USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, V.3 > Part 54
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Milton P. Jarnagin was born June 8, 1826 on the Nollichucky River, three miles above its junction with French Broad River. Hisgrandfather, Thomas Jarnagin, came from the region of Danville, Va., and spent the year 1781 in a block-house on Watauga River. where his son Jeremiah was born. The eldest son. Noah, entered the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen. The youngest son, Preston B., was the father of the subject of this notice. His mother's name was Hetty, daughter of John Shields, of Maryland. He was a captain in the Maryland line and was distinguished in the Revolution. After- ward he became a lawyer, moved to Tennessee in 1801, and lived on the Nollichucky River. In 1846 our subject received the first diploma issued by Maryville College. He then read law under his cousin, Spencer Jarnagin, at Athens, Tenn., where he lived and followed his profession until he was made captain and judge advocate of the Confederate military court for the department of East Tennessee. From 1866 to 1882 he was a lawyer in Mem- phis, when he became a farmer near Mossy Creek, Tenn. In 1886-87 he served as presi- dent of the East Tennessee Farmers' Convention. Since 1856 he has been an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and has served twice in the General Assembly.
N. C. Langford, a practicing physician, at Leadvale, Tenn., was born in Blount County, January 9, 1835, the son of James L. and Ruth (Gamble) Langford. James L., a native of North Carolina, was a Baptist minister, and when a young man came to Ten- nessee, the native State of his wife. Our subject was quite young when his parents both died, and he then became a member of the family of I. M. Newman, of Jefferson County. Little of his time was spent in school, and most of it was given to bard farm work. In winters he was at Mossy Creek College, long enough to finish the course, at twenty-two. He then began the study of medicine, under Dr. W. M. F. Helm, of Jefferson County. In 1859-60 he attended the medical department of the University of Tennessee, and in 1861 he entered the Confederate Army, and was a captain, serving all the war time, and surrendering with the army of Joseph E. Johnston. He practiced medicine then for a year, in his Tennessee home, and for the next nine years engaged in merchandising. He has since resumed his practice, however, for the last ten years. He is a Royal Arch Mason. and a Knight of Honor, and is also a member of the Baptist Church. He is an earnest Democrat.
George W. Long was born November 19, 1856. in Perquimans County. N. C., the son of Samuel and Margaret A. (Reed) Long, also natives of North Carolina. The father was a graduate of Brown University, Rhode Island, and a man of high social position. and especially wealthy, before the ravages of war reached him. He died December 24. 1584, at the age of sixty years, and at the home of our subject. The mother was a
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classical graduate of the " Buckingham Female Collegiate Institution," of Virginia, and was a Christian woman of rare social qualities. She was a daughter of George W. and Sarah Reed, and was born Jannary 9, 1839, and died July 25, 1859. James and Martha Long were the parents of Samuel, who was born October 8. 1831, and died December 2.4. 1884. Our subject, the second of three children, was educated. chiefly, by his father's instruction, but two years was a student at the Friend's school, at Belvidere, N. C. He went to New Market, Tenn., when of age, in the fall of 1878, where he became an assist- ant teacher in the Lost Creek High School, a Quaker institution, for two years, when he then became a clerk. November 12, 1879, he married Sudie E., daughter of John C. and Lucinda Matthews. Samuel ML., their eldest, a precocious child, unfortunately died when four years old. Bertha, Edgar and Earl are still living. He and his wife's father then formed the firm of Mathews & Long, merchants, at a small village, two miles west of New Market. Two years later. he came to New Market, bought a place, and began mer- chandising, and has enlarged his store and stock. and erected a fine modern-built hotel at a cost of over $5,000. He also does a livery business, and owns a large farm, about . the edge of New Market; all this success that followed a small beginning. Ile is a Dem- ocrat, and was elected justice in a Republican district. He is postmaster at New Market. and is a highly esteemed Christian man, of broad sympathies and interests in public affairs.
John W. Loy, among the largest land owners in Jefferson County, was born at Loy's Cross Roads, in Anderson (now Union) County June 10, 1828, the son of Jacob and Hazy (Hill) Loy. The father was born in 1807, the son of John Loy. a native of North Caro- lina, who about 1782 came to Tennessee. Many feats of strength and agility are told of him. Jacob was the first born of eleven children, and grew up on the farm. He was a blacksmith by trade, but devoted himself to farming. and died in 1865, after a long and useful life. The mother, born about 1805, in Knox County, was the daughter of James Hill, and died a Christian about 1830. Our subject attended school at Loy's Cross Roads and at Clinton. When eighteen he left the home farm. married and began for himself on a small farm, and has succeeded as a farmer. He is a self-made man, beginning with a farm worth not over $300, and now owning about 2,500 acres in this county. He has raised more wheat that any other one man in the county. He took no part during the war, and so was not raided by either side. He has been an active member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church South, since his eighteenth year, and has attended a number of conference mect- ings. He has been a local minister since about 1858, but never desired a charge. December 5, 1844, he married Mary A. George, who was born in Knox County about 1827, the daugh. ter of Parnick George. Their children are George, born October 10, 1845; Parley, born in 1847, deceased in 1849; Louis L., born in 1851; Jacob, born in 1853, deceased in 1855; Mary L., born in 1855: Travis W., born in 1857: Maryil, born in 1859: P. II., born in 1861; Hazy, born in 1863: Martha, born in 1865; Alletha, born in 1867, and John, born in 1869. The wife is a Methodist. Our subject has been very fortunate with his family, having never had over $25 in physician's bills to pay.
John L. McBee, farmer, was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., August 12, 1845. the son of Lemuel and Mary (Love) McBee, the former a native of Grainger County. Tenn .. the latter of North Carolina. The father died when our subject was but a few years old, and the mother when he was three years of age. John L. is a self-made man, and was reared in the county. becoming a practical and successful farmer. He now owns and cultivates a fine farm of 300 acres in the Holston River Valley, four miles from Straw- berry Plains, known as Indian mound stock farm. There is a fine deposit of marble found there, and from an Indian mound. which he has opened there. he has taken many curi- ous specimens of beads. pipes, shuttles, bones, etc. His land is well improved, and as a man he is quiet and unassuming, but from his orphanage he has become one of the leading and most respected citizens of Jefferson County, taking great interest in public improve- ments. He is a Master Mason. Lizzie MeBee became his wife May 16, 1871, and their children are Nellie, Mary. Maud and Cora. His paternal grandfather, Lemuel MeBee, was a native of Tennessee, and his maternal grandfather, John B. Love, was a native of west- ern North Carolina.
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George H. McGuire, farmer, of the Fourth District, was born in Jefferson County, January 13, 1857, the son of John and Catherine McGuire, the former born in this county, August 15, 1822. Michael, a native of Jefferson County also, was the grandfather. The father was an nousually esteemed farmer, who died in November, 1881. The mother, also a native of this county, was born in 1816, the daughter of Joseph McGuire. Our subject has always followed farm life, and was educated in the county schools. He now operates a good saw mill, and is an enterprising, pushing young man, who takes a great interest in school and church affairs. November 17, 1886, he married Belle, a daughter of Mrs. Sallie Smith, of Jefferson County, and born in 1870, in Greene County, Tenn. She is a Meth- odist, while our subject is a Presbyterian. Mrs. Sallie Smith was married to James M. Wilson before our subject married her daughter Belle. Our subject handles some good horses and mules, both for this and other markets. Ile has some of the finest saddle horses in Jefferson County.
D. H. Meek, clerk and master of the county court, and a leading lawyer of Jefferson County, was born at Strawberry Plains, Tenn., April 3, 1840, the son of Adam K. and Elizabeth (Childers) Meek, of whom and the ancestors see an account in the sketch of John M. Meek. Our subject was reared on the farm, attended old Strawberry Plains College, and in 1861 graduated from Maryville College. From 1865 to 1874 he followed merchandising and railroading at Strawberry Plains, during which time he also served as postmaster. In 1974 he was appointed clerk and master of the chancery court. by Chan- cellor H. C. Smith, and reappointed twice, the last time by John P. Smith, serving twelve years in all, and, if he now serves out his time, making eighteen years, a longer term than any one man has ever held the office, which fact indicates the satisfaction he has given. In 1874 he began the study of law, and two years later was licensed, and has built up a fine practice at Dandridge, and established a high professional name. He is a prominent Republican, and in 1884 served as a presidential elector for James G. Blaine, and can- vassed his district in that campaign. Since 1875 he has been a director of Maury Acad- emy, Dandridge, and since 1883 the chairman of that board. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Jefferson County school fund, and has had the management of its $50 .- 000 since 1881.
John M. Meek, a prosperous farmer, was born on the old homestead of his grand- father in Jefferson County, January 2, 1838. He is the son of Adam K. and Elizabeth (Childers) Meek. Adam, Sr., the grandfather, was a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish blood, and among those early men of Mecklenburg, N. C., who originated the famous Mecklenburg Resolutions, the first declaration of independence of any American people. He was a lieutenant in the Revolution, and after the close of the war, he was the first settler in Jefferson County who built a house. He was also a Government surveyor, and after the close of a useful life his body was laid in Strawberry Plains Cemetery. Adam K., the father, is a successful farmer, and was one, in the Seminole war times, who organ- ized a company, but was mustered out before reaching the field. He is now an old and respected citizen of Jefferson County, His mother Elizabeth (Childers) Meck, was born in Yancey County, near Mecklenburg, N. C., and came to East Tennessee, when quite young, with her father's family, after the close of the war of Independence. Our subject, the youngest but one of four sons and six daughters, was reared on the farm, and when seventeen he entered and in 1858 graduated from the college at Strawberry Plains. In September, 1859, he married Elizabeth J., a daughter of Maj. Gaines McMillan, of Knox County, Tenn. Of their six sons and five daughters. two of the former and one of the latter are deceased. Alexander K., John L., Gaines M., Dan W., Mary E., Margaret B., Nellie B. and Bertha C. are living. He was at home two years of the civil war, and succeeded in avoiding the Confederate conscript by enlisting in the Federal Army, as scout, guide, etc., and was mustered out at the close with a captain's commission. He had studied law thoroughly, and after the war was admitted to the Jefferson County bar. In 1876 his farm caused him to withdraw from practice, and he now cultivates about 30 cres of his 500-acre farm, which lies near Strawberry Plains, and is known as Fancy Feadows Stock Farm, and is crossed by the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad.
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He has been active in public affairs, and for three years was secretary, and two years president, of the East Tennessee Farmers' Convention. He is an active Republican, and has been a prominent party worker since the war. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, of which church his devoted wife, who died August 10, 1886, was a member, as are also all his children except the youngest.
Alexander R. Meck. farmer and stock raiser, was born in Jefferson County, May 17, 1829, the son of Alexander Wallace and Nancy (Douglas) Meek, the former a native of Jefferson County, Tenn., and the latter of Mecklenburg County, N. C. The ancestors are mentioned in the sketch of John M. Meek. The father was a successful farmer and died in February, 1849, at the age of sixty-one. Our subject is the youngest but one of eight children, and was reared on his present homestead. When his father died he was compelled to leave school at Strawberry Plains, and take charge of the farm at the age of twenty years, and receiving the farm by his father's will, he has controlled it ever since, as a practical and successful farmer. He has always preferred the retirement of rural life and is now an aged and respected citizen, and member of the Presbyterian Church.
William A. Moore was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., near the French Broad River, December 25, 1815. He is the son of Elijah and Mary (McClanahan) Moore. The father was born in Mecklenburgh County, N. C., in March, 1792. At the age of seven his father brought him to Tennessee, where he gave him his early training on the farm. The father of our subject was a farmer and stock raiser. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and and later a captain in the State militia. He died at his home in Jefferson County, Tenn., at the age of forty-one, in 1834. The mother of our subject was a native of Jefferson County, Tenn., born in 1794, and died in 1859, at the age of sixty-five. Our subject is one of a family of five brothers and one sister, and is the eldest. He was reared on the farm, and received such an education as bis county could give. His father died when he was eighteen, and he took charge of the home farm, and thus began his occupation which he has followed all his life. On February 8, 1838, he was united in marriage with M. J. W. Rodgers, born May 16, 1819, and died August 24, 1851. To this marriage were born two sons and one daughter-one died in infancy, and the two yet living are Thomas E., born April 2, 1845, and Sarah I., born March 1, 1851. November 14, 1855, our subject married for a second wife Margaret A. Cowan. To this wife were born Andrew C., boru July 6, 1858; Lucy D., born February 22, 1860; William A., born June 25, 1866. Sep- tember 1, 1809, the son, Thomas E. Moore, was united in marriage with Martha E. Hous- ton, and Sarah I. Moore was united in marriage with Robert A. Lyle, March 14. 1871. Our subject, at the time of his first marriage, had very limited means with which to farm, but by energy and skillful management he has been a successful farmer and business man. He has had many obstacles to contend with. He has been a friend to many, and has often involved himself greatly to favor others. He has ever been enterprising. and manifested an untiring energy. He has been a Christian man since carly life, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. and is a Past Grand Master Mason. Our subject, before the war. had accumulated considerable wealth, but the war reduced him very much. Since the war he has been financially successful, and he is now one of the ablest men of his county, and is still an active and thorough farmer.
Alexander Morgan, farmer, of the Ninth Civil District of Jefferson County, Tenn., was born three miles northwest from New Market, Tenn .. on June 3, 1838, and is the son of Joshua and Winnie ( Tittsworth) Morgan. The father was born in Fall Branch, Sulli- van County, Tenn., on July 21, 1800, and was the son of Gabriel Morgan, who was born in Virginia October 19. 1771, and died July 30, 1849. Joshua, the father, was a farmer by vocation, and made a success of life. He removed to Jefferson County in 1823, and died May 11, 1869. The mother was born on Holston River. in Sullivan County, Tena., Octo- ber 4, 1807, and was the daughter of ---- Tittsworth. She died JJanuary 8, 1864. Our subject was reared on the farm, and acquired a practical education in the New Market and Fall Branch schools. He worked on the farm until February 10, 1862, and then enlisted in the Federal Army, joining Company K, Third United States Regiment of Ten-
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nessee Infantry, of which he was first sergeant. On May 14, 1864, he was wounded at Resaca, which wounds confined him in the hospital for nine months, they being of a serious nature, one ball passing entirely through his body. July 5, 1965, he was mustered out at Nashville, and returned to his home. The next six years he served as deputy sheriff of Jefferson County, and in June, 1884. was appointed United States deputy mar- shal, and served until May, 1886. He is now devoting himself entirely to farming, own- ing and cultivating a fine farm of 1351 acres in Mossy Creek Valley. He is enterprising and public-spirited, and is generally respected and esteemed by all who know him. He was married on December 22, 1859, to Hannah J. Baxter, who was born in Hoss Creek, Sullivan County, Tenn., July 27, 1842, and is the daughter of John Baxter. To this union twelve children have been born, ten of whom are living. Both subject and wife are members of the Baptist Church.
William A. Moser was born in that part of Jefferson County now embraced in Hamblen County, at the mouth of Long Creek, on Nollichucky River, on December 15, 1833, and is the son of John W. and Ann (Dunwiddie) Moser. The father was born near where our subject was born, in about 1807, and is the son of Philip Moser, who was a Virginian, and immigrated to Tennessee in the early days of the history of the State. The father is a millwright by vocation, though for a number of years he has been farming, and is now one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Hamblen County. He is a member of the Pres- byterian Church, and is an upright and worthy citizen. The mother was born in Greene County, Tenn., and died when our subject was but two or three years of age. Our sub- ject was reared on the farm, and acquired a practical education in the common schools of Jefferson and Greene Counties. He worked on the farm, and with his father at the mill- wright trade, in his younger days, but most of his life has been spent on the farm. He . removed to his present farm, on Holston River, in about 1867, and has remained there up to the present time, and owns and cultivates about 300 acres of fine farming land. He is a public-spirited, broad and liberal in his views, and always encourages enterprise of a worthy nature, which will tend to improve the rising generation, and has always taken an interest in the advancement of education and the building up of public schools, and is now, and has been for several years, school commissioner of his district. He was united in marriage November 22, 1865, to J. A. Hayworth, who was born March 2. 1835, and is the daughter of Richard and Mary Ann (Lyle) Hayworth, the former of whom was born on March 5, 1794, and died February 3, 1875; and the latter was born June 6, 1800, and died December 13, 1893. To the union of our subject and wife four children have been born, as follows: John R., born February 25. 1867: Hugh Jarnagin, born April 18, 1869: Lilly Antoinette, born January 5, 1978, and died January 5, 1974, and William Henry, born September 13, 1876. Both our subject and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
J. N. Newman, farmer, was born near Mossy Creek, Jefferson County, August 27. 1813, the son of Joseph and Catherine (Cate) Newman. The father, born in Guilford County, N. C., November 8, 1778. was the son of Isaac Newman, also a native of North Carolina, who served in the Revolution, as an American, and came to Tennessee in 1191, and settled at Mossy Creek, one of the earliest pioneers, where he was connected with the old iron works, and later on he became a prominent farmer. He died during the "thir- ties." Joseph was also a leading farmer, and died October 21, 1861. The mother, a daughter of W. Cate, of North Carolina, was born in Tennessee, November 5, 1780. and died March 23, 1821, a devoted member of the Baptist Church. Our subject lived on the home farm, with the advantages of a practical education gained in the country schools, and when of age became a brick-mason's apprentice, and worked for about six years at that trade. Since then he has farmed. He is now one of the trustees of the Newman Female College of Mossy Creek. In 1844 he married Susan S. Duncan, who was born in 1526, in Jefferson County, the daughter of Maj. John Duncan. She was an amiable, Christian woman. and died June 3, 1884. a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had no children. but our subject has, to a great extent, educated at least twelve children, and is a generous and respected man.
J. F. Newman was born in Jefferson County, May 4. 1830, and is the son of Aaron
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and Sina (Rankin) Newman. The father was born in Virginia, in January, 1802, and was the son of John Newman. who removed to Jefferson County in 1804. and was one of the pioneers of that county. coming at a time when there were but few settlers here, and farm houses were few and far between. He was a prominent citizen, and served as deputy under Sheriff Bradford for eight years, and was also constable for a number of years. The father was a farmer by vocation, and was one of the prominent farmers of bis day. He was an upright and religious man, and from his early manhood until his death was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was also an elder. His death occurred in July, 1884. The mother was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1804. and was the daughter of Thomas Rankin, a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the first settlers of Dumplin Valley. She was a pious, Christian lady, and a member of the Pres- byterian Church, and died in March. 1833. when our subject was not quite three years old. Our subject was reared on the farm, and attended the schools of the neighborhood, and finished his education at Strawberry Plains. He has followed farming as a vocation. and has made quite a success of it, and now owns and cultivates a good farm of 350 acres. He is an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, and is always ready to help along public enterprises. He has always advocated public schools, and has all through life contributed his mite to the progress and advancement of education, and has served a number of years as school director, for which he never received a cent of pay, notwith - standing he was entitled to do so by law. He was married in August, 1852, to Martha Galbraith, who was born in Jefferson County in May, 1833, and was the daughter of James Galbraith. To this union four children were born, three of whom are now living. His wife was a member of the Methodist Church, and died in June, 1860. He was married in February, 1861, to Eliza McGuire, who was born in Jefferson County, in 1833, and was the daughter of Michael McGuire. To this union two children were born, one of whom is living. The wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died in May, 1863. He was married April 2, 1868, to Mary Corbett, who was born in Jefferson County iu 1848, and is the daughter of John. W. Corbett. To this union eight children have been born. Both our subject and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Samuel I. Newman (deceased) was born near his present home near Mossy Creek. November 18, 1809, the son of Garrett and Margaret (Campbell) Newman. The father was born in Guilford County, N. C .. November 16, 1782, and came to Tennessee in his boyhood, and became a prominent farmer of Jefferson County, and died in 1832. The mother was born in Virginia, in 1177, the daughter of Andrew Campbell, a Virginian. and one of the pioneers of East Tennessee, on the "Chuckey " River waters. Isaac, the grand- father, a native of North Carolina, was one of the pioneers of Mossy Creek, so that our subject is a survivor of one of the oldest and most prominent families of East Tennessee. and was reared on the farm and gained a practical education. After his seventeenth year, for about twenty years, he was a brick-mason, and built the old Newman Female College in Mossy Creek. For the last thirty-five or forty years, before his death, he had been interested, most successfully, in farming. He was an active and regular member of the East Tennessee Farmers' Convention, and was generally esteemed as a Christian gentleman. He was a Baptist. January 1, 1831, he married Mary Ann, a daughter of Austin Elmore, a prominent citizen of his day, and native of North Carolina. She was born January 27, 1809. in this county. Nine of their twelve children are living. Our subject's death occurred June 24. 1887.
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