USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 28
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August 25, 1854, in Robertson county, Tennessee, occurred the birth of Bascom C. Batts, who is a son of Jeremiah and Mary Ann (Byrnes) Batts, the former of whom was born in North Carolina, August 16, 1804, and the latter of whom was a native of Robertson county, Tennessee, where she was born May 8, 1810. Jeremiah Batts came to Tennessee
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with his parents when he was a child of but six weeks old. The family located in Sumner county and remained there for one year, at the end of which removal was made to Robertson county. In the latter place the young Jeremiah was reared to maturity and educated and his entire active career was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He died in Robert- son county December 27, 1886, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away February 8, 1867. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom Bascom C. was the youngest in order of birth. Jere- miah Batts was a son of Jeremiah Batts, Sr., who, after locating in Robertson county, here purchased a section of land for fifty cents per acre. He was a well-to-do farmer and a slave owner. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this review was James Byrnes, who was born and reared in Virginia and who was an early settler in Robertson county, Tennessee, where he was a saw-mill man and a farmer. Jere- miah Batts, Jr., was a Democrat in politics and he served as a magis- trate for a period of thirty years prior to his demise. In religious mat- ters he and his wife were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
To the public schools of Cedar Hill, Tennessee, Bascom C. Batts is indebted for his preliminary educational training, which was later sup- plemented with a course of study in Vanderbilt University at Memphis. He early began to assist his father in the work and management of the old home farm, a part of which he later owned. He bought his present finely improved estate of two hundred and seventy-five acres in Todd county, Kentucky, and here has since maintained his home. His polit- ical allegiance is given to the Democratic party, in the local councils of which he has long been an active factor. For the past fourteen years he has served as a magistrate and for one year was county judge. He is a man of fine mentality and broad human sympathy. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. He is always courteous, kindly and affable and those who know him personally accord him the highest esteem. His life has been exemplary in all respects and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of the highest commendation. He is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Honor.
May 12, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Batts to Miss Lizzie Wood, a daughter of Jonathan Wood, who was a hardware mer- chant at Clarksville for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Batts have one son, B. F., who is studying law in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Batts family are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM M. GREEN, D. D. In 1907, after half a century of contin- uous service in behalf of his church, Dr. W. M. Green retired from the duties which had absorbed his energies for so long, and is now quietly
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spending his declining years at the home of his son-in-law, James H. Parkes, in Nashville vicinity. Dr. Green's career has had an impor- tant influence for the promotion of religion and benevolence in Tennes- see and the South, and he has been one of the most eminent figures in the Methodist church South. Besides the accomplishments of his own life time, he also represents some of the oldest and most prominent families in Tennessee, and his relationship has been with men who were pioneers of the church and in public affairs in Tennessee.
William M. Green is a native of the city of Nashville, born October 17, 1838, a son of Alexander L. P. and Mary Ann (Elliston) Green. The founder of the family in Tennessee was the paternal grandfather, George Green, who married Judith Stillman. Grandfather Green was a native of Maryland, and was married in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1776. He then entered the Revolutionary war, and served as a patriot soldier until its close. He was with the central division under Campbell in the battle of King's Mountain. When the war was over he went back to his home in Virginia, gathered his family and posses- sions together, and then crossed the mountains into east Tennessee. He later moved to Alabama, where his death occurred. By occupation he was a farmer, and one of the pioneers who cleared out his share of the wilderness, and did much to plant civilization on a solid foundation. The maternal grandparents of Dr. Green were John and Ann T. (Rid- ley ) Elliston. John Elliston, a native of Kentucky, came to Tennessee when a young man and with his uncle opened the first silversmith store in Nasliville. The Ellistons were noted as business men in early Ten- nessee. Grandfather Elliston manufactured probably the greater part of the jewelry which was sold from his store, and much of the tableware which was used by early families in Nashville and vicinity came from his establishment, and he also made many of the old tall clocks which stood in the corners of some of the old homes.
The history of Southern Methodism gives a prominent place to the late Alexander L. P. Green. He was born in Sevier county, Tennessee, June 26, 1806, and died July 15, 1874. Educated in the common schools of Sevier county and in northern Alabama, he began preaching when a very young man, and in his time was one of the leaders of the church. Ile continued active work in the ministry until 1871, at which time he was chosen treasurer of Vanderbilt University. He was likewise suc- cessful in a financial way, and at the time of his death was owner of considerable property in Nashville. He and his wife were the parents of five children, only two of whom are now living, one being Dr. Green, and the other Anna, who married Rev. R. A. Young, whose name is familiar in Tennessee Methodism. The elder Dr. Green was in politics a Whig until war time. He held the pastorate of McKendree church at Nashville, was pastor at Franklin and was one of the old-time circuit riders during his younger years. The greater part of his career was
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spent as a presiding elder. When a young man he was assistant to an older brother as commissioner of the Cherokee Indians in northern Ala- bama for three years, and it is related that during that time he never had a hat on his head. Later he was one of the commissioners who founded Vanderbilt University at Nashville. When the Methodist church of America was divided in 1844, the late Mr. Green had a more than passive part in that division, and was one of the leaders in the organization of the M. E. church South in 1845.
Dr. William M. Green, when a boy, attended the private school main- tained by Alfred Hume, who in his time was one of the leading educa- tors of Tennessee. He later was a student in the University of Nash- ville, and entered the ministry and began his first pastorate in June, 1858, continuing until 1907. He later served a time as agent for the Sunday school board in the Church Publishing House, and for four years was associate editor of the Midland Methodist. In the Tennessee con- ference, Dr. Green is familiarly known as "Four Year Billy Green," owing to the many pastorates and other positions of church service which he filled for the exact periods of four years. He was pastor at Columbia for four years, Franklin four years, Gallatin four years, West End four years, and divided a period of eight years between the Nash- ville City Mission and the North Nashville Mission. He wound up his period as a minister with four years at the South End church. His work in the pulpit and as a pastor has also been interspersed with much literary and administrative accomplishments. ยท From his pen were con- tributed seventy-five short sermons that were published in the Nash- ville American. He also wrote the life of his father. Also should be noted his assistance rendered to the city in opening the street car trans- fer station, and his co-operation with the board of trade a number of years ago when he suggested changing many of the names used to numerals in the revised nomenclature of the streets of Nashville.
Dr. Green was married September 25, 1866, to Josephine Searcy, daughter of Dr. William W. and Emeline (Johnson) Searcy. The Searcy family is one of the oldest and most prominent in Tennessee. Dr. Searcy was born in Nashville, was a physician who practiced in this city and vicinity for half a century, and was a man of splendid education and many high attainments, which he devoted unselfishly to the work of his profession and to the welfare of society. He was a graduate of the University of Nashville and, later, of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Frequent articles came from his pen and were published in medical journals and newspapers. Dr. Searcy was born in March, 1810, and died in March, 1874. His father was Col. Robert Searcy, a promi- nent lawyer and judge of Tennessee, who fought with General Jackson in the early years of the century. Judge Searcy was an influential Mason, and it is noteworthy here that he made the long journey by horseback to North Carolina, and obtained the charter for the first
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Masonic lodge in Nashville. Dr. Green and wife were the parents of two children, namely : Mrs. James H. Parkes, whose husband is one of the leading business men of Nashville; and Frank Searcy Green, who is in business with J. H. Fall & Company of Nashville. The son has inherited his father's love for literature and has collected quite a choice library. Mrs. Parkes is a graduate of Columbia School, and has much literary ability, and is the author of a book of travels. Dr. Green has been for years a member of the Masonic order and is independent in politics. He is the owner of considerable property in Nashville, but his best possessions consist in his disinterested services to his church and to society.
ROBERT J. STONE. One of the public-spirited and progressive agri- culturists of Cheatham county, Tennessee, is Robert J. Stone, residing near Neptune, a young man of sterling personal qualities and of good education who through sagacious and sapient business ability has achieved no uncertain success in a financial way and as a citizen of the progressive stamp has become one of the foremost men of his commu- nity. He has twice represented Cheatham county in the Tennessee state legislature, each time with credit to himself and to his constituents, and has always taken a loyal interest in all affairs relating to the civic progress of his community and state.
Robert J. Stone was born in Dickson county, Tennessee, March 15, 1878, a son of Robert B. Stone and a grandson of Hardaman Stone, both of whom were at one time prominently identified with iron manu- facture in this section of Tennessee. Robert B. Stone, the father, was born in Dickson county, Tennessee, in 1847, and is yet living, being now a resident of Cumberland Furnace, Dickson county. He first entered the iron business with A. W. Vauley, subsequently serving for many years as general manager for the Droullard Iron Company at Cumber- land Furnace, of which he was also one of the stockholders. When the company disposed of its interests there Mr. Stone, with H. C. Merritt. . HI. N. Leach, E. H. Stine and W. H. Neblett as partners, bought all of the stock and lands of the concern, the latter comprising some 20,000 acres, and divided the land into small tracts ranging from fifty to five hundred acres. They have now disposed of practically all of this. Mr. Stone now deals in cattle and stock and among his extensive personal realty holdings is eight hundred acres of farm land in Cheatham county. He has been very successful in business affairs and his accom- plishments in a financial way represent the application of shrewd busi- ness acumen and years of industrious and energetic endeavor, for he began his career with very limited advantages in the way of capital. The old Droullard home at Cumberland Furnace also passed into his possession and is his present residence. During the Civil war he served in the Confederate army under General Forrest one year, or until the
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surrender of Fort Donelson. He has always been a Democrat in politi- cal adherency, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic order as a member of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery. He is a commu- nicant of the Episcopal church. Hardaman Stone, his father, was born in North Carolina and came to Tennessee as a young man, subsequently becoming an iron manufacturer and a wealthy man for his day. He helped to build the Nashville & Memphis Railroad. Robert B. Stone has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Sarah Jackson, who was born in Dickson county, Tennessee, in 1842, and passed away in 1882, a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She was a daughter of Epps Jackson. an early settler in Tennessee and a promi- nent iron manufacturer who operated the old Carroll furnace in Dick- son county for many years. To this union were born six children. Robert J., our subject, being one of four now living. In 1886 he took as his second companion Miss Kate Richardson, who is yet living.
Robert J. Stone, our immediate subject, grew up in Dickson county and was educated in the Edgewood Normal School and at Cumberland University, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1900. He entered into independent business activity as a farmer and stockman in Cheatham county and has continued thus identified to the present time. He owns 1,000 acres in this county, raises tobacco, corn and hay and feeds many cattle and hogs. He is especially interested in Hereford cattle and owns a fine herd of that strain, and in every respect is keenly awake to the advanced agricultural spirit of the day.
In December, 1900, Mr. Stone was united in marriage to Miss Lola Russell, of Franklin, Kentucky, and to their union have been born three daughters, Lucile, Emily Katherine and Lola. Mrs. Stone is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Stone affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity. Politically he is a Democrat and during his two terms as a member of the Tennes- see state legislature he was chairman of the waterways and drainage committee and was a member of the judiciary, agricultural and other committees, his whole service being that of the ablest order. As a young man of ambition, character and ability he has put intelligence and energy iuto all of his undertakings and ranks among the most forceful men and the most respected citizens of Cheatham county.
CHARLES EBEN NORTHRUP. One of the most successful business men of Gallatin, a lumberman who has been a resident of this city since 1894, Mr. Northrup began life a poor boy, but at the end of eight years had accumulated a considerable fortune of thirty thousand dollars. Then owing to business reverses, the result of the panic of the early nineties, he lost most of this, although he did not become bankrupt. It was at the conclusion of this unfortunate epoch in his life that he came to Tennessee, and since the first years has been steadily prospering and
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is now reckoned one of the substantial men and influential citizens of Gallatin.
Mr. Northrup was born in Steuben county, New York, February 10, 1854, a son of William H. and Sarah (Tompkins) Northrup. Both of them were natives of that state. The paternal grandfather was named Ebenezer Northrup, who was born in New Jersey, later moving into New York state, where he followed farming, and where his death occurred. The maternal grandfather was John Tompkins, who married Julia Jordan. Both were natives of New York, and at an early date moved into the state of Ohio. The wife of John Tompkins made one return trip to New York on horseback.
William H. Northrup, the father, was born February 8, 1828, and died in June, 1907. His wife was born in August, 1827, and died March 1889. William H. Northrup in his early career moved to Ohio, where he became a soldier of the Union, with the Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and served three years. Most of his service was in the army hospitals. Following the war he settled on a farm in Michigan, where he died. He and his wife had five children, C. E. being the second in number. The parents were both members of the Baptist church and the father was a Republican in politics.
Mr. Northrup in his early life attended the Michigan country schools and made his start in the world as a farmer. As already mentioned, he became quite successful, accumulating property which was valued at about thirty thousand dollars, and was considered one of the most pros- perous and substantial men of his community up to the panic of '93, which involved him as it did thousands of other honorable and seemingly substantial citizens of this country. While he got out of the situation with honor and was not a bankrupt, paying a hundred cents on the dollar, yet the misfortune was sufficient to cripple him for the time. In 1894 he moved to Gallatin, since which time his prosperity has con- tinued to go forward. He has a large lumber business and planing mills and ships his products throughout this vicinity. He is also owner of a large amount of timber lands and farm property.
He was married in 1882 to Miss Della Heath, who was born in Mich- igan, and whose death occurred March 28, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. North- rup were the parents of two children. Eva married Arthur Workins and now lives in Gallatin; Frank H. is associated with his father in business. In September, 1906, Mr. Northrup married Anna Branson, whose maiden name was Mclaughlin. She was born in the state of Pennsylvania. They are members of the Presbyterian church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic order. In politics he is a Progressive Republican.
JOHN H. G. SLAUGHTER. At St. Bethlehem in Montgomery county the leading business man and citizen for many years has been John H.
R. E.L Mountcardo
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G. Slaughter. He was for twenty years the postmaster of that town and is now the magistrate of his home district. The agricultural implement and hardware business now conducted under his name, and one of the most prosperous mercantile enterprises in this part of the county, was founded by him in 1887.
Mr. Slaughter was born in Christian county, Kentucky, April 2, 1862, a son of G. H. and Amelia (Bowman) Slaughter. The paternal grandfather, Henry Slaughter, was a native of North Carolina, whence he moved to Tennessee, and became a large planter and slave owner before the war. The maternal grandfather, John Bowman, a native of Virginia, was a farmer and miller, and also owned many slaves.
The father, G. H. Slaughter, was born in North Carolina in 1828, and was a child when his family came west to Tennessee. For a number of years his home was in Nashville, where as agent for the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad he had the distinction of selling the first railroad ticket in Nashville. He acted as teller in one of the Nash- ville banks for a long time, and was very influential as a citizen. It was due to his efforts that the streets of that city were first given num- ber and names. A Democrat in politics, he was for thirty years a justice of the peace, and was a member of the lower house of the legislature two terms and for two terms was in the state senate. He belonged to the Missionary Baptist church, while his wife was a member of the Christian denomination. His death occurred in 1897, while his wife, who was born in Kentucky in April, 1837, died on December 25, 1909. They were the parents of four children, namely : Mollie, the wife of W. B. Whitfield, of St. Bethlehem; John H. G .; Sallie, the widow of E. F. Liggin, and May, the wife of B. W. Meriwether.
During the youth of John H. G. Slaughter the family lived in Mont- gomery county, and in this county he received his education partly in the country schools and at Clarksville. Farming was the occupation to which he was reared and to which he gave a number of years, until 1887, when he established the business at St. Bethlehem which he has since built up to such successful proportions. He also owns a farm in this county. What he has acquired in business has been the result of his own efforts, for he has always been industrious and has never departed from the conservative, substantial roads which lead to material success. In politics he is a Democrat, is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, and he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
He was married in February, 1884, to Miss Ettie Watts. Her father, Dr. D. A. Watts, was a prominent physician and druggist of Paducah, Kentucky, which was her early home. Mr. and Mrs. Slaughter are the parents of two children, Julia and Harry, both at home.
ROBERT EDWARD LEE MOUNTCASTLE. A notable success in the law, together with prominence in affairs of citizenship, has combined to pro-
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mote Mr. Mountcastle to a front rank among Knoxville lawyers. He has been a member of the bar of this state for more than a quarter of a century and at the present time is a member of the well-known law firm of Shields, Cates & Mountcastle, whose offices are in the Empire building at Knoxville.
Robert E. Lee Mountcastle was born at Jefferson City, Tennessee, February 21, 1865. The family is one of Scotch-Irish ancestry and descent, and long since settled in Tennessee, its earlier ancestors having belonged to that vigorous race of Scots who first settled in the moun- tain districts of western Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas, and subsequently moved down the slopes of the Allegheny into the Ohio valley. A. J. and Cornelia Frances (Williams) Mountcastle were the parents of seven children, including the Knoxville lawyer. As a boy Mr. Mountcastle attended the common schools and in June, 1880, was graduated from Carson and Newman College at Jefferson City, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He also took B. A. degree at the Wash- ington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, in 1882, and after his admission to the bar practiced law at Lynchburg for seven years, then removed to Morristown and became a partner with Senator-elect John K. Shields and his father, Jas. T. Shields. He removed to Knox- ville in 1902 and entered the firm of Shields, Cates & Mountcastle, of which he is now a member.
Mr. Mountcastle, it will not be denied, is one of the strongest Dem- ocratic leaders in Tennessee. In 1904, at St. Louis, he was elected a member of the national Democratic executive committee, and he has continued to retain that position. His seat upon the committee was contested in 1912 by Col. John J. Vertrees, but he was retained by the committee, only one vote being cast for the contesting candidate. Mr. Mountcastle has never aspired to political office. In the free and untram- meled judiciary campaign of 1910, as it was known, he was one of the most active leaders in the interest of the candidates on the free and untrammeled ticket. It was because of his support of the judiciary that the so-called regular Democratic state convention, which nominated a candidate for governor, declared the place of Mountcastle upon the national committee to be vacant, and Colonel Vertrees elected to the office, but as has already been mentioned, Mr. Mountcastle was retained on the committee. He was re-elected to the committee by the national Democratic convention at Baltimore, over Senator Nat Baxter, Jr.
In 1902-03 Mr. Mountcastle was president of the State Bar Asso- United States senate, Mr. Mountcastle was the manager of Judge Shields. a place in which he performed most excellent work in the inter- ests of his colleague. He is admitted to be one of the ablest floor leaders in Tennessee in a political convention, as well as one of the ablest plead- ers at the bar.
In the recent campaign of Judge Shields for the election to the
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ciation, of which he has long been a member. He is affiliated fraternally with the Masonic order and he and his family are members of the Pres- byterian church.
Mrs. Mountcastle, prior to her marriage, which took place in 1890, was Miss Eliza Bird Solomon, a daughter of E. Y. Solomon. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Mountcastle are Louise, Paul, Fred and Mar- guerite. The family residence is at 1405 Laurel avenue.
STEWARD D. TINSLEY. A representative agriculturist of Montgomery county, Steward D. Tinsley is a well-known resident of Southside, where his large and well-appointed farm gives substantial evidence of the excellent care and skill with which it is managed. He was born January 5. 1851. in Montgomery county, a son of Oliver Tinsley. His grand- father. Lindsey Tinsley. came from Virginia, his native state, to Ten- nessee at an early day, and for a number of years thereafter ran the ferry at Nashville.
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