USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 117
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In the year 1868, Prof. Bennett was elected a member of the Board of Education of the city of Nashville by the City Council, and retained that position for about eighteen months.
In 1869 he began to train young men for the ministry, and has been engaged in that work as a part of his teaching duties ever since.
In 1875, when the first faculty of the university was elected, he was chosen professor of theology and German. In connection with other duties he has also taught classes in mental and moral science, United States history, and other branches.
He was chosen a member of the board of trustees of the
university when he first came to Nashville, and held the position till 1879.
In 1869 he was made a member of the executive com- mittee of the State Teachers' Association, and was re- elected for eight successive years. That committee was in- fluential in securing the passage of the present school-law of Tennessee.
He is at present president of the State Teachers' Insti- tute, an organization which has for its object the improve- ment of the colored teachers of the State. In order to accomplish this result, it holds each summer a series of from twelve to fifteen local institutes throughout the State.
During the summer of 1878, Prof. Bennett took an ex- tended trip in Europe, visiting Great Britain, France, Italy as far as Rome, Switzerland, the Rhine country, Holland, and Belgium. His observations on his travels he has given to the university in several lectures.
He has taken great interest in the welfare of the prisoners in the penitentiary at Nashville, and has been superintendent of the prison Sabbath-school sometimes as associated with others for a period of nearly ten years.
FREDERIC AUGUSTUS CHASE.
Frederic Augustus Chase was born Jan. 29, 1833, at King's Ferry, Cayuga Co., N. Y. His father, Henry Chase, though not himself a Quaker, belonged to a Quaker family of Rhode Island, whose ancestors emigrated from Cornwall, England, in the year 1646. His mother, Har- riett King, is a descendant of the Avery family that came over in the " Mayflower." His early years were passed on his father's farm, beautifully situated on the shore of Cayuga Lake, and in the midst of a thrifty, intelligent, and hard- working community of Northern farmers.
When a young man, relying mostly upon his own re- sources, he studied in the academies of Genoa, Aurora, and Homer. He then went to Union College, in Schenectady, N. Y., and afterwards to the University of Michigan, where he was an especial pupil of Professor Alexander Winchell, LL.D. Feeling called to the gospel ministry, he entered the theological seminary at Auburn, N. Y., where he spent three years, after which he was pastor successively of churches of the Presbyterian denomination in Parishville and Lyndonville, in the same State. He then, in 1868, re- moved to Lyons, Iowa, where he was president of Lyons Female College, and in 1872 he came to Nashville to be- come professor of physical sciences in Fisk University. To his efforts is due the progress then made in that department of studies.
Professor Chase grew up in the midst of that agitation which shook the nation for a quarter of a century, and early espoused the anti-slavery cause, influenced, doubtless, by the fact that his father's house was a way station on the so-called underground railroad. At the beginning of the late civil war he was about to join the Rev. John G. Fee in planting anti-slavery churches in the State of Kentucky. It may be added that from the age of ten he has been a pledged abstainer from the use of intoxicants as a beverage.
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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.
In the year 1863, Professor Chase was married to Miss Julia Augusta Spence, sister of Professor Spence, and early associated with him and another brother, now Rev. E. A. Spence, in efforts for the colored people of Aun Arbor, Mich. They have three living children,-Mabel Augusta, Cleveland King, and Stanley Alexander.
HELEN C. MORGAN.
Helen C. Morgan, professor of Latin in Fisk University, was born in the year 1846, at Masonville, Delaware Co., N. Y. When she was about six years old, her parents went to Ohio and purchased a farm near Cleveland. After spending a few years there, they removed to Oberlin, Ohio, to enjoy the educational advantages of that place. Here Miss Morgan spent eight years in study, giving special at- tention to the languages, and in 1866 graduated from the classical course in Oberlin College, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
After graduation, three years were spent partly in rest and partly in teaching in the North. She then, in Sep- tember, 1869, entered upon her work in Fisk University. The officers of the American Missionary Association had decided that Fisk School should be developed into Fisk University, and Miss Morgan was invited to be the pioneer in the work of higher education there. During the first year of her connection with the school six of the most advanced pupils, having previously studied a little Latin, commenced the study of Greek under her instruction. She also had two classes in Latin and one in algebra. The next year Professor Spence came as principal, taking also the Greek, and Miss Morgan continued in charge of the Latin, retaining the higher mathematics for two years. In 1876 a college faculty was first established in the univer- sity, and the department of Latin was given to Miss Mor- gan, to whom, more than to any one else, is due the success of the institution in gathering and keeping together, in spite of poverty and many adverse influences, classes through the college preparatory and the college courses.
In 1878, Miss Morgan was offered a position in Vassar College, but preferred to continue in her chosen work at Fisk University.
GEORGE L. WHITE.
George Leonard White, the youngest of three children (two sisters are still living in Minnesota), was born at Ca- diz, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., Sept. 20, 1838. His father, William B. White, is of the New England family of that name, and is by trade a blacksmith. His mother, Nancy Leonard, is the daughter of George Leonard, a woolen manufacturer, of Springfield, Mass. His parents removed from Massachusetts to Western New York in 1835.
George L. enjoyed the usual advantages of a village school until fourteen years of age, working with his father, when not in school, from the time he was old enough to assist in the blacksmith's shop. At that time, through
failing health, his father was compelled to give up business, and, for the next five years, George worked at any employ- ment he could get to aid his sisters in keeping the family together. In the mean time he studied as best he could to qualify himself for the position of a teacher, and began such work near Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1858.
While teaching in white schools his attention was drawn to the needs of the colored people of the township, who were almost entirely destitute of school or church privileges. Assisted by two friends, he began a Sabbath-school in a grove, for want of a better place, using logs and rails for seats. The school was continued summers during his stay in the county.
He abandoned teaching in 1862 to join the "Squirrel- Hunters" in the defense of Cincinnati, and afterwards en- listed in the Seventy-third Ohio Infantry Regiment, under the command of Col. Orland Smith. He joined the regi- ment near Fairfax, Va., in the autuinn of the same year, and fought in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, Lookout Valley, Lookout Mountain, etc.
At the close of the war he remained in Nashville, in the employ of the Freedmen's Bureau, under Gen. Clinton B. Fisk. He retained his connection with the Bureau through the administrations of Gen. Lewis, Gen. Carlin, and Col. Thompson, spending his leisure time in aiding, in any way he could, the freedmen's schools,-first the McKee School, afterwards, at its first organization, the Fisk School. In 1868 he also assumed the duties of steward, and later, at the request of the American Missionary Association, he resigned his position in the Bureau in order to give his whole time to the work of Fisk University.
On Aug. 11, 1867, Mr. White was married to Miss Laura A. Cravath, the only, then, living sister of Rev. E. M. Cravath, now president of Fisk University. Miss Cravath came to Nashville in the fall of 1865, and was one of the first teachers in the Fisk School, and retained her position up to the time of her marriage. After this she was closely associated with her husband in his work in the university, and later in its behalf in connection with the Jubilee Singers. She accompanied her husband on the occasion of the first visit of the singers to Great Britain, and died of typhoid fever in Glasgow, Scotland, in February, 1874, leaving three children,-Leonard Northway, William Cravath, and Georgia Laura,-born respectively in 1868, 1870, and 1872.
Mr. White, because he saw in it a means of interesting the public and attracting attention to the freedmen's schools, while discharging his other duties, used every opportunity and exertion to develop the power of song in the studenta He was not a professional musician or teacher, having had little opportunity for musical instruction, and made no pre- tensions as a vocalist ; but his enthusiasm for music, his keen appreciation of musical effects, and great magnetism as a drill-master, enabled him to bring out of his pupils the good singing for which his schools had always been famous.
With a choir trained from among the students he gave public concerts in Masonic Hall in 1867 and 1868, which attracted much attention. The choir also sang at the meeting of the National Teachers' Association held in the
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"OLD COMPTON PRESENT RESIDENCE OF HENRY W. COMPTON, ON HILLSBORD
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FELIX COMPTON.
Felix Compton, son of William and Susan (Mullen) Compton, was born in District No. 11, Davidson Co., Tenn., Feb. 9, 1809, and died at his residence in the same district, and within a mile or two of where he was born, June 22, 1870. He remained at home with his parents on the farm until he was about nineteen years of age, when he commenced business for himself. He left Davidson Co., Tenn., about 1830, and settled in the State of Mississippi, and was there engaged in business until July 6, 1843, when he returned to his native State and married Emily G., daughter of J. G. Webster, of Maury Co., Tenn., a distinguished gentleman who was a | United States marshal under President James K.
Polk. Mr. Compton settled on his farm the Decem- ber following, and continued to remain there until his death. He was a large and progressive farmer, and owned at the time of his death some eight hundred acres of good land situated on the Hills- boro' pike, five and a half miles from Nashville.
In politics he was a Clay Whig, and as such was several times chosen magistrate of his dis- trict.
Mr. Compton lies buried in the old family burying-ground by the side of his parents.
He left a wife and seven children,-viz., Emily E., William, Mary E., Felix, Loulie S., Hayes 4., and Martha W.
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Capitol in Nashville, and gave a public entertainment in the city, rendering the cantata of Esther. He also gave con- certs at Gallatin, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.
In the mean time, Mr. White had been elected a member of the board of trustees and the treasurer of the university, and later professor of music. He felt that, in his position as treasurer and business manager, the duty was, in a meas- ure, laid upon him of doing something to provide for the permanent establishment of the institution. The university was occupying hospital barracks, and the site was not suit- able for its permanent occupation. Mr. White felt that he could not go before the public in the ordinary ways of soliciting help while the university had no more promise of permanence and had made only so short a record. Yet a large sum of money must be raised to purchase a new site and crect at least one permanent building, or the school must perish.
This necessity led him to select and give especial training to some of the best voices in his choir, in the hope that in some way the power of song developed in the school could be used to accomplish this end. By authority of the trus- tecs the singers selected were kept together during the summer vacation of 1871, and Mr. White gave his whole time and strength to preparing them and maturing his plans for the trial.
When this plan of trying to gain money and sympathy for the university was brought by him to the notice of the secretaries of the American Missionary Association, which was fostering the school, there were various opinions ex- pressed, but it was decided that no responsibility could be taken by them for the enterprise.
Rev. E. M. Cravath, then field secretary of the associa- tion, personally favored the project, and gave what encour- agement and aid he could.
As the case was desperate, Mr. White, though possessed of limited means, risked all, and, assuming personally the entire responsibility of the venture, left Nashville, Oct. 6, 1871, followed by the good wishes, prayers, misgivings, and anxieties of the whole university.
The history of this unique enterprise for the next seven years has been written in " The Story of the Jubilee Sing- ers." It was beautifully characterized by the Hon. Edward Baines, so long the member of Parliament from Leeds, as a " romance of Providence and grace."
During all this time Mr. White has been at the head of the enterprise, though he has on two different occasions been compelled for several months to withdraw from the immediate direction of the company, because of severe hemorrhages of the lungs, caused by the overstrain and anxiety inseparable from such a work.
Musical critics of Great Britain, Holland, and Germany, as well as those in this country, have given to Mr. White the credit of having produced some of the finer results in singing, to a degree which has been rarely, if ever, excelled.
No company of American singers have ever been so honored in Great Britain and on the Continent as the Jubilee Singers. They have been honored in appearing before, and have received the distinguished patronage and approval of His Excellency President Grant; Her Majesty Queen Victoria; Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and 56
Empress of Germany ; Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Netherlands; Their Majesties the King and Queen of Saxony ; Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Prin- cess of Wales ; Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess (Princess Royal of England ) of Prussia; His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught ; Their Royal Highnesses Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice of Eng- land; The Grand Duchess Cesarevna ; Their Royal High- nesses Princes Henry and Alexander of the Netherlands ; Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia ; The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar; The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess (Prin- cess Alice of England) of Hesse; The Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Lord Shaftesbury, and others of the nobility ; The Right Hon. W. E. and Mrs. Gladstone, and others.
Mr. White was married again, April 12, 1876, at Wol- verhampton, England, to Miss Susan Gilbert, daughter of Dr. John Gilbert, of Fredonia, N. Y. Miss Gilbert's edu- cation was begun at the Fredonia Academy ; she attended Mrs. Worcester's seminary for young ladies in Burlington, Vt., and graduated from the State Normal School, Albany, N. Y. She was a teacher in Madame Clement's seminary at Germantown, near Philadelphia, and entered the freed- men's work in 1867, at Beaufort, N. C., continuing as principal of the school in Beaufort and afterwards at Wil- mington, N. C. In both these places Miss Gilbert left the deep impress of her character, as a Christian teacher, upon her pupils and their parents in the early days of educational work among the freedmen. She was transferred to the office of the association in New York, as assistant to Sec- retary Whipple, and in March, 1872, joined the Jubilee Singers as preceptress to the young ladies of the company, and has been connected with them during all their cam- paigns since that time.
THE COMPTON FAMILY.
The Comptons are an old English family. The first ancestor of the Compton family who came to America was William Compton, one of the old colonists, who came to the United States with Lord Baltimore and settled in Virginia. He was one of the pioneer farmers of that State, and reared a family of children there. One of his sons was named Wil- liam, who grew up to manhood in the State of his nativity, married there, and was the father of quite a large family of children, one of his sons also being named William. This son followed in the footsteps of his predecessors in following the avocation of farming. He married, and had a family of three children, the first of whom was named William, the second Henry, and the third Julianna ; she was after- wards the wife of John Cartwright. William Compton, the father of this family, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His son William was born Dec. 25, 1767, on a farm in the State of Virginia, and remained with his father till he was ten years of age, when he left his native State and went with Capt. John Gordon to Kentucky on a hunting and trapping expedition. After reaching manhood he was a soldier under the leadership of the celebrated general " Mad Anthony" Wayne seven years. He endured untold
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IIISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.
hardships and had many narrow, almost miraculous, escapes.
Hle came to Nashville about the year 1782, and rented land from Capt. John Rains. Dec. 9; 1799, he married Susan Mullen, daughter of William Mullen, one of the earliest settlers of Davidson County. She was born Oct. 17, 1776, and died July 27, 1860. They had seven chil- dren : Elizabeth B., William S., Mary Ann, Felix, Thomas D. M., Henry W., and Susan L. Mr. Compton soon after his marriage settled on the farm now owned and occupied by his son Henry W. Ile commenced in a small way with a farm of about one hundred and fifty acres, but at the time of his death owned about a thousand acres. Besides conducting this farm, he was also a carpenter and joiner, and built the flat-boats that carried Gen. Jackson and his troops to New Orleans. Mr. Compton went with the party, and was deputy quartermaster under Joseph Wood. Though he had received but a very limited education, yet he was a man of sterling good scuse and was possessed of rare mathematical talent.
In politics he was ever an adherent of the great leader of Democracy, Jackson. As has before been remarked, his youngest son, Henry W., resides on the old homestead. When a youth his health was very poor, which prevented his receiving anything more than a common school educa- tion. He married, on the 29th of April, 1863, Miss Annie Ward, daughter of Michael and Margaret Ward. They have a daughter Susan. Mr. Compton has proved himself a successful business man, having accumulated a good property. In politics he adheres to the doctrine of his father and votes the Democratic ticket.
HENRY COMPTON, SR.
IIenry Compton, Sr., was born at Boone's Station, Fayette Co, Ky., May 1, 1784. He came to Davidson Co., Tenn., February, 1806. On Dec. 17, 1815, he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Cox. She was born Nov. 18, 1795, and died June 1, 1868. Of this union there were the following children : Rebecca, now Mrs. Thomas Alderson ; James W., deceased; Elizabeth, now Mrs. '4. Sherron; Mary J. (deceased), married Jesse Gil- man ; Alvira S., now Mrs. Thomas Goodman ; Philip N., born Sept. 7, 1826, is a farmer, was soldier in Confederate army for three years, enlisted from Arkansas. Ile married Lucy J., daughter of John H. Turner, of Alabama. They were the parents of the following children,-Tomie Ann, deceased; Henrietta, deceased; William II., born Nov. 17, 1832. He fell at the battle of Murfreesboro', while in Confederate service, Jan. 1, 1863, was buried on the field, and afterwards removed by his father to the family burying-ground. He was a brave and faithful soldier. Sarah married Henry C. Lockett, and resides in Nashville.
Henry Compton was a quartermaster under Gen. Jackson in the war of 1812. Ile settled on the old home, consist- ing of three hundred and twenty-five acres of land, in 1817. He was a member of the Masonic order, and a devoted ad- herent of the Christian Church. He was charitable to the poor and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of a large circle of friends. He died Aug. 18, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, three months, and eighteen days.
PETER TAMBLE.
Peter Tamble was born Feb. 9, 1829, at Losheim, in the Rhine Province, Prussia. He learned the cabinet-making trade at twenty-three years of age, came to America, and landed at New York in 1852. He worked there at his trade for some months. From that place he went to Chicago, where he remained only a short time, and from Chicago he went to Cincinnati, where he started in the furniture business with the firm of Henshaw & Sons. On the 3d day of February, 1856, he married Miss Mary Kiefer. Of this union there were seven children born. In 1859 he came to Nashville, and carried on the furni- ture business until 1868. In 1866 he bought a farm situ- ated on the Dickinson pike, four and a half miles from Nashville, in the Twenty-first District, where he now re- sides. He has been elected magistrate twice from that district, which position he now holds.
Peter Tamble, Sr., the father of Peter Tamble, was by occupation a carpenter and contractor of public buildings. He married Miss Magdalena Schmall in 1828. There was born one son, the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Tamble died four years after her marriage. In 1834 he married a second time Miss Maria Mertes. Of this union six chil- dren were born. One died at an carly age, three are now living at Losheim, and the two younger brothers are doing business iu Nashville. They came to this country in 1865.
MAJ. JOHN LUCIAN BROWN.
Eighty years ago, when the machinery of this govern- ment was new, and its powers more of an experiment than a reality, a race of men were born of Revolutionary ances- try and grew up under the personal influence of those noble spirits, who not only moulded the form of our gor- ernment, but gave confidence in its present and hope for its future. Those men who are eighty years old now, and are yet with us, looked upon the actors in those stirring Revo- lutionary times with emotions of love and veneration, while their examples impressed the characters in the same lofty mould which fashioned that of those old heroes. On the 29th of March, 1800, John Lucian Brown, the subject of this sketch, was born in Clark Co., Ga. His parents, Col. Bedford Brown and Sallie Trigg Brown, were of that old sterling stock of people so characteristic of that period of our history. His father was born in Prince Edward Co., Va., and moved to Caswell Co., N. C., thence to Clark Co., Ga., where he lived as one of the most popular and enter- prising men in that part of the State, and died there much respected. His mother was the daughter of Col. William Trigg, likewise born in Virginia, but, her father having moved to Sumner Co, Tenn., she married Col. Bedford Brown there, on Aug. 29, 1798. The ceremony was per- formed by Rev. Thomas D. Craighead, a minister of much note at that time in this country. After the death of his father his mother married Capt. Peter Mosely, who lived immediately in the neighborhood of the Hermitage (and near which place his grandfather, Col. William Trigg, also lived), where she settled in the midst of a large family
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MAS PETER TAMBLE.
PETER TAMBLE.
"LINDEN GROVE. " RESIDENCE OF PETER TAMBLE ESQ . DICKINSON PIKE, THREE AND ONE HALF MILES, NORTH OF NASHVILLE, TENN.
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connection in February, 1819. Thoroughly imbued with those principles of patriotism which instigated the action of our fathers in their struggle for liberty, these parents imparted to their children the same spirit and trained them under those influences which developed not only intense love of country and the highest reverence for morals and religion, but strict observance of all obligations growing out of the social relations of life. Little occurred that is known with the subject of this sketch outside the usual routine of boyhood life. In the language of one of his early associates, " He was a manly boy,-warm-hearted, full of enthusiasm, and devoted in his friendships." These traits of character matured and strengthened with his years, and have hung about him as graceful and attractive orna- ments during the good and evil fortunes of his long and somewhat checkered life. IIc received the first part of his education at a country school in Clark County, Ga., and then at Athens, Ga., then went to school to William Mc- Knight, in the Hermitage neighborhood, being a classmate there of Gen. Daniel Donelson, who was brother of An- drew J. Donelson, the private secretary to Gen. Jackson ; thence he went to John Hinton, a celebrated teacher, at the Red House, in North Carolina, and finished his educa- tion at Chapel Hill in the same State. When through his educational course he was regarded as a fine scholar. He then thought of entering upon the learned profession in which his brother, Hon. William T. Brown, afterwards be- came so distinguished as judge at Nashville and as an ad- vocate and criminal lawyer at Memphis, and soon there- after, early in 1822, he commenced the study of law with William Williams, Esq., in the vicinity of Spring Hill, in Davidson County ; his fellow-students were Alexander and Thomas Craighead, David Cash, and James Wallace. But being the possessor of considerable fortune, and led by his ardent temperament to hope for success in any channel in which he might direct his energies, he, to the regret of his friends, declined to enter upon a professional life for which his abilities and attainments so well fitted him. Soon after he attained his majority his restless energy and enterpris- ing spirit directed his steps to a new and broader field of operations. His physical manhood was cast in one of Na- ture's finest moulds. Six feet in height, straight and graceful, with fine, carnest face, gemmed with dark-brown eyes and an expansive forehead, crowned with jet-black hair inclined to curl, made him what the world called a handsome man.
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