USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 36
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JOHN MCREYNOLDS GAUT. A distinguished Nashville attorney and official of the Presbyterian church, Mr. Gaut is one of the seniors of the Tennessee bar, having begun practice forty-five years ago, soon after the war. His father before him ranked a peer among the most eminent Tennessee lawyers of his generation. Few families have contributed so many sterling qualities of mind and character to the life and citizenship
John M. Gan
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of Tennessee during the last century as the Gauts. John McReynolds Gaut was born at Cleveland, Bradley county, Tennessee, October 1, 1841, a son of John C. and Sarah (McReynolds) Gaut. The Gaut family is of Scotch-Irish descent, the first member of which immigrated to the colony of Pennsylvania, and thence to Virginia, finally coming over the moun- tains to Tennessee. Grandfather James Gaut came to Tennessee early in the last century, and lived for some time in Jefferson county, where his son, John C. Gaut, was born in 1813. The late John C. Gaut, who died in 1895, was educated at Maryville College and at the University of Tennessee, took up the law as his profession, and began his practice at Cleveland. Not only as a practitioner, but also in a financial way he was unusually successful. For twelve years he served as judge of the fourth judicial circuit, resigning in 1865 and moving to Nashville, in which city he began his practice and continued with few interruptions until his death. In 1866 and 1867 he served as chairman of the state executive committee of the Conservative party, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1865, which reorganized the state gov- ernment. Several times his ability resulted in his appointment as special judge of supreme court. He had begun practice in Cleveland only the year following the removal of the Cherokee Indians from Tennessee. In politics he adhered to the old-line Whig party and stood strongly for the Union before and during the war. Late in life he became a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and was also affiliated with the Masonic order. His wife, Sarah McReynolds, who was born in Tennes- see, was a daughter of an early settler in McMinn county. She died in 1873, her death occurring from cholera in the epidemic in Nashville. The parents had six children, two of whom are now living, John M. Gaut and his sister Anna E., widow of P. H. Manlove. She resides in Nash- ville.
John McReynolds Gaut had home surroundings and an example in his father which proved great inspiration to his early career. He was liberally educated at the academy in Cleveland and Rutger's College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he was graduated in 1866, A. B., took his degree of Master of Arts in 1869, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1908. The same degree was conferred upon him in 1907 by the Missouri Valley College of Missouri. After admission to the bar he began his practice in December, 1867, and has been contin- uously identified with the Tennessee bar since that time. He has always enjoyed an extensive practice and for thirty years has been attorney for the American National Bank of Nashville, and has represented several other business corporations. During the last seven years his practice has enlarged in scope and volume. Beginning in 1906 he attained special prominence as general counsel for the Presbyterian church in the United States of America in the prolonged litigation over church property growing out of the union of that church with the Cumberland Presbyte-
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rian denomination. As the representative of that church he has ap- peared before the supreme courts of twelve states, and was successful in ten states out of twelve. He has also had cases in the federal courts in Tennessee and Missouri in the supreme court of the United States. In civil-ecclesiastical jurisprudence, this is probably the most notable liti- gation of modern times. The Presbyterian committee on legal matters connected with the reunion, in its report to the General Assembly of 1913, say :
"The committee desires to reiterate and emphasize its former expres- sions as to Judge Gaut's professional ability, also his industry, energy and faithfulness in acting as committee's counsel."
The committee also quote approvingly from a report of Judge Gaut to the committee as follows:
"As you doubtless realize, the litigation to which we have sustained a mutual relation must be recorded in history as the most remarkable known to the judicial history of any country. The United Brethren cases originated in eight states of the Union, and involved much property and questions of great importance. The litigation with which we have been connected arose in thirteen states, involved directly and indirectly probably not less than six millions of dollars of property, affected a very large number of people and involved questions of great importance. It called for a judicial determination of the relation, in this country. between church and state, between ecclesiastical and civil courts, the fundamental nature of ecclesiastical government, and the powers of all ecclesiastical judicatories. A serious indictment was brought against the doctrines of the Presbyterian church in the U. S. A., materially affecting the church's theological standing. It is evident that by this liti- gation the law of this country relating to the subjects above indicated will be thoroughly settled, and much light from it will radiate across the seas to foreign countries. Many fundamental principles of law affect- ing religious societies will be established, which are of vital importance to all churches in the United States, and of great importance to churches throughout the world."
Mr. Gaut, in young manhood, served in the city council of Nashville, and his name has been identified with many movements and enterprises of a public nature. He is actively interested in everything that pro- motes public welfare. For a great many years he has been an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and since the union in the Presby- terian church, and is probably the best known layman of that denomi- nation in Tennessee. In 1870 he became a member of the board of publication of the church, and was officially connected with the publi- cation department for thirty-one years, serving as president of the board for twelve years, and general manager of publication work for ten years. He has attended more than twenty-five sessions of the general assembly. He was a member of the judicial commission of the Presbyterian church,
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U. S. A., this body being practically the supreme court of the church. He was also a member of the supreme ad interim executive head of the church, known as the executive commission, and a member of the com- mittee on administrative agencies which existed for several years. He is widely known and beloved throughout the church and generally believed to be the best informed man in the country on civil law, ecclesiastical law and church history, as they are related to each other.
Mr. Gaut in 1870 married Michal M. Harris, a daughter of William O. Harris, who for years was proprietor and one of the editors of the Nashville Banner, and a man of prominence in this city. Mrs. Gaut died in 1871. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. In 1876 Mr. Gaut married Sallie Crutchfield, daughter of Thomas Crutchfield, who spent most of the years of his life in Chatta- nooga, where he was owner of the Crutchfield House, now better known as the Read House. He was perhaps the most eminent farmer in the state and member of the agricultural commission of the state. Mr. Gaut's great-grandfather, Isaac Lane, was a soldier of the Revolution and fought in the battle of Kings Mountain. The three living children of Mr. and Mrs. Gaut are : Mrs. Amanda G. Hardcastle, wife of Kendrick C. Hardcastle, who is district superintendent and traffic manager of the Bell Telephone Company ; Sarah M. and Mary A. are both living at home. Mr. Gaut is a Democrat in politics, though he recognizes, in theory and in action, that every man's supreme allegiance is to the welfare of the country rather than to any political party.
MARCUS B. TONEY. An exceptional business record is that of Marcus B. Toney. More than forty years ago he was made representative of the New York Central Lines at Nashville. Nominally his position has remained the same in all the succeeding years. Actually his responsibili- ties have increased in proportion as the commerce and transportation of the nation have expanded in these four decades .. Mr. Toney possesses the faculty of being able to adapt himself to the changing conditions of a growing business, and has rendered a valuable service both to his cor- poration and the public.
Marcus B. Toney, who belongs to an old southern family, was born on a farm eight miles from Lynchburg in Campbell county, Virginia, August 19, 1840. William Henry Clay Toney, his father, was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, and was reared and educated in his native state, where he learned the trade of millwright. In 1842 he emigrated to Tennessee, bringing his family and slaves and making the removal with teams and wagons, and it was three weeks from the time he left Virginia before he reached his destination in Tennessee. After two years spent in the little city of Nashville, he crossed the river and bought ten acres of timbered land on which he built a saw and grist mill in the woods, operating his machinery with horse power. When a road was
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built past the mill it was known as White Greek Pike, and is now First street of Nashville. He continued to operate his local industries until his death in 1852. His wife was Elizabeth Ann Minton Goodwin, who was born in Amherst county, Virginia, a daughter of George B. and Elizabeth Ann (Minton) Goodwin. The Goodwin family dates in Vir- ginia back to 1616. When William H. C. Toney and wife left Virginia their goal was St. Louis, but on the way they stopped for a time in Nash- ville, and on account of low waters in the river, and afterwards because of the failing health of the mother, they concluded not to go any further. Mrs. Toney died in Nashville in 1846. She was the mother of four chil- dren, three of whom died very young, so that Marcus B. Toney is the only living representative of the family.
Having lost his parents when very young, Mr. Toney was cared for by a negro mammy from the death of his mother until his father died, and then went back to the old family home in Virginia, at Lynchburg, where he attended school. In 1860 he returned to Nashville, and was clerk on a steamboat until the outbreak of the war. At the beginning of that struggle he enlisted in Company B of the First Regiment of Ten- nessee Volunteers, went into Virginia, fought in the Army of Northern Virginia, under Lee, and was in Stonewall Jackson's command. He was with the regiment in its various marches and battles until 1864. In Feb- ruary of that year he was transferred to the Forty-fourth Virginia Regiment, and fought with that command in the Battle of the Wilder- ness. On May 12, 1864, he was captured by the Federals and taken to prison at Point Lookout in Maryland, and in the following July was transferred to Elmira, New York, where he was held a prisoner until June, 1865. Being then released, he returned to Nashville, and entered the employ of the Southern Express Company. On December 4, 1868, Mr. Toney was on board the ill-fated steamer United States when it was wrecked on the Ohio river near Warsaw, Kentucky, when one hundred and thirty people lost their lives. Mr. Toney escaped by swimming through the icy waters to the shore. In 1872 Mr. Toney entered the employ of the New York Central Railroad Company as commercial agent at Nashville, and in that capacity has been retained for a period of forty-one years, during which he has faithfully looked after the inter- ests of the great railroad system in Nashville and throughout this sec- tion of southern territory.
In January, 1872, he married Miss Sally Hill Claiborne, who was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, a daughter of John C. and Ann (Bransford) Claiborne. Mr. and Mrs. Toney have two children, named Helen and Marion Toney. Helen married Henry W. Skeggs, and her two children are Helen Claiborne and Marion B. Mr. Toney and wife are members of the Methodist church. Since 1866 he has held active membership in the Masonic fraternity, and was the founder of the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home near Nashville, an institution to
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which Col. Ira Baxter donated ten acres of land as a beautiful site. In 1906 Mr. Toney published his war reminiscences, entitled "The Priva- tions of a Private."
JOSEPH STINEFORD CARELS. A long service of quiet usefulness has been performed by Joseph Stineford Carels in the city of Nashville, where he has lived for half a century. Not all the best work of the world is done in the fields of industry and commerce, nor in the usual professions. Invaluable duties, necessary to the proper functions of the world and society, are often discharged with great fidelity and capability by men and women who occupy none of the conspicuous places in life.
Joseph Stineford Carels has for the past thirty years been treasurer and librarian of the Tennessee Historical Society, and also superintend- ent of the Watkins Institute of Nashville. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1825. William Carels, his father, was also born in Philadelphia in 1793. Grandfather Samuel Carels was born in Philadelphia of German parents. The grandfather was a carpenter and builder, and spent all his career in the city of Philadelphia. The father was likewise a life-long resident of Philadelphia, and died at the age of seventy-nine years. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Stine- ford, who was born in Philadelphia, a daughter of George Stineford, a native of Germany. Her death occurred when she was eighty years old. and she reared twelve out of a large family of sixteen children.
Joseph Stineford Carels graduated from the Central high school of Philadelphia in 1843. In 1851 that school conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. After his graduation he began his career as a clerk in a wholesale dry goods store in his native city. Eighteen months later in 1845 he moved to Tennessee, and became clerk in a dry goods house at Murfreesboro, where he remained until 1857. After that he served as bookkeeper and teller in the Bank of Middle Tennessee at Leb- anon until the outbreak of the war. He then came to Nashville, and in 1862 presented to the secretary of the United States navy a petition signed by every member of congress requesting a position in the navy. He was accordingly appointed assistant paymaster, and attached to the steamer Clifton in Admiral Farragut's gulf squadron. He remained in the service for about one year, when ill health compelled him to retire and return to Nashville. In this city he was appointed bookkeeper and stamp clerk in the postoffice, and spent about twenty years in the office, serving as assistant postmaster under Postmasters Hopkins, Embry and Hasslock.
Mr. Carels was made a Mason in Murfreesboro, when he joined the Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. and A. M., in 1843. In 1852 he served as worshipful master of the Murfreesboro lodge. In 1852 he joined Pyth- agoras Chapter No. 23, R. A. M., and in 1866 took the last degrees in the York Rite and became a member of Nashville Commandery No. 1, K. T. Vol. V-20
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In 1865 he joined Alminah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and was a charter member of Emulation Lodge No. 3, A. and A. S. R. For forty- six years he has been secretary of the Cumberland Lodge No. 8 of Masons in Nashville. He has served as captain general, standard bearer and guard of Nashville Commandery No. 1, K. T., and secretary of the Masonic Library and the several Masonic bodies, all at the same time, and for twelve years was librarian of the Howard Library until it was merged with the Carnegie Library.
JAMES A. WILLIAMS. Among the successful agriculturists of Cheat- ham county, Tennessee, is James A. Williams, who resides near Cheap Hill. Born May 25, 1855, in the adjoining county of Robertson, he is a scion of two of its oldest connections, the Williams and Shearon fami- lies, the former of Virginia stock and originally of Welsh lineage, and the latter descended from North Carolina immigrants. Wiley W. Wil- liams, the father of James A., also was a native of Robertson county and spent his entire life there, passing away on April 10, 1865. He was the first county court clerk of Cheatham county elected by the popular vote. He was a farmer by occupation. First a Whig and then a Democrat in politics, he took an active interest in political affairs and served as the first county clerk of Cheatham county after Cheatham county had been formed from a portion of Robertson county. Fraternally he was affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order. His father, Christopher Williams, was born in Virginia and came into Tennessee early in the last century, settling in Robertson county. He was one of the founders of the First Methodist church established in the present limits of Cheatham county, though it was Robertson county at that time. The family had first been planted on American soil by emigrants from Wales. Wiley W. Wil- liams wedded Mary Shearon, who was born in Robertson county, Ten- nessee, June 22, 1822, and departed life in December, 1910, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. She was the daughter of Zachariah Shearon, who came into Tennessee from North Carolina about 1800 and settled on a farm in Robertson county, and whose father, Sterling Shearon, was the originator of the family in this state.
James A., the youngest of five children born to Wiley W. and Mary (Shearon) Williams, was reared to farm pursuits and received his edu- cation in the country schools of his native vicinity. He took up life independently as a farmer in Cheatham county and has continued to be identified with that vocation to the present time, beginning his business career with no capital save his own native resources. By intelligent effort and well directed energies he has forged steadily forward toward the goal of success and today is the owner of a good farm of 150 acres, with a comfortable dwelling and such other improvements as make it an attractive rural home. Mr. Williams has also tanght school in Cheatham county ten years and has entered actively into the public life of his
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community, having served eighteen years as a magistrate of the fifteenth civil district and being now chairman of the county court. In addition to these public positions he has also been a member of the board of edu- cation and represented Cheatham county in the legislature of 1887. In political allegiance he is a Democrat. Through these different relations to society he has become well known in his county and his life and ser- vices have been of that order that has won him a high standing in public esteem.
In November, 1886, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Weakley, whose father, William D. Weakley, was a native of Montgomery county, Tennessee, and spent his entire life there. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have six children, named : Cora, Nannie, Mary, Louis, Martha and Benton, the last three of whom are attending school. Mrs. Williams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Williams is united fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
J. L. DAVIS, M. D., holds a high rank among the professional men of Watertown, Tennessee, and of the surrounding country. He has been in active practice in Watertown for a number of years and the combina- tion of personal charm and technical skill with which he is endowed has won for him many warm friends and admirers. He has been very suc- cessful as a physician, and is a land holder as well as a professional man.
J. L. Davis was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, on the 30th day of November, 1865. His father is James H. Davis, who was born in Vir- ginia in 1840, and whose parents were natives of the state of Virginia also. James H. Davis migrated to Tennessee and there met and mar- ried Armenia Jennings, a daughter of Riley C. Jennings, who was one of the earliest settlers in Wilson county, where he lived and died. Mrs. Davis was born in Wilson county in 1845 and both she and her husband are living in that county at present. Mr. Davis started out in life with nothing of material means in his possession, and he has succeeded in rearing and educating his large family of children, and is now worth about twelve thousand dollars. With the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army and served throughout the four years of the civil conflict under General Hatton. After the war he returned to a desolated farm and set to work to build it up to some semblance of a productive place, with the result already noted. In politics Mr. Davis is a member of the Democratic party, and for a number of years served as a magistrate of the county. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church.
John L. Davis grew up on his father's farm, but he had no inclination to the life of a farmer, and as a mere lad determined to obtain an educa- tion. He was the third of his father's children and grew up in the years when the father was trying to retrieve his losses caused by the war, so that the lad had to borrow money for his college education. He first
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attended the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tennessee, and later entered the medical department of the Vanderbilt University, from which he was graduated in 1893.
Dr. Davis began the practice of his profession at Henderson Cross Roads, in his native state, and for seven years made this his home. In 1900 he removed to Watertown, and established a practice that has grown with the years, until now the doctor has about all the patients he can take care of, though he is one of those men who always have the time and energy to do one thing more. He has never permitted any other interests to intervene between his professional duties and himself, and so is able to accomplish more than many of his confreres.
Mr. Davis was married in 1893 to Stella Hale, a daughter of Dodd Hale. The latter was a native of Wilson county, where he spent many years of his life as a farmer. He was best known, however, as a preacher of the Methodist church. Dr. Davis and his wife are the parents of three children, all of whom are attending school. They are James W., Marga- ret and Edith.
The doctor is a member and a deacon of the Baptist church, while his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal denomination. He takes quite an interest in fraternal affairs, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. In the latter order he is past chancellor commander. In politics he is a member of the Democratic party, but has never cared to take any active part in the game of political warfare. He owns some valuable bank stock and a fine farm, and should he desire to give up his practice he would be com- fortably situated in a financial way. Since the doctor's chief interest lies in his profession, it is but natural that he should take an active interest in the affairs of the state and county medical societies, in both of which he holds membership.
WILLIAM S. SHIELDS. Prominent among the financiers who have con- served the money interests of Knoxville for the past several decades, Wil- liam S. Shields, president of the City National Bank, has interested himself in various other enterprises of an extensive nature. He entered the banking business in 1888, when he was one of the organizers of the City National Bank, and his wise and careful management of its affairs has made it one of the leading financial institutions of the city. Mr. Shields is one of a family of ten boys born to James T. and Elizabeth (Simpson) Shields, both of whom are now deceased. The father was a prominent jurist of Tennessee, and practiced law in the state for many years. Further mention concerning him is made in a sketch devoted to Hon. John Knight Shields, United States senator from his state.
William Simpson Shields was born in Grainger county, Tennessee, on the 13th day of October, 1853, and his early education was secured in the common schools. On the completion of his studies, he engaged in
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Um . Shields.
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stock raising, and some of the best blooded cattle, sheep and swine in the southern states were bred on his farm. Mr. Shields continued in the stock-breeding business until coming to Knoxville in 1888, when he organized the City National Bank, becoming its first cashier and remain- ing in that capacity until assuming the position of president, having held these positions for twenty-five years. A man of careful and con- servative ideas, he is also possessed of the courage necessary to handle affairs of an extensive character and the policy he has used in banking matters has gained him prestige in financial circles and the full confi- dence of his community. The City National Bank is one of the largest in Knoxville as well as one of the most substantial and prosperous. Mr. Shields is also a partner in the firm of Gillespie, Shields & Company, manufacturers of the "Shield Brand" clothing, the firm consisting of John K. Gillespie, Mr. Shields and E. H. Scharringhaus.
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