry county. Paternally the family is of Irish lineage and originated in this country with the grandfather of Daniel Eugene Starbuck, who emigrated from Ireland along in the forepart of the last century and settled in Ten- nessee, where his attention was given to farming. Daniel Starbuck, his
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sun and the father of our subject, was born in Perry county, this state, in 1853. He grew up here and received such educational advan- tages as the public school of the time afforded, but he was ambitious for a better knowledge than he could thus obtain and by self-instruction and extensive reading he sought diligently to correct those deficiencies, finally becoming by those means a well educated and informed man. He engaged in the lumber business in Perry county and became a well known and prominent business man in this connection, being very suc- cessful in his operations and accumulating a large estate. He passed away here in 1906 and at the time of his death was president of the Perry County Bank at Linden. His political tenets were those of the Republican party and in a fraternal way he was identified with the Masonic order. In 1881, at Linden, Tennessee, he was joined in mar- riage to Frances Eugenia Harris, who was born in Perry county in 1859 and preceded her husband in death, her demise having occurred in 1901. Seven children came to their union, as follows: Ethel, now Mrs. E. J. Ayers; Addie, the wife of J. E. Smith, who receives individual mention in this work; Bessie, who is now Mrs. C. W. Brown; John E., Sam H. and Daniel E., the three sons; and Lena, deceased. Both par- ents were members of the Christian church. After the death of his first wife, Daniel Starbuck, the father, wedded Eureka Hufstedler, of Perry county, and to this union was born a son, Thomas Reed Star- buck.
Daniel Eugene Starbuck was born at Linden, Tennessee, June 28, 1891, was educated at Branham & Hughes Preparatory School at Spring Hill, Tennessee, and entered upon his business career as a bookkeeper for the Nashville Trust Company, at Nashville. He continued in that position until 1910, when he came to Linden to take up the duties of assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Linden, his present position. He is also a stockholder in that institution. In political affairs his allegiance is given to the Republican party.
In 1910 he was married to Miss Ammah Sparks, daughter of Jesse Sparks, a prominent farmer and capitalist of Perry county and a rep- resentative in the state legislature in 1909 and 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and are numbered among the most estimable young people of Linden.
D. A. PAYNE. Of a high personal status in both the real-estate and insurance business ; of a family noted in both lines as one of substantial worth ; of prominent church and lodge connections and of good social standing, the life of D. A. Payne is one to which should be accorded a biography as full as our data will permit.
The maternal line of Mr. Payne's progenitors was that of the Vir- ginia family of Darden. David Darden (grandfather of D. A. Payne) was born in the Old Dominion State, whence he came in an early period
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to Robertson county, Tennessee, settling in Springfield and becoming the proprietor of the first inn ever conducted at that place. He was the father of Susan T. Darden (who later became Mrs. Payne and the mother of our subject) and also of George W. Darden, well known as one of the best financiers not only of Tennessee, but of the entire South, also being, at the time of his death, one of the members of the Nashville Board of Control. George W. Darden was most highly honored by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, who joined with the Nashville city council in making his burial one of great pomp and the most largely attended ceremony ever held in Springfield, a chartered train of ten cars from the capitol city being paid for by the civic bodies mentioned. No less estimable than the Darden family was that of Warren Payne, also of Virginia, and also of early settlement in Robertson county, Tennessee. Warren Payne was one of the patriots of the War of 1812 and was the father of Perry Payne (1817-1889). The latter was a farmer for some years and also gave public duty as county register for three terms; he later entered the mercantile business in Springfield in company with Milton Green, and was engaged in that vocation up to the time of his death. He and his wife, the above-mentioned Susan Darden Payne (1828-1873) were among the best-known and highly respected people of the county. She was a member of the Cumber- land Presbyterian church and he of the Primitive Baptist, but in later years he attended the former church with his wife. Perry Payne was known as a successful man, for he had great ability and the work of his hands prospered. But his was a heart too generous for a self-seeking world; never, it is said, did he ever turn a deaf ear to any request for charitable assistance, and such requests, repeatedly granted, resulted in the dissolving of his pecuniary resources. Bereft of fortune though he was, he died rich in affection.
Of the four children born to Perry and Susan Payne, two besides our subject are still living. George W. Payne, born in 1851, now lives in Nashville. Thomas H. Payne, born in 1854, is a resident of Oregon. D. A. Payne, to whom this brief review is dedicated, first saw the light of day on November 18, 1855, in Springfield, Robertson county, Ten- nessee.
After gleaning a useful sum of knowledge from the public schools of this locality, young D. A. Payne began life in a self-supporting capac- ity as a clerk and salesman in his father's mercantile establishment. After a time he became interested in the railway postal service and after successfully passing the government examinations he acted in the capacity of a mail clerk for five years. Mr. Payne showed remarkable ability in this exacting work, earning the distinction of being called one of the best clerks in the fifth division of the postoffice department, only two others in his division being considered his equals in the swift and accurate performance of duty. After a time Mr. Payne entered
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another line of traveling activities, one for which his mercantile experi- ence and his years of traveling gave him peculiar fitness; this was the occupation of a traveling salesman, in which work he also secured gratifying results. This, too, was a temporary vocation for D. A. Payne, who resigned that itinerant service in 1894 in order to take up a line of business permitting a more definitely localized residence.
In the year named, Mr. Payne entered-as the pioneer of this com- munity in that business-the work of a real estate agent. He has combined with it the activities of an insurance underwriter and has formed a partnership with H. H. Mason. Mr. Payne conducts a large amount of business both in Tennessee and in Kentucky and his labors meet with most favorable results.
As a citizen of Springfield Mr. Payne is both prominent and highly esteemed. Like his father and his uncle, George W. Darden, he holds a distinguished place in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having passed all chairs and being incumbent of the office of treasurer, which he has held for many years. Politically he is an independent Democrat and takes a very deep and active interest in civic affairs, in both local and national movements. He and his family are connected with the Presbyterian church, U. S. A.
Mrs. Payne, as Miss Emma Funk, was in her girlhood well known in Lebanon and Danville, Kentucky, where her father, Madison Funk, was prominent as a landholder. Her marriage to Mr. Payne was sol- emnized on November 18, 1903, and during the ensuing years they have become the parents of two children, Hattie S. Payne and Madison P. Payne, both of whom are still at home. Mrs. Payne holds an imprtant place in Springfield's social life, especially in those phases of it that are ethically purposive along lines of public welfare. She has for many years been the president of the local organization of the Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union, which office she still ably fills.
EDWARD L. ANDERSON. A banker, tobacco manufacturer and one of the leading business men of Gallatin, Mr. Anderson is now foremost in influence and position in the affairs of Sumner county. However, he began his career as a poor boy, educating himself, and the success he has won and the influence he has acquired have all been the result of a notable career of self-achievement.
Edward L. Anderson, who represents one of the old families of Ten- nessee, was born at Livingston, Overton county, Tennessee, December 30, 1879. His parents were Byrd and Geneva (Draper) Anderson. The paternal great-grandparents were Caleb Anderson and wife, who were early settlers of Jackson county. Edward B. Draper, the maternal grandfather, was also an early settler in the same county, where he lived and died, being an extensive farmer and the owner of a number
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of slaves. He also had a tannery and made shoes. The results of the war broke him up in business.
The founder of the Anderson family in Tennessee was the great- grandfather of the Anderson now in business at Gallatin. He was Caleb Anderson, who came from Virginia to Jackson county, Tennes- see, at a time when most of the country was still public domain, and he took up a large quantity of land, including some splendid water power. The water power was developed for the operation of a mill, which this pioneer settler erected on his land. The land and mill property which this pioneer established in Tennessee were passed on to his descendants, and the land is still held in the name of members of the Anderson family, while the mill is being conducted by one of his grandsons.
William Carroll Anderson, the grandfather, was born in Jackson county, Tennessee, where he spent all his life as a prosperous farmer and miller, being connected with the business which had been estab- lished by his father. During the Civil war, when he was in his old age, some soldiers from the Union army captured him and compelled him to ride a horse bareback to Gallatin. This was an experience which almost killed him, and he never entirely recovered from the effects of that ride. One of his sons, named John, was a soldier of the war and was killed at Fisher Creek.
Byrd Anderson, father of the Gallatin business man, was born in Jackson county in 1851, and is now a resident of Sumner county. Farming has been his occupation throughout practically all his life. His wife, Geneva (Draper) Anderson, was born in Overton county in 1856. Of the six living children, Edward L., is the oldest. The father is a Democrat. He is a member of the Methodist church, while the mother is a member of the Christian church.
Reared on the home farm, Edward L. Anderson was educated prin- cipally in Burritt College at Spencer, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1897. This education was the result of money which he had him- self earned. For a number of years he has been connected with the manufacturing of tobacco, and this has in fact been his principal busi- ness ever since he was a boy. He has a large factory at Gallatin, and has made it the source of a very prosperous income.
Mr. Anderson has for three years been superintendent of the Elec- tric Light & Water Company at Gallatin. He is vice-president of the Sumner County Bank & Trust Company, and is a director and stock- holder in the First National Bank. He also has interests in farming, and is one of the most substantial men in business circles of his home city.
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