USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 24
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Thomas Polk Ewing was born on April 19, 1883, at the rural property in District No. 1 of Montgomery county which is still his home. He received careful education in the academy at Cumberland City and there- after entered upon the occupation of farming, conducting and supervising operations on his father's farm; for that gentleman was concerned somewhat in political affairs, in the capacity of district magistrate, which office he filled for no less than twenty-five years, showing in his efforts in the cause of peace no less patriotism than he had exhibited as a soldier of the Civil war.
As an agriculturist of extensive operations, T. P. Ewing has shown no slight executive and managing ability. He manages four hundred acres, chiefly devoted to tobacco raising, and also raises considerable stock. Meanwhile he has achieved a most substantial reputation as one
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who knows how to serve his Democratic constituency and the local public in general in various civic and political offices. From 1906 to 1912 he filled the office formerly honored so many years by his late father, the magistracy of District No. 1. For two years he was a member of the Montgomery county highway commission and for a similar period of the county board of education. He has been a member of the Tennessee legislature as a representative from Houston and Montgomery counties and is again a candidate for the same office from Montgomery county. While in the legislature he has served on the committee on banking, the committee on agriculture, the committee on county lines, the committee on railroads and the committee on game, fish and forestry; he has also been chairman of the committee on new counties and the committee on investigating state mines. Mr. Ewing has an especial gift for official service and has been prominent as chair- man of the Planters' Association.
Mr. Ewing maintains his home at his rural property. His marriage took place on November 8, 1911. Mrs. Ewing was formerly Miss Helen Dodds, of Jackson, Tennessee. She is a daughter of J. S. Dodds, of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing are the parents of an infant son, Thomas Polk Ewing, Jr., born August 7, 1912.
The church affiliations of Mr. and Mrs. Ewing are, respectively, those of the Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal, South. Mr. Ewing is fra- ternally connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is a man whose talents and personality have won him considerable popularity, which promises to increase and to win for him wider opportunities for public usefulness.
NORMAN B. MORRELL. Engaged in the successful practice of his pro- fession in the city of Knoxville for the past twenty years, Senator Morrell is recognized as one of the able and representative members of the bar of eastern Tennessee and is now representing Knox county as a member of the state senate. He has secure vantage place in the con- fidence and esteem of the people of his home city and county and as a citizen manifests his loyalty to every interest that touches upon the wel- fare of the community.
Hon. Norman B. Morrell was born in the city of Little Rock, Arkan- sas, on the tenth of February, 1870, and is a son of Rev. Henry H. Morrell, D. D., and his wife, Mary E. (Badger) Morrell, both of whom were born and reared in Ohio, in which state their respective families were founded in an early day, and with the civic and material history of which the names of both families have been closely identified. Rev. Henry H. Morrell, D. D., was a distinguished member of the clergy of the Protestant Episcopal church, and within the course of his long and consecrated life and service he held important pastorates in various
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dioceses of the church. From 1881 to 1886 he was rector of St. John's church, in Knoxville, and here, as elsewhere, his memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of his gracious and benign influence. He died in 1889, his devoted wife having preceded him in the year 1876. Five of their children, three sons and two daughters, are now living.
Senator Morrell is indebted to the public schools of Ohio and Ten- nessee for his early educational discipline, and he had the further advantage of a home of distinctive culture and influence. He attended the University of Tennessee for two years, and in preparation for his . chosen profession he entered the law department of the celebrated Uni- versity of Michigan, and in that institution he was graduated with the class of 1893 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Prior to the pursuit of his college career, however, it may be mentioned that Senator Morrell was employed for three years in the offices of the Knoxville Iron Com- pany, and one year with the Mingo Mountain Coal & Coke Company.
Soon after he was graduated from the University of Michigan, the young man was admitted to the Tennessee bar, and since that time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Knox- ville, where he has built up a large and representative law practice and been concerned in much of the important litigation of the various courts. He is associated in a professional way with Charles Seymour, and is broadly recognized as one of the leading land and title lawyers in Knox county.
Mr. Morrell never aspired to political office until he announced his candidacy for the office of state senator in 1912, being elected by a large majority in November of that year. He has ever given a splendid allegiance to the Republican party, and has rendered effective service to the party on many occasions. His heavy majority at the polls in November was especially pleasing in view of the overwhelming Demo- cratie landslide that attended the election throughout the country. Mr. Morrell presented resolutions in the Republican county executive com- mittee meeting in 1912, which were passed, endorsing William H. Taft, R. W. Austin and the Republican party.
Mr. Morrell was one of the organizers of the Bell House Boys' Association, and was made its first president. He has long shown a most praiseworthy interest in the public school system of this city, and has done good work in that department of civic activity. He was the first secretary of the Knoxville Water Commission, and served most acceptably in that capacity for a number of years. He was also secretary of the charter committee of citizens that drafted the charter for the commis- sion form of government of Knoxville, and has in many another equally telling way manifested his splendid citizenship and his interest in the development and progress of his city.
Mr. Morrell holds membership in the Knox County Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association, and is likewise affiliated with the
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Royal Arcanum, and both he and his wife are zealous members of St. John's church, Protestant Episcopal, of which he is junior warden and
On October 10, 1900, Mr. Morrell was united in marriage with Miss of which his father was formerly rector.
Mary Ogden, daughter of James E. and Elise Porta Ogden. Mr. Ogden is a native of the Buckeye state and Mrs. Ogden of Brazil, from whence they came to Tennessee in their earlier years. The father has for many years been prominent as a railroad man. Three children have been born to Senator and Mrs. Morrell: John O., Elise Emma and James Robinson. The attractive family home, widely known for its gracious and open-handed hospitality, is located at 1925 Caledonia street, in this city.
JOHN H. FRANTZ, as one of the senior members of the law firm of Cornick, Frantz. McConnell & Seymour, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is too well known both in professional and social circles to need further com- ment. He has been engaged in the practice of his profession in the city for a number of years and during this time has built up an enviable reputation as a lawyer who does not stoop to underhand dealings and who respects his profession too greatly to drag it down, as have so many of the fraternity. That such a standard has not prevented him from attaining success is shown by the large clientele which he has always had.
John H. Frantz is one of a family of nine children, whose parents were T. P. Frantz and Sarah (Petit) Frantz, both of whom are now dead. John H. Frantz was born in 1869, on the 15th of February, in the state of Virginia. He received his elementary education in the public schools of the state and later attended Central College, Missouri. His law studies were pursued at the University of Tennessee, from which he was graduated with the class of 1894, and he immediately entered upon the practice of his profession. He has been exclusively engaged in the general practice of law since that time, for many years as a member of the firm of Cornick, Frantz & McConnell. In 1912 Charles Milne Sey- mour was admitted to the firm and the name was changed to its present reading. The other members of the firm are Howard Cornick and Thomas G. McConnell. Their beautiful suite of five offices is located on the fourth floor of the East Tennessee National Bank building.
In politics Mr. Frantz is a stanch Democrat and an active supporter of his party. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is very popular in the social life of the city, being a member of the Country Club, the Cherokee Club and the University Club of Knoxville.
MAJ. THOMAS SHAPARD WEBB. Famous among the law firms of the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, stands that of Webb & Baker. Major Webb, the senior member of this firm, is perhaps one of the best known men in Knoxville, and, in fact, in eastern Tennessee. For forty-four
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years he has been a practitioner in Knoxville, and the record that he has made as an upright lawyer and one who is unafraid is only equaled by the record that he made as a soldier in the Civil war.
Thomas Shapard Webb was born on the 26th of September, 1840, in Haywood county, Tennessee, the son of James L. Webb and Ariana (Shapard) Webb. He was one of a family of eleven children and was reared from infancy in Memphis, Tennessee. After completing his ele- mentary education in the Memphis schools he was sent to Bingham School, in North Carolina, a famous old school even then. He later at- tended the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, but in April, 1861, during his junior year, he left the university to enter the Confed- erate service.
He enlisted at Memphis as a private in Company G of the One Hun- dred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment, but was almost immediately elected first lieutenant, and it was as a lieutenant that he took part in the occupation of Columbus, Kentucky, and in the battle of Belmont. Early in 1862 his regiment fell back to Corinth, and then followed the terrific two-days' battle of Shiloh. When General Beauregard evacuated Corinth, Lieutenant Webb had the misfortune to be captured, and the circumstances of his capture were such that he was reported dead, and consequently lost his rank in the regiment. He was held a prisoner at Johnson's Island until September, 1862, and as soon as he was released, after an exchange at Vicksburg, he hastened to report for duty to General Polk, at Knoxville. It is not hard to imagine the surprise with which this resurrection of one supposed to be dead was greeted. General Polk placed the young officer on detached duty, and he remained in Knoxville until July, 1863, when he received orders to report to General Forrest. To serve with this dashing cavalry leader was the ambition of many a boy in gray, and it must have been a joy to Major Webb when he re- ceived those orders. General Forrest detailed him with two other men to raise cavalry and organize the Sixteenth Tennessee Cavalry, of which company Lieutenant Webb was commissioned major. Under the com- mand of General Forrest, Major Webb now served with his regiment in the engagement at Collierville, Tennessee, and in the famous battle of Tishomingo Creek, or Brice's Cross-Roads. In this last battle he fell with a wound in the ankle that prevented him from seeing any more active service for about a year. Upon rejoining Forrest he took part in Wil- son's raid in the spring of 1865, and shortly after this fought his last fight at Scottsville, Alabama. He surrendered with his regiment at Gainesville, Alabama.
After the war he returned to his neglected studies and completed his preparation for the bar in Memphis. He passed his examinations and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He immediately began the practice of his profession and has continued since that time, being conspicuously successful. In 1869 he came to Knoxville to live and has been a resident
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of that city ever since. As experience came to the aid of legal knowledge, Major Webb's reputation as a brilliant and dependable attorney in- creased, and he is acknowledged throughout the state as one of the authorities on various legal questions. He has several times had the honor of sitting as a special judge on the bench of the supreme court. The firm of Webb & Baker was formed on October 1, 1908, and their offices are in the Holston National Bank building.
Major Webb was married in February, 1867, to Miss Blanche Mc- Clung, of Knoxville. She died on October 15, 1894. On the 11th of August, 1897, Major Webb was again married, his wife being Mary Polk, a daughter of Col. Henry C. Yeatman, of Hamilton place, Ashwood, Tennessee.
JACOB LYTTON THOMAS. Those successful business men who have left the impress of their abilities upon the commercial history of Knox- ville have been, almost without exception, men of affairs, with little instruction in science. They have stepped from the counter or office to the management of large interests, demonstrating their fitness to be leaders by soundness of judgment and skill in management. Such a man the generation of business men now passing from the scenes of active business recognized in Jacob Lytton Thomas when he came to Knoxville in 1874, and at once became a leader in business among those who had already reached high rank as merchants. His subsequent career was one of great activity in commercial circles, and in his death, which occurred September 24. 1906, the city lost a man who had done much to add to its prestige and importance.
Jacob Lytton Thomas was born in Nashville, Tennessee, December 3, 1840, one of the seven children of Jesse and Elizabeth (Lytton) Thomas. He received good educational advantages, attending the public schools and the University of Nashville, and after his graduation from the latter institution, in 1861, enlisted in the Confederate army for service during the Civil war. His military career covered a period of three years, and his faithful service gave promise of a characteristic that was to mark his after life-absolute devotion to every duty imposed on him. On his return, Mr. Thomas began his business career with the well- known Nashville firm of Gardner, Buckner & Company, with which he was connected until 1872, when he joined his brother and embarked in the dry goods business, the firm being known as the Morgan-Thomas Company of Nashville. In 1874 he severed his connection with the above firm and came to Knoxville, where he entered the wholesale dry goods business, in connection with Cowan, McClung & Company. Dur- ing the remainder of his career, Mr. Thomas continued to be identified with this concern, one of the oldest and largest firms in the city, dealing in wholesale dry goods, notions and furnishings. As a member of Knox- ville's coterie of leading business men, Mr. Thomas ever showed himself
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to be the self-contained man of business, whose word was unimpeach- able, whose fidelity was unquestioned, whose judgment of men and affairs was instinctive, one who had attained, by inimitable methods, a competence which he neither hoarded with avarice nor scattered with prodigal ostentation, but enjoyed reasonably, dispensed providently and shared generously. By temperament he was disinclined to public life, but took a good citizen's interest in all matters that affected his com- munity, and in political matters supported Democratic principles and candidates. He was not indifferent to the social amenities, and was well known in Masonry, in which he had attained to the Knights Templar degree.
On June 5, 1873, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage with Miss Lucy McClung, the daughter of Charles J. McClung, and seven children were born to this union, of whom five survive, namely: Jesse, who resides at No. 804 West Main street; Hugh M., whose residence is at No. 1622 Rose avenue; and Charles M., Matt G. and Miss Margaret, who reside with their mother at the beautiful family residence, No. 504 West Main street, Knoxville. The members of the family are affiliated with the .Methodist Episcopal church South. The sons are still connected with the firm which their father helped develop.
WILLIAM WALLACE WOODRUFF. Prominent and widely known as a banker and merchant, Mr. Woodruff has been identified with the city of Knoxville for upwards of half a century. In that time he has attained a high position in business affairs, while his judgment and integrity have long been honored by his associates and he has also given much disinterested service that has accrued to the best good of the public, in positions that share greater burdens of responsibility than rewards of honor. He is president of the Woodruff Hardware Company, which operates one of the largest stores of its kind in the city.
William Wallace Woodruff, president of the wholesale hardware firm of W. W. Woodruff & Company, is a native son of Kentucky, born in the town of Bardstown, on the twenty-first day of March, 1840. He is one of the three children born to Ezra and Catherine Woodruff, the father having been a well-known manufacturer at Bardstown. Mr. Woodruff gained his early education in the common schools of Louisville, Kentucky, and on leaving school began his career in business as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. He was just at the outset of his business career and a young man of barely twenty-one years when the war broke out, and in the early days following the firing upon of Fort Sumter in April, 1861, he was appointed adjutant of the Thirteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. His service continued to the end of the war, and he was discharged in January, 1865. Enlisting as a private, he was made adjutant, and during his service promoted to the rank of captain of Company D, and he left the service with that rank.
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Upon his return from the front Captain Woodruff located at Knox- ville, where he established soon after the wholesale hardware firm of which he is now senior member. His business career has had its set- backs and its hard times, like that of every successful record of enter- prise, but on the whole he has maintained a front rank among the local merchants, and is now one of the leading men in the business and fiancial affairs of the city of Knoxville. Besides his presidency of the concern which bears his name, he is vice president and director of the East Tennessee National Bank and the Knoxville Real Estate Company and the Knoxville Ice Company. Since 1906 he has led a practically retired life, having retired in that year from the close supervision of his business, and now turns over the details of management to his junior associates. His son, W. W. Woodruff, Jr., is vice president of the company, and an able representative of his honored father in the business.
Mr. Woodruff is president of the board of trustees of the Tennessee Deaf and Dumb Institution, as well as president of the Carlson & Newman College at Jefferson City, Tennessee, and he and his family are communicants of the Baptist church in Knoxville.
The Baptist church of this city has for a number of years had no more liberal member than Captain Woodruff. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Cherokee Country Club, as well as the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.
In 1865 Captain Woodruff was united in marriage with Miss Ella T. Connelly, a native of Frankfort, Kentucky, and to them eight chil- dren were born, of which number five are yet living. The handsome home of the family is located at No. 1401 West Cumberland avenue.
COLONEL ROBERT LEE BEARE. In the personality of Robert Lee Beare are combined military talent and mercantile efficiency. Tennessee has been his chosen state since 1890 and Jackson his adopted home since 1906. His native state is Mississippi, and Virginia the nativity of his parents. His father, David Sieg Beare, was a jeweler by vocation and when he removed from Virginia settled his family and business in Aber- ยท deen, Mississippi. His wife was Sarah Taylor, born in Staunton, in the Old Dominion state. It was in the early sixties-just before the war- that David Beare became a resident of Aberdeen, and there it was that to him and his wife Sarah the son was born whom they christened Robert Lee. His date of birth was December 2, 1864.
In the public schools of that Mississippi town Robert Lee Beare re- ceived his intellectual training. In 1885 he entered the United States Signal Corps, to which he gave service for one year. At the end of that time he accepted the official position of manager for the Western Union Telegraph Company at Aberdeen, Mississippi, his native home. He con- tinued in this capacity until 1895.
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In the meantime Mr. Beare, who is of an enterprising bent, had been establishing an ice business at Humboldt, Tennessee. Begun in 1890, it had by 1895 reached such proportions that it required the whole at- tention of its originator and owner. In the latter year he resigned his position with the Western Union Company and proceeded to further enlarge his ice manufactory. In 1906 he sold the plant. Removing to Jackson, he built a large establishment for the manufacturing of ice. This he has since continued to operate, combining with those activities the management of a coal and wood business.
It is of special interest to note the steadily increasing military prom- inence of Mr. Beare. In 1903 he was elected captain of Company G in the National Guard of the state of Tennessee. In 1906 he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment in this same body. When, in 1907, the colonel of that regiment resigned, Robert Lee Beare was ac- tively in command. In 1908 the First and Second Regiments were con- solidated and Colonel Beare was honored by being retained in command of the reorganization.
City affairs have sought his incumbency of office. In 1910 he was elected alderman from the Fourth ward, in Jackson. He served for the stated term, but declined to consider re-election, because the multiplicity of his other duties was such as to prevent his giving as much time to city business as he felt the alderman's office should require. At reorgan- ization of the state he accepted appointment as one of the three election commissioners, which office he still holds.
Col. Beare's prominence in the business capacity mentioned above, added to his membership in the directorate of the Union Bank and Trust Company of Jackson and his presidency of the O'Malley-Beare Valve Company of Chicago, have made him an especially intelligent president of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association. In that capacity he served for the term of 1911. As this association is one ruling only one- term presidencies, Colonel Beare has retired to general membership in it. He is, however, one of the most competent and energetic members in this body and in divers other ways lends willing assistance to any move- ment or measure that tends to the further development of the city's re- sources.
The political stand which Colonel Beare takes is that of an Indepen- dent Democrat. He is a member of various fraternal orders and the church connection of himself and his family is with the Methodist branch of the church.
Mrs. Beare-nee Mary Reiney-is a daughter of the late Col. G. K. Reiney, of Humboldt, Tennessee, and a niece of the late Col. F. B. Fisher. The marriage of Miss Reiney and Colonel Beare took place in 1906. They are the parents of two children, a daughter named Mary Hortense and a son called Robert Lee Beare.
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JOHN MINNIS THORNBURGH. One of the strongest combinations of legal talent in Knoxville is the firm of Powers & Thornburgh, composed of J. Pike Powers, Jr., and John M. Thornburgh, whose offices are in the Empire building. The firm, since its organization in 1905, has had a generous share of the practice of office and courts, and its services have been employed in many of the important cases during this period.
Mr. Thornburgh, who represents the third generation of the family name in connection with the bar and public life in Tennessee, has been winning success in the law for the past ten years, and has also gained distinction in politics and enjoys many high social connections.
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