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 68
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James HI. Robinson was born two miles from Greeneville, on June 26, 1835, and is the son of James and Mary (Temple) Robinson. The father was born in Greene County, and was the son of David Robinson, who was a native of Virginia, and immigrated to Ten- nessee at a very early date and was one of the pioneers of Greene County. The father was a farmer and a prominent citizen, and for a number of years served as magistrate. He died in 1863, his funeral occurring on the last day General Longstreet's army passed through Greeneville, going into Virginia. The mother was born in Greene County, and was the daughter of Thomas Temple, a native of Greene County, who was the son of Maj. Temple, a native of North Carolina, who participated in the battle of King's Mountain. She died in 1867. Our subject was reared on the farm, and attended school at Tusculum College. While in school his health failed him, and he visited California, where he remained for over two years. Returning home he studied law for a time and then re-entered Tusculum College, from which school he graduated with honor on June 7, 1860, he being the valedictorian of the graduating class of that year. He at once resumed his law studies in Greeneville under Maj. James Britton, and on February 18. 1861, was admitted to the bar, his license being signed by Judge David T. Patterson and Chancellor Seth J. W. Lucky. He was not sworn in at once, and the war coming up, upon advice of friends he did not take the oath until after the war. He enlisted in the Confederate service in 1862, and was appointed deputy agent at Greeneville, which he held until the latter part of that year, and then enlisted in Capt. Jackson's Company of the Eighty-first Regiment of Confederate Tennessee Infantry, as a private. He was with bis regiment but a short time until he was appointed provost-marshal and put in com-
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mand of Greene County, with the rank of captain. He served in that capacity until the evacuation of East Tennessee by the Confederate troops. On leaving Greeneville he became a member of Col. Battles' Cavalry Battalion, which organization was composed of a number of parts of different regiments. ITis health failed him after awhile, and he left the ranks, and purchased the newspaper outfit of the Southern Banner, which he removed to Wytheville, and published a weekly paper until the close of the war, and issued the last paper in the Confederacy, an issue being made after Gen. Lee's surrender. the paper being common brown wrapping paper. He was with his command, however, at the surrender at Christiansburg, Va., in 1865. At the close of the war he went to Illinois and then to Louisville, Ky., where he was engaged for a few weeks as salesman in a wholesale merchandising house. From Louisville he went to Batesville. Ark., where he began the practice of his profession, be having previously been licensed to practice in the courts of Arkansas. He removed to East Tennessee in 1869 and settled in Greene- ville, forming a partnership with Maj. A. H. Pittibone. He remained with Maj. Pettibone for about five years, and then formed a partnership and practiced with Thomas Maloney, and with him was counsel for four years for President Johnson's estate. and conducted the noted case, before the supreme court, of Bessie M. Johnson, the widow of Andrew Johnson. Jr., against the administration of President Johnson's estate, which case was argued four different times before the supreme bench of Tennessee. He began practic- ing by himself, and has continued np to the present, having built up a fine practice and established for life an excellent professional standing, and for six years was local attorney for the East Tennessee & Virginia Railway. He is a man of fine legal talent, and a progressive and public spirited citizen, broad and liberal in his views. He has always encouraged all public enterprises of a worthy nature, and is now president of the board of enterprise of Greene County. He takes an active part in politics, and, during recent canvasses, stumped a large portion of this section. He takes an interest in public schools and churches, and is a member of and an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Greeneville. He was married to Ellen Temple, June 7, 1860, only a few moments after he delivered his valedictory address at college. His wife was born in Greene County, April 19, 1843, and is the daughter of Col. M. S. Temple, one of the prominent citizens of Greene County, who represented his county in the State Legislature, and was also at one time superintendent of the East Tennessee & Virginia Railway. To this union cight children have been born, two of whom are dead. The eldest, Frank P., is a practicing physician of Cocke County, and Bird M., another son, is connected with the Indian agency at Standing Rock, Dakota, who read law with his father, and on November 6, 1883, was licensed to practice by the supreme court of Tennessee. June 6, 1873, our subject was called to Tusculum College, and the degree of A. M. conferred upon him. He is, and has been for years, a trustee of Tusculum College. He was prosecuting lawyer in the celebrated case of Johnson rs. McHenry.
D. L. Russell, farmer and stock raiser, was born near his present home in Greene County, October 14, 1841, the son of John and Minerva (Thompson) Russell. The father was a farmer, and died at his home in Greene County, in February, 1885, aged seventy-two years, and the mother, also a native of Tennessee, was the daughter of Henry Thompson. Of nine children, those living are Daniel L., Samuel C., William F., Edward G., John and Alfred H. Our subject was reared on the farm, and edu- cated at the common schools. When of age he joined the Confederate Army, was in service four years, and has since been successfully devoted to farming. He now owns a farm of 350 acres, well improved. In 1867 he married Mary V., a daughter of James Johnston. Their children are John W., James J., Sudie and William. She died December 30, 1876, and in 1878 Sarah R., a daughter of HI Wells, became his wife. Their children are Minnic, Humphries, Jennie and David C. Our subject is a Presby- terian.
A. N. Shoun, lawyer, of the firm of Ingersoll & Shoun, was born in Johnson County, Tenn., November 1. 1951. the son of G. H. and Theodosia (Wilson) Shoun. the former born in that city in 1821, the son of Andrew, a native of the same, and he
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a son of Leonard, a pioneer of that county. The father, a successful merchant. is now retired at Rheatown, where he removed at the close of the war. The mother was born in 1824 in Johnson County, and is the daughter of Andrew Wilson. Both parents are members of the Christian Church. Our subject was thirteen years of age when the family moved to Rheatown, and he spent one year (1865) in Emory and Jefferson College, Knox County; then one year in the Rheatown Academy, and finally graduated from Emory and Henry College, Va., in Jone, 1871. He read law in the office of Judge II. H. Ingersoll two years, and was admitted to the bar in 1873, his license being signed by Judges Smith and Gillenwaters, and also by the master of the supreme court. For over three years he was engaged as merchant with his father, studying meanwhile, especially history. In 1878 he began his present law partnership. In 1873, Kate, a daughter of Thomas Johnson, became his wife. They have four children. She is a Methodist.
R. J. Snapp was born in Sullivan County, Tenn .. October 1, 1843, and is the son of W. C. and A. E. Snapp. In September, 1851, he entered Jefferson Academy, of Sullivan County, and attended this institution eight winters. laboring on the farm during the summer seasons, and passing his youth without noteworthy event. In 1859 he was placed under the control of Rev. J. J. Smith. of Shelbyville, Ind., who carefully directed his education for four years. In 1863 he returned to Knoxville, and was there employed by Fishel & Elsas, as clerk in their dry goods establishment, but in 1866 obtained a position as clerk with Stokes & Waters, Lebanon, Tenn., also in the dry goods business. Two years later (1868) he removed with this firm to Cherry Valley, Middle Tennessee, but the following year (1869) returned to his father's house at Rheatown, Greene Co .. Tenn. In 1870, he attended Laurel Hill Academy one term, and, in 1873, entered H. G. Eastman's Commercial College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from the business course of which institution he graduated in four months. He then returned to his father, whose health was beginning to fail with the approach of old age, to take charge of the farm, and continued thus four years. From 1876 to 1877, he was engaged in the brick business at Greeneville, Tenn., and in 1878 embarked in the family grocery business, with W. D. Culver as partner, the firm name being Snapp & Culver. In the fall of 1879, he bought out Mr. Culver, and is still continuing alone, having in 1883 added to his business a tannery and a boot, shoe, harness and saddle manufactory. He manufactures more leather than he can use, and ships it in the rough to Eastern cities. In 1886-87, he built, under the supervision of J. F. Fields. architect, "Snapp's Opera House," the lower floor being used for stores, and the building being the most attractive in the place, and a credit to both owner and town. April 30. 1877, he was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Lane, daughter of Thomas Lane, of Greeneville, which union has proven a very happy one, two bright boys, Earl and Clarence. having come to bless their parents. Earl is eight years old, and Clarence would have been four, had not God, for some wise purpose, seen proper last autumn to call him home.
Lawrence P. Speck, farmer and merchant miller, was born in Rogersville, Tenn .. October 28, 1841, the son of George C. and Mary D. (Russell) Speck. The father, a native of Augusta County, Va., was born in 1804, and died in 1847, and was of German-French origin. He was a tailor, and also dealt in live stock, and about 1844 moved from Hawkins County to Morristown, where his death occurred. The mother was born in Greene County, Tenn., June 24, 1814, and died February 20, 1886. Her children are Thos. J., Mary C .. Lawrence P. and George E. Our subject was reared in Rogersville and Morristown, and received a limited education in common schools, and a few terms at MeMinn Acad- emy. He was a clerk in early life, and worked several years in a printing office. With the opening of the war, while residing at Camden, Ark .. he enlisted in Company C, first Arkansas Volunteers, Confederate Army, and was paroled at the close at Jamestown. N. C. Hereturned to Rogersville and then moved to New Orleans, and was employed in the cotton trade, with a firm engaged in that business. In 1867 he married Elizabeth Robert- son, of Kosciusko, Miss. He then engaged in the newspaper business and merchandis ing at Morristown, Tenn. In 1880 he went to Rockford, Blount County, where he engaged in merchandising and manufacturing cotton goods, but in 1885 he began farm-
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ng at his present home. His children are George C., born October 10, 1869; Hugh W .. boru Jannary 10, 1872: Annie J., born January 6, 1874; Thomas A., born April 16, 1876. Eugenia A., born February 23, 1878; Mary P., born December 21, 1880; Bessie L., born January 29, 1888; and Laura B., born December 28, 1884.
A. J. Stephens, sheriff, was born twelve miles south of Greeneville, in 1813, being the son of Samuel L. and Mary J. (Farnsworth) Stephens, the former born in this count; April 2, 1805, the son of Andrew Stephens, of Pennsylvania, but a resident of Greene County since 1790. Samuel died April 26, 1814. The mother was born in Greene County October 13, 1820, being the daughter of Thomas Farnsworth. She is a Lutheran. and is still a resident of this county. Our subject was educated in a mill, and attended Rich- land Creek Academy. In 1862 he joined the Fourth Tennessee Federal Infantry, and was captured while en route for Kentucky, and taken to Knoxville and put in the Confederate service, but ran away at the first opportunity, and helped raise Company E, Second Fed- eral North Carolina Mounted Infantry, of which he was chosen Second Lieutenant, sery- ing until August 16, 1865, when, by special order of the war department, he was mus- tered out at Knoxville. He then established a wool-carding machine at Little Lick Creek, running it for three years, and then engaged in iron mining for two years. He was then a farmer and mill-wright until August, 1886, when he became sheriff. He is a Re- publican. In 1367 he married Martha E., a daughter of John Susong. She was born in Greene County in 1843, and is a Presbyterian. They have had four children.
S. J. R. Stephens, senior member of B. F. Stephens' Bros., of the Greeneville Woolen Mills, is the superintendent of the weaving department. The mills were first established at Birdsbridge in 1879, and afterward moved to Greeneville by the present firm. They are the largest between Knoxville and the Virginia line, and have a capacity of 150 pounds of yarn, and 500 yards of jeans cloth per day, though a general variety of goods is manu- factured. Twenty-two of the best looms and thirty-five hands are employed, and they do an annual business of about $75,000. Our subject was born in 1849, in Greene County, and was educated in Tusculum College. He began flour-milling and taking out iron ore from the furnace near Birdsbridge, then after a year on the farm, he and his brothers established their business. In 1864 he married Florence, daughter of Andrew Bowers. They have had four children. B. F. Stephens, the second member, and superintendent of the spinning department, was born in 1856, and educated at Mosbeim Station, and then entered the flouring-mill and woolen-mills, removing to Greeneville in 1884. In 1878 he married Josephine, daughter of J. B. Bird. They have one child. Fox Stephens, junior member and book-keeper, was born in 1858, and was educated at Mosheim College, at Blue Springs, and began with his brothers on leaving school. In 1879 he married Josephine, daughter of Thomas N. Brooks. Samuel L., and Mary J. (Farnsworth) Stephens, the parents, were born-the former in Pennsylvania in 1805, and the latter in Greene County, Tenn., in 1820. The father was the son of John Stephens, a native of Germany, who came to Pennsylvania about 1800 or 1810. He was a farmer and blacksmith, and a Lutheran. He died in 1874. The mother, a daughter of Thomas Farnsworth, is also a Lutheran. and lives with the junior member of this firm, Fox Stephens.
A. D. Susong, merchant, was born in Greene County, November 10, 1820, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Eason) Susong, the former born in Rockingham County, Va .. in 1777, the son of Andrew, Sr., a native of Germany, and a soldier throughout the Revolu. tion, who became a pioneer of Greene County in 1817, and died in 1826. Andrew, Jr., was a successful farmer in Greene County, and died in 1832, universally esteemed. The mother was born in Montgomery County, Va., a daughter of Samuel Eason. a native of Virginia. and owner of the Virginia site of Bristol, Teun. She died in 1856. Both were Lutherans, but the mother after his death became a Presbyterian. Our subject was educated at Tus- culum College, and then engaged for three years in a hardware store at Greeneville, since which he has been in his present general merchandise store at Timber Ridge, in connec- tion with which he owns and cultivates from 500 to 800 acres of land. He was postmaster from 1847 to about 1859, and from 1866 to the administration of President Arthur. He is a broad-minded man, and a Presbyterian. In 1868 he married Sarah, a daughter of Robert
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Cochran, of Greene County. She was born in 1840, near their present home. She is a Presbyterian. Three of their four children are living. He has been an elder of his church for the last thirty years.
L. W. Tipton, merchant, was born in Crab Orchard, Ky., June 20, 1838. the son of Jonathan and Mary (McJimpsey) Tipton, the former born in North Carolina in 1811, the son of Jonathan Tipton, a native of Carter County, Tenn. The father, a farmer, was killed in 1864, by Confederate soldiers, in retaliation for his sons being in the Federal Army. The mother was born in Catawba County, N. C., in 1818, the daughter of William McJimpsey. She now lives in North Carolina. Our subject was educated at Burnsville, N. C., and in 1862 joined Company D, Eighth Federal Tennessee Cavalry, but June 11. 1863, he was transferred to Company A, Third United States North Carolina Mounted Infantry, as second lieutenant. He was mustered out August 7, 1865, and has since been farming a mile east of Greeneville. He has also, since 1881, been engaged in the grocery business at Greeneville. He is a Mason, and a member of the Baptist Church. He is an intelligent and successful man. August 25, 1865, Clementine, a daughter of Eliza Head- erick, became his wife, and five children have been born to them. She was torn near Fall Branch in 1836.
Col. J. G. Weems, farmer, was born July 4, 1829, in Greene County, where he has since resided. He was first engaged for seven years in the firm of Bailey & Weems, mer- chants and stock dealers, but since 1857 he has been farming. His father gave him $1,500, and he now owns about 500 acres of land where he resides. besides 267 acres elsewhere. May 15, 1856, he married Mary J., a daughter of William M. Williams, a native of Greene County. Their children were Laura E., George M., Eliza M. (deceased), Thomas B., Joel A., Charles P., John G. (deceased), Mary E., William M., James R. and Robert T. Both are Methodists, and he is a leader among Prohibitionists. Politically he was a Democrat until 1894, at which time he took up the cause of the Prohibitionists. He served four years as a justice, and then resigned. He is a Master Mason. He is the second of eight children of George and Matilda (Keele) Weems, natives of Greene and Jefferson (now Hamblen) Counties, respectively, the former deceased in July, 1839, aged forty-four, and the latter in December, 1863, aged about fifty-nine. John Weems, of North Carolina. was the next ancestor, and of Irish stock. Our subject was a colonel of State militia.
G. J. Weems, farmer and miller, of the firm of Weems & McDannald, was born in 1838 in Greene County, where he has since resided. He began with $3,000 worth of prop- erty, and now owns a fine farm of 300 acres at his home, and two other tracts of 295 acres. besides a half interest in the valuable mill property. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D. Eighth Tennessee Federal Infantry, and served until June, 1865, when he was mustered out at Nashville, having received a severe wound at Kenesaw Mountain. In 1865 Mattie J., daughter of William Ross, of the county of Greene, became his wife. Their chil. dren are Mary M. (now Mrs. Barlow), William R., Charles E., Livy A. S., Rebecca J .. Dollie O. and Nancy Alice. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he a Prohibitionist.
Joseph A. Williams, the subject of our sketch, is a farmer in the Ninth Civil District. and was born in Greeneville, Tenn., May 3, 1832, and is the son of Dr. Alexander and Catherine Douglas (Dickson) Williams. The father was a native of Surry County. N. C .. and was born in November, 1793, and died at Greeneville in August, 1852. The mother was born in Greeneville, Tenn., in 1802, and died in Greeneville in 1St0. She was the mother of six sons and four daughters, of which children there now (1887) live only three sons, viz. : William D., Joseph A. and Thomas L. Joseph A., our subject was reared in Greeneville, and was educated in Greeneville and Knoxville, and carly in life studied medicine and practiced the profession for a short time, and then began farming in Greene County, Tenn. He was farming when the civil war broke out, though he never enlisted. yet bis sympathy was in favor of the Federal Army. In 1861 he married Lucy M. Rum. bough, and it is said that Lucy betrayed Gen. John Morgan to the Union soldiers at Greeneville. but hereby the statement is denied. She was not the betrayer of the Genere. but was a sympathizer with the Union army, and never had an opportunity of betraying
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Gen. Morgan. In 1881 our subject was united in marriage with Mary Pattent for a sec- ond wife. She was an intelligent woman of noble character, and a devoted Christian, and her death occurred fourteen months after her marriage with our subject. Mr. Will- iams is a practical farmer, and owns and cultivates a portion of the Greeneville College farm. He is a man decisive in character, and is a faithful friend, aud & well respected citizen.
Thomas L. Williams was born in Greeneville, Tenn., September 7, 1838, and is the son of Dr. Alexander and Catherine (Dickson) Williams. The father was born in Surry County, N. C., in November, 1793, and died in Greeneville, Tenn., in August, 1852. The mother was a native of Greeneville, Tenn., and was born in 1802, and died in 1870. She was the daughter of William Dickson, an carly settler of East Tennessee. She was the mother of six sons and four daughters, of which family there are now (1887) living only three sons, viz: William D., Joseph A. and our subject, who was reared in Greeneville, and educated at Greeneville, Knoxville and Chapel Hill, N. C. At the outbreak of the war, he left college at Knoxville, and entered the Confederate Army, in Company E, Sixteenth Battalion, Buckner's Legion, and afterward was transferred to Vaughn's Brigade. He became captain, and was paroled as such, and surrendered at Anderson Court House, S. C. Such was the prejudice against him in his native community, which was principally of Union sentiment, that he was forced to leave his native county, and went to Baltimore and elsewhere. About six years after the war he settled in Greene County, and has farmed ever since. He owns and cultivates a portion of the Greeneville College farm, and is a practical farmer. In 1870 he married Mary Simpson, daughter of HoD. Richard F. Simpson, of South Carolina. She was born March 1, 1842, and is the mother of nine children, of whom only six now (1887) live, viz: Eliza S., Richard F., William D., Thomas L .. Maria L. and Anna Simpson.
William Houston Williams, merchant, was born December 5, 1834, in Blount County, and is the son of W. B. and Elizabeth (Hubbell) Williams, natives of Smyth County Va .. the former born in 1796, being the son of Major Samuel Williams, a native of Rye Valley, Va., and a soldier of the Continental war. He was also an extensive iron works owner in bis native state. Ile settled in Blount County in 1822, and was a farmer, a captain in the militia, and also a deputy sheriff, and died in 1852. The mother was born in 1806, being the daughter of Joel Hubbell, a farmer of Smyth County, Va. She died in 1826, when our subject was a child. Both parents were Baptists. Our subject was educated at Mary- ville College, Blount County, and Mossy Creek (now Carson) College, and taught for one year, when he joined Company K, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry (Confederate), as orderly ser- geant. In December, 1863, he was captured at Knoxville, but escaped near Richmond, while en route for Camp Chase, Ohio. He taught then two years in Kentucky, one in Alabama and three in Tennessee. In 1871 he began extensive wheat dealing in Greene- ville for the Kenesaw (Ga.) mills, continuing up to 1882, gaining the title by which he is generally known, of " Wheat William." Since that date he has been a successful mer- chant. He is a stockholder in the public schools, and is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. He is also a Knight of Honor. In 1874 he married Mary J., a daughter of Lemuel White, a Methodist divine of Hawkins County, where she was born in 1844. She taught several years in Greene and Washington Counties, and at Weaverville, N. C. Two of their four children are deceased. His wife is a Methodist.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Jacob Baxter, a farmer, was born in Rockingham County, Va., on November 8, 1816, is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Rhine) Baxter, natives of Maryland. But little is known of his ancestors. At the age of nineteen he left his paternal roof, and began hauling goods from Winchester, Va., to Bristol, Tenn. In 1847 he came to Washington County and purchased a farm containing 2953 acres, where he now resides. His orchard contains an apple tree one hundred years old, ten feet eight inches in circumference. In the yard is a walnut tree eleven feet six inches in circumference. On Sept. 17. 1951, he married Sar- abphinah Shannon, born March 17, 1828, danghter of Elijah and Eliza Shannon, natives of this county. Elijah died May 6, 1851; his widow, who is eighty-one years old, is still living. He was the son of John and Rebecka Shannon; his father was a native of the ocean, born while his parents were crossing to America from Ireland. In early manhood he came to Nollichucky, Washington County, and purchased a farm. Soon thereafter, he married Rebecka Erwin, who resided near the place now known as Erwin, county seat of Unicoi. Her mother, when a child, was stolen by the Indians, and left with a Stewart family, with whom she lived until married, not being found by her parents until after marriage. Jacob Baxter and wife are Presbyterian and Methodist, respectively. They had eight children; Hubert, Laura, Kittie, George, Elbridge, Frank, Willie and Lulu; the eldest three of whom are dead. Those living have received a thorough training in college. He is a trustee of Washington College, and is a conservative Democrat.
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