USA > Tennessee > Fentress County > History of Fentress County, Tennessee > Part 7
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He was the first Clerk and Master in Fentress County after the war, receiving his appointment in 1865. In 1867 he was married to Mary Catherine Sproul, a graduate of Rogersville Female College. After serving as Clerk and Master, he went to Hiawassee College and taught seven years in that institu- tion. He taught two years at Columbus, Kansas, and six years, from 1888 to 1894, at Alpine Institute, in Overton County, Tennessee. His wife and his daughter, Nora Deane Roberts, and his son-in-law, Hon. A. H. Roberts, the present Chancellor Judge of this district, were associated with him in this school. This school, under their management, became the most val- uable educational institution in the mountain country. Many men and women in Fentress and adjoining counties owe their success to this institution.
B. O. Bowden lives at Livingston, Tennessee.
JOSHUA OWEN.
Joshua Owen was the son of Bailey Owen, who was a pioneer settler on the East Fork, below Boatland, where Joshua was born, and spent his long and useful life. He married a daugh- ter of John Beaty, another pioneer. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years. It is doubtful if anyone ever held the office longer, or performed a greater number of marriage cere- monies, than he did. He also tried the celebrated witchcraft case, an account of which has already been given.
He and his wife lie buried in the old Bowden cemetery, near Dr. Chism's.
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DR. JOHN NEWTON CHISM.
Dr. Chism was born in Kentucky in 1853, and came to Ten- nessee in 1884. His father was William G. Chism, and his mother was Elizabeth (Ray) Chism. His ancestors came from England.
He took the medical course at Vanderbilt, and has practiced successfully for over a quarter of a century.
He is a member of the Baptist Church, and is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He is a democrat.
He was married to Martha J. Wood, a daughter of Jerry Wood, in 1906.
He owns and operates, with success, a large farm near Boat- land, where he resides.
LAWRENCE BREED CHISM.
L. B. Chism was born in Monroe County, Kentucky, 1850, and attended school at Tompkinsville with Ex-Governor Ben- ton McMillin. Later he was a student at Valparaiso, Indiana. He taught school six years in Kentucky, and came to Tennes- see in 1884 and engaged in the mercantile business, and has followed this successfully ever since. He now resides at Little Crab.
He was elected and served eight years as County Judge of Fentress County. He was postmaster at Little Crab during Cleveland's administration and deputy during Roosevelt's.
He became a member of the Baptist Church in 1893, and was ordained a minister in 1905.
He married Mary Wood in 1888, a daughter of Jerry Wood, who was for a long time a merchant and Postmaster at Boat- land. He is a brother of Dr. J. N. Chism, and received his name from his great grandmother Breed, and his great-grand- father Lawrence Gillock. He is a Mason and a democrat.
BAILEY W. BOWDEN, JR.
Bailey W. Bowden, Jr., is a son of Joshua Bowden, and was born in 1868, near Glenoby, on the East Fork, where he now lives. Zoral Stephens and Susie Stephens were his grand-
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parents on his mother's side. They came from North Carolina, and became a part of the first settlers of the Buffalo Cove. Stephens entered a large amount of land.
B. W. was educated at Alpine and taught for several years; is now postmaster at Glenoby, and is a farmer and blacksmith. He has served a term as a Justice of the Peace, and one as a member of the County Board of Education. He is a member of the M. E. Church, a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Democrat.
He married Leva Ann Tompkins in 1893, a daughter of J. M. Tompkins, who was for a long time postmaster at Armath- waite, and a leading citizen of the tenth district.
DILLARD OSBORNE BEATY.
D. O. Beaty was born near Little Crab in 1890, and is a son of Lewis Beaty and a grandson of John Beaty and Elias W. Bowden, q. v.
Has attended Pleasant Hill Academy, Fentress County High School and Athens Business College, Athens, Ga. Taught school successfully several years in Fentress and in Pickett counties. Is now Deputy Clerk and Master, Fentress County, and works as a stenographer.
He is a Royal Arch Mason and an Odd Fellow, member of M. E. Church, South, holds license to practice law in the justice's and in the county court of the county.
RUFUS J. STEPHENS. 1848.
R. J. Stephens is the son of Gwyn Stephens and Miley Bow- den. His grandfather and grandmother were David and Sarah Stephens. His great-grandfather, Thomas Stephens, came from South Carolina to Fentress County and became one of the pioneer settlers.
On his mother's side his grandfather was Elias Bowden, q. v. John Bowden, his great-grandfather, came from Eng- land and settled in Franklin County, North Carolina.
He was married to Sarah E. Mullinix in 1872. She was a daughter of Eli Mullinix. He has two sons-Sylvester and Jasper-both of whom have taught school in this county.
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He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, at Clarkrange, and he and his wife are members of the M. E. Church.
He owns and operates a nice farm on the river below Boat- land. He has a large number of colonies of bees and sells honey nearly every year.
ISAIAH STEPHENS. 1837.
Isaiah Stephens lives on the breaks of the Cumberland Plateau, ten miles south of Jamestown, and is a native of the county. His father was David Stephens. Grandfather Thomas Stephens came to Fentress County from near the South Car- olina coast when this section was a wilderness. His mother, Sarah Long, was born in South Carolina, and came with her father, Henry Long, and settled on Indian Creek on a part of what is now the J. C. Smith Farm. Indians were then plenti- ful on this creek. From this fact the creek derived its name.
He is a member of the M. E. Church. He was married to Polly Ann Greer in 1863 and Sarah Hood in 1898.
One of his brothers was a soldier in the Mexican War and died in the service. John, Russell, David and Edward Ste- phens were his other brothers, and are the ancestors of nearly all the Stephen's now living in the county. All have been farmers, and respected, law-abiding citizens of the county.
JAMES ALVIN HOOD. 1872.
Alvin Hood lives on the East Fork in the southern part of the county, where he was born. He is a son of Solomon Hood, a grandson of Elisha Hood, great-grandson of Andy Hood, who came from North Carolina with his family and was the first settler on Bill's Creek, settling at the mouth of the creek. Some very old apple trees are still standing to mark the spot.
Andy died about 1850. His son, Elisha, was born 1803 and died in 1889 on the East Fork and was buried there. He had five sons-Jeremiah, Thomas, Solomon, Zephaniah and John, all of whom are dead. The Hood family, who live in the south- ern part of the county, are the descendants of these five brothers.
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Alvin and his brothers-Seymour and Anderson-have taught school. They attended the Jamestown school.
Alvin is a member of the M. E. Church, South, and a demo- crat.
JESSE W. EVANS.
J. W. Evans was born near Rugby, Tennessee, in 1861, and is the son of Samuel and Deborah Evans, and a grandson of Nathan Evans and Jesse Cobb. His grandfather Cobb was a cousin of Howell E. Cobb, of Georgia, who served as speaker of the National House of Representatives in 1850, was Secre- tary of the Treasury under Buchanan, and Governor of Georgia.
Evans was raised on a farm; began life as a teacher; was Deputy Sheriff two years; Circuit Court Clerk four years, and has been County Attorney since 1910, having been appointed by Governor Hooper in 1910 and elected over two competitors in 1912. He is a successful lawyer, and was admitted to the bar in 1890. He was married the same year to Miss Dean Delk. He is an Odd Fellow. Republican in politics.
His father, Samuel Evans, was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, serving in the Second Tennessee Regi- ment. Was captured at Rogersville and imprisoned thirteen months on Bell's Island. He died at Murfreesboro in 1865.
His grandfather, Nathan Evans, came to this county from North Carolina soon after Tennessee was admitted to the Union and opened up a farm on Caney Creek, on Wolf River, and here raised a large family. He was a cousin of the Nathan Evans who assisted John Sevier in escaping from the North Carolina authorities. He married a sister of Joshua and Jas. Story. Joshua settled on Crab, at what is now known as the George Beaty place. James settled on Caney Creek, near Evans.
Jesse Cobb came from Tuscaloosa, Ala., in about 1818. He married a Stephens and settled in the Poplar Cove, where the Cobb's have since resided. He was Register of the county be- fore the war and a well-to-do farmer.
He fought under Jackson at the battle of the Horseshoe Bend. He was a democrat and attended the convention that
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instructed the State for James K. Polk. He was associated with Attorney General John B. McCormack in building a mill on the East Fork near where J. P. Culver lives. Five thousand dollars was borrowed by them from a Sparta bank to carry on the work. A huge dam was built across the river at great ex- pense, the remains of which can yet be seen, but it soon washed away and the mill project was abandoned. When the notes fell due Cobb was compelled to pay them, which he did by tak- ing a drove of mules to Georgia each year for five years, paying a thousand dollars each year, in accordance with a compro- mise in Circuit Court of Fentress County.
He died in 1864 on Wolf River and was buried in the old Evans cemetery.
MATHIAS WRIGHT. 1818-1899.
M. Wright came from Greene County and settled near Little Crab. He was for many years a deacon in the Cedar Grove Baptist Church at Little Crab, and was postmaster there for a long time. He sawed and delivered some of the lumber that was used in the Capitol building at Nashville.
For several years he was County Trustee of Fentress County. While serving as Trustee he was assaulted by some robbers and about four hundred dollars taken from him. The robbers tried to force him to tell where the rest of the county money was, but he refused to tell them and suffered them to hang him with a rope until he was almost lifeless. The robbers finally left him. Three of them were captured but later fled the country. Uncle Mathias' honesty saved the county over a thou- sand dollars, and he died with the confidence and respect of all who knew him.
JOHN W. GAUDIN.
John W. Gaudin was born in Lausanne, Switzerland; was educated in Paris, and became proficient in Latin, Greek, Ger- man and Italian, although French was his native tongue. He became a perfect English scholar after coming to the United States.
He came over to New York City at the age of eighteen, pen- niless. He worked as errand boy for a physician in that city
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for two years, then came to Knox County, Tennessee, and worked on a farm for two or three years, then to Morgan County and continued to work on the farm, finally marrying a girl who was also a native of Switzerland. They, together, went into the mercantile business on the old Montgomery road, eight miles east of the Gatewood ford of the Clear Fork River. They remained here until 1858, then sold out and came to Fen- tress County and went into merchandising three miles north- west of Jamestown, on the Wolf River Road. In 1861 he en- listed in the Federal Army and served to the close of the war in 1865; was Quartermaster General of his regiment. After the war he tried farming in the State of Illinois; his family having no health they came back to Fentress County in 1868 and again took up merchandising, this time in Jamestown ; was appointed postmaster and continued at Jamestown until 1879, when he sold out and sailed back to Switzerland to visit friends and relatives and his native land. While there he visited the Alps and their greatest glaciers and many historic places of the Old World, returning again to Jamestown in 1881 and liv- ing a quiet and retired life until 1889, when he again emigrated, this time to the great San Joaquin Valley in California. Here he bought a small fruit farm and after one year sold it and moved into Amador County and bought a farm of three hun- dred and sixty acres, but in a year or so he lost his health; so he sold out and bought a home in the little town of Wallace on the S. & N. E. Railway in Amador County, and there died in 1892 and was buried by the G. A. R. at the cemetery near the city of Stockton.
WILLIAM J. GAUDIN. 1859.
W. J. Gaudin is the son of John W. and Adelia (Very) Gau- din. Was born in Fentress County in 1859. His grandparents were born, lived and died in Petit Chautane, Lausanne, Switz- erland.
He received his education at Hiawassee College, and taught school, and held the office of County Superintendent of Schools for Fentress County; was appointed United States Commis- sioner in 1882, and has held the office ever since; was elected a member of the County Board of Education by an almost
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE.
unanimous vote of the people of his district in 1912, but has since resigned. He has been in the mercantile business since 1892, and is also a successful up-to-date farmer, and has dem- onstrated the great possibilities of farming and truck raising on the plateau.
He is a 32° Mason and an I. O. O. F. Is a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Church.
He was married to Zibbie A. Edwards in 1881, and to his present wife-Jennie A. Rich-in 1905, who is a daughter of Landon Rich, a member of the county court of the county for many years.
CYRIL CORNELIUS FROGGE. 1858.
C. C. Frogge was born on Wolf River in 1858, and is the son of John W. and Nancy (Wright) Frogge, and grandson of Cornelius M. and Deborah (Carpenter) Frogge, and John Wright and Penina (Dale) Wright, and a great-grandson of John Frogge, who was a first cousin of President James Mad- ison of Virginia.
He received his educational training from the public schools and from Jamestown Academy, and has taught successfully for thirty-six consecutive years in the public schools of the county, all of which has been in his home district - the old seventh-with the exception of one year.
He is a democrat, and served his district as a Justice of the Peace from 1888 to 1894.
He became a member of the Methodist Church in early life, and was ordained a minister in 1893. He is well known all over the county in church and educational circles.
OCIE OSWELL FROGGE. 1894 ..
O. O. Frogge is the son of C. C. Frogge, q. v., and Mary E. (Riley) Frogge, a daughter of John Floyd Riley. He has re- ceived his education from the public schools and from the county high school. He began teaching at seventeen, and has taught at Reed's Creek, Frogge's Chapel, and is now teaching at Red Hill. He is one of the youngest teachers in the county, and has been very successful. He is a member of the Meth- odist Church.
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WILLIAM DALEY HULL. 1878.
W. D. Hull was born near Shirley, where he now lives. He is the son of Lewis and Marilda Hull, a grandson of A. B. and Sirena Hull, and is a cousin of Congressman Hull.
Attended public schools and A. B. Wright Institute; began teaching in 1898, and is now teaching his eighth year. Was a member of the first County High School Board in the county, and served one term as a Justice of the Peace, 1906 to 1912.
He was married to Josie Buck, a daughter of Landon and Margaret J. Buck, in 1908.
JAMES T. BUCK. 1877.
J. T. Buck is a son of Noah and Amanda (Evans) Buck, grandson of Jonathan Buck, and a great-grandson of Thomas Buck, who emigrated to this county from Watauga in pioneer days. The Buck family came originally from England to Penn- sylvania.
Attended the Rugby high school and has taught school eight years in the tenth and twelfth districts.
He was a soldier in the Spanish-American War serving in Co. K in Cuba, then went with Co. E to the Philippines, during the war there. He was in several skirmishes with the Filipinos and learned many interesting things about them and their country.
He was married to Belle Brooks, in 1902, after his return from the Philippines. He now lives near Armathwaite, and is teaching.
STANLEY HULL. 1892.
Parents : A. Y. and Mary A. (Brooks) Hull.
Paternal grandparents: A. B. and Sirna Hull.
Maternal grandparents: W. S. and Hulda (Allen) Brooks. Lives near Shirley.
Attended A. B. Wright Institute, and Fentress County high school. He has been a farmer, clerked in a wholesale and retail store in Chattanooga, and is now teaching school. Was licensed to teach in Morgan County in 1912.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE GREER. 1878.
Parents: David A. and Malissie (Jennings) Greer.
Grandparents : Marquis Jennings and Ann (Crouch) Jen- nings and Samuel Greer, a well known minister of the M. E. Church and Chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War.
He is related to Hon. John Jennings, lawyer and a prominent candidate for Attorney General, 1912.
M. L. Greer attended A. B. Wright Institute and began teaching in 1900, and has been teaching ever since. During the years 1911 and 1912 he taught at Wilder, and is now teach- ing at Allardt.
He is Deputy Register of the county, and works in the office when he is not teaching. He is also Secretary of the Work- house Commission. He belongs to I. O. O. F., the Juniors and K. of P. He was married to Victoria Guffey in 1901, and resides in Jamestown.
JACOB W. MADEWELL.
J. W. is the son of Moses Robertson Madewell, was born in 1872 on the East Fork, was educated in the public schools of Fentress County and at Monroe Academy in Overton County.
He began teaching in 1902, and has taught at nearly every schoolhouse in the first district of the county. He has also taught in the fourth and sixth districts of the county.
He is a member of the Methodist Church. He was licensed to exort on the same day he was baptized into the church. He is now the pastor of Jamestown Mission, having twelve churches in his charge.
His father and mother are both living, and have always been highly respected by their neighbors. His father, Moses R., served several years as Justice of the Peace. For a long time he has been the miller at the old Bowden water mill near Boatland.
J. W's great-grandfather was an own cousin of James Robertson, the "Father of Middle Tennessee." His great- grandfather on his father's side was a native of Egypt and came to this country in 1795.
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JAMES LAFAYETTE GARRETT. 1858.
Parents: Alex M. Garrett and Janette (Matheny) Garrett.
Grandparents : Elijah Garrett and Anna (Story) Garrett.
Grandparents : Samuel Matheny and Sytha (Grimsley) Matheny.
J. L. was born at Livingston in 1858. Moved with his parents to Fentress County in 1866, and has resided here ever since.
He obtained his education from the common schools and from Jamestown Academy. Has followed farming, teaching and the practice of law, and has served several times as Attor- ney General, pro tem. Has been an active minister in the Baptist Church for many years. He is now engaged in the mercantile business at Jamestown, Tennessee. He was County Court Clerk of the county four years, and Clerk and Master twelve years. Both these positions were filled with credit to himself and to the county. He is a democrat in politics. Mar- ried Miss Leeann Smith, November 25, 1877. He is a Royal Arch Mason.
ALEXANDER MARION GARRETT.
A. M. G., the father of J. L. G., was born May 4, 1829, in Overton, now Pickett, County, Tennessee. At the age of twenty- five he was married to Janette Matheny. There were twelve children born to them. Nine of them, six boys and three girls, are still living.
Prior to the Civil War he worked at the blacksmith trade at Livingston, Tennessee. During the war he moved with his family to Illinois. He returned to Tennessee in 1866 and located at Jamestown, where he worked at his old trade for a short time.
He soon took out law license, and soon had considerable practice in the courts. He did a great deal of work in the various county offices, especially in the Circuit Court Clerk's office. He was Deputy County Court Clerk for a number of years. In the latter part of the 70's he became a minister in the Baptist Church, and began to leave off the practice of law. He continued in the ministry as long as his health and
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strength permitted. He moved to Byrdtown in the 80's and served for a number of years as Justice of the Peace. He now lives three and one-half miles west of Byrdstown.
His grandfather was a native of Virginia. He came to Tennessee over a hundred years ago.
WILLIAM R. STORIE. 1891.
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W. R. S. is a son of A. J. Storie and Martha (Greer) Storie, q. v., and a grandson of William Storie and Annie (Mullinix) Storie.
Maternal grandparents: Ben Greer and Talither (Peters) Greer.
Great-grandparents: Nathaniel Mullinix and Joshua Storie.
He was born near Little Crab in Fentress County, 1891. He was educated at A. B. Wright Institute, Fentress County high school and Valparaiso University. He received his first cer- tificate to teach at Jamestown in 1908; taught in Pickett that year, the three years following in Morgan County and for the past two years has been principal of the Intermediate Department of the Fentress County High School.
WARD ROLAND CASE.
W. R. Case was born in Brown County, Ohio, in 1876. He came with his father to Rugby, Tennessee, in 1889, where his father, David R. Case, was employed as a teacher for a number of years.
Parents: D. R. Case and Frances (McBeth) Case.
Grandparents : Henry Butler Case and Mary (Lake) Case; James P. McBeth and Elizabeth (Spires) McBeth.
Father's ancestry were English-Dutch. His mother's were Scotch-German. W. R. Case's ancestors were among the first settlers on Staten Island in New York.
Mr. Case is well educated, and has acquired much of his education by home study. He owns one of the best libraries in the county and probably reads more than any other person in the county.
He learned shorthand at home and in the office of O. C. Conatser at Jamestown, and Ingersoll & Peyton at Knoxville,
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Tennessee, and is a first-class stenographer. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and formed a partnership with O. C. Conatser two years later, which partnership still exists. He with his partner have had an extensive practice in all the courts.
In 1911 he was appointed County Judge by Governor Hooper, and was elected to the position over an able competi- tor in 1912. His official books as judge of the county are models for neatness and accuracy, showing at a glance the condition of county affairs. Before his induction into office the county's financial condition was very much unsettled, owing to a lack of system upon the part of officials in keeping the financial accounts. His plan of requiring prompt and accurate settlements from all officials soon restored confidence and county warrants were soon selling at par.
His enforcement of the juvenile court law, and his efforts to acquaint the people with its wholesome provisions will be productive of lasting good.
He was chairman of the first County Board of Education in Fentress County, which did much to improve educational con- ditions in the county.
Member I. O. O. F., 32° Mason, Trinity Consistory, Nash- ville. Married Mollie Albertson, 1899, a daughter of I. D. Albertson, q. v.
WILLIAM A. BEATY. 1877.
Parents : James R. Beaty and Mary Jane (Greer) Beaty. Great-grandfather: Rev. Sam Greer, q. v.
Andrew Beaty, W. A.'s great-great-grandfather, fought at the battle of King's Mountain, and later drew a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War. William I., a brother of Andrew and a relative of Andrew Jackson, fought with Jack- son in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. His great- grandfather Benjamin Davis was also an American soldier in the Revolution.
W. A. Beaty was educated at A. B. Wright Institute, Ameri- can Temperance University, Harriman, Tennessee. He gradu- ated at Draughon's Business College in 1910.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
He taught several schools in Fentress, and two in Cumber- land. He taught one year at Stoval, La., one at Boatner, La., and one at Wyatt, La. After completing the course in busi- ness college he taught one year in Draughon's Business Col- lege at Paducah, Ky., and was then transferred to Augusta, Ga .; after four months at this place he was made manager of Draughon's College at Biloxi, Miss. He resigned this position and came back to Fentress County and took charge of a farm he owned near Little Crab. He is now teaching in a school run by the Methodist Church at Baxter, Tenn.
He married Etta Stephens, a daughter of M. B. Stephens and a granddaughter of Zorel Stephens, one of the old settlers of Fentress County.
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