History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 127

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 127

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In 1865, Capt. Hughes furnished John H. Anderson fifteen thousand dollars to engage in the hardware business at No. 28 Broad Street, under the firm-name of "Hughes & Anderson." This copartnership lasted ten years, when Mr. Anderson retired.

Capt. Hughes continued in business about five years then was burned out, and removed to No. 67 Market Street. where, under the name of " David Hughes & Co .. " the

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BIOGRAPHIES.

business is now continued. In this new field the candor of his former life was continued and won him many friends. He has a large wholesale trade reaching into Alabama, Georgia, and other Gulf States.

In 1846, Capt. Hughes commenced buying city property in Nashville, and with his real-estate business combined that of contractor and builder. Since that time he has built a large number of houses, which he rents. He has sold but two lots since his first purchase was made. He is an active man, always on the lookout for building, contracting, or buying real estate, and is all the time on the wing attending to some one of the many things requiring his attention. He is now living on his pleasant home-farm of one hundred and fifty acres, two and a half miles from Nashville, near the Woodbine Methodist church, which was erected by him and presented to that society.

This brings us to another phase of Capt. Hughes' character. He has been liberal, hospitable, and freelicarted in all directions, as river-men are apt to be.

In 1848, Capt. Hughes married Miss Ellen Drake, daughter of Jesse Drake, an old-time citizen of Nashville, and has four living children,-Medora, Walter, Blanche, and David. Medora, born in 1849, married, first, Ammon, son of Capt. Hughes' old-time friend and business associate Capt. Cabler. She afterwards married William Perry. She has never left her parental home, residing yet with her father. Walter, born in 1860, has been in the drug busi- ness, and is now with his father in the hardware-store. Blanche, born in 1863, and' David, born 1864, are also at home.

Capt. Hughes is a notable example of success from small beginnings. His determination has been to succeed in each of the various kinds of business which he has undertaken, and he has done it. Few persons have more tangible re- sults of a life of active and persistent labor, and he is to-day hale, hearty, and vigorous, with no signs of weakness or decay.

MAJ. WILLIAM EDMISTON.

The writer of this sketch knew the subject of it well and intimately from 1838 to the time of his death. He was a plain, industrious farmer, following farming all his life on the same-his own -- farm, in Davidson Co., Tenn. His father and grandfather were natives of Southwestern Vir- ginia, near Abingdon, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grand- father was an officer at the battle of King's Mountain, and won honor and distinction. He had also three brothers in the same battle, two of whom were killed. The sword which he wore on that day was handed down through the father to Maj. Edmiston, and was by him presented to the General Assembly of Tennessee, and is now in the archives of the State mislabled Edmonson, instead of Edmiston, as it should be. Maj. Edmiston cherished with pride the memory of his grandfather as a " Whig" of the American Revolution. He was also connected with the Campbells, both of whom were distinguished men and Whigs and have a high place in the annals of that part of Virginia. His father came to and settled in Middle Ten-

nessee when it was a territory and part of North Carolina and a wilderness. He settled near the town of Nashville, then just incorporated, 1784. The Indians were then nu- merous and hostile, and frequently killed and scalped the white settlers, not sparing even women and children. In & fort, stockade, or station, rudely constructed for defense against the savages, on the southern side of the town of Nashville, in 1792, Maj. William Edmiston was born. The men of those days were all brave, and the women were refined and brave too. A great number of the settlers were killed and scalped in what is now the city of Nashville.

Haywood's " History of Tennessee" records the names of many men which the present civilized and polished citi- zens of our city may read and be reminded of the debt they owe to the valiant, brave, and hardy pioneers who suffered and died that we might have a " city of Nashville." Maj. Edmiston obtained what education was obtainable in such times and society. Learned reading, writing, and arithme- tic from a Scotchman, whose name was Reid, with whom he boarded, and whose daughter he afterwards married. However, before he married and settled down to the peace- ful avocation of farming he volunteered in Jackson's ranks, and in the cause of his country and humanity he fought through all the Indian campaigns to protect the fron- tiers against the depredations, house-burnings, and massa- cres of the savages, and when New Orleans was threatened, and the South about to become involved in a war against a foreign enemy, he again volunteered and stood in the ranks a soldier on the plains of New Orleans, and assisted in its glorious defense, and ever afterwards warmly cherished the pride of having been one of its brave defenders under the leadership of the great chief and patriot Jackson.

Upon his return home from the wars he married, settled down in life, and became a plain farmer and citizen. He never sought or filled office, but chose rather the part of a private citizen. Maj. Edmiston was a good citizen, and always felt the interest which a good citizen ever feels in the good both of his State and the United States. He voted for Jackson for President both times he was a candi- date,-he knew him to be a soldier and patriot,-but when the party divided in Tennessee in 1836 he became a de- cided Whig, and remained for life the supporter of that party in every State and United States election. With- out becoming a mere partisan, he was a faithful, decided, zealous Whig. The writer, then a young man, remem- bers as though it were yesterday the great uprising of 1840, and the great commotion of Nashville resulting in the ovation freely and joyously given Henry Clay on his reception here, greater than any other man ever received in Nashville. Among the thousands who welcomed Clay there were no two persons more earnest than Judge Wil- liam E. Kennedy, of Maury County, and Maj. William Edmiston. Cousins, fellow-soldiers under Jackson, and Whigs from conviction and principle, each lived his three- score years and ten, and ten more, and when they died, and not until then, did the Whig die in them. Their last votes were given for Clay, Taylor, Scott, Fillmore, and Bell.

Maj. Edmiston was in person above the average stature, well formed, sandy-haired and whiskered, hazel-eyed, ruddy complected, with a sanguine, nervous temperament, excita-

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ble, brave, and courageous. There was no sternness in him, his expression was kindly and friendly, he was a good provider for his family, and was affectionate towards wife, family, and friends, liberal and generous to the poor, and humane to his servants, whom he treated as servants, not as slaves. As a citizen, always on the side of law, order, and good morals. He believed laws were enacted to be en- forced,-tempered with mercy, but still enforced; he was free from vices, a decided temperance man, he did not drink any kind of spirituous or vinous liquors, not even ale or beer. He was a man that " lived and let live;" in his intercourse civil but candid, open and frank in speech. He was withal an impulsive man, but of the generous kind. He had religious feeling, but was a member of no church ; in his latter days he read the Bible much, but seldom or never conversed on religious subjects.

During the civil war he was overwhelmed and silenced; when it was over, his judgment and feelings condemned it as folly and madness, and he was again a " Whig" and friend of the Union, and so remained. Although an owner of slaves, he complained not at their emancipation.

His only son, survivor, and namesake resides at the old homestead; he is a young man of information and intelli- gence, and although four years a soldier in the Confederate army, he regards it as a piece of folly, and openly speaks of it as such. After the civil war was over, Maj. Edmiston, upon application, was again placed upon the pension-rolls of the United States as a soldier at New Orleans, and the same was regularly paid to him to the time of his death, in 1874.

MICAH STIRLING COMBS.

This gentleman's family, as the name indicates, is of Eng- lish ancestry. His grandfather, James Combs, in company with his brother William, fled from political persecution in England to this country in 1772, arriving in Virginia in time to manufacture guns for the rebels, which he conveyed from the manufactory, concealed in the mountains, to them.

Just at the close of the Revolution, Mr. James Combs was married to a lady from his native land (England), by whom he had four children,-one son and three daughters. The son, James Woody Combs, was the youngest child reared, a sister younger than himself having been accident- ally burned to death.

James Woody Combs, the father of the subject of this sketch, came with his two sisters (the eldest of whom was married to a man named Wilson, of Virginia,) to East Ten- nessee about the year 1801, where he employed himself at various occupations-farming, brickmaking, etc .- as oppor- tunity would offer, using his surplus money in educating himself, until the breaking out of hostilities by the Indians, against whom he for many years helped to defend civiliza- tion, and against whom, as captain, he commanded a com- pany at the battle of Tippecanoe, under Gen. Harrison, and was with Gen. Harrison throughout his entire Indian cam- paign.

At the close of his military career, about the age of twenty-one, he entered the law-office of the Hon. Micah

Stirling, a lawyer of eminence in Troy, N. Y., as a student. After devoting two or three years to the study of law in this office he returned to visit his sisters in East Tennessee, and shortly afterwards permanently engaged in the practice of his profession at Pulaski, Tenn., at which place he mar- ried Miss Mary White Buford, the daughter of Capt. Charles Buford, formerly of Virginia.

He practiced law in all the courts of that circuit, and in the Supreme Court at Nashville until his death, in 1842, constantly residing in Pulaski, with the exception of a few months in Savannah, Tenn., about the year 1827.

Mr. J. W. Combs and Governor A. V. Brown were the first two lawyers who commenced the practice of law in Pulaski, commencing about the same time. Very many of the prominent lawyers of the South were trained in those offices.

Mr. J. W. Combs left a widow and ten children,-three sons and seven daughters,-of whom the following are dead: Mrs. Ann Augusta Bryant; Harrison, who was killed near Spring Hill, Tenn., while serving with Van Dorn's cavalry (about 1864) ; Mrs. Mary Ferguson, at Memphis, Tenn .; Mrs. Elizabeth Glasgow, at Iuka, Miss.

The survivors of the family are Mrs. Frances E. Holmes, of Iuka ; Mrs. Eveline Graves, of Pontotoc Co., Miss ; Mrs. M. J. Butler, of Nashville; Mr. James W. Combs, of Nash- ville ; Mrs. Alice Copeland, of Itawamba Co., Miss. ; and Mr. Micah Stirling Combs, who was born in Pulaski, Dec. 21, 1829. Was principally educated at Wurtemburg Acad- emy, in that place, spending a short time also at each of several other schools, one of which was in the country, about four miles out.

His first occupation was farming and the care of stock for three or four years, until he was about sixteen years old, being thirteen when his father died.

Between sixteen and eighteen he was generally traveling in several different States. At the age of eighteen (1847) Mr. Combs commenced learning to print in the office of Addison Estes, of Pulaski, at which occupation he continued for about four years in several different towns.

About 1850, Mr. Combs settled in Lebanon, Wilson Co., Tenn., purchasing an interest in a journal called the Leb- anon Packet, where he remained, publishing the Packet for about two years, which enterprise resulted very profitably. Mr. Combs at this time became sole owner and proprietor of the Packet office, which he removed to Nashville in 1852, and established the Evening News, the first evening paper ever established in the city ; and of this paper Mr. Combs was editor and proprietor for about two years, which resulted in entire financial and journalistic success.

He was married to Miss Mary Georgie Jackson, daughter of Daniel and Mary (nee Clay) Jackson, near Nashville, in July, 1853. Soon after this Mr. Combs disposed of his printing-press, and, permanently retiring from printing, em- barked in the livery business. On account of his strong attachment for horses, he has, with the exception of one or two short intervals, continued ever since in this business, being at the same time always engaged in other heavy and profitable enterprises, as farming, merchandising, and trading generally.

In the year 1872, Mr. Combs inaugurated the Combs

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at, since which time . he has given . the bugness, hi- livery ba iness

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HENRY W. ONEILL

Henry W. O Neil son of John F.and Matida Para; Dvd with Nov. 25, 1-20, in Desiden Co., 1 .... [' En'er was a native of Barbo Co. N. C., and sete ! in Bailen County in Prender, It's on the form now

HENRY W. OSEU.

kre on, Henry W. He died in 1-10. He had : a all of whom are dead of the subject of Il. and bte faire'd wife very members of the

. ; .ved a common school education, a'd tau; lt Ho vre vo ive been a farmer. Homo- av av ins te le ary and Bu ding has be. vi a boa.cfd fann, a view of which may on the work. He is over an extensive nan. .. hat to Elgi. . MeLonel.B ... he died in December. [-60, and he · : 1 . December, 15, dass Anna Charge and Eliza Wanting. They Honey, born March Is, 15" : A. - 1. 1579. She was a member , i

JOHN D. GANNAWAY.

Jobo E. Gastarav was born at Weremes. B. Ford Co., Tenn., Oct. 15 let. He naves I's ancestry Back to Join Giannaway, who came from Bass. Enderl, and settled in Buckingham Co., Va., in 1723 Most of his paternal au- cestry sare planters and shavende in Virginia. Ma father now r ide at Inion the. Tout. T's salget of this notice bessu life by acesting his father on his formy and in his store. He entered the store when twelve years of age, and soon having La we proficient in back keeping. acti as wie man and bock-keeper. His attenditive at s levd was very regular, and he mestered al ne the ordi- nary Eu'ssh branches and Gherk ard Lat.

Having decided to study har be saved the Variabile Las 8 8. 0 4. 15 18 5. bring at that time ely High- ten years of age. He graduated in June, 15,6 and go in Harten ". i was, tang at school in that place five months. of law and on the 3d of Jay, JeT', was thethe public

at-large how id field to nominate and rate for the best isat 0, 0: 15. 1-7%, he united in marriage with Mario C. Am , of Cuthbert, Gia and has two Finden, -i Bon. born Sept. 22. 1-T7. and Herbert, Born Nov. 10 175.

ANDREW JACKSON.

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Undertaking Establishment, since which time he has given his exclusive attention to the business, his livery business being conducted by employees.

Mr. and Mrs. Combs are the parents of eleven children, of whom seven are living. The oldest, James A., was ac- cidentally drowned in the Cumberland River (while bath- ing) in 1869.

Mr. Combs is a member of the "Christian Church," member of A. O. U. W., the order of the K. of H., of the I. O. O. F., and Royal Arcanum Societies.

HENRY W. O'NEIL.

Henry W. O'Neil, son of John F. and Matilda (Perkins) O'Neil, was born Nov. 25, 1820, in Davidson Co., Tenn. His father was a native of Burke Co., N. C., and settled in Davidson County in December, 1818, on the farm now

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HENRY W. O'NEIL.

owned by his son, Henry W. He died in 1840. He had seven children, all of whom are dead except the subject of this sketch. He and his faithful wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. She died about 1867 or '68. Henry W. O'Neil received a common-school education, and taught school one term. He has always been a farmer. He com- menced life poor, and by his industry and frugality has be- come the owner of a beautiful farm, a view of which may be seen elsewhere in this work. He is quite an extensive dealer in stock, especially sheep.

He has been twice married,-first to Elgiva Mclaughlin, March 25, 1856. She died in December, 1860, and he married for his second wife, December, 1863, Miss Anna Harding, daughter of George and Eliza Harding. They have one son, William Henry, born March 18, 1866.

Mrs O'Neil died April 1, 1879. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOHN E. GANNAWAY.

John E. Gannaway was born at Wartrace, Bedford Co., Tenn., Oct. 15, 1857. He traces his ancestry back to John Gannaway, who came from Bath, England, and settled in Buckingham Co., Va., in 1723. Most of his paternal an- cestry were planters and slave-holders in Virginia. His father now resides at Unionville, Tenn. The subject of this notice began life by assisting his father on his farm and in his store. He entered the store when twelve years of age, and, soon having become proficient in book-keeping. acted as salesman and book-keeper. His attendance at school was very irregular, and he mastered alone the ordi- nary English branches and Greek and Latin.

Having decided to study law, he entered the Vanderbilt Law School, Oct. 15, 1875, being at that time only eigh- teen years of age. He graduated in June, 1876, and, going to Wartrace, Tenn., taught school in that place five months. He came to Nashville Jan. 27, 1877, and began the practice of law, and on the 3d of July, 1878, was elected public administrator, and was re-elected Jan. 1, 1879. Mr. Gan- naway is a Democrat in politics, and in 1878 was a delegate- at-large from Edgefield to nominate candidates for the Leg- islature. Oct. 15, 1876, he united in marriage with Marion C. Amos, of Cuthbert, Ga., and has two children, -Icglena, born Sept. 22, 1877, and Herbert, born Nov. 16, 1878.

ANDREW JACKSON.

Andrew Jackson, adopted son of Gen. Andrew Jackson, was born near the Hermitage, December, 1804. His nat- ural father was Severn Donelson, son of John Donelson. There were twins born. Andrew was adopted within two hours after his birth ; was taken to the Hermitage, christ- ened, nursed, and forever received into the family of Gen. Jackson as a son.

The adopted son was nephew to Mrs. Rachel Jackson, wife of the general. He was a beautiful child, and by his amiable disposition soon endeared himself to his foster-pa- rents,-as much so as if he had been their natural son. He was tenderly, lovingly, and carefully reared. He was first sent to the neighboring school, and later to the Nashville University, where he graduated.

When Gen. Jackson went to Washington City, after his election to the Presidency, young Andrew accompanied him, and was offered the place of private secretary, but declined on account of a desire to enjoy youth and to be free from the restraint the duties of office would impose.

He was married to Miss Sarah York, of Philadelphia, a refined, an accomplished, and beautiful young lady, of ex- cellent family, whom he immediately conducted to the White House, where they met with the warmest and most affectionate of greetings by the President and other mem- bers of the family. Gen. Jackson always manifested much attachment for his daughter-in-law, addressing her through- out life as "my daughter."

They remained with Gen. Jackson during the remainder of his administration, returning with him to the Hermit- age, where he dwelt until his death. A. Jackson, Jr., and

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his wife were kind and unremitting in their attentions to the great chieftain and ex- President in his declining years, and had bestowed upon them the parting blessing of the great departed.

He died April 15, 1865, from a wound received from the accidental discharge of his gun while hunting. He left his wife, yet residing at the Hermitage, and two chil- dren,-Mrs. Rachel Lawrence and Col. Andrew J., who is unmarried, and resides with his mother.

Col. A. Jackson, his eldest son, was born at the Hermit- age, in 1835. He was a graduate at West Point, resigned his commission in the United States army (1861), and at breaking out of hostilities between the North and South was received into the Confederate service with his old rank, lieutenant. He was early promoted to colonel of artillery, was twice captured, and spent the last ten months of the war in military prison.

The youngest, Samuel, died of a wound received at the battle of Chickamauga, under Bragg. He wus four years younger than Andrew, was a farmer until breaking out of the war, when he took rank as lieutenant in Forty-fourth Tennessee Infantry, Confederate army. He served with Bragg and Johnson in their different campaigns until mor- tally wounded at Chickamauga.

He was remarkably mild and affectionate, and was uni- versally loved by all with whom he came in contact.

JAMES A. CHILTON.

James A. Chilton's ancestry were from England, near London. His great-great-grandfather arrived in Bultimore, Md., about the year 1752, with at least two sons, one of whom was the great-grandfather of J. A. Chilton. He re- mained in or near Baltimore through a long life, serving in the war of independence under Washington, and died about the year 1815, at the age of ninety. His children were James, William, John, Lemuel, and two daughters, who spent their lives in North Carolina.

The two sons, James and John, came to Tennessee and settled in what is now Marshall County, near Farmington,- James in 1826, and John in 1824. William and Lemuel went to Kentucky in 1824.

James, the grandfather of J. A. Chilton, was a tobacco- planter and manufacturer in Maryland until he was about thirty years old, then in Virginia ten years, and in North Carolina fifteen years. He was twice married ; his first wife lived a very short time. Being greatly affected by her death, he, in company with one companion, took a long journey through the then wild West and South, traveling on foot generally, with knapsack and gun, as they subsisted chiefly on game which they shot. During this trip he passed through Nashville, crossed the Tennessee River, and went into the Indian nation in Alabama. He returned the next year to his native State, and shortly after moved to Virginia, where he was soon married to Miss Kennedy, by whom he had several children,-Francis, Richard, John, James, David, Thomas, Robert, Polly, Martha, Virginia, and Janc.

Richard, the oldest son, was the father of James A. Chil- ton. Richard married Nancy Gassage in 1828, by whom he had eight children,-four boys and four girls,-viz, Al- fred G., James A., Wesley W., Richard E., Malissa, Jane, Nancy A., and Catharine.

His first wife, Nancy Gassage, died in February, 1844. He afterwards married Mrs. Nancy Carroll, by whom he had two daughters,-Augustine and Emily.

He moved to Franklin County in 1845. In 1854 he moved to Missouri. At the outbreak of the war he was

JAMES A. CHILTON.

driven to Illinois. In 1866 he returned to Franklin County, Tenn., where he died soon after.

James A. worked on a farm until he was ten years old, then three years in a cotton-factory, then on a farm about five years. When he was eighteen he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade under T. W. and J. M. Chilton. setting up for himself in about three years in partnership with T. W. Chilton.

June 20, 1858, he was married in Nashville to the beauti- ful and accomplished Miss Emilie C. Swan, of Galena, Ill., who was visiting the South on account of her health, and at the same time pursuing her favorite studies, ancient and modern languages, at the Nashville Female Academy. She was descended from a distinguished family of sea-captains of Pennsylvania. Miss Emilie early became one of the favorite poeticul authors of the South.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 127

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013