History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

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 79

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The society has a copy of the Polydori Vergilii, in Latin, bound in vellum, printed in 1644; a copy of Cicero's dis- course on old age, printed by Benjamin Franklin in Phila- delphia in 1744; " Dioscoridis Mat. Med." (Latin), bound in parchment, 1552; a copy of the Bible printed in Edin- burgh, 1678, from Hon. George W. Jones, of Fayetteville ; a copy of the Bible, from Churchill, Lanier, printed in London, 1757.

The portrait of Davy Crockett, painted by Miss Louise Goodwin, of Nashville, recently presented to the society, attracts universal attention from all visitors to the Capitol.

The present officers are : Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey, Presi- dent; Hon. John M. Lea, First Vice-President ; ex-Gov- ernor James D. Porter, Second Vice-President; J. A. Cartwright, Corresponding Secretary ; Anson Nelson, Re- cording Secretary; Jos. S. Carels, Treasurer; Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, Librarian.

HON. JOHN M. LEA.

Owing to the advanced age and feeble health of its ven- erable president, the meetings of the Historical Society have for some years been presided over by its vice-presi- dent, the Hon. John McCormick Lea, whose prominence and services to the public are deemed sufficiently great to entitle him to a more than passing mention in the history of Davidson County.

He was born in Knoxville, Knox Co., Tenn., Dec. 25, 1818, and is the only surviving son of the Hon. Luke Lea, who during his life filled with honor and credit many pub- lic offices, both State and national.

Fond of study from his youth, and eagerly seizing upon all the educational advantages of the time, he completed his school education at the University of Nashville in the summer of 1837, and at once began the study of the law.

In 1840 he was admitted to the bar, and in a short time thereafter selected Nashville as the place for the practice of his profession and his home.

His reputation as a scholarly and successful lawyer being soon established, he was, in 1842, at the age of twenty-three years, appointed United States district attorney, the duties of which office he performed with increasing credit to him- self and greatly to the satisfaction of the government until the time of his resignation, in 1845.

In 1850, after a spirited canvass, he was elected mayor of Nashville, and while occupying that position carned for himself the reputation of an active, able, and upright official.

During the fearful visitation of the cholera in 1851, which occurred while he was in office, he showed himself fully equal to the emergency. While not engaged in office-

duty he spent his time in counseling and encouraging the well, in visiting the sick, and in assisting at the burial of the dead. Declining to offer for re-election at the end of his term, he continued to perform the duties of his chosen profession until the demands of an increasing private bus- iness compelled him to retire from active practice.

During the war he was, on account of his high char- acter and personal influence with the parties then in power, enabled to do many acts of kindness, and to secure many indulgences for his less fortunate fellow-citizens and their families; and doubtless the persons still living are many who profited by his kind intervention in those troublous times.

In 1865, at the urgent solicitation of members of the bar, he accepted from Governor Brownlow an appointment to the office of judge of the Circuit Court of Davidson County, and in that capacity presided to the satisfaction of suitors, the pleasure of the bar, and with honor to himself until his resignation in 1866.

Soon thereafter he received a commission from the same Governor as judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, but believing that his services were not imperatively de- manded by the public needs, and having a predilection for private life, he declined the appointment.

Though never seeking and but once holding political office, he has always had decided views on all public ques- tions, and has ever exhibited the liveliest interest in the political welfare of his fellow-citizens. Much exercised at the discontent consequent upon the disfranchisement after the war of all ex-Confederates, he urged unceasingly upon the then State authorities their re-enfranchisement, and with such success that a special message from Governor Brownlow to the Legislature, in 1867, recommending such action, was the result. And thus, it may be said, at his in- stance was taken the initial step in a policy which, under the succeeding administration of Governor Senter, resulted in the removal of all political disabilities entailed by the war.

In 1869, when a bill to remand the State of Tennessee to military control was before the Reconstruction Committee of the Congress of the United States, in accordance with the request of a public meeting held in Nashville, he visited Washington to oppose its passage. Appearing before the full committee, he read a carefully-prepared statement, ad- mitting the existence of political disorders and race troubles in the State, but at the same time showing that reconstruc- tion would only make matters worse instead of mending them. The failure of the committee to report in favor of the passage of the bill was, according to intimations from some of its members, largely owing to the effect produced by this statement and argument.

The only political office ever held by him was that of member of the lower house of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, in 1875, to which position he was nominated while absent from the State, and afterwards elected by an overwhelming majority. While in the Legis- lature he wrote and secured the passage of a general law for the organization of corporations,-a law which is a monument to his skill and industry, and which has worked admirably in practice, resulting in the saving of much time and expense both to applicants for charters and to succeed-

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

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303

CTY OF NASHVILLE.

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g. werd, contributing not " ; of bos means, to the mor fon of xy, all in this connection we may tantiun his att & or . ale of the Tennessee School big the Rund ." Bu bomuld goods and original house where the sete dias stands, and also his joint donation with SomeI Waskens Berg, of a house and lot to the Worry's Mission Home.

So a ar. the most salient fortures we have been enabled to goher in the life of thes well-known citizen, who, did not :'s naself-hness and his devotion to duty far excerd his a sbuion and bis dohe for self azzmarzomont, could By ueenpy a much more conspimous, though perhaps is useful, position is fore the public.

ANSON NELSON, ESQ ..

io for many years has been the secretary of the Terms. . ; Historical Society, was born in Wa hington County, in .- State, on the 19th of November, 1821. His father, 1 .6. 1 Nelson, roaoved the next year to the Biawas. co Wat hase, now MeMian County, subsequently to Marys- 'se and then to Knoxville in 1828. In 1832. 5 .ing a & sa passion for the printing business, Anson succeeded in .. Liking a situation in the office of the Koustitle 20 76- '", as an apprentice under the veneralie Maj. F S. Heis- k ", who is still living at the advanced age of nine ty years. M. Hakoll had a remarkable set of boys, first and last, under bic hand as proprietor of one of the most important brystetjets of his day ; among them Clayton, of Alb ona, " a. Zan soffer, Midshipman Harrell, William Fidesz " T'aide Scrap Book " and a member of the Legislature of Texas, and several others, who 'veaus men of more or loss note in diferent Frates.

Maj. Hviskell sold his establishment in 1835 to Ram- vy & Craighead, and Mr. Nelson compteed his appren- tereship with them and became a journeyman printer. He came to Nashville in August, Is :0, and soon after took Parce of the Noskadl. Why as foreman. In 1-19 he bright the Daily Grette, and established a jobcodice in .we tion with the godbyisation of the daily. He pub- Wished, by contract, the Presbyterian Record, a weekly paper established by the Nashville Synod ; also the West- Bou'aum, a mouddy. . . ated by Capt. Embry, but which IS not long remein He bought the Tomesser bryta of Er. John P. Carded and waited that paper some time, tu ing which it rebel. d its highest circulation. It was a . es sance paper, and had considerable influence than h. e; the Stae. Il. was identified with the order of the as of Temperance. a stare and powerful organization in hat day, and we sw d Grond fravarer of the Grand Division of the Same ta uber gently held all the higher offires of that 1.1:

Preparingof the Grette and the job face in 1-53, he But Riveted by the mayor and allormen revenue collector .. f the city of Nashville, and was unanimously resulted in h successive year, until all the oficers were destheend by Andrew Johnson, Military Governor, in 1862. Mr. Nelson was idle for more than a gerir, when he estabii. Led a real- estate ofice, in which he was remarkably successful, and which he carried on until 1563, when he was induced by public opini a to take charge of the tax-books of the city, under Hon. John M. Bass, who was appointed receiver under a decree in chancery. He was treed to remain when the Morris administration was placed in possession of the city g venvient by the voice of the people. He served through K J. Morris' administration of three years as treasurer. No. MeChes being el. etel revenue collector. He has held the office of city treasurer ever since, under the admiitis- trations of Thomas A. Kon hora! and M. B. Howell.

Mr. Nelson, in connection with William L. Messe, Esq, who was like partner in the real-estate business. estab- lished the Second National Bank of Nashville in 1805 or 'Sit and wes president of that institution for the first year of its existence, und left it m a flourishing condition. He aided in the founding of the East street-car line in the city, and was president of the South Nashville Street Railroad Company the first year after its organization. Ile was one of the directors in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Com- pony iman dash after that road was turead over to the stoca holders by the military authorities, who had possession of'a during the war. Being on the excestive committee, which requires too much of bis time, he dechned to serve I ayer than three years in that capacity. He was more or less identified with every cad the un vement for many years, and was one of the directors in the Mount Olivet Contery Company for several years. For more than thirty years past be has been clos. ly identised with the Tenuessce His- torical Society, during all of which: time he has been its re- cording se rotary. which position he now holds. Mr. Nel- son is a realy and accurate writer, and has compiled many valhavde contributions to local history, besides hay volant- ous correspondence as secretary of the Historical Soci. y of the State.

In religion he is a Baptist, having noited with the First Baptist Church of Nashville in 1841, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr Howell. He has been an exemplary member of that church ever since, of which he is a trustee, and was several Years ago ordained a deacon. .

Mr. Nelson possesses in a very high degree the conclure and esteom of his contemporaries. His popularity and in- fluence in business and soe: I cireles are very great. He is a d ve,d and carnest worker in all measure. for the palilic w. Boro, aod m wany conmiattves and in other ways does a great amount of work for which he receives no com.po usa- tion save the univer 'd award that his work is always well done.

To no man navce than to Mr. Nel or are the citizens if Nashville, and of Tennessee generaly, more indeed for the brilliant neves which has at. vi 1 the N. Avine Con- tomal. He is mph, ficaty a peacemaker, and many a diffi- culty aura g men has been aneatly and happily adjusted by his kindly and wise conciliation.

* Added by the author of this work.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

ing Legislatures. During the same session he also advo- cated the payment of the interest upon the entire State debt, presuming that the resources of the State, already great, would be largely increased by such fidelity to public obligations.

He is a man of unusual foresight, of most excellent judgment, of exact information; of varied culture, and pub- lic-spirited in the true sense of the word, contributing not only of his time, but also liberally of his means, to the amelioration of society ; and in this connection we may mention his gift to the trustees of the Tennessee School for the Blind of the beautiful grounds and original house where the school now stands, and also his joint donation with Samuel Watkins, Esq., of a house and lot to the Woman's Mission Home.

Such are the most salient features we have been enabled to gather in the life of this well-known citizen, who, did not his unselfishness and his devotion to duty far exceed his ambition and his desire for self-aggrandizement, could easily occupy a much more conspicuous, though perhaps less useful, position before the public.

ANSON NELSON, ESQ.,

who for many years has been the secretary of the Tennes- see Historical Society, was born in Washington County, in this State, on the 19th of November, 1821. His father, Daniel Nelson, removed the next year to the Hiawassee Purchase, now McMinn County, subsequently to Marys- ville, and then to Knoxville in 1828. In 1832, having a great passion for the printing business, Anson succeeded in obtaining a situation in the office of the Knoxville Regis- ter, as an apprentice under the venerable Maj. F. S. Heis- kell, who is still living at the advanced age of ninety years. Mr. Heiskell had a remarkable set of boys, first and last, under his hand as proprietor of one of the most important newspapers of his day ; among them Clayton, of Alabama, Gen. Zollicoffer, Midshipman Harrell, William Fields (of " Fields' Scrap-Book," and a member of the Legislature of Texas), and several others, who became men of more or less note in different States.

Maj. Heiskell sold his establishment in 1835 to Ram- sey & Craighead, and Mr. Nelson completed his appren- ticeship with them and became a journeyman printer. He came to Nashville in August, 1840, and soon after took charge of the Nashville Whig as foreman. In 1849 he bought the Daily Gazette, and established a job-office in connection with the publication of the daily. He pub- lished, by contract, the Presbyterian Record, a weekly paper established by the Nashville Synod ; also the West- ern Boatman, a monthly, edited by Capt. Embry, but which did not long remain. He bought the Tennessee Organ of Rev. John P. Campbell, and edited that paper some time, during which it reached its highest circulation. It was a temperance paper, and had considerable influence through- out the State. He was identified with the order of the Sons of Temperance, a strong and powerful organization in that day, and was elected Grand Treasurer of the Grand Division of the State, and subsequently held all the higher ofices of that body.

Disposing of the Gazette and the job-office in 1853, he was elected by the mayor and aldermen revenue collector of the city of Nashville, and was unanimously re-elected each successive year, until all the officers were displaced by Andrew Johnson, Military Governor, in 1862. Mr. Nelson was idle for more than a year, when he established a real- estate office, in which he was remarkably successful, and which he carried on until 1869, when he was induced by public opinion to take charge of the tax-books of the city, under Hon. John M. Bass, who was appointed receiver under a decree in chancery. He was urged to remain when the Morris administration was placed in possession of the city government by the voice of the people. He served through K. J. Morris' administration of three years as treasurer, Mr. McCann being elected revenue collector. He has held the office of city treasurer ever since, under the adminis- trations of Thomas A. Kercheval and M. B. Howell.

Mr. Nelson, in connection with William L. Murfree, Esq., who was his partner in the real-estate business, estab- lished the Second National Bank of Nashville in 1865 or '66, and was president of that institution for the first year of its existence, and left it in a flourishing condition. He aided in the founding of the first street-car line in the city, and was president of the South Nashville Street Railroad Company the first year after its organization. He was one of the directors in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Com- pany immediately after that road was turned over to the stockholders by the military anthorities, who had possession of it during the war. Being on the executive committee, which required too much of his time, he declined to serve longer than three years in that capacity. He was more or less identified with every public movement for many years, and was one of the directors in the Mount Olivet Cemetery Company for several years. For more than thirty years past he has been closely identified with the Tennessce His- torical Society, during all of which time he has been its re- cording secretary, which position he now holds. Mr. Nel- son is a ready and accurate writer, and has compiled many valuable contributions to local history, besides his volumin- ous correspondence as secretary of the Historical Society of the State.

In religion he is a Baptist, having united with the First Baptist Church of Nashville in 1841, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Howell. He has been an exemplary member of that church ever since, of which he is a trustee, and was several years ago ordained a deacon.

Mr. Nelson possesses in a very high degree the confidence and esteem of his contemporaries. His popularity and in- fluence in business and social circles are very great. He is a devoted and earnest worker in all measures for the public welfare, and on many committees and in other ways does a great amount of work for which he receives no compensa- tion save the universal award that his work is always well done.

To no man more than to Mr. Nelson are the citizens of Nashville, and of Tennessee generally, more indebted for the brilliant success which has attended the Nashville Cen- tennial. He is emphatically a peacemaker, and many a diffi- culty among men has been amicably and happily adjusted by his kindly and wise conciliation.

* Added by the author of this work.

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

TENNESSEE HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.

This noble institution is situated about six miles from Nashville, on the Murfreesboro' turnpike. - The grounds include four hundred and eighty acres, a beautiful farm, in one of the healthiest localities in Tennessee. The value of the building and grounds is about four hundred thousand dollars.

In November, 1847, the well-known philanthropist, Miss D. L. Dix, visited Tennessee, and, finding the accommoda- tions for the insane inadequate, memorialized the Legisla- ture, and aroused the representatives of a generous people upon the subject. Feb. 5, 1848, an act was passed estab- lishing a " hospital for the insane." The Governor ap- pointed Alexander Allison, Lucius J. Polk, Andrew Ewing, T. J. Player, Samuel D. Morgan, John J. White, H. S. Frazier, D. D. Donaldson, and J. B. Southall as commis- sioners; Dr. John J. Young superintendent, and Gen. A. Heiman architect of the building to be erected. The su- perintendent and architect visited various institutions in Northern and Eastern States for the purpose of perfecting their plans. Finally, the plan of the Butler Asylum, at Providence, R. I., slightly changed in architectural style, but similar as to internal arrangements, was adopted. The Butler Asylum was erected under the supervision of Dr. Bell, of the McLean Hospital, near Boston, and the plan was copied by Dr. Bell, when on a visit to England, from the asylum at Maidstone.

The Tennessee Hospital for the Insane is of the castel- lated style of architecture, with twenty-four octagonal towers, of proportionate dimensions, placed on the corners of the main building and its wings, while from the main building rises a larger octagonal tower, twenty-five feet above the roof, and sixteen feet in diameter. A range of battlements, from tower to tower, surrounds the whole edi- fice, following the angles of the several projections, giving a fine relief to it from any point of view. The extreme length of the building, from east to west, is four hundred and five feet, by two hundred and ten feet from north to south. There are two airing courts in this area, each about one hundred and fifty feet square. The height of the main building, from the ground to the top of the main tower, is eighty-five feet. The centre, right, and left of the main building are four stories high without the basement; the intervening ranges and the wings are three stories high.

Its interior construction and arrangement are in accordance with a plan which experience has demonstrated as the most approved and best calculated to promote the great and be- nevolent objects had in view in institutions of this character. In all the minutiæ of detail, the comfort, convenience, and health of the patients have been carefully studied. Its wards, dormitories, corridors, and various other apartments exhibit alike the same happy features of admirable arrange- ment. The whole building contains two hundred and sixty- five rooms, exclusive of all domestic apartments ; laundry, bath-rooms, clothes-rooms, etc. It is capable of accommo- dating two hundred and fifty patients.

The ventilation of the building is a decided feature in its construction. It is carried on by means of a centrifugal fan seventeen feet in diameter, driven by a steam-engine. The air is conducted through subterranean passages to the

central chambers in the basement, and thence through the steam-pipe chambers into vertical flues, passing through the entire building. The quantity of air discharged may be carried up to seventy thousand cubic feet per minute, which gives about two hundred and fifty feet per minute to each occupant. Thus a constant supply of pure fresh air may be constantly kept up during the most oppressive weather. Means of heating the building are no less complete. The series of vertical flues, before alluded to, are constructed in the longitudinal walls of the halls, starting from a coil of pipe or hot-air chambers in the basement story. From these flues the air, heated to any desired temperature, enters the halls and rooms of the different stories near the floors. By this arrangement the air supply is constant, without reference to any external condition of weather or tempera- ture. Water is pumped by the engine from a reservoir to a tank in the centre of the building, and from thence dis- tributed by pipes to other parts of the institution. There are five tanks, holding altogether about eight thousand gallons of water. Bath-rooms are on each floor of the building.

A few years since suitable quarters, removed from the main building, were erected by the State, at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars, for the accommodation of the colored insane of Tennessee. The usual number of patients is about forty. They receive constant attention from the physicians in charge.

Various kinds of amusement have been provided for the patients, which exercise a tranquilizing and soothing influ- ence over the unfortunate inmates. The grounds surround- ing the hospital are perhaps the most beautifully laid out in the South. Rare landscape views meet the eye in every direction. Lakes, fountains, and splendid gravel-roads and walks, lovely lawns, inviting arbors, and a fine collection of the rarest exotic and domestic flowers, shrubbery, etc., are among the many excellent features placed here to divert the patient's mind,

" Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow-

Rase out the written troubles of the brain."

In extent the floral conservatories attached to the hos- pitals are unsurpassed in the South, while the orchards and vineyards, and many other peculiar attractions, render the place well worth a visit, and all that the State could desire as to pleasant surroundings.

The superintendent of the hospital is Dr. J. H. Callen- ·

der.

THE STATE CAPITOL.

This fine building is located upon the summit of a com- manding eminence almost in the heart of the city. It is a parallelogram, one hundred and twelve feet wide by two hun- dred and thirty-nine in length, with an elevation of seventy- four feet, eight inches above the ground. The eminence on which it stands is one hundred and seventy-five fect above the Cumberland River, giving to the building, when seen from any of the adjacent hills, a sort of aerial appearance, as if it were swinging in the soft surrounding atmosphere. To a stranger coming into the city it is the first and chief object of attraction among the fine architectural structures which adorn many of the principal streets and avenues.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

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