USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 68
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partnership with his friend, Colonel Murfree, and owned most of the land upon which Murfreesboro was laid out, and gave his friend's name to the town.
Mr. Nichol, immediately after his marriage, went into the general com- mission business, and soon afterward formed a partnership with H. R. W. Hill, and they afterward took into the partnership Francis Porterfield. In the fall of 1825 they owned the steam-boat " De Witt Clinton," and subsequently built the steamer " Nashville," and also the lighter, " Talley- rand," to bring up goods from Harpeth Shoals. The partnership was dis- solved in 1833, Mr. Hill going to New Orleans, where he became a mem- ber of the firm of Dick & Hill, and greatly increased his fortune. Mr. Nichol became Secretary of an insurance company, in which position he continued until the establishment of the Bank of Tennessee, when he be- came its President. He remained for many years President of this bank, and in conjunction with its Cashier, Henry Ewing, managed its affairs in a most skillful and honest manner.
Mr. Nichol's investments were always judiciously made. He purchased a great deal of real estate in Nashville, and also a large farm on the Leb- anon turnpike, six miles from the city. Upon this farm he resided the remainder of his life, reared his children, giving to each all the educa- tional advantages the country afforded at the time, and entertained his friends in a liberal and hospitable manner. He also invested in a cotton plantation in Arkansas, which yielded him for many years a fine income. Upon this plantation he first settled his son, Josiah, and then his. son Alexander, where the latter is now residing.
Mr. Nichol took an important part in securing the final location of the capital of the State at Nashville in 1843. There were numerous rivals for the honor, and it was thought that it would aid the Legislature to de- cide the question if a site were offered for the Capitol building. A com- mittee was therefore appointed by the City Council, Mr. Nichol being one of the committee, to contract with George W. Campbell for the pur- chase of " Capitol Hill," with the view of offering it to the State. Nash- ville was therefore selected as the permanent capital of the State. The price agreed upon was $30,000, for which amount the bonds of the city were tendered. These, however, Mr. Campbell declined to receive, preferring Mr. Nichol's individual note to the city's bonds for the reason that the city's credit had not then recovered from the panic of 1837. Mr. Nichol's note was therefore given for the amount, but afterward the city authorities assumed the debt.
Mr. Anson Nelson says of him: "I knew Mr. Nichol intimately for many years. I was his business agent for six years, during which time I
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collected all his city rents, as well as the money collected for him in a fiduciary capacity. I kept several different accounts for him, amounting in all to thousands of dollars. I never knew a stricter or straighter man in business. He was exact in all things, whether for or against himself. He was a just man in his dealings and also in his opinions. His rare, good sense and sound judgment was remarkable. He was a very devot- ed husband and father, and he admired his wife above all other women. He gave her much praise for her excellent management of the house and farm. I have often heard that when Mr. Nichol was elected Mayor of Nashville, in 1835, he brought up the credit of the city at once. After the war he performed many acts of benevolence that cannot be made public, but which if known would reflect the highest credit upon his character. No old Roman could have exhibited truer manhood or more noble action, and his entire life was one of the finest examples for the young."
As previously stated, Mr. Nichol was married to Miss Julia Lytle in 1825. Their children are as follows: Josiah, William Lytle, Eleanor, Margaret, Ann, Charles Alexander, Julia, James Edgar, Jane F., Harry D., and Lizzie B.
E. B. STAHLMAN, Third Vice-president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, has been a prominent citizen of Nashville for a num- ber of years; and few, if any, of her citizens, not in political station, have taken more interest in public affairs. With a vigorous mental organism, and the ambition and impulse of an energetic nature, he could only be expected to make his mark in any department of activity he might select. He is gifted with a native strength and grasp of intellect, a force of will, a faculty of close observation, an intuitive insight into the nature of men and affairs, tact and address, and an executive ability, which have gained for him a reputation as one of the most notable and influential men in Tennessee.
He was born at Mecklenburg, Germany, September 2, 1844, and re- ceived an elementary education in a college in Germany, of which his father was the Principal. In 1857 he came with his parents to the United States, and for nine years lived in Virginia. Thrown upon his own re- sources, he began the struggle of life in the capacity of a laborer, and, by earnest efforts and fidelity to duty, rose by degrees until he now holds one of the most responsible and lucrative positions in the official manage- ment of a great railway system.
His English education has been limited mainly to the reading of stand- ard books and current periodical publications, yet all who meet him are impressed with the breadth of his information and his correct and forcible
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use of the English language. Few would suspect his German birth, for he speaks English without brogue or foreign accent and with admirable fluency. Mr. Stahlman has devoted a large part of his life to the railway service, beginning at the bottom and reaching one of the uppermost rounds of promotion; but his activities have not been confined to the special field of business in which he has taken so prominent a part. He has been a citizen alive to all the demands of the times, and has evinced a deep interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the people. His abilities have been recognized by the community, and had he chosen po- litical life he would doubtless have been one of the leading men in that field. He did, however, serve three years as President of the City Coun- cil, resigning in 1878.
Mr. Stahlman is classed among the first railway men of the country. No man has a more correct or comprehensive view of the intricate ques- tions involved in railroad management, and especially of the legal and constitutional relations which obtain in the many vexed issues arising from the regulation of railway traffic by Federal and State legislation. When the Interstate Commerce Bill was pending in Congress Mr. Stahlman made what is generally admitted to be the ablest and most comprehensive presentation of the transportation interests before the committee. It is generally conceded that the vigorous manner in which he met and overthrew the statements and arguments of Mr. Reagan in the committee room compelled the practical abandonment of the more objectionable features of the Reagan Bill and the adoption of a more conservative measure. His well-known ability has caused him to be put forward by the railroads of the South as the representative of their inter- ests upon all occasions when questions relating to regulation of railroad interests by law are to be met. His argument before the Interstate Com- mission on the power and duty of that commission to grant relief from the operation of the "long and short haul" clause of the regulation act was a powerful effort, and so full of information and clear-cut logic, that the commission published it in their first annual report and virtually indorsed it as a statement of the reasons which induced them to refuse to enforce the provisions of the objectionable clause.
In the memorable campaign in Tennessee in 1884, over the question of abolishing the Railroad Commission, Mr. Stahlman displayed his remark- able qualities as a leader and an organizer. A commission had been created by the Legislature of 1882 which undertook to regulate rates of transportation. Mr. Stahlman, who was at the time managing the Monon Railroad, returned to Nashville, and, taking in the situation at a glance, said to the railroad managers in the State: "The people do not want
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this; they want only what is right, and as the selection of commissioners is to be made by the people you can have the whole question passed upon directly by the people. If you wish it, I will take the campaign in hand and show the politicians how thoroughly the people will repudiate their methods."
Mr. Stahlman led the fight, and although the Democratic party, with its large majority, had been committed to the commission theory, and every candidate of the party from Governor down felt it his duty to stand by the party platform, the party candidates for commissioners were over- whelmingly defeated, and the Commission Act immediately repealed.
In 1888 Mr. Stahlman led in the contest over the question of voting a subscription of $500,000 to the Midland Railroad Company. In this con- test, which was unprecedented for its bitterness, Mr. Stahlman was sub- jected to the severest and most intemperate criticism. So intense was the passion excited that many of his hitherto good friends did not hesitate to denounce him and hurl at him the vials of abuse. But, unswerved by threats or vituperation, he moved steadily forward and succeeded in de- feating the subsidy scheme. True to his own convictions and faithful to the confidence reposed in him as an officer, he braved all opprobrium and was content to trust to time and sober judgment to vindicate his ac- tion.
Notwithstanding the fierce contests in which Mr. Stahlman has been engaged, there is perhaps no man in the South who is more generally es- teemed by all classes of the people. Although connected with a large corporation and at times placed at a disadvantage by the prejudice easily aroused against corporations, yet there are few men in Nashville or in Tennessee who are more sincerely respected. He came to Nashville in 1865, and in 1866 married Miss Mollie T. Claiborne, a daughter of John T. and Annie Claiborne, who came from Virginia to Tennessee in 1859. Mr. Stahlman's sociability is a prominent characteristic. He is genial, warm-hearted, and charitable. His life is adorned by clusters of endur- ing friendships, and one strong bond of these friendships is his well- known unswerving devotion to his friends. Altogether he is one of the most remarkable men in Tennessee, and his fine abilities have been rec- ognized by the press and people of the State.
HIRAM VAUGHN was born November 27, 1827, on the farm upon which he now lives, a few miles east of Nashville, in Davidson County. His father was David Vaughn, a native of North Carolina, but of English de- scent. He moved to Davidson County, Tenn., as early at least as 1810, and settled where Michael Vaughn now lives. He married Sarah Thom- as, a daughter of Joshua Thomas, who was killed in the battle of Nick-
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a-jack. The children of David and Sarah Vaughn were David, Joshua T., Hiram, the subject of this sketch, Michael, and Sarah Ann, now Mrs. Robert Caruthers. David Vaughn was a man of great energy and perseverance, and added to the small farm upon which he first lived in this county other lands, until he owned some two thousand acres of choice farming land, which he placed and which his children kept in a good state of cultivation. . He died in 1836, at the age of sixty-four, leaving a widow and five children, four sons and one daughter, the eldest of whom was only thirteen years of age. The mother of the children, however, proved equal to the task of rearing them and of conducting her business affairs with success, and of giving them a good, liberal education.
Hiram Vaughn was educated at the University of Nashville, graduat- ing in 1847. He chose the vocation of agriculture, which he has fol- lowed all his life, being engaged, however, largely in other pursuits. He has been and is a large dealer in real estate, and in such property as can be made profitable. Politically Mr. Vaughn was a Whig, but has never taken a very active part in politics. He was, however, a member of the Tennessee Legislature in 1871. He has been twice married, first to Miss Catherine A. Hobbs,by whom he had three children, all of whom, as well as their mother, are dead. He was married the second time to Martha Ann Johnson, daughter of James Johnson, Esq., of Davidson County. By this marriage Mr. Vaughn has five children, four sons and one daughter, all of whom are living. James J. Vaughn is the eldest and is living on the farm; William W., is the second; Sally T., now Mrs. James L. Cooper, is the third; Preston is the fourth, and is practicing law in Nashville; and Frank N. is the fifth. William W. and Frank N. constitute the drug firm of Vaughn Brothers.
Mr. Vaughn himself is recognized as one of the stanchest citizens of Davidson County, and has for many years been prominently identified with the prosperity both of the county and the city of Nashville.
JAMES C. WARNER, the subject of this sketch, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., on August 20, 1830. His grandfather on his mother's side, Robert Cartwright, was of English descent, and one of Colonel John Donelson's party which, in April, 1780, landed at the Big Salt Lick, now Nashville. Mr. Cartwright participated in the battle of Nick- a-jack, and one of his brothers was killed by the Indians at Ross's Land- ing, now Chattanooga, while on the trip down the Tennessee.
Mr. Robert Cartwright had a son James, whose daughter Elizabeth married Jacob L. Warner, of Sumner County; James C. Warner was the eldest son of this marriage. In 1847 Mr. Warner removed to Nash- ville, where he was engaged until 1852 in business, first in the employ of
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Shepherd & Gordon, wholesale grocers, and then with Kirkman & Ellis, hardware dealers. In 1852 Mr. Warner went into the hardware busi- ness on his own account in Chattanooga, and conducted the same suc- cessfully until the breaking out of the Civil War. While a resident of , Chattanooga he served as Mayor of that city, and represented the coun- ties of Hamilton, Rhea, Sequatchie, and Bledsoe in the State Legislature.
In 1863 he returned to Nashville, and in 1868 was chosen Secretary and Treasurer of the Tennessee Coal and Railroad Company, and soon after was made its General Manager. These trusts he retained and ad- ministered to the satisfaction of the company until ill health compelled him to retire in 1874. Recovering his health after a year's rest, he ac- cepted the presidency of the Tennessee Manufacturing Company at Nashville. This company was engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods, an entirely new business to Mr. Warner, but he gave to it his per- sonal care and supervision, and at the end of one year's official connec- tion with this company retired with the satisfactory knowledge that it was in a prosperous condition, and that his work was thoroughly approved by the company.
Mr. Warner had long been deeply interested in the probable develop- ment of the Southern iron industries, and about 1879, as an outgrowth of his confidence, he became principal owner of the Chattanooga Iron Com- pany, and its furnace at Chattanooga was operated under his personal su- pervision. Soon thereafter he purchased and operated the costly and extensive plant and property at Rising Fawn, Ga., known as the Rising Fawn Furnace. With these two plants Mr. Warner began the acqui- sition of that practical knowledge in the production of pig iron which has proven so valuable to his associates. After operating these plants suc- cessfully he disposed of them and was for a long time thereafter, by invi- tation of his successor, the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, their business ad- viser.
In 1880 Mr. Warner's interested attention was drawn to what was to him a new field, the charcoal practice in making pig iron, his past expe- rience being with coke as a fuel. It was of this period that J. B. Kille- brew, in an address delivered before the Commercial Club at Nashville, on April 16th, 1890, said of him: "Mr. James C. Warner, aided by L. S. Goodrich, has done more since the war to prove the values of these iron fields [meaning Western Middle Tennessee], than all other men combined. . It was in 1879 that Mr. Goodrich, with a sublime faith in the value of these ores, and with a persistence and enthusiasm which neither poverty could suppress nor rebuffs check, informed me that he had prevailed upon Mr. Warner to put up a furnace on the waters
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of Mill Creek. It was at this time an experiment. It was a risky busi- ness, but there never was a better combination than that of Mr. Warner and Mr. Goodrich; the one with his capital, caution, prudence, and un- erring business sagacity; and the other with his faith, zeal, experience, and fervid glow of enthusiasm. They worked out together the problem, and put in operation the most successful furnace that has ever been built in the South. Then followed the Ætna Furnace with like results; and so the business went on, expanding and growing, until it has culminated, not in the largest, but in the most successful and profitable plants that have ever been built in Tennessee or in the South. The success of the Warner furnaces has increased the price of iron lands, within the past ten years in this region, five hundred per cent. It has doubled the value of taxable property in many of the counties. It has brought to Nash- ville more money, which has been used in the improvement of our city, than any other enterprise either within or without the city. These furnaces have been a revelation. They have aroused a new spirit. The pioneer work has been done. The problem has been solved. A lamp has been set on high to guide the footsteps of those that may follow. The success of these furnaces has stamped Mr. Warner as facile princeps, the acknowledged chief of all the iron masters in the South."
In 1880, as stated, having become interested in charcoal irons, Mr. Warner, after carefully looking over the ground, organized the Warner Iron Company, with its property and furnace located in Hickman Coun- ty, Tenn. The subsequent history of this property marked it as one of the finest of its kind in the country, and is a demonstration of the busi- ness sagacity and foresight of its founder.
In the spring of 1882, much against his will and judgment, because of the wearing demands on him personally, he in deference to the wishes of his friends accepted the presidency of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company, the largest owner of developed coal and iron lands in the South, as well as the largest producer of coal, coke, and pig iron in that section of the country.
Mr. Warner kept this connection until the winter of 1885-86, when a prudent regard for his health caused him to retire, and at this time, after a partial recuperation, he bought the controlling stock in the Ætna Iron, Manufacturing, Mining and Oil Company, and in its ownership inter- ested others, especially those who were and had been his employees. He built the Ætna charcoal furnace in 1886, and made it probably the most complete charcoal plant in the Southern country. Again in 1889 Mr. Warner's health became seriously impaired; and, determining to re-
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tire permanently from business, he sold the various properties so built and established by him, and they are now owned and operated by the Southern Iron Company.
Mr. Warner is eminently a business man, but is never in a hurry. His movements are well considered and always count. He wastes no energy in fretting or in misdirected efforts. The leading traits of his business character are singleness of purpose, rare intelligence, persistency, broad comprehension, and fine tact in the management of those to whom are intrusted the details of great enterprises; to which must be added a purpose of absolute justice toward those under him, or with whom he has dealings. His success in many lines of business is phenomenal es- pecially in the South. He was compelled to master each line of trade or manufacture in which he embarked by simple contact and close study ; and it is extremely rare that a man is master of so many kinds of busi- ness: salesman, merchant, cotton mill manager, iron-master. In all of these Mr. Warner has been of inestimable service to his country in teaching its young men to rely for success upon their own habits of in- dustry, and on their own thought.
The testimony of those who have been in Mr. Warner's employ is in the affectionate terms of friends to whom he is ever a willing adviser and generous helper.
On November 3d, 1852, Mr. Warner was married to Miss Mary Thomas Williams, daughter of Josiah Williams, of Maplewood, near Nashville. Their children have been as follows: Leslie, who married Miss Catherine Newell Burch, daughter of Colonel John C. Burch; James C., who died September 15th, 1859; Harry; Percy, married to Miss Maggie Lindsley, daughter of J. Berrien Lindsley; Mary Thomas, who died September, 1863; Joseph; Andrew, who died February, 1872; and Edwin, the youngest of the family.
DEMPSEY WEAVER, one of the successful business men of Nashville, and one who bore an important and honorable part in making that city one among the foremost for financial credit in the Union, was born in Chatham County, N. C., July 15, 1815, the youngest of ten children.
In 1825 the family removed to Tennessee, and settled in what is now Marshall County. Here the mother, Lucy Greene (a kinswoman of Na- thaniel Greene, of the American Revolution), died, when Dempsey was only eleven years old. She was a gentle, womanly woman, with Quaker- like quietness and gentleness of manner; and though she was called away from him when his youth had just begun, it was not before she had made a deep impression on her son for good.
The father was a man of rare good judgment, inflexible integrity, and
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vigorous piety-characteristics that made him often the friendly arbiter of neighborhood disputes. He was a farmer of limited means, making up for the deficiences of a not very productive farm by the exercise of in- dustry and economy. He died in 1849.
Dempsey as a child was of good appearance, neat in person, of an agreeable nature, and quick-witted. Such is an elder brother's recollec- tion of him.
The small farm and slender resources of the father afforded little op- portunity to his children for leisure or books; and Dempsey worked on the farm from his earliest recollection to his twentieth year, enjoying in the meantime but the most limited school training in the " old field" school of the neighborhood. Thus it was left for himself to work out the gold that was in him, and his life was to be the " guinea stamp" thereon.
In 1835 he took his first step out into the world. His ambition had been long tempting him to do something for himself, and now a neighbor- ing merchant offered to take him into his store. His father was prevailed upon to let him go; and thus began his mercantile career. He was in this position, however, only one year, as his employer gave up busi- ness in 1836; but the young clerk had so well proved his industry and capacity for business that he was then offered a clerkship in Nash- ville in a produce and commission house. This position he accepted with high hopes, though his first year's salary was to be only $150. He came to Nashville an entire stranger, and fully realized that his success must depend solely upon his own industry and good conduct. Constant application to his duties and economy in personal expenditures were nec- essarily the rules of his life; but he made no complaint. He had set out to succeed, and no difficulties could daunt nor sacrifices deter him. His salary was steadily increased until 1842, when he formed a copartner- ship with a member of the firm for which he had so faithfully labored-
the late James Johnson, Esq., a man long to be remembered for his spot- less integrity. This partnership continued until the year 1854, when Mr. Weaver was called to another sphere of action-namely, the cashiership of the Planters' Bank, one of the three great ante bellum banks of Ten- nessee, the parent bank being located at Nashville, with branches through- out the State. Mr. Weaver continued in this capacity uninterruptedly until 1865, when the bank, in consequence of the disasters of war, was compelled to go into liquidation. Thereupon he was made trustee and receiver of the bank, and so continued until its affairs were wound up. His long connection with the Planters' Bank established his reputation as a safe, sound, and able financier; and it is perhaps not too much to say that there was no man in the State whose judgment in matters of finance
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