USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 16
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The founder and for many years the head of this company whose death occurred May 30, 1899, easily ranked as one of Knoxville's most prominent business men, and by his connection with the larger affairs of the city was equally useful and influential as a citizen. The late M. L. Ross was born in Anderson county, Tennessee, and was one of three chil- dren born to James and Mary (Martin) Ross. The father, a native of Virginia, and of Scottish descent, was first married to a Miss Slover, by whom he had five children. He later married Miss Mary Martin. James Ross attained official distinction as a soldier under General Kirkpatrick during the War of 1812, and subsequently was engaged in merchandising for upwards of fifty years. His death occurred in 1869. During the first half of the nineteenth century, he was one of the leading men of the state and had a large circle of influential friends, including such men as John Bell, General Zollicoffer, James K. Polk and Andrew John- son.
The late Martin L. Ross was reared in a good home, and in an atmos- phere of refinement and culture endowed by the many associations with such men as have already been named, and was a student at Emory & Henry College in Virginia when the death of his father occurred in 1869. That event caused him to leave college, and he returned home to take charge of a store in Anderson county. After managing this success- fully for a time he sought out a larger field for his enterprise and in 1871 came to Knoxville. Here he formed a co-partnership with Major
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D. A. Carpenter, for the purpose of conducting a wholesale grocery business. The first name of the undertaking was Carpenter & Ross, and this continued until 1879. Mr. Ross in the meantime had become the chief executive of the concern and the firm name was then changed to M. L. Ross & Company. Under this title it came to possess a fore- most position as a wholesale grocery, and extended its trade to five or six of the adjoining states.
In 1870 Mr. Ross married Miss Helen Carey, a daughter of Hon. William Carey, of Careyville, in Campbell county. Three children were born to their union, and the two now living are Mary Martin and William Carey Ross. Mrs. Ross and her family have a very attractive and beau- tiful residence at 1415 Laurel avenue in Knoxville.
ROBERT H. HARALSON. The life of Robert H. Haralson, of Lebanon, affords an excellent illustration of what independence, self-confidence and persistent effort can accomplish in a material way for an individual. The men of that stamp are also usually those that a community numbers as the leaders in the different phases of community affairs. This is true of Mr. Haralson, for besides demonstrating substantial business abilities as a farmer and stockman he has also given very efficient service in an official way and is now serving his third term as sheriff of Wilson county.
This is his native county, for he was born here June 18, 1866, a son of James and Annie (Young) Haralson. Both parents also were natives of Wilson county, the father's birth having occurred in 1832 and that of the mother in 1834, and both departed life there, the former having passed away in 1886 and the demise of the latter having occurred in 1894. Nine children came to their union and of this family six are now living, Robert H. being the third of those surviving. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. James Haralson spent his life as a farmer and directed his efforts in that vocation with that intelligence that brought gratifying rewards and established him as a successful man. He was a member of the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the exer- cise of his franchise the Democratic party received his unswerving sup- port. When the long sectional quarrel flamed out at last into civil war he ranged himself with his native state on the side of the South and served three years in support of the Southern cause as a member of Hatton's Regiment. During the siege of Murfreesboro in 1864 he was wounded and was then discharged from the service on account of dis- ability. He suffered heavily from the ravages of the war, having lost over forty mules, besides other property, but after the conflict closed he started out anew and at the time of his death had acquired a very com- fortable estate. His father was Zara Haralson, a Virginian by birth who came into Tennessee in an early day and settled on a farm in Wil- son county, where he spent the remainder of his years. His estate com-
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prised some seven hundred acres of fine land and he was also a large slave owner. Annie Young Haralson, the mother of Robert H., was a daughter of William Young, a native of England, who after his immigra- tion to this country was located first in Pennsylvania but later removed from there to Wilson county, Tennessee. He was a farmer, a man of competence and was one of the best known citizens of Wilson county, where he served forty-two years as a justice of the peace.
Robert H. Haralson grew up a farmer boy in Wilson county and received in the meantime a public school education. He began inde- pendent labor as a farm hand at twenty-five cents per day, and later took employment at sawing logs, for which labor he received forty cents per day and provided his own dinner. At the time of his mar- riage in 1891 he had a cash capital of $7.50 and was in debt $140, but he was young and had health, energy and pluck, assets that were worth more to him than unlimited inheritance. He bought a farm and put his best abilities into play to pay for it. This he had accomplished by the end of the second year and he yet owns this farm of eighty-two acres. He has dealt considerably in stock and has been quite success- ful in that line of business venture. His entrance into official life was made when he was elected constable. This was before he had attained his majority and he had to wait seven months to reach legal age and to be able to qualify for the office. After serving six years as a constable in Wilson county he took up similar duties for a time in Fannin county, Texas, as a special deputy sheriff, but later he returned to his former home in Tennessee. In 1908 he was elected sheriff of Wilson county and has been twice re-elected, which fact gives conclusive evidence of the satisfaction he has given the citizens of his county in his service as sheriff and his conduct as a man.
Mrs. Haralson was Miss Florence Martin prior to her marriage, a daughter of J. F. Martin, a well-known and successful farmer of Wilson county. Mr. and Mrs. Haralson have three children: Annie, at home; Perry, who is attending school, and Robert, now three years old. Mrs. Haralson is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Haralson sustains fra- ternal associations as a member of Magnolia lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Lebanon, and as a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in both of which orders he has held the highest office of his lodges. Politically he gives stanch allegiance to the Democratic party.
J. LEWIS SADLER, M. D., has been active in his profession since 1897, having seen service in Cuba as hospital steward in the Fourth Tennes- see Volunteers, after which he located in Nashville, Tennessee, continu- ing there until the time when he located in Johnsonville, in 1905. Since that time Dr. Sadler has been prominently identified with the medical
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profession in this city, where he has a well established practice, and an enviable reputation in his profession.
Born in Colbert county, Alabama, on August 7, 1875, Dr. Sadler is the son of William George and Sarah E. (Sadler) Sadler, the mother being a distant relative of her husband. The father was born in Alabama in 1848 and was a son of Lewis Hubbard Sadler, one of the pioneer physicians of northern Alabama, himself the son of George Twyman Sadler, a civil engineer of the early days in Alabama. Lewis Hubbard Sadler came with his family into Tennessee about 1878, and engaged in the practice of his profession in Nashville, there dying in 1880. His son, William G., early identified himself with business interests and activ- ities in that city, and for several years was engaged as a traveling sales- man. He eventually became interested in the manufacture of fertilizers, and the first ton of acid phosphate made from the Tennessee phosphate rock of Hickman and Maury counties was manufactured by him. Mr. Sadler is now secretary of The National Fertilizer Association, and is established in Nashville in a business way, although he maintains his . home at Monterey, where he has a fine residence. He is also interested to some extent in farming in Humphreys county, and is prominent and prosperous, taking an important place among the leading business men of this section of the state. He is an Independent Democrat and a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Fraternally, he is a charter member of Reynolds Lodge No. 33, of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past grand chancellor. He is a Mason of the thirty-second degree, a Knight Templar, and is affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shine, Al Menah Temple of Nashville. Mr. Sadler served in the Confederate army in an Alabama regiment, as did also his honored father. The mother of Dr. Sadler was born in Robert- son county, Tennessee, at Sadlersville, and was married on December 25, 1869. They became the parents of five children, four of whom are living : Edna L., married to Richard Preuit, of Leighton, Alabama; Mary Lizzie, the wife of L. L. Haygood, of Humphreys county ; Vashti Louise, married to W. W. Wilhoite, of Monterey, Tennessee; and Dr. J. Lewis of this review.
. J. Lewis Sadler was educated in the public schools of Nashville, fol- lowed by a season in which he was placed in the hands of private tutors. He then entered the Vanderbilt University at Nashville and there pur- sued a medical course, graduating from that institution in 1897 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Sadler began the practice of his profession in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, where he continued for the space of a year, after which he entered the army as hospital steward in the Fourth Tennessee Volunteers. Following his army service, Dr. Sad- ler located in Nashville, where he remained in practice until 1905, when he came to Johnsonville, and here he has been busily engaged in medical practice ever since. He has built up a representative and ever growing
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practice in the years that have passed, and is occupying a leading place in the medical fraternity in this section of the state, where his ability is recognized and acknowledged.
Dr. Sadler is a stanch Democrat, and his fraternal relations are rep- resented by his membership in the Knights of Pythias.
On November 9, 1911, Dr. Sadler was united in marriage with Miss Annie C. Parker, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Parker, well- known residents of Johnsonville, in Humphreys county. The marriage took place at Johnsonville, Tennessee.
DR. ANDREW B. MARTIN. In reviewing the career of Dr. Andrew B. Martin, it is interesting to note one highly important factor-heredity. Entirely a self-made man, still the stock from which he sprung gave him the impetus and patience to meet destiny more than half way and con- quer it. Dr. Martin is yet another portrait in the gallery of poor boys who have gained a measure of distinction. Dr. Martin is the son of Matthew M. and Matilda (Crow) Martin. The father was born in Albe- marle county, Virginia, was a physician who for a number of years conducted a practice in Smith county, and moved to Paris, Texas, with his family, where he died in 1849. He was a Mason and a member of the Presbyterian church. The mother was born in the north of Ireland in 1802 and died in Tennessee in 1876. Thus in the ancestry of Dr. Mar- tin is to be found the good old blood of Virginia and that of Ireland. Peter Martin, his grandfather, left Virginia, his native state, in 1792, and emigrated to Kentucky, where he lived the balance of his life in the vicinity of Bowling Green. A farmer, the stubborn soil yielded to his intrepid nature, and this not inconsiderable trait contributed to the physical capital of his grandson. On the other hand does he possess that rare asset, humor-so felicitous in easing the obstacles of the workaday world-for his maternal grandfather was a loyal son of Erin, who was born and died in his native land.
Dr. Martin was born in Smith county, Tennessee, on December 9, 1836. From the common schools he went to the law school of Cumber- land, from which he was graduated in 1858, after which he immediately began the practice of law, pursuing that calling until 1878, when he was elected professor of law in the Lebanon law school. He has been a mem- ber of the board of trustees of Cumberland University for forty-five years, and president of that board for more than thirty years. His life has been filled with big interests, not alone that of his profession, but politics and business of various natures. Notwithstanding his profes- sional prominence and activities, he has served the Democratic party in many capacities. He was at one time a presidential elector-at-large on Hancock's ticket, and he has represented state interests in the legisla- ture, of which he was a member from 1871 to 1872, acting in that time
anita B. martin
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as chairman of the judiciary committee. The degree LL.D. was con- ferred upon him by Lincoln University of Illinois in 1883.
Dr. Martin is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in addition to his interests there, his fraternal relations include such organizations as the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, and in the latter order he has served as chancellor commander, and as master in the former. He is also a member of the Knights of Honor.
In 1868 Dr. Martin married Alice Ready, daughter of Charles Ready, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She, like her husband, was a member of the Presbyterian church and active in its work. Seven children were born to them, four of whom are living. Mary, Martha, Helen and Andrea are the four surviving ones. The three first named are widowed, while Andrea is the wife of Ira J. Partlow, and lives in West Virginia. In 1890 Mrs. Martin died, and three years later Dr. Martin married Sue Brittain, of Georgia.
Dr. Martin maintains his home in Lebanon, Tennessee, and he is recognized as one of the most successful educators in his subject in the state. Aside from his professorship in the law school, he is financially interested in a number of industrial and manufacturing plants in the community, and is enjoying a degree of prosperity which is commensur- ate with the efforts he has expended in life thus far.
DR. PHILIP N. MATLOCK, a successful physician and a prominent and influential citizen of Obion county, Tennessee, whose residence is at Masonhall, is a man of intrinsic merit as a man, a citizen and a physician, and as supporting evidence of this statement is his record of forty-three years of continuous service there in a professional capacity and the fact that he has held the highest position in the Masonic order in Tennessee that the Free and Accepted Masons of the state could confer upon him. He comes of Revolutionary stock and is himself a Confederate veteran of the Civil war.
Philip N. Matlock was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, January 9, 1844, and was the only son in a family of five children born to Simp- son and Maria (Shumate) Matlock, both of whom were natives of David- son county. Simpson Matlock owned a farm of five hundred acres and was a citizen of prominence there. Philip N. grew up on the home farm and after pursuing the usual studies in the common schools of that local- ity he completed a course in Franklin College. It was about this time that the storm of civil war lowering finally burst over the country. In 1861 young Matlock, then but a youth of seventeen years, entered the Confederate service as a private in Harding's Artillery, being subse- quently transferred by the war department to Carter's Scouts with the commission of first lieutenant, which rank he held until the close of the war. He was thrice wounded, the first time at Stone's River on Decem- ber 31. 1862, when his right shoulder was injured. He was next wounded
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in his left thigh at Sulphur Branch Trestle, Alabama, September 2, 1862, and on April 3, 1865, at Tuscaloosa, a few days before he sur- rendered, he received a wound in his right leg. Being paroled shortly afterward, he returned to his home in Tennessee and at once took up a course of medical study at Nashville College. Graduated in 1867 he began the practice of medicine, locating first at Fredonia, Kentucky, but removing in 1869 to Masonhall, Obion county, Tennessee, where he has since continued and where he is now the only representative of his profession. In line with the interest of his life work he sustains mem- bership in the Obion County Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society, the Tennessee State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On June 18, 1865, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary J. Jetton, and to this union were born six children, three of whom are yet living, viz .: Philip E., and Preston C. and Presley (twins).
Dr. Matlock has also literary gifts of considerable merit, and in a fraternal way is prominently affiliated with the Masonic order as a member of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery. In 1896 he served as grand master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Tennessee, is a past grand worthy patron of the Order of the Eastern Star of Tennessee, and is now (1912) grand sojourner of the Grand Chapter of Tennes- see.
The Matlock family originated in Tennessee with William Matlock, the grandfather of Dr. Matlock, who came to this state from North Caro- lina in 1789. He was a soldier of the Revolution and was captured at Charleston by the British. His wife was Mary Simpson, who alone of her family survived from a murderous attack by Indians near Nash- ville, Tennessee. Simpson, the father of Dr. Matlock, was the youngest of ten children born to William and Mary (Simpson) Matlock.
WALTER M. CASTILE, agent for the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad Company at Johnsonville, Tennessee, was born in Camden, Benton county, Tennessee, on the 18th day of March, 1882, and is the son of James Monroe and Amy Jane (Cole) Castile, both born in Benton county. The parents were both left orphans at an early age, and no records were preserved of their families so that it is impossible to give in this connection any further information concerning their ancestry. They were married in Benton county on September 23, 1867, and they became the parents of eight children, five of which number are yet liv- ing. Walter M., of this review, was the only son. The father was edu- cated in the common schools of Benton county and in the Benton Semi- nary at Camden, Tennessee. After leaving school he taught in the pub- lic schools for a number of years, and later was superintendent of the public schools of Benton county for a number of years. Later on he engaged in the milling and mercantile business. In 1910 he located in
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Johnsonville and is now making his home in this city. He served through- out the war in the Confederate army, and received seven wounds in the battle of Atlanta. He saw much active service, participating in many battles and was taken prisoner at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi river and spent several weary months in the prison at Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Castile is a Democrat, and has taken a prominent part in the politics of the state, serving in the state legislature from the 26th senatorial district. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Castile is a member of the Masonic fraternity, affiliat- ing with Camden Lodge No. 179.
Walter M. Castile was educated in the public schools of Camden, and on leaving school he took up the study of telegraphy, at the age of twenty-two becoming active in the railroad service in the capacity of telegrapher. He was engaged in that work in the Camden office for five years, after which he was appointed agent at the Denver, Tennessee, office, where he continued for a period of nine months. His next appointment was that of agent at the Johnsonville office of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, which position he has ably and efficiently filled since 1908.
Mr. Castile, like his father, is a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, as is also his wife. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Caldwell Lodge, No. 273, and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 606, at Denver.
Mr. Castile was united in marriage in 1905 with Miss Bamma Gar- rett, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Garrett of Camden. They have no children.
WILLIAM THOMAS MCGLOTHLIN. The really useful men of a com- munity are those in whom their fellow citizens can rely in affairs of public importance; to whom they can come for assistance in seasons of financial distress; men who have won this confidence by the wisdom of their own investments and by the honorable lives they have led on every field of effort and as neighbors and friends. Very often, in prosperous towns, these men are retired farmers and merchants, frequently they are bankers, and in not a few cases it will be found that they are veterans of that great struggle which makes the war between the states yet fresh after the passage of a half a century of time. Such a one in every par- ticular is W. T. McGlothlin, president of the Farmers' Bank of Portland, a citizen whose entire career has been one of industry, integrity and up- right living. Mr. McGlothlin was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, August 4, 1837, and is a son of James and Lucinda (Beard) McGlothlin.
Joseph McGlothlin, the paternal grandfather of W. T. McGlothlin, was born in Ireland, and he and wife and one child emigrated to the United States in 1800, settling in Sumner county, Tennessee, where he reared a family and spent the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits. On the maternal side, Mr. McGlothlin's grandfather was David Beard,
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who was born in Sumner county, and there spent his entire life in tilling the soil. James McGlothlin was born in Sumner county, October 21, 1804, was reared on his father's farm, and eventually engaged in agricul- tural pursuits on his own account, accumulating a tract of 300 acres and becoming one of his community's prominent citizens. He was a Demo- crat in politics, a devout Christian, and a member of the Presbyterian church, in the faith of which he died November 3, 1856. He married Lucinda Beard, who was born in Sumner county, March 3, 1807, and she passed away August 15, 1853, having been the mother of six children, of whom four are still living, W. T. being the second in order of birth.
W. T. McGlothlin received his education in the schools of Sumner county and Western Tennessee, and when the war between the states broke out was a student in Cumberland University. Abandoning his studies, he enlisted for service in Company B, Thirtieth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, in the Confederate army, with which or- ganization he served first as private, and after the reorganization as ordinance sergeant. He fought at Fort Donelson, where he was captured by the Union troops, but eventually, after seven months, managed to secure his exchange at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and at once rejoined his regiment, participating in the battles at Chickamauga, Mis- sionary Ridge, from Dalton to Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville, and then participated in his last battle, at Benton, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. A brave and cheerful soldier, he was respected alike by officers and men, and faithfully performed whatever duties fell to his lot, and when he returned to private life, he just as faithfully performed the duties of peace. On his return, he began life on a farm and taught school for several years, but in 1868 entered the mercantile business, in which he continued for ten years. Being industrious and thrifty, he wisely in- vested his earnings in farm land, which he disposed of several years ago to enter the Portland Bank. He was connected with that institution until 1911, when he became one of the organizers of the Farmers' Bank of Portland, of which he has since been made president. This institution is considered one of the solid and substantial banking houses of this part of the state, and is capitalized at $20,000, with $60,000 deposits. Mr. MeGlothlin's connection with the house has stimulated public confidence, and his wise and shrewd administration of its affairs has served to pop- ularize its coffers.
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