USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 38
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Paul E. Templeton was born in Tennessee on the 24th day of August, 1879, and in the autumn of the following year the family moved to Knoxville, where he was reared to adult age and afforded the ad- vantages of the public schools. In 1899 he was graduated from the Uni- versity of Tennessee with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and after reading law under the guidance of his father, he further fortified himself for the activities of his chosen profession by entering the law department of the great University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1902, and from which institution he received his well-earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. He has been junior member of the law firm of Templeton & Templeton since 1909, and has ably participated in the legal activities of the firm since that time. In his political proclivities he is a stanch Democrat, like his father, and has been active in the party ranks. In November, 1911, he wedded Miss Kate Copenhaver, a daughter of a well-known resident of Marion, Vir- ginia, and both are popular factors in the social activities of Knoxville.
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RUFUS A. MYNATT. The six years of his service as attorney general to the criminal court of Knox county have brought Mr. Mynatt recogni- tion as one of the most efficient prosecutors for the commonwealth in the annals of this jurisdiction. Mr. Mynatt took high rank as a lawyer at the outset of his practice, and for fifteen years has been identified with his profession in Knox county, enjoying a continued success and growing prosperity in his work.
A native of Union county, Tennessee, where he was born on January 21, 1871, Rufus A. Mynatt was one of the six children born to Joseph A. and Melvina (Alley) Mynatt, people of Scotch-Irish descent. The father, who was born in Knox county, Tennessee, in October, 1829, is still a resident of this county, and was for many years one of the sub- stantial farmers of this vicinity.
Beginning his studies at the Knox county common schools and finish- ing them in the high school, Mr. Mynatt was for a number of years one of the most successful young school teachers of that county, but in 1895 he located at Knoxville and there began to read law under Capt. W. L. Ledgerwood and with his brother, E. F. Mynatt. In 1896, before he had finished his legal studies, he was elected to the state legislature, and in the following year he was admitted to the bar. Since that time he has been one of the ablest representatives of the profession in this county. In 1897 he was appointed as assistant attorney-general by his brother, E. F. Mynatt, who died in 1906, for Knox and Sevier counties, and assisted in the prosecution of the famous White Cap cases in Sevier county. In 1906 he was elected magistrate from the first nine wards in Knoxville and served until 1910, when he was elected prosecuting attorney for Knox county. In that high office he has proved himself a vigorous prosecutor, but has also shown himself to be one who under- stands the quality of mercy, and believes there are occasions when it should be extended. Prior to his election to the office he now holds, he had been serving in the office of justice of the peace, but he resigned the minor office to take the oath of office as attorney general to the criminal court.
Mr. Mynatt is a member of the county and state bar associations. In 1896 he married Miss Nola Brock, a daughter of Lewis Brock, and they have two children, Edward H. and Eugene R. Mynatt. The family home is maintained at 2660 Magnolia avenue, and they are members of the Baptist church.
JOHN M. CURRIER. Every one is sensible of the fact that in the present age a rapid change is taking place in every phase of our national and institutional life. Efficiency has long been a word of vital impor- tance in the business and professional worlds, but today it is entering with compelling force into political life. Parties and their leaders are being forced into a realization of this, and that they must take account
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of both ability and character in selecting their candidates. In 1906 Knox county, Tennessee, chose as its clerk John M. Currier, who was well known thereabouts as an expert bookkeeper and accountant and who as a citizen stood high in public esteem. His first term confirmed the public faith in his efficiency as clerk, and in 1910 he was re-elected to that office without opposition. The people of this county have found him to be the right man in the right place.
Mr. Currier is a native of Knox county, and has spent his entire life within its borders. One of the ten children of John and Mary W. Cur- rier, he was born August 30, 1854, and comes of sturdy Scotch-Irish blood, one of the most highly valued of all strains that have mingled in the shaping of American character. His earlier education was received in the public schools of Knox county and his higher training at Mary- ville, Tennessee. His business career was begun as a clerk and book- keeper, and he has long been regarded as one of the best accountants and office experts in the county. To a greater extent than is generally real- ized the business permanence and legal stability of any modern com- munity is dependent upon the care and accuracy with which public records of all kinds are kept, and the excellence of Knox county records has been no small factor in rendering this section attractive to outside investors. Mr. Currier regards his office as a public trust. By his training, experience and natural abilities he is unusually well fitted for the duties of clerk, and he has met the responsibilities of the office in a: manner which reflects credit upon the community as well as upon himself. The unfailing courtesy shown those who have business in his office and the ease and precision with which he discharges his official duties have served to make him one of the most popular and respected officials of the county. In political sentiment he is a Republican. In the way of private business interests he is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres of choice land in Knox county and he is president of the Mary Moore Coal Mining Company, operating at Excelsior, Kentucky.
Mrs. Currier was Miss Lucy Hudiburg prior to her marriage, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Hudiburg, of Knox county. To this union have been born three children, viz .: Miss Mary Louise Currier, William H. Currier and Charles Martin Currier. The family are com- municants of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Knoxville.
REV. JOHN JOSEPH GRAHAM, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is a native of Erin, born April 13, 1855. He came to the United States in 1871. He became a student in St. Mary's College, in Kentucky, where he was graduated in 1887. and his theological course was completed in Cincinnati, Ohio. On May 28, 1891, he was ordained to the priesthood by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Rade- macher, of Nashville, Tennessee, and later of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
He subsequently labored in nearby parts of the state. On February
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6, 1902, he came to Knoxville to accept his present charge. Since coming here Father Graham has been the means of many improvements and additions being made in the church and parish.
JAMES C. WOODWARD. At the death of Col. James C. Woodward, on January 5, 1913, there was closed the career of one of Knoxville's best known business men and sterling citizens. He had lived a full life, full of years and replete with practical and useful service in promoting the welfare and common uplift of humanity. Aside from the many material benefits the city of Knoxville derived from his years of citizenship and well directed business activity, there remains as of still greater value his example of worthy and noble living, the heritage of a life spent in help- ful deeds.
He was born December 4, 1841, in Lee county, Virginia, a son of Henry and Elizabeth Woodward, and was reared and educated in his native locality. On November 28, 1861, he was joined in marriage to Miss Nannie J. Starnes, who was reared near Rogersville, Hawkins county, Tennessee, not far distant across the border from her husband's native Virginia county. For a number of years their home was in Lex- ington, Kentucky. From there Colonel Woodward removed to Knox- ville, Tennessee, in 1890, and became president of the Fountain City Land Company, which promoted and developed Fountain City, now one of the most populous and most beautiful suburbs of Knoxville. Later he acquired the majority of the stock of the State National Bank at Knoxville and was president of that institution until 1893. In 1899 Colonel Woodward, with his son Hu, bought the Knoxville Business College, with which he was thereafter connected as its president until he retired from business in 1908, his son succeeding him as executive head of that institution. He also had numerous property interests and was numbered among the most substantial men of the city. He was a Mason and a Democrat.
As a churchman Colonel Woodward was very active throughout his career. He was a zealous member of the Church street Methodist Epis- copal church, South, and for a number of years served efficiently as superintendent of the Sunday school of that church and also as a member of its board of stewards. At different times he represented his church as a lay delegate at annual conferences of this denomination. One of the philanthropies in which he was especially interested and which he aided very materially with his means was the Methodist orphanage at Greeneville, Tennessee, where a large number of fatherless and mother- less children are domiciled and are being educated. Colonel Woodward contributed liberally to this institution, and his wise counsel and advice was sought and heeded in its management. He was a man of very broad sympathies, and other benevolent institutions and many worthy charities were the recipients of his favor and generosity. He believed in doing
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good for others and made his deeds consistent with this belief, distribut- ing much of his own material riches to relieve need, suffering and distress.
A few months before his death he fell upon the pavement in front of his home and suffered a severe shock, though for several years previous he had been in declining health. A partial stroke of paralysis, added to his generally enfeebled condition and advanced years, brought a speedy end to a long and good life when he passed away at his home at 305 East Fifth avenue, on January 5, 1913, at the age of seventy-one years. He was interred in the Old Gray cemetery at Knoxville. Besides his widow, one daughter and two sons survive him, namely : Mrs. C. B. Proctor, of Memphis, Tennessee : Walter Woodward, of New York City; and Hu Woodward, of Knoxville.
HU WOODWARD. Men of efficiency and character are the types of workers the business, industrial and professional worlds of today are eagerly seeking, and it is in recognition of the need and value of special training along certain practical lines that business schools exist. At the head of the Knoxville Business College at Knoxville, Tennessee, is Hu Woodward, a young man of splendid education and himself an example of efficiency, who cannot but inspire those who come under his charge to put forth their best efforts in their work.
Mr. Woodward was born in Lexington, Kentucky, June 7, 1880, and is a son of the late Col. James C. Woodward, who is mentioned individ- ually in this work. His mother was Miss Nannie J. Starnes prior to her marriage, a native of Hawkins county, Tennessee. Mr. Woodward grew up in Lexington, receiving his earlier education in the public schools of that city and later completed a course of study in the Baker & Himel School here. His parents removed to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1890, in consequence of which he concluded his education in the University of Tennessee. In 1898 Mr. Woodward and his father purchased the Knox- ville Business College, of which Colonel Woodward officiated as presi- dent until his retirement from active business life in 1908, when his mantle in the executive management fell upon his son. The latter has proved well worthy of the trust and has carried forward the work with a wisdom, tact and ability that has made it a most successful institution. The college was established in 1882, and its present enrollment numbers 150 students.
Mr. Woodward was married September 3, 1902. to Miss Nina C. Marsh, daughter of Henry Marsh, of Greeneville, Tennessee, and to their union have been born two children, Cecil and Pauline. The family residence is at 305 East Fifth avenue. Mr. Woodward is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
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JAMES B. WRIGHT. Since 1896 a member of the Knoxville bar, Mr. Wright is one of the prominent young railroad attorneys of east Ten- nessee, and at the same time enjoys a large and growing general practice. He began his career as a newspaper man, and his broad acquaintance with men and affairs acquired through the work of reporting the news for a city journal was probably the best introduction which any lawyer could attain for successful work in his profession. He has already won a high position in the law, and still has the best part of his career before him.
James B. Wright was born in New Market, Tennessee, November 13, 1875, and is one of a family of nine children whose parents were Ira C. and Martha (Hickey) Wright. The family has been identified with Tennessee for many years, and the father, a native of this state, was a merchant at New Market.
Mr. Wright attended the public schools of New Market while a boy, and subsequently entered the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he was graduated in the academic department in 1895 and in the law class of 1896. In the same year he was admitted to the bar, but instead of taking up active practice at once turned his attention to news- paper work, and as a reporter began gathering news for the old Tribune and the Sentinel at Knoxville. Later he opened an office and began prac- tice, which has since continued with marked success. For several years he was counsel for the Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern Railway, and in 1903 was made district attorney for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Mr. Wright maintains large offices in the East Tennessee National Bank building.
On June 14, 1900, he married Miss Dora V. Whittaker, a daughter of Henry C. Whittaker, of Jefferson county, Tennessee. They are the parents of three children, Mr. Wright and family worship in the Meth- odist church South, and his political affiliations are with the Republican party. His residence is at 517 West Cumberland street in Knoxville.
NATHANIEL BAXTER. In Tennessee Colonel Baxter's name is closely linked with banking and the larger industrial affairs, and for a number of years he has been and still is one of the strongest individual factors in the business life of the South. His has been a notable career. He made a gallant record as a Confederate soldier, afterwards began his career in the law, was once clerk and master in chancery court at Nash- ville, and from the routine of profession and office his ability led him into the larger field of finance, where he was extraordinarily successful.
Nathaniel Baxter was born at Columbia, Tennessee, in November, 1845, a son of Nathaniel and Mary L. (Jones) Baxter, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. The Baxter family is of Welsh origin, while the Joneses are Scotch. For more than a century the Baxters have been residents of Tennessee. The paternal grandparents, Jere and Catherine
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(Baldrieh) Baxter, the former a native of North Carolina, the latter of South Carolina, came to Tennessee in 1810, settling near Nashville. After renting a place for a time the grandfather moved to Dickson county, and from there to Maury county, where he died. One of his sons, James, fought under Jackson at New Orleans in the last battle of the War of 1812, being a lieutenant in his company and one of the youngest officers in the service. Montgomery Baxter, another son, died in the battle of San Jacinto, the memorable fight in which the Texans under Sam Houston won their independence from Mexico in 1836.
Nathaniel Baxter, Sr., the father, was born at Charlotte, in Diekson county, was educated at Jackson College in Columbia, took up the legal profession, and began his profession at Columbia. He was elected attor- ney-general for his district, composed of Maury, Giles and Marshall counties, served six years, then moved to Nashville in 1849, built up a large practice in the capital city, and soon afterwards was elected circuit judge, serving on the bench until the outbreak of the war. He was a Union man in his sympathy, an old-line Whig in politics, but afterwards a Democrat. After the war he served a term of eight years on the judicial bench, and altogether was one of the prominent and most successful members of the Tennessee bar. He and his wife were both members of the Methodist church South, in which his wife took a par- ticularly active part. Mary L. (Jones) Baxter was born near Columbia and was a daughter of John R. Jones, whose native state was North Carolina, whence, after graduating from Chappell Hill College, he came to Tennessee and was one of the largest planters in Marshall county. Previous to the war he owned between 150 and 200 slaves and had an immense estate. There were six children in the family of Nathaniel Baxter and wife, and two of them are now living. Colonel Baxter's sister is Mary L., the wife of Dr. Crouse, of Memphis.
Nathaniel Baxter, Jr., was educated in the schools near Nashville, in one of the private or neighborhood schools of that time. A man named Campbell was the instructor from whom he received most benefit in his early days. In the fall of 1861, though but fourteen years of age, he enlisted in the Confederate army, and served until General Joe John- ston surrendered his troops in North Carolina. He held the rank of first lieutenant in Freeman's battery of artillery and was twice wounded, the first time near Macon, Georgia, and the second time at Chickamauga. Neither wound kept him long from the service, but near Franklin, Ten- nessee, he was captured and sent a prisoner to Fort Delaware, and remained in a Federal prison for six months.
Following the war he returned to Nashville, where he began the study of law under his father. In 1867 he was admitted to the bar and was in active practice for two or three years. His associates in legal practice were his father and his brother Edward. A little later he was appointed clerk and master in the chancery court at Nashville, an
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office which he held for six years. After that experience he engaged in the banking business for a year, and at the end of that time his bank effected a consolidation with the First National Bank of Nashville. He was elected president of the consolidated institution, and continued at the head of that well-known old bank for eight or nine years. While president of the bank he also served as clerk of the supreme court. Colonel Baxter's activities in finance and large business affairs will be best remembered for his connection with the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railway Company, of which important corporation he was president for fourteen years, resigning in 1902, and it is to his credit that he carried the company through two of the worst panics the United States ever had and was the guiding hand in the upbuilding and strengthening of that great corporation. It was during Colonel Baxter's presidency that the company made the first steel ever made in the South and built the first steel rail mill at Birmingham, Alabama, and made the first steel rails in the South. His success in business has brought him rank as one of the substantial business men of Tennessee, but he has used his influence and wealth to worthy ends, and has been an important factor in public and civic affairs.
In 1910 Col. Baxter was elected to the state senate, and was speaker of the senate during that session. In 1912 he was again re-elected, and is now one of the influential members of the upper house. In 1868 he married Miss Laura Lavender, of Memphis. She has always taken and still takes a keen interest in all of Mr. Baxter's enterprises. They are the parents of four children, two still living: Mannie, the wife of Robert F. Jackson, an attorney of Nashville; and Laura, the wife of Robert F. Maddox, of Atlanta, Georgia. They lost two sons in infancy. Mr. Baxter and family worship in the Methodist church, and he is in politics a Democrat. Six miles out from Nashville he owns a very fine farm of twenty-four hundred acres, eighteen hundred acres of which is in cultivation, and it is to this that he at present and for many years has devoted his main attention.
ROBERT SCALES. A good family is a secure foundation for the career of any man, and even without the means afforded by money it takes one far in life. Possessing both an honored family name and ample financial means from youth, Mr. Scales has long been a popular figure in Nash- ville as a gallant soldier of the South, and is one of Forrest's surviving troopers, and has co-operated in many movements and activities of the city during the subsequent years.
The maternal grandfather Perkins was one of the very first set- tlers of Davidson county, and Robert Scales still owns a part of the land upon which the pioneer first located in the vicinity of Nashville. Robert Scales was born at Brentwood in Davidson county. His father, Robert Scales, Sr., was born at the old homestead near Cascade, on
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the line that separates the states of Virginia and North Carolina. Grandfather Henry Scales owned and operated a plantation on the Dam River, a part of that plantation being in Pittsylvania and Henry counties in Virginia and part in Rockingham county of North Carolina, and at that place he lived and died.
Robert Scales, Sr., was reared there, and as a young man came to Tennessee, where he became one of the early settlers of Davidson county. In this county he married Sally Price Perkins, who was born in Virginia, and her father, William Perkins, came from Virginia and had a more than ordinary share in the pioneer development of Davidson county, Tennessee. He secured titles to the land on which he settled from the state of North Carolina, that having been before Tennessee was sep- arately organized as a state. His home was built eight miles from the capital, on what is now the Franklin site. With the slaves who accom- panied him to the West he improved large tracts of land and continued to reside there until his death. His wife also was a Virginian. The senior Robert Scales after his marriage located on a part of the Perkins homestead, which had been his wife's dowry, and as he prospered bought the interests of the other heirs until he owned practically all the old Perkins homestead. He was a man of great enterprise, and in the early days before railroads furnished the chief means of transportation, he engaged extensively in the river trade. He built flatboats and took the products of his farm and of other farms down the river to Natchez. These boats were so constructed that the timbers were valuable at the completion of the trip down the river, and he sold them for lumber. He then made his way back, as best he could, sometimes riding horseback. and sometimes coming on foot. The proceeds of his various ventures he invested in lands in Mississippi and Louisiana, and at one time operated two farms in Mississippi. On the old homestead in Davidson county he built a commodious brick house, set back from the pike about two hundred yards, and with most attractive surroundings. That continued to be his home until his death at the age of seventy-two years. His wife died at sixty-two, and was the mother of thirteen children. Mr. Robert Scales is the youngest and the only one now living of this large family. As a boy he attended Robinson Academy and advanced his education in the Cumberland University. He relinquished his studies in order to join the Confederate army in 1861, and became a member of the First Regiment of Tennessee Infantry. With that regiment he went to the front, but after the battle of Shiloh the regiment was so much depleted in numbers that it was reorganized, and Mr. Scales then joined Forrest's Cavalry. Under that noted leader he served in all the campaigns and battles until the close of the war, and then returned home to look after the farm and other interests which fell to him. Since placing his ample estate in good order, Mr. Scales has spent much of his time in travel, and it is safe to say that few men have ever got more enjoyment out of life than he. Davidson county has always been his home, though he
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usually spends the winters in Florida. He is a popular member of Cheat- ham Bivouac of the United Confederate Veterans. Mr. Scales has never married. He maintains a good home in Nashville and is a great reader of current and standard literature and an exceedingly interesting con- versationalist.
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON. An essentially representative and public- spirited citizen of Knoxville, Tennessee, is William R. Johnson, a promi- nent business man of this city, mayor of its suburb of Park City, and identified with the group of progressive men that has in charge the National Conservation Exposition of Knoxville.
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, January 19, 1857, he is one of two children that came to his parents, William R. Johnson and Elizabeth H. (East) Johnson. The father, also a native of the same state and city as his son, was born January 19, 1828, and became a noted artist. He passed away in the city that had been his home from birth.
William R. Johnson, the son, received his education in the public schools of Lynchburg, Virginia, and was graduated from the high school of that city. After attaining manhood he was engaged in the news- paper business four years, and for two years was proprietor and editor of the Lynchburg Star. On disposing of those interests he came to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he embarked in the cigar business, and was thus identified until July, 1912. His attention in a business way is now given wholly to his interests in the American Construction & Develop- ment Company, of which he is president and general manager. The company is incorporated and has offices in the Henson building. As a citizen Mr. Johnson has always been active and influential in affairs pertaining to the advancement and general good of the city, and besides the firm place he holds in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men he has recognized abilities of leadership. He has been thrice elected mayor of the suburb of Park City, in 1907, 1909 and 1911, each time on the Progressive ticket. When the project of the National Conserva- tion Exposition was launched, Mr. Johnson was chosen a member of the managing board and is commissioner of finance of the same. He is a member of the Travelers' Protective Association and is very promi- nently identified with its work. He has served as president of the Knoxville Post, two terms as president of the Tennessee Division, served four years as national director, one term as first national vice-president, and was elected unanimously at Savannah, Ga., in 1905 as national presi- dent, a distinction never before accorded any member of the Travelers' Protective Association. He was elected again national president in 1907 at Norfolk, Va., on the first ballot, defeating three others who were prominent candidates. He has had the honor of presiding over three national conventions, viz., New Orleans, Buffalo and Milwaukee. He and his wife, who was Miss Della Haynie prior to her marriage, are both communicants of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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