USA > Tennessee > A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume V > Part 7
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Another interesting achievement of the colonel's eloquence is the Confederate monument that stands at Jackson, Tennessee. For some years a plan has been on foot for erecting such a tribute to the Southern soldiers. It was not easy, however, to raise the required funds, although the leaders in the movement were assisted by a ladies' auxiliary. For two years the enterprise lived, but lagged. Finally, on a Memorial Day, Colonel Gates, with the same powerful initiative he had shown through- out his career, addressed the crowds from the cemetery and raised $1.700. The work was at once set in motion, with Judge H. W. McCorry, the late Frank B. Hamilton and Colonel Gates as the committee with full powers for erecting the monument.
It is unnecessary to say that Colonel Gates is decidedly a Democrat. His religious convictions are Episcopalian, as are those of all his family.
The colonel's life as a man of family has extended throughout the busy years of his activity since 1867. In that year he was united in marriage to Miss Caledonia Jane Jester of Jackson, Tennessee, descend- ant of the Scotch families of Tait, Sutherland and Sinclair. His two chil- dren are a daughter, named Emma; and a son, named Robert M. The former is Mrs. C. A. Folk, of Nashville; and the latter is well known as a newspaper man, at present the Washington correspondent for the Com- mercial Appeal of Memphis. Colonel Gates has four grandchildren in the Folk family and one in that of his son, R. M. Gates. May he live long to enjoy a ripe old age as one of the best loved men in Jackson, and one who is appreciated throughout the state as one of the makers of modern west central Tennessee.
MILES SCOTT, M. D. For a good score and a half of years Dr. Miles Scott has held an important place in this community of Robertson county as a medical practitioner of extensive and successful patronage. This county was the home of his mother's family, for his grandfather. Thomas Gunn, was an early settler here and was well known as a Baptist
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preacher and one who was fortunate in the possession of a large tract of land, made the more valuable because of the numerous slaves who called him master. Thomas Gunn's granddaughter, Martha Gunn, was born in Robertson county in 1822 and here spent her entire life, which closed in 1905. The paternal line of our subject's ancestry was Vir- ginian. In the Old Dominion state in 1812 was born H. S. Scott, who came with his parents to Tennessee when he was a child. Here he mar- ried Martha Gunn and became a leading physician in this part of the state, where he practiced for forty years. He was conspicuously a Demo- crat and the church relations of the family were of the Methodist de- nomination, Martha Gunn Scott being a faithful member of that church. They were the parents of eight children, of whom three are yet living. Seventh in order of birth in his generation of the family was Miles Scott, to whom this brief review is dedicated. His earthly existence began on April 7, 1854, in Robertson county, Tennessee.
The Robertson county public schools gave Miles Scott his intellectual start in life. It was under the parental roof, however, that his am- bitions were best nourished. He looked to a career in the same profes- sion as that distinguished by his father, and a medical course was therefore his educational goal. He entered the College of Medicine of Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1878 received his degree as a doctor of medicine.
Dr. Scott began his medical practice at Barren Plains and has since conducted those activities in this locality. His professional endeavors cover a wide range of territory and has been one of genuine success in its healing offices. Dr. Scott has met with sincere appreciations for his ministrations and his financial returns have been of a gratifying status.
An attractive and productive farm of three hundred and fifty acres provides the doctor's favorite diversion, for under his supervision ex- cellent crops of tobacco are raised. His chief interest is, of course, his professional practice. He is a member of the county and state medical societies. Of religious organizations, his personal connection is with the Methodist church, South, to which the other members of his family also belong.
As a daughter of Anderson Holman, Mrs. Scott has formerly been well known, both as Miss Dora L. Holman and later as Mrs. Taylor. Ad- ditional data regarding her family will be found in the sketch of C. G. Holman elsewhere to be found in these pages. It was in July of 1890 that Dora Holman Taylor became Mrs. Scott. She and the doctor are the parents of one child, a son named George Robert, who resides at the parental home. The doctor's family is valued as one of wholesome influence as well as of notable service to humanity.
EDGAR GREEN PARISH. In the varied and tangible evidences of man's creative and constructive ability, none commands more universal
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respect than that class of work which evolves the many types of human habitation. Ordinary though the uses of buildings may be, through them a city or town takes on its visual character. Thus it is that no slight credit accrues to carpenter, architect or contractor, whose organ- izing ability makes possible those structures which combine usefulness, durability and harmony of outline. Edgar Green Parish might be one of those who, adapting the old saying, exclaim: "Let me erect the build- ings of the city, and I care not who makes its laws." As a matter of fact, Mr. Parish is concerned with both the building and the law-making in Jackson, Tennessee.
Mr. Parish's genealogy is Virginian, his birthplace in Milan. Gib- son county, Tennessee, the date of his nativity the 11th of July, 1868. His parents were Nehemiah Parish, an undertaker of that town, and Lucinda Poole Parish, his wife. The former lived until 1884, but the latter's demise occurred in 1878, when Edgar Green Parish, the son, was ten years of age.
Leaving Tennessee at the age of twelve and going to Clinton, Ken- tucky, for residence, Edgar G. Parish received his final education in Marvin College, of that place. After his five years of life in Kentucky, he returned to Tennessee, settling at Jackson, where for two years he en- gaged in the work of a carpenter. In 1887, he turned his knowledge of construction to account in taking up the contracting business for him- self. This line of activity Mr. Parish has ever since continued, his con- tracts becoming more and more numerous and important. He has su- pervised the erection of some of the most modern buildings in Jackson, and, in fact, in this entire section of the state. The structures for which he is responsible as contractor include, among others, the First National Bank, the new high school, the Elks' building, and the Southern Hotel. He is also notable for handsome and up-to-date private residences.
Jackson has honored Mr. Parish with civic office. In 1904 he was placed on the board of aldermen and has ever since continued to serve in that capacity. He had before that time for six years made one of the Madison county court. In both offices his judgment and his sanity of viewpoint have been such as to win respect and appreciation.
Mr. Parish's large circle of friends includes many brothers of fra- ternal orders, in which the contractor has taken high honors. The Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks claims his membership in lodge No. 192; the Knights of Pythias in Lancelot lodge No. 13, in which he has held every office except that of chancellor commander; and the Order of Moose, in which he is also an important member.
In 1891 Mr. Parish was married to Miss L. Moss, who died in 1899. His second marriage was solemnized in 1904, when Miss Edna Patton Wheeler, of Henderson, Tennessee, became Mrs. Parish. . The two chil- dren of the family are both sons and are called Edgar Moss Parish and Robert Harvey Parish. The family are valued members of the Cum-
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berland Presbyterian church. In political affiliation, Mr. Parish is a Democrat.
REV. HERBERT WHITING VIRGIN. A name of distinction among Bap- tist clergymen, among leaders in social reforms and philanthropies, and among theologians of his denomination, is that of the Rev. Herbert Whiting Virgin, D. D., now of Jackson, Tennessee. His vigorous per- sonality and mind have stimulated religious and moral enthusiasm in many cities and in numerous states, for his guidance has been sought by churches and educational institutions in Kentucky, in Louisiana and in Missouri, as well as in Tennessee. Before noting the successive steps of his broad and unusually efficient service, we shall first briefly outline the main facts of his birth and education, although it must here be said that Dr. Virgin is one of those rare men who never cease to study-who look to eternity itself as the infinitely splendid post-graduate opportu- nity of the soul.
Louisiana is the state of his birth. At Mandeville, in that common- wealth, a summer home was maintained by Edwin Forrest Virgin, a wholesale seed merchant of New Orleans ; here he came from time to time, with his wife, Helen Caruthers Virgin, a lady of South Carolina parent- age; and here, in 1872, occurred the birth of their son, who was christ- ened Herbert Whiting.
The public school system of New Orleans was that which provided the early foundations of Herbert Whiting Virgin's education. From there he passed to Georgetown College. That step completed, he sought the class-rooms of the greatest of Baptist institutions-the University of Chicago. There he pursued courses in theology and history-as well as at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville, Kentucky. Thus equipped with the scholarly material fitting him for his chosen vocation, he was ready for his era of service, looking nevertheless to fur- ther study at later periods.
In 1895 Reverend Virgin began his pastoral work, locating at Nichols- ville, Kentucky. With this ministerial responsibility he combined pro- fessorial duties in Jessamine Institute, where he taught graduate courses. This he continued for two and one-half years. When, at the end of that time, he was called to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to take charge of the First Baptist church of that place, he not only fulfilled the duties of his pastorate there, but organized three other Baptist churches in adjoining towns. This climate proved to be a difficult one for his young wife and child; he therefore removed, for their healths' sake, to La Grange, Kentucky. He became the pastor of the DeHaven Baptist Memorial church at La Grange, and at the same time pursued theological studies in the Baptist Theological Seminary located in Louisville, Kentucky.
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When four years had passed, Reverend Virgin left La Grange, Ken- tucky, to assume the spiritual leadership of the First Baptist church of Nevada, Missouri. After continuing there for nearly five years, he was called to the Benton Boulevard Baptist church of Kansas City.
In the meantime the name of Herbert Whiting Virgin had become more and more widely significant of clear-sighted sincerity and of vital strength in the work of his denomination and related lines of spiritual advancement. These qualities, in addition to his rich theological erudi- tion, led to the conferring upon him, by two institutions, of the doctor's degree which he now holds by double right. In 1908, Georgetown Col- lege of Georgetown, Kentucky, awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity ; and in the same year he was similarly honored as Doctor of Divinity by Union University of Jackson, Tennessee.
While engaged in the city pastorate at Kansas City, Dr. Virgin's work had grown extraordinarily full of varied responsibilities. Its multi- plicity of service included his association with the Word and Way Pub- lishing Company, of which he was secretary and to which he also gave editorial assistance in the capacity of book reviewer. At the same time he was president of the Sunday Observance League and vice-president of the Sunday School Board, for Missouri, being also a member of the exec- utive committee of the State Board and of the locating committee of the City Mission Board. During the years he had spent in Missouri, Rever- end Virgin had also organized the Young People's Assembly of that state, which has since assumed large proportions.
It was in 1908 that Dr. Virgin accepted the call to become pastor of the First Baptist church of Jackson, Tennessee. While thus officiating, he has also held for two years the chair of Sunday School Pedagogy of Union University. He has in the meantime inspired the interest that has led to the erection of the present $100,000 church edifice in which his people worship.
Dr. Virgin's aid and advice are sought by many organizations whose purpose is religious and educational advancement. He is a member of the State Mission Board of Tennessee; of the Education Commission of Tennessee ; and of the District Board of Education. His human interests are by no means confined within the limits of his church organization, but broadly touch all civic and other public causes. The political stand which Doctor Virgin takes is independent, although his economie convic- tions are of the Democratic cast.
In the year 1897 Reverend Virgin was united in marriage to Miss Isabel Josephine Goff. Mrs. Virgin is a daughter of C. C. Goff of New Orleans. She and Doctor Virgin are the parents of four children. The daughters are named Ruth, Bessie, Mary Helen and Isabelle Josephine; the young son bears his father's name-Herbert Whiting.
To Doctor Virgin the church of the South owes no slight measure of appreciation for the vigor which he adds to church life and to tlie
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principles for which all churches are striving. His is a name that stands for spiritual strength and progress. The fact that Doctor Virgin is as yet barely forty years of age is a cause for thankfulness to many whose hopes loom large for a nobler future for humanity. Realizing what such work as his can signify, it is good to anticipate his further aid, with that of his consecrated comrades, toward the gradual accomplishment of the soul's dream that the divine will may indeed one day be done in a mun- dane world as it is upon the celestial heights.
RUFUS FARMER LONG. Among the public spirited citizens of any community are often found prominent those who have been reared amid influences which tend to the higher development of the race in general- physical conditions such as the farm offers, with its pure air, water, sun- shine and plenty of healthful exercise, which permit free play to the best instincts of man. One of these substantial citizens is R. F. Long, a banker of Hendersonville, who has combined agricultural pursuits with a business career, and thus enjoys the broad freedom of the independent life in the country.
John R. Long, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1830, in Robertson county, Tennessee, where he has engaged in farming all his life, which occupation he has pursued with much success. For a con- siderable period of time a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, he has been steward for years, and politically he is affiliated with the Democratic party, favoring prohibition. His service in the Civil war extended over a period of seven months. The birth of Lucinda A. (Batts) Long, wife of John R. Long, occurred in Robertson county also, in 1835, she being a daughter of Jeremiah Batts, an early settler of the county and a prosperous farmer.
Born April 4, 1869, in the county which is the birthplace of his father, after his school days were spent and he had completed a busi- ness course at Nashville, R. F. Long began his career on the farm, to the management of which he has applied his business ability with unusual success, being the owner of 711 acres of land. Integrity, business acu- men, foresight and wisdom are recognized qualities in this man, and in 1910 he was elected cashier and vice-president of the Bank of Hender- sonville, the capital stock of which is $5,000, surplus and undivided profits $2,000, with average deposits of $35,000. He is also a member of the board of directors of this bank, and has served as school director, is a Democrat in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and belongs to the Elks. Nashville Lodge No. 72.
Mr. Long was married in 1890 to Mary Woodard, daughter of Judge John Woodard, for years judge of the county court of Robertson county and also an eminently successful business man of Nashville. Four chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Long: John W., a bookkeeper liv- ing in Nashville; Nellie, wife of O. E. Davis, with Foster & Parks Com-
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pany, Nashville; Albert W. and Rufus H., fourteen and eleven years of age respectively.
WALTER S. DOTSON, M. D. A specialist in eye, ear, nose and throat diseases, Dr. Dotson has had a very successful career both in general medicine and in his special work. A few years after taking his medical degree and beginning practice, his inclination and the trend of his abil- ities led him to specialize. His training is a product of some of the best clinics and hospitals in the country, and he is rapidly acquiring a posi- tion of exceptional distinction.
Walter S. Dotson was born in Macon county, Tennessee, December 13, 1878, a son of Hiram J. and Alice (Cornwell) Dotson. James Dot- son, the grandfather, was a native of middle Tennessee and spent his life as a farmer. The maternal grandfather, T. J. Cornwell, a native of this state, had a prosperous career as farmer and merchant, and is now living in Macon county past eighty. He is a man of fine intelligence and education, and gave much attention to the sciences of astronomy and mathematics. Both Hiram J. Dotson and his wife were natives of Macon county, the former born in 1850 and the latter in 1859. The father served during the last year of the war, though only fifteen, and was one of the youngest soldiers of the Union army. While on the road to Nashville a piece of artillery was overthrown and injured him. After the war he became a Macon county farmer, where he still owns a large estate, but is now living in Sumner county. He was the father of eight children, the doctor being the oldest, and educated them all for professional careers with the exception of the youngest, who is still a school boy. The father is a member of the Christian church, is affiliated with the Grand Army, and is Republican in politics though never taking an active part.
Dr. Dotson is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and the Uni- versity of Nashville, having graduated in the medical department of the former in 1898 and taking his medical degree from the latter in 1901. He began practice at Kempville in Smith county in 1898, and continued there until 1906. He then prepared himself for his favorite lines of work, and studied and had clinical experience in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, being in three of the leading hospitals of New York City, and in hospitals of the other cities. With this training for specializing he opened his office at Gallatin in 1908.
Dr. Dotson married, in 1897, Miss Anna Dennis. Her father, the Rev. J. M. Dennis, whose home is at Franklin, Kentucky, is a minister of the Christian church, an evangelist whose work takes him to all parts of the United States. The Doctor and wife have two children, Mabel, now in school, and Walter S., Jr., four years old.
He and his wife are members of the Christian church. He is a chap- ter Mason, is past master and now senior warden, and is grand lecturer for the order in the fourth congressional district. He also holds the
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office of president in the order of the Lions, and is prelate in the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a past worthy patron in the Eastern Star. In politics a Republican, he is now serving as alderman in Gallatin. Dr. Dotson is a popular member of his profession, is secretary and treasurer of the Sumner County Medical Society, a member of the Upper Cumber- land and Middle Tennessee Medical Society, is medical councilor in the fourth congressional district for the State Medical Society, and a mem- ber of the American Medical Association. Since the above was compiled the doctor has been re-elected to each of the above offices.
JOHN R. PARKER, M. D. For twenty years Dr. Parker has practiced his profession in Sumner county, has devoted his ability and skill to a large circle of patients. A native of the county, he represents a family which has been identified with this part of Tennessee since pioneer days, and its individual members have always borne names synonymous with solid worth and integrity.
John R. Parker was born in Sumner county, December 29, 1871. Washington T. Parker, his grandfather, was also a native of the same county, which places the settlement of the family in this vicinity at a very early date. He attained to a successful position as a lawyer, finally moved out of the state into Texas, where he died.
John R. Parker, Sr., father of the doctor, was born in Sumner county in 1831 and his death occurred in 1871. Educated in his native county, when he was a young man he accompanied his parents to Texas, where he remained only a few years, then returned to Tennessee, and during the war served in Company J of the Second Tennessee Infantry, Con- federate army. His military experience covered the four years of the war, carrying the musket of a private, and he fought at Shiloh, Chicka- mauga and other noted battles. After the war his years were passed in the quiet pursuits of the farm. He married Susan Brown, a daughter of George T. and Amanda C. Brown, both natives of Albemarle county, Virginia, where they were married, and thence came into Tennessee on horseback, becoming early settlers of Sumner county, where they were well-to-do people. Susan (Brown) Parker was born in Sumner county in 1839 and died in 1892. She was the mother of three children: Clare, who is unmarried and resides on the old home place; Washington T., also a farmer; and Dr. John R.
The common schools and the training of the home farm gave Doctor Parker his early preparation for a life of usefulness. He then entered the medical department of the University of Louisville, where he was graduated M. D. in 1893. The first twelve years of his practice were passed at Bethpage in Sumner county, and since 1905 he has had his office and residence in the county seat. He gives all his time to his pro- fession. He is a member of the Sumner County, the State, the Middle Tennessee Medical Societies, and the American Medical Association, and
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has been president of the county society. He is the owner of farm prop- erty in this vicinity.
LEWIS MI. WOODSON, M. D. Since his graduation as an honor man from the University of Louisville Medical College in 1885, Doctor Wood- son has been practicing his profession at Gallatin. He is one of the ablest surgeons in this part of the state, and enjoys the prestige of successful achievement and the esteem of his associates in the medical fraternity. He is a son of the late Dr. Thomas M. Woodson, who in his time ranked second to none among the best physicians of Tennessee.
Lewis M. Woodson was born in Sumner county, April 1, 1864. His grandfather, also named Lewis M., was a native of Cheatham county, this state, representing one of the early families, later moved to Sumner county, where most of his career was passed. He was a large farmer and slave owner, a minister in the Methodist church, and a man of much ability and influence.
The late Dr. Thomas M. Woodson, who was born in Sumner county in 1830 and died in 1906, was a practicing physician in this county for fifty-two years and stood in the front rank of Tennessee physicians. He accumulated a large estate, was a chapter Mason and a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife took an active part in the Methodist church. He married Amelia Allen, who was born in Allen county, Kentucky, in 1835, and now resides in Gallatin. Her father, Luke P. Allen. was a native of Kentucky. Dr. Thomas Woodson and wife had seven chil- dren, four now living, as follows: E. A. Woodson, a Sumner county farmer; John C., a farmer and stockman also in this county; Dr. Lewis M .; and Tennessee, who lives with her mother.
Lewis M. Woodson attended the Gallatin public schools and also had private tutoring. In 1883 he entered the University of Louisville Medical College, where he was graduated with honors in 1885. Since that date his office has been regularly maintained in Gallatin, and with a large general practice he has combined a great deal of surgery, which is his specialty. Since 1887 he has been surgeon for the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad. He has membership in the Sumner County and State. Medical Societies, and the American Medical Association, and has been a very active worker in the county society.
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