USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 11
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sional committee, and in 1899 and 1901-the Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses -- he was the Democratic caucus nom- inee for speaker of the house, receiving each time the full vote of his party colleagues. Mr. Richardson is known all over the country as a compiler of the "Messages and Documents of the Presidents." He is one of the most prominent members of the Masonic fraternity in the South. In 1873-74 he was grand master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee; was grand high priest of the Royal Arch Masons of the state in 1882, and has served as grand commander of the supreme council, thirty-third degree, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
WINDER MCGAVOCK, farmer and stock raiser, Franklin, Tenn., was born on the old home place near that city, July 13, 1857. Since coming to years of maturity he has found both pleasure and profit as a tiller of the soil. He was educated in James A. McNutt's private school at Franklin, at the University of Nashville and the Southwestern university of Clarks- ville. He was married Feb. 5, 1883, JOHN M'GAVOCK. to Miss Susy Lee Ewing, daughter of H. S. Ewing, and they made their home at once on the farm where they now live. Five children have been born to then: two boys and three girls. Mr. McGavock carries on general farming and is engaged in stock raising. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Royal Arcanum and belongs to the Presbyterian church. In politics .he casts his fortunes with the Democratic party, and takes an active part in its cam- paigns, but has never held office. James McGavock, Sr., ancestor of the McGavock family in the United States, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1728. He emigrated to Virginia about 1745 and settled in Rockbridge county, where he married Miss Mary Cloyd, daughter of David Cloyd, about 1760. She was born in Rockbridge county, March 14, 1741. Some years later he removed to Wythe county and settled on
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his estate, now called Fort Chiswell, where he lived until his death, March 22, 1812. During his life he acquired a vast landed interest in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, though land then was of but little value. This estate, however, in time has enriched nearly every descendant of his, even to the fourth and fifth generations. It is said he had ten children, and gave to each 10,000 acres of land, which is now worth six or seven millions of dollars. Hugh McGavock, the eldest son of James, Sr., was born Sept. 25. 1760, and was reared on a farm in Wythe county. At the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, he was elected ensign in Col. Hugh Crockett's regiment, and served through the war with an honorable rec- ord. After the war he married Nancy Kent, of Virginia, March 25, 1785, and they made their home in Wythe county, where he followed farming near Max Meadows, until their death. They had twelve children, Jacob, their third son, was born Sept. 20, 1790. He remained at home until he reached man- hood, when he went to Nashville, Tenn., where he was employed by his uncle, Randall McGavock, first clerk of the United States district court at Nashville. On the retirement of his uncle, Jacob took his place and held the office until 1861. He married Louise Grundy, daughter of Felix Grundy, senator from Ten- nessee and attorney-general of the United States under Presi- dent Polk. Several children were born to them, of whom one or two are living. Eliza. M. McGavock, their daughter, mar- ried Andrew B. Ewing, father of Randall Ewing, whose career is noted elsewhere in this work. Randall McGavock, another son of James, was born June 20, 1766, and moved to Tennessee at a very early date, living several years in Nashville, where he was clerk of the Federal court, as noted above. He was a lawyer by profession and at one time was mayor of Nashville. He moved to Williamson county about 1829 and settled on a farm near Franklin, which he had entered about 1812. He married Sarah Dorothy Rodgers, of Kentucky, and they had seven children, four sons and three daughters. John McGavock, his son, was born April 2, 1815. at Nashville. He married Caroline E. Winder, who was born Dec. 9, 1829. They lived on the old home place until his death, which occurred in 1893,
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and his widow still resides there. Two children survive, Harriet Young and Van Wynder.
HENRY R.'GIBSON, a prominent attorney and politician of Knoxville, Tenn., and the present representative from the second district in Congress, was born on Kent Island, Queen Anne county, Md .. in the year 1837. He attended the schools at Bladensburg, Md., and graduated from Hobart college at Geneva, N. Y., in 1862. Soon after leaving college he entered the commissary department of the Union army, and served until July, 1865. In. September of that year he entered the Albany Law school, and in December was licensed to practice at Albany, by the supreme court of New York. About a month later he located at Knoxville, where he opened an office, but in October, 1866, removed to Jacksboro. in Campbell county. Since then . Mr. Gibson has been a prominent figure in public life. In 1868 he was appointed commissioner of claims by Governor Brown- low; was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1870, was a nominee for presidential elector on the Republican ticket; elected to the house of representatives in the Tennessee legislature in 1874; removed back to Knoxville in 1876 and there formed a partnership with L. C. Houk; founded the Knox- ville Republican in 1879; was again a nominee for presidential elector in 1880; was appointed postoffice inspector in 1881 ; became editor of the Knoxville Daily Chronicle in 1882; was appointed United States pension agent at Knoxville for the southern district in 1883; was elected chancellor of the second ยท chancery division in 1886 for a term of eight years; published a work entitled "Suits in Chancery," which has become an authority in Tennessee and some other states; has been profes- sor of medical jurisprudence in the Tennessee Medical college .since 1889: was nominated and elected to Congress from the district composed of Anderson. Blount. Campbell. Hambien, Jefferson. Knox. Loudon. Roane. Scott and Union counties in 1894. and has been re-elected at every succeeding election. In whatever calling Mr. Gibson has embarked he has met with success because of his native talent, his rare tact and his per- sistent energy. As a lawyer he has a high standing in his
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profession, as a journalist his writings have been regarded as authority on political questions, and as a representative his high- est aim has been to promote the welfare of his constituency. In 1892 Hobart college honored him with the degree of LL.D.
PROF. T. E. ALLEN, of Frank- lin, Tenn., was born in Cheatham county, of that state, Nov. 16, 1861. He is the son of E. C. and Tennessee (Watkins) Allen, both natives of Ten- nessee, the father born in Cheatham county in 1826. The first of the fam- ily in this country was a native of England, who emigrated and settled in North Carolina at an early date. His son, George S. Allen, followed his father's vocation of farmer and removed in early life to Tennessee, entering land in Cheatham county, which is still in possession of the family. While mak- ing the trip from North Carolina, he was attacked by Indians and shot. He stuffed a silk handkerchief in the wound and con- tinued his journey, reaching home in due time, where he recov- ered. He married a Miss Russell, a native of Tennessee, and they lived on the home place until their death at an advanced age. Of nine children born to them, but one son is living, George Washington Allen, who is on the old place. E. C. Allen, father of Professor Allen, was reared on the farm and lived on a part of it until his death. His wife was a daughter of Captain Watkins. Ten children were born to them, all liv- . ing. Both parents were active in the Methodist church. The father died at the age of seventy and the mother at the age of sixty-five years. Professor Allen secured his early education in the country schools and later attended Vanderbilt university. In 1890 he engaged in teaching, as principal of the high school at Hillsboro, where he remained three and one-half years. He then went to Lavergne, where for two years he had charge of the training school. In 1895 he took charge of the old Franklin academy, and held that position one year, at the end of which
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time he became associate president of Tennessee Female college, at Franklin, and is now vice-president of the institution. This school was established in 1856 and is the oldest female college in the state. Many well-known women have graduated from it and occupy high positions in the educational world. The capacity of the college is 100. Professor Allen was married in 1892, to Miss Ella Black, a native of the county and the daughter of A. Black, a merchant at Hillsboro. They have three boys, Paul, Alexander and Marion. The family belong to the Christian church and take great interest in church affairs. In politics, Professor Allen is a Democrat. He is prominent as an educator and very popular, both in educational and social circles.
HON. JOHN WESLEY GAINES, of Nashville, Tenn., representative from the sixth district in Congress, was born in Davidson county, Tenn., near the city of Nashville, Aug. 24, 1861, his parents being John Wesley and Maria (Wair) Gaines. His early education was obtained in the common schools, after which he took up the occupation of a teacher for a time, when he entered the University of Nashville, graduated from that institution and from the medical department of Vanderbilt uni- versity with the class of 1882. He never practiced medicine, however, but turned his attention to the law, and in 1884 was admitted to the bar. Ever since his admission he has practiced in Nashville, where he has acquired a high standing as an attorney and built up a practice that extends to all the state and Federal courts. Upon attaining his majority he cast his lot with the Democratic party and has been actively engaged in every political campaign since that time. Mr. Gaines' broad. education gave him a ready grasp of all questions of public policy, and his native talent as an orator, supplemented by a thorough knowledge of all the matters at issue, made him one of the most popular public speakers in Central Tennessee. In 1892 he was a presidential elector on the Cleveland and Steven- son ticket, and led the ticket. Four years later, when the question of the free coinage of silver became the dominant issue, Mr. Gaines boldly espoused the cause of "sixteen to one." and
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in a little while was recognized as the leading exponent of that doctrine in the district. The situation naturally led to his nomi- nation for Congress, and he was elected by one of the largest pluralities ever received in the district. At every subsequent election he has been re-elected, and it is no disparagement to the other members of the lower branch of Congress from Tennessee to say that the capital district has a member that is the peer of any man in that body.
WILLIAM R. GARRETT, professor of mathematics in the Peabody Normal college, Nashville, Tenn., and one of the prominent educators of the state, was born at Williamsburg, Va., April 12, 1839, his parents being Dr. Robert M. and Susan (Winder) Garrett. At the age of fifteen years he entered William and Mary college, from which he received the degree of A.M. in 1858. He then took the law course in the Univer- sity of Virginia and engaged in practice in his native town, in which he continued until the commencement of the war. He entered the military service of Virginia and served about a month, when he was elected captain of the Lee artillery, a company raised in Williamsburg and mustered into the Con- federate service as Company F. First Virginia artillery. Captain Garrett commanded the company during the time of its enlist- ment, which expired in May, 1862, taking part in the Penin- sular campaign. When Williamsburg was surrendered to Gen- eral McClellan in May, 1861, Captain Garrett's father was mayor of the town and turned the city over to the Federal com- mander. Later in the war William R. Garrett served as adju- tant, with Douglass' battalion of partisan rangers, which was subsequently mustered into the service as part of the Eleventh Tennessee cavalry, and assigned to Dibrell's brigade. After the war Captain Garrett returned to Williamsburg and became master of the grammar school in William and Mary college. There he remained until January, 1868. when he removed to Tennessee. Since coming to the state he has filled various important positions in its educational work. He has been president of Giles college; superintendent of public instruction of Giles county ; principal of Cornersville academy ; state super-
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intendent of public instruction; principal of the Military acad- emy at Nashville; president of the State Teachers' association; president of the National Educational Association of the United States at the international meeting at Toronto, etc. In connec- tion with his school work he was also editor of the American Historical Magasine. Soon after coming to the state in 1868 he was married to Miss Julia F. Batte, of Pulaski county. Captain Garrett has died since this sketch was written.
GEORGE LIMERICK COWAN, of Franklin, Tenn., was born twenty miles from Londonderry, at Bally Kelly, County Derry, Ireland, Oct. 15, 1842. His father, Robert W. Cowan, was born in 1800, in the same place, was a farmer and one of the few who owned land. His wife was Hannah Limerick, also a native of Ireland. In 1851 they came to the United States and settled at Shelbyville, Bedford county, Tenn., where he bought a grist-mill, which he conducted in connection with his farm. In 1858 he sold the mill and devoted his attention to farming exclu- sively. He was known as the original secessionist of Bedford county and was very active in the service. Both he and his wife lived to be nearly three score and ten years old. They had ten children, all but one of them still living. George L. received his education in the common schools, and in July, 1859, he engaged in the wholesale dry goods business at Nash- ville, in which he was engaged at the breaking out of the war. He assisted Capt. Montgomery Little to raise a company which was sworn into the Confederate service as an escort company for Gen. N. B. Forrest. At the end of a year Mr. Cowan was elected orderly sergeant, later was promoted to third lieu- tenant. then second lieutenant, and as such had command of the company at the time of the final surrender at Gainesville, Ala., May 10. 1865. He took part in all of the engagements in which Forrest's command had a part until the close. Returning
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to Shelbyville, he put in a crop on the home place, and later attended school for six months. In 1866 he associated himself with a wholesale house in Nashville and remained there for three years, when he organized a company known as Kinkade, Hanley & Co., wholesale druggists, with which firm he remained until 1877. He then became a leading spirit in the firm of Cowan & Co., wholesale notions, but disposed of his interests in this house in 1887 and removed to his farm near Franklin. He was married Jan. 3. 1884, to Miss Hattie McGavock, daughter of Col. and Mrs. John McGavock. After his mar- riage he erected a neat cottage on their place, a part of the McGavock farm, and this has since been their home. Five children have been born to them, three boys and two girls. Mr. Cowan carries on general farming and stock raising, being quite an extensive breeder of high class roadsters. He is one of the trustees of the Confederate soldiers' home at Nashville, and has been since its organization. He has been chairman of the McGavock Confederate Cemetery Company for twelve years; has been secretary of the Bivouac of Confederate sol- diers; is a member of Hiram lodge No. 7, Free and Accepted Masons; has held all the chairs in that lodge; was delegate to the Grand Lodge for twenty years; has held every chair in Franklin chapter; is now grand king of the Grand chapter of the state; a member of Orestes lodge No. 10, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in political contests, having been chairman of the county executive committee in 1892-93. Of Scotch-Irish descent, he finds the Presbyterian church his natural home and has been an elder of that church for forty years. For fifteen years he has been superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Cowan was engaged in the insurance business in Franklin for seven years. He is an expert accountant and does a great deal of that kind of work. The family home is one mile south of Franklin, and is a very pretty and attractive place.
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WATSON MEREDITH GEN- TRY, M. D., an eminent physician and surgeon of Franklin, Tenn., was born near "Stockett's church," Wil- liamson county, Jan. 31, 1831, and is the second son of Theophilus Lacy and Rebecca Brice (Sappington) Gentry. Doctor Gentry, on his paternal side, comes of Saxon blood. The name "Gentry" originally meant scribes or learned people, and when surnames COL. M. P. GENTRY. were adopted, David and Richard, the "scribes," became David and Richard Gentry. The first known of the family in America were two brothers bearing the same names as the above. David and Richard. They were British soldiers and came to Virginia to assist the colonists in the Indian wars, about 1643. There they settled and raised large families. David was Doctor Gentry's ancestor, and his great-grandson, Watson, was Doctor Gentry's grandfather, for whom he is named. Watson Gentry was a very young private in the Rev- olutionary war, and when told lie was entitled to a pension he replied : "Give it to some one who needs it worse than I do. I fought for the lib- erty of my country, not for money." Watson Gentry's wife was Theodocia Poindexter, whose mother was of the Scottish clan of Chisholm. The Poindexters were French Huguenots, DR. WATSON M. GENTRY. who fled to England and there changed their names from the French "Paigndestre" to "Poin- dexter." John Poindexter was the first of the name in the United States. On his maternal side, Doctor Gentry is de- scended from Lewis Stockell, an officer in Queen Elizabeth's household (1558-1563), of St. Stephen's parish, County Kent, England. He married Jane Ayleworth, of noble birth. of Kent and Essex counties. Their four sons were intimate friends and
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close neighbors of Lord Baltimore. Capt. Thomas Stockel!, the second son, patented three plantations in Maryland and was a distinguished citizen, occupying many important posi- tions. His wife was Mary Wells and their gient-grandson, Capt. Thomas William Stockell, was the grandfather of Doctor Gentry. The most noted of the Gentry family was Meredith Poindexter Gentry, the "silver-tongued" orator, for many years a congressman. He was Doctor Gentry's uncle and the youngest of ten children born to Watson and Theodocia Gentry. Webster said of him that he had the best voice ever given to man and was the finest natural orator of the race. Doctor Watson Gentry received an academic education at Owen's Hill, Triune and the Athlophremic institute, Edwin Paschal principal. At the age of twenty. he had completed the English course, four years of Latin, Greek and mathematics, and then took charge of the academy at Gibson Wells, Tenn., for two years. He next took up the study of medicine under Dr. Elihu Edmundson, of Giles county, and after finishing entered the University of the City of New York, in September, 1852, and graduated in March, 1855, with first honors. He was successful in the competitive examination for the posi- tion of surgeon in Bellevue hospital, but procured a six months' leave of absence, and went abroad to study in the hospitals of Liverpool. London. Dublin and Paris. On his return he took the position of house surgeon at Bellevue, where he was asso- ciated with ten other surgeons and physicians. Here he be- came acquainted with all the notable medical men of : New York. At the end of his term of service in 1857, he returned to Tennessee and located at Shelbyville. He soon became noted, especially in surgery, and was frequently called upon to go into a number of the surrounding counties to take charge of difficult cases requiring a skilled surgeon. When the war broke out. Doctor Gentry was one of the first to enlist and was appointed by Gov. Isham G. Harris a surgeon in the "provisional force of Tennessee volunteers," June 14, 1861. He was commissioned surgeon of the Seventeenth Tennessee regi- ment. with the rank of major of the cavalry, and went into camp at Camp Trousdale, near Gallatin. Gen. Felix K. Zolli-
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coffer took command of the Eleventh, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth regiments, with the cavalry regi- ments commanded by Colonels McNairy and Ashby, and two companies of artillery, about 7,000 men in all. This consti- tuted the right wing of the Tennessee army under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. Doctor Gentry's first military surgery was performed at Rock Castle, where fourteen were killed and many wounded. He was at the battles of Mill Springs, Murfrees- boro, Corinth, Perryville, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga and Shiloh. On account of failing health he was relieved from field duty and assigned to the post of Montgomery, where he was made chief of hospitals and had under his charge the Commercial, Concert Hall, Madison, Montgomery Hall, Ladies', Watts, Stonewall, Wayside and the Camp hospitals. He was paroled June 21, 1865, but continued in charge by request of Gen. A. J. Smith, of the Sixteenth army corps, until the sick were able to return to their homes. In Sep- tember he returned to Tennessee and resumed his practice. After the war he added to his reputation as a surgeon by per- forming many difficult operations, especially those calling for abdominal surgery. As a physician he has been very success- ful, and is as noted in his treatment of fevers and illness of that character as was his distinguished great-uncie, Dr. John Sappington, Missouri's famous "doctor" and philanthropist, who gave the first $20,000 to the fund of education, which was the nucleus of the public school system of that state. Owing to a trouble of a paralytic nature, Doctor Gentry has been unable to pursue his practice for the last few years. Just before the war he married Miss Martha A. Jones, the "beauty of Tennessee's capital." She once was asked to sit for a portrait as one of "the beautiful women of the South;" but. being a modest woman, she declined the honor. She is the second daughter of Dr. John Bidley Jones, a Tennessee and Mississippi planter, and Martha (Lane) Jones, whose grandfather, Col. Joel Lane, was the founder of the city of Raleigh, N. C. He gave to the city Caswell. Burke, Nash, Moore and Capitol squares, and is known as the "enthusiast. patriot and pioneer." He was of the Sir Ralph Lane family
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of England. Mrs. Gentry is also the great-great-granddaughter of Col. John Hinton, Sr., who was one of Governor Tryon's guard and was at the battle of the "Alamance." Later he and his son, Maj. John Hinton. took an active part in the Revolu- tionary war .. She is also descended from Legrand and Nathaniel Jones, members of the Provincial Congress "com- mittee of safety." and "council of the safety." Mrs. Gentry is quite an artist and musician, and "Maplehurst," the Gentry home, is noted for being the birthplace of all the clubs and orders in the town. Dr. and Mrs. Gentry have but one child, Susie, who is one of the best-known women of the state on account of her patriotic and historical work. She is the state historian and regent of "Old Glory" chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she was the organizer and first regent in 1897. She has served as secretary and treasurer of Franklin chapter No. 14. United Daughters of the Con- federacy; was the first "Daughter of the Confederacy" and "Colonial Dame" in Williamson county; belongs to the Flag association of Philadelphia, and the Red Cross society. The first "Flag day" celebrated in Tennessee was at "Maplehurst," only a month after it became National day. Miss Gentry is known as a writer, artist and composer of music. Her banjo piece for the piano is considered one of the finest ever pub- lished. . She has also illustrated several poems and is the originator of one of the most unique collections in the world, a "gourd" collection that has attracted the attention of scien- tists from Massachusetts to Louisiana. as well as others. It comprises the native and foreign gourds, including specimens from Africa, China, Japan, Korea, Guatemala, Nicaraugua and Mexico.
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